PROJECT ALERT
OVERVIEW
Project ALERT is a school-based program designed to prevent and reduce substance use in adolescents. The majority of program lessons are administered during one school year, and are supplemented by three booster sessions in the following year. Program components include teacher-administered lessons, older teen leadership, role-playing, and instructional videos. Experimental evaluation of the original version of the program - with 8 as opposed to the current 11 first-year lessons - shows that participation in Project ALERT produced short-term decreases in alcohol and cigarette use, and particularly in marijuana use and initiation of use. These behavioral changes diminished in high school, however, suggesting that the original 11-session program design did not produce long-term effects.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
Target population: Middle school students (grades 6, 7 and/or 8)
Project ALERT, originated in the early 1980's, is a two-year drug prevention
program integrated into middle schools to (a) keep students who are nonusers
from starting to use drugs, and (b) reduce or prevent frequent or regular use
of drugs by those who are users or experimenters
(Ellickson, 1998). The program is designed to promote resistance and refusal
skills and perceptions of self-efficacy, and to change perceptions of drug use.
Project ALERT specifically targets four "gateway drugs": alcohol,
marijuana, cigarettes and inhalants.
The Project ALERT program is currently comprised of 14 45-minute in-school
lessons. The first 11 sessions are given during the first program year. The
final three lessons are given during the second program year as booster
lessons. The Project ALERT lessons are administered by teachers who have
received a one-day workshop or online training. Older teen leaders - trained
high school students - are also sometimes involved in the program. These teens
assist the teacher in giving the lessons, role-play to model behaviors taught
in the program, and provide enthusiasm for the program. Videos are also used as
teaching aides, with lessons on drinking, peer pressure, social pressure to
using drugs, resisting pressure, practicing resistance skills, smoking
cessation and the benefits of not using drugs (Best Foundation, 2002).
The Project ALERT curriculum is designed with five key assumptions: (a) that
adolescents start using drugs due to social influences; (b) that drug
prevention needs to help teens develop the motivation to resist drugs, not
simply to learn resistance skills; (c) that drug prevention programs need to
target "gateway drugs"; (d) that adolescent behavior is largely based
on the modeled behaviors of admired others such as older students; and (e) that
prevention programs are most effective when adolescents are actively involved
in the learning process by using role playing, question and answer sessions,
small group discussions and other active interactions with peers and teachers.
To address these assumptions, the curriculum uses many strategies such as
modeling appropriate behavior, reinforcement of skills and active student
participation (Best Foundation, 2002).
· Number of Children/Teens in Program: Over 20,000 teachers in ¼ of the school
districts in the
Training for teachers, including teacher’s manual, videos, posters, and
handouts, costs $125 per teacher.
EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM
Ellickson, P. L. (1998). Preventing
adolescent substance abuse: Lessons from the Project ALERT program. In
J. Crane (Ed.), Social programs that work.
Ellickson, P. L.,
Ellickson, P.L. & Bell, R. M. (1990).
Drug prevention in junior high: A multi-site longitudinal test. Science,
247, 1299-1305.
Evaluated population: Complete study data were
collected from roughly 4,000 students at 30 schools in
Approach: Many evaluations of Project ALERT are based on an earlier
version of the program that had 11 lessons (as opposed to the current 14). The
first eight lessons were given to 7th-grade students with the remaining three
booster lessons in eighth grade. The focus of the original program did not
include inhalants - just alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes. To date, there has
not been an experimental evaluation of the 14-lesson Project ALERT program.
An evaluation was conducted on the original 11-lesson program and followed
students from program participation through twelfth grade. The evaluation was
conducted as part of the pilot test of the Project ALERT program. The design
was experimental and data were analyzed at the school-wide level. Thirty
schools in
Results: At the one-year follow-up, roughly 4,000 students were
assessed. The researchers examined the effects of the attrition rate on
internal validity and found that attrition did not affect the experiment's
internal validity. It was found that attrition rates and characteristics of the
students lost were similar across all three groups.
The researchers concluded that the program successfully curbed marijuana,
alcohol and cigarette use as measured immediately after the first year of the
program. The greatest effects were on marijuana use. As compared with students
in the control group, students in the two program groups were 30 percent less
likely to have ever tried marijuana, and they were 50 to 60 percent less likely
to have used marijuana in the past month. The program had smaller significant
effects on alcohol and cigarette use. The effect for the group with teen
instructors was similar to the group with only teachers. The researchers also
found the program to be equally effective in low-income and high-income
schools. However, follow-up data showed that program effects had worn off in
high school, after the program had ended.
In addition to the evaluation of the pilot test of Project ALERT, two other
replications are currently being implemented. Both of these studies are of
experimental design and are currently in the process of collecting data (
Evaluated Populations: Complete
study data were collected from roughly 4,800 students at 30 schools in
Approach: An evaluation was conducted on the original
11-lesson program and followed students from program participation through
twelfth grade. The evaluation was conducted as part of the pilot test of the
Project ALERT program. The design was experimental and data were analyzed at
the school-wide level. Thirty schools in
The evaluation consisted of five questionnaires administered in the classroom at five time points – before and after the delivery of both the 7th and 8th grade curriculum, and once during the 9th grade. Less than 1 percent of students in the schools did not consent to participate in the study.
Results: This program positively impacted students’ beliefs and attitudes about drug use At the 9th grade follow-up, students in the teen instructor condition experienced stronger effects of this program than students in the teacher only condition or the control group. Those students in the teacher only program did see modest improvements compared with the control group, but results were not as significant as those with both a teen and an adult teacher.
Students in the teen instructor program demonstrated a reduced frequency of pro-drug beliefs. Compared with those in the control group, students in the teen instructor program were much less likely to believe that cigarette or marijuana use would have social benefits or fail to have social harms. Students in this condition also saw improvements in perceptions of peer reactions to drug use and felt more able to resist drug offers. Students in the program group taught only by an adult, saw similar, although less significant results.
Across both conditions and for all risk groups, substance use did not seem to be impacted by this program. Those in the teen instructor group continued to have lower levels of substance use, but the findings were not significant, or too inconsistent to determine a strong correlation.
Compared with early years of this program, the effects seem to wear off over time. Those in the teen instructor condition experienced more sustained beliefs, but all groups exhibited an erosion in actual substance use by ninth grade. This program seems to be most effective when the instructions are consistently reinforced throughout multiple years.
SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
Website : http://www.projectalert.com/
References:
Best Foundation. (2002). Project ALERT implementation.
Retrieved Aug 20, 2002 from http://www.projectalert.best.org/pdfs/implementation.pdf
Ellickson, P. L. (1998). Preventing adolescent
substance abuse: Lessons from the Project ALERT program. In J. Crane
(Ed.), Social programs that work.
Ellickson, P.L. & Bell, R. M. (1990). Drug prevention in junior high: A multi-site longitudinal test. Science, 247, 1299-1305.
Ellickson, P. L.,
RAND Foundation. (1998). Helping adolescents resist
drugs: Project ALERT. Research Highlights, RB-4518. Retrieved
Aug 20, 2002 from http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB4518/
Stein-Seroussi, A. (forthcoming). State incentive grant and Project
ALERT provide relief to hurricane-stricken county. Retrieved
Aug 21, 2002 from http://www.projectalert.best.org/pdfs/overview_sig.pdf
Website: http://www.projectalert.best.org/
Program also discussed in the following Child Trends publication(s):
Hatcher, J. L. & Scarpa, J. (2001). Background for community-level
work on physical health and safety in adolescence: Reviewing the literature on
contributing factors.
Hatcher, J. L. & Scarpa, J. (2002). Encouraging
teens to adopt a safe, healthy lifestyle: A foundation for improving future
adult behaviors (Research brief).
Zaff, J. F. & Calkins, J. (2001). Background
for community-level work on mental health and externalizing disorders in
adolescence: Reviewing the literature on contributing factors.
Zaff, J. F., Calkins, J., Bridges, L.
J., & Margie, N. (2002). Promoting
positive mental and emotional health in teens: Some lessons from research
(Research brief).
SUMMARY & CATEGORIZATION
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: 7th-graders / Program age ranges in the Guide: 12-14
Program components: school-based
Measured outcomes: behavioral problems
KEYWORDS: School-Based, Substance Use, Adolescence (12-17), Alcohol Use, Tobacco Use, Behavioral Problems, Middle School, Skills Training, Marijuana Use, Urban, Rural, Suburban, White or Caucasian.
Program information last updated 3/31/09
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