D.A.R.E. STUDY SHOWS POSITIVE IMPACT
ON STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
An Executive Summary
By David L. Rechenmacher, M.S., Public Affairs Manager, Downers Grove Police Department
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)
Program which was the first piloted in six Downers
Grove elementary schools in January 1993, has expanded to all ten District 58 schools and four private
schools in just two and one-half years. Expansion is
anticipated into the Downers Grove Middle School system.
The original goals of the program were to provide
students with skills to recognize and resist the social
pressures to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, and
other drugs; teach positive alternatives to destructive
behaviors; and build a positive relationship between
the Police Department and the community.
Although the feedback received relative to the program indicated these original goals were being met or
exceeded, officials and the Police Department desired
a more definitive indicator of the program's degree of
success.
The Village Council, also seeking some measurement of the program's success, established a council
objective for fiscal 1994/1995 to measure perceptions,
successes and failures of the Downers Grove D.A.R.E.
Program after two and one-half years of existence. This
measurement was important to the mayor, manager
and council to determine community perceptions
about the program's overall effectiveness and to help
them make informed decisions relative to future funding, program growth, expansion and cost effectiveness.
In order to meet the council objective relative to
measurement and evaluation of the D.A.R.E. Program,
in the fall of 1994, Deputy Chief Mark Weimer, and
D.A.R.E. Officers Mike Willison, Paul Segroves and
Russ Piszczek developed a comprehensive survey instrument designed to measure the preceptions of students, parents, and educators relative to program visibility.
1,500 surveys, consisting of 18 questions each, were
distributed to D.A.R.E. graduates, parents and school
administrators. Over 57% of the surveys were completed and returned, which is considered a high return
rate.
Four general areas were surveyed: effect on student's life skills and behavior; communication within
the family; attitudes and relations with the police; and
overall effectiveness of the program.
The entire survey yielded positive responses relating to the program. Some statistical highlights, which
supported the popularity and goal attainment of the
program, were reflected in responses to specific questions. One question measured resistance skills. Ninety-eight percent of the students surveyed believed the
program had a significant level of effectiveness in
teaching resistance skills. Students also responded
strongly to a question which examined the concept of
consequences. Ninety-eight point two percent of students surveyed believed the program had a measure of
effectiveness in teaching the concept of consequences,
and 70.2% believed the measure was very effective.
The survey also indicated that the D.A.R.E. Program developed skills for mitigating the effects of peer
pressure related to negative behavior. When asked if
they would know how to respond to a friend if asked to
do something that they didn't want to do, 88.3% of the
student respondents stated they would know how to
respond. When surveyed on whether the D.A.R.E. officers contributed to the development of positive student
attitudes toward the D.A.R.E. officers and all police in
general, 86.3% of the parents and 100% of educators
surveyed believe the program is beneficial in shaping
positive attitudes towards all police.
The overall effectiveness of the Downers Grove
D.A.R.E. Program is perceived by the students, parents
and educators combined was either "very good" or
"good" in 92% of those surveyed.
In recent years there have been a number of critical
studies which have attempted to measure the cost effectiveness and long term impact on D.A.R.E. graduates relating to substance abuse, life skills and attitudes.
Studies of this type are difficult to conduct due to the
high mobility of our society, which makes long term
tracking and follow-up interviews difficult or impossible. Some of these studies have been critical and negative relative to the long term benefits of D.A.R.E., but
the methodology and ability to track participants over a
protracted period raises questions as to the validity of
some of these study results.
The measure of effectiveness for the D.A.R.E. program cannot be looked upon as an exact science, but
rather one of indicators. When you examine the objective of D.A.R.E. for Downers Grove, such as teaching
life skills, shaping positive attitudes, and opening lines
of communication, our survey results, along with every
other indicator, affirm that the Downers Grove
D.A.R.E. Program has been, and continues to be, very
successful.
August 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 21
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