Evaluating Professional Education in Drug Use and Abuse

Abstract

The attitudes and knowledge of 230 elementary and secondary school teachers were measured before and after a fifteen-week course in substance abuse education. A pretest/post-test, experimental/control group research design was employed to measure changes in both attitudes and knowledge as a result of the training. Also explored were teachers' attitudes toward substance abuse and their relationship to one's degree of dogmatism. In evaluating the effectiveness of the teacher training program in substance abuse education, the major impact was on teachers' knowledge of drugs. While a statistically significant change in both knowledge and attitudes occurred from pretest to post-test, it was difficult to draw strong conclusions regarding attitude change.