keepin’ it REAL Program to partner with D.A.R.E. America on New Middle School Curriculum
University Park, PA—D.A.R.E. America, the internationally prominent substance abuse prevention program, has licensed a new curriculum jointly developed by Penn State and Arizona State University researchers to incorporate into its programming aimed at middle school students nationwide.
keepin’ it REAL is an effective, multicultural middle school drug prevention program created by the Drug Resistance Strategies Project headquartered at Penn State. The curriculum was developed by Dr. Michael Hecht, Distinguished Professor of Communications Arts and Sciences and Crime, Law and Justice, and Dr. Michelle Miller-Day, associate professor of communication arts and sciences at Penn State, through twenty years of research.
keepin’ it REAL lessons engage youth through their own stories or narratives that teach youth critical thinking skills and resistance strategies. The curriculum has ten lessons, five of which use videos, and has been designated as an evidence-based program on the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices.
keepin’ it REAL was honored in 2008 as one of fifteen stellar community-university partnerships that enabled Penn State to receive the prestigious Classification in Community Engagement award from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
“We are excited to form this partnership with Penn State to create new D.A.R.E. programming for middle school using this successful, research-based curriculum,” said Charles Parson, D.A.R.E. Executive Director.
“This is a great opportunity to expand the keepin’ it REAL program nationwide through D.A.R.E.’s outstanding network of officers,” says Hecht. “We very much look forward to working with the D.A.R.E. America organization and its partner schools.”
The keepin’ it REAL program is a perfect fit for D.A.R.E. America. Hecht notes that “keepin’ it REAL has been proven through evaluation research studies to be effective in limiting alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use by seventh and eighth graders. It is one of the few multicultural evidence-based programs, which is ideal for a national and international program such as D.A.R.E.”
The program has been implemented at individual school districts in many states including Texas, Arizona, Idaho, Maryland, Delaware, California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Currently, the researchers are testing the prevention curriculum among a new target audience in rural Pennsylvania and Ohio schools and studying how teachers adapt the strategies for rural youth.
Now, keepin’ it REAL will join the D.A.R.E. programs in 10,000 U.S. communities and 43 other countries, with 23,000 current D.A.R.E. instructors teaching millions of students. Currently, D.A.R.E. programs reach students in 75 percent of the elementary schools but only 40 percent in middle schools. D.A.R.E. leaders would like to see this expanded with the new curriculum. Frank Pegueros, executive director of D.A.R.E. America, noted, “For several years, we have been working with experts in the research, education, and prevention fields in developing a new middle school and high school curricula for D.A.R.E., working closely with our supporters and critics.
“Our goal is to persuade school, community leaders, and local law enforcement that students still need to participate in follow-up programs in middle and high school,” Pegueros said. “The curriculum has to fit into a set number of lessons due to the many other demands on middle school administrators and is most effective in the ten-lesson format of keepin’ it REAL.
“We reviewed several programs and determined that the keepin’ It REAL was the best match for our delivery systems by our trained law enforcement officers,” he added. “It is research-based and its lessons incorporate key academic objectives such as critical thinking, health, language arts, and mathematics.”
Many middle schools have school resource officers to deal with safety issues and if these officers also are teaching D.A.R.E. classes they can develop positive relationships with students and help prevent risky and unsafe behavior, according to Pegueros.
D.A.R.E. America formally announced the new middle school curriculum at its annual international training conference July 20–24 in Orlando, naming Hecht the 2009 “D.A.R.E. Champion.”
For fall 2009, D.A.R.E. America will begin to transition the middle school curriculum to the keepin’ it REAL program, with the goal of completion by fall 2010.
Information about keepin’ it REAL is at: http://www.kir.psu.edu/
Information about D.A.R.E. America is at: http://www.dare.org/