An Evaluation of the Impact of Mandatory Random Student Drug Testing
Contractors: RMC Research Corporation, Mathematica Policy Research
Background/Research Questions:
The Grants for School-Based Mandatory Random Student Drug Testing Programs began in 2003 and is authorized under Title IV, Part A, Subpart 2, Sec 4121 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The program, administered by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, awards grants to LEAs to implement school-based drug testing programs for students to reduce substance use. Since inception approximately 150 LEAs have received awards under this program in an average amount of $150,000.
A wide range of prevention efforts have been developed to reduce substance use by adolescents. One strategy promoted by a U.S. Department of Education grant program is mandatory-random drug testing of students enrolled in school-sponsored, competitive, and extracurricular activities. The theory of action suggests that if athletes and other student leaders reduce or forego drug use, so will other students in their schools. As the first, large scale study of MRSDT that relies on a rigorous random assignment design, the current evaluation will examine two primary research questions:
- • Do high school students who are subject to MRSDT report less use of alcohol, tobacco and other illicit substances than comparable students in high schools without MRSDT? Do all students in schools with MRSDT report less use of these substances compared to students in high schools without MRSDT?
- • Do high school students who are subject to MRSDT have different attitudes toward school or reduced participation in extra-curricular activities than students in high schools without MRSDT? Do all students in schools with MRSDT have different attitudes toward school or reduced extra-curricular activity participation than those in non-MRSDT schools?
Design:
This evaluation involves 36 schools from 7 grantees that received awards under the Department's student drug testing grant competition in 2006. In spring 2007, in each of these schools, a baseline survey was conducted among a random sample of students with parental consent asking about substance use, participation in extra-curricular activities and other topics. After baseline data collection, about half of the schools within each grantee were randomly assigned to implement their district's MRSDT program in the 2007–08 school year. The remaining schools were assigned to delay implementation until after the end of a one-year experimental period in spring 2008, at which time follow-up survey administration was completed for students from across all study schools.
Duration: September 2006 - August 2010.
Current Status: The follow-up round of student survey administration was completed across the 36 grantee schools in spring 2008. The contractor is currently conducting data analysis for the final report that is expected in 2009 and will be announced on http://ies.ed.gov/ncee.
