Effects of Teacher Preparation and Student Age on an Alcohol and Drug Education Curriculum

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Abstract
An alcohol/drug education curriculum was tested in twenty-five Nebraska junior high schools involving 1,800 students in grades seven to nine. Using teacher training and student age as independent variables, gains in knowledge and decision-making ability were assessed. There was an interaction between age level and training, with older students taught by fully trained teachers making significantly greater gains in knowledge and decision-making ability than students who were exposed to the curriculum via untrained teachers and those not exposed to the curriculum at all. Teacher training was shown to be a critical variable in curriculum innovation, especially for older students.