Measuring quality of delivery in a substance use prevention program

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Substance Use Prevention Research
• Pedagogical Methods

Background:

• Effective delivery of prevention programs is crucial for desired outcomes.
• Understanding the link between teaching practices and student engagement is vital.
• The All Stars program is a substance use prevention initiative.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an observation measure for interactive teaching skills.
• To assess teacher behaviors during the All Stars program delivery.
• To link teaching methods to student outcomes in prevention education.

Main Methods:

• Development and validation of an observation measure for teacher interactive skills.
• Coders quantified specific teacher behaviors: praise, idea acceptance, questioning, self-disclosure, and behavior correction.
• Factor analysis identified three teacher behavior dimensions: classroom management, acknowledgment, and student-centered methods.

Main Results:

• Classroom management behaviors were negatively associated with student engagement.
• Acknowledgment behaviors showed a negative relationship with students' normative beliefs.
• Student-centered methods positively correlated with student idealism and normative beliefs, and marginally predicted reduced marijuana use.

Conclusions:

• The developed observation measure effectively captures interactive teaching skills.
• Student-centered teaching approaches in prevention programs are linked to positive student outcomes.
• Findings have implications for improving pedagogical strategies in substance use prevention and beyond.