Between January 22, and February 14, 2002 , history will be made in Alabama . The Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (DMH/MR), in conjunction with the State Department of Education (SDE), is sponsoring an anonymous survey of adolescent risk and protective factors of approximately 133,000 students – 36% of the students in randomly selected grades 6-12 – from across all of Alabama ’s 67 counties.  

Joseph Drop, Chief of the Office of Research, Evaluation and Information, said, “The survey will feature one of, if not the best, research-based prevention questionnaires in the nation.  Two renowned researchers – J. David Hawkins and Richard F. Catalano – created the survey based on the widely accepted Risk and Protective model of youth behavior.  This is not a “school” survey, but identifies factors in the individual, peer, family, and community domains that work in combination to predict student populations most at risk.  For example, risk factors for drug use include, but are not limited to, friends that use drugs, poor impulse control, and high residential mobility.”  Protective factors typically include, but are not limited to, parental involvement, interest in school, and participation in positive extracurricular activities.  

The questionnaire is extremely comprehensive and has been used extensively with youth around the country and the world.  Because states ask the same questions, the Alabama results will enable state-to-state comparisons. This helps Federal funding agencies ensure that both existing and future prevention funding is allocated among States on the basis of need.  Again, this is the very first time that Alabama will have these comprehensive survey data to utilize for additional funding purposes.  

The Alabama survey was designed to gather information, that when aggregated, will indicate where each county stands with regards to the risks and protections its students perceive they face in their daily lives.  Students are not asked for their names when they fill out the questionnaire to ensure they feel comfortable enough to answer sensitive questions honestly.  Parents will also receive a notification letter that describes the project and allows them the opportunity to opt their child out of the survey.  

The survey will take place between January 22 and February 14, 2002 , on a date selected by the principal, and takes just one 50-minute class period to complete.  Because the study chooses a random sample of schools and classrooms, not all schools will be surveyed and it is likely that not all classes in those schools will be sampled either.  Schools that are selected to participate in the study have received an information packet.  Note that in counties with smaller populations, a greater percentage of the schools will be surveyed than in counties with larger populations.  This is necessary to ensure that the results for those smaller counties are accurate.  

An independent contractor has been approved by the federal government to prepare the survey and analyze the results.  DATACORP is a research and consulting firm located in Providence , Rhode Island . The company has considerable experience conducting needs assessments, and has had a relationship with the Alabama Department of Mental Heath for several years.  In an interview, Dr. P. Allison Minugh, Director of DATACORP stated, “Our entire company is very excited about this project.  It is a tremendous opportunity to both conduct rigorous research and produce results that will have an immediate impact on the delivery of prevention services needed by many Alabama Youth.”  

Working with DATACORP is the Alabama project coordinator, Dr. Bob Kieltyka. Dr. Kieltyka has an Ed. D. in education and worked in the Mobile County School System for many years.  Dr. Kieltyka has been connecting with school administrators across the state to ensure that superintendents know which schools have been selected, and principals know which classrooms have been selected.  Dr. Kieltyka will be the direct contact for all of the aforementioned parties in the case that they have questions or concerns about the survey.  

In conversation about the project, Mr. Drop said, “I am very excited about being involved in this ambitious and historic study.  To survey, for the very first time in the history of the State of Alabama , over 133,000 students is unprecedented.  We have developed a very comprehensive plan for this project and have diligently been accomplishing our tasks since July.  We have communicated with all 128 city and county superintendents of education, and have recently shifted our communication to over 750 principals statewide whose schools have been selected via a stratified random sample to participate in the survey.  In our communications, principals have been asked to provide us with only one form listing the teachers from the selected grades who have a second period class and the enrollment of these classes.  Subsequent to receipt of these completed forms, the contractor will randomly select the schools’ second period teachers to administer the survey.  We will provide each school directly with the survey instruments, the parental consent forms, pencils and prepaid labels to return the survey instruments to Datacorp.  While there is a period of class instruction inconvenience on one day chosen by each principal, we believe that the final survey report results will far outweigh this interruption.  We sincerely appreciate all selected principals’ cooperation in this historical endeavor.”  

The survey provides detailed information that can directly help superintendents, principals, and teachers understand the issues their youth are facing and effectively target their prevention programs.  Schools can also look to the findings on youth knowledge of the negative effects of their behaviors to sense if health education classes are going in the right direction.  

The report will provide findings stratified at the county level for all grades surveyed, and will have a wealth of useful and very specific information.  Data from city school systems will be included with the county data in the final report.  Neither individual school systems nor schools will be identified in the final report findings.  The report will be structured with charts and tables to provide at-a-glance information to the administrators and planners who need it.  An analyses of the findings will also accompany the report, which will detail the interactions between risk and protective factors, which factors appear to be the most statistically significant, and whether the impact of specific factors varies on the basis of variables such as race, gender, or family income.  Any school system will have their raw data available to them.  Additionally, any school system that requests an individual custom report will be able to negotiate that directly with the contractor. 

For more information on this study, contact either Joe Drop, Chief of the DMH/MR Office of Research, Evaluation and Information, at (334) 242-3966, or Dr. Bob Kieltyka at (334) 242-3953.