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Elementary School Programs

Disclaimer: The programs on this page may have a cost associated with them. Additionally, some of these programs may have grant funding available in your state to pay for part, or the entirety, of the program's implementation costs. Please explore your options when considering one the programs on the list below. For other options, explore the Marijuana Use Prevention Additional Resources Page for state agency resources using the link below:

Each registry uses its own, unique review and rating process. View the Registry Programs help page for more information concerning each registry's rating and review practices. Additionally, as you scroll down this list of programs, keep in mind that they are in alphabetical order, continue scrolling down the page to see the full list of programs. For more information and help using this page, please visit the Registry Programs help page.

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Caring School Community (formerly Child Development Project)

Caring School Community (formerly called the Child Development Project) is a whole-school program aimed at promoting positive youth development. Designed for elementary schools, the program attempts to promote prosocial values, improve academic achievement, and prevent drug use, violence, and delinquency by encouraging collaboration among students, staff, and parents. Caring School Community includes four components designed to be implemented throughout the year: 1) Class Meetings, which promote communication and decision-making between teachers and students to improve the classroom climate; 2) Cross-Age Buddies, which pairs classes of younger and older students for academic and recreational activities to facilitate supportive relationships across ages; 3) Homeside Activities, which include parent-child activities completed at home that complement and reinforce the program's school components; and 4) School-wide Community-Building Activities, which include a variety of activities designed to engage parents in the school environment and to link parents and their children to the greater community. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Case management in schools (including Communities in Schools)

Case management involves placing a full-time social worker or counselor in a school to help identify at-risk students’ needs and connect students and families with relevant services in and outside of the K–12 system. Three such models have been evaluated and are included in this analysis are (in no particular order) Communities in Schools, City Connects, and Comer School Development Program. In practice, each of these models includes other services (such as extended learning time and educator training), but the program evaluations focus on the impact of the case management component. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Communities That Care

Communities that Care (CTC) is a coalition-based community prevention program that aims to prevent youth problem behaviors including underage drinking, tobacco use, violence, delinquency, school dropout, and substance abuse. CTC works through a community board to assess risk and protective factors among the youth in their community using a population-based survey of young people. The board works to implement tested and effective programs to address the issues and needs that are identified. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High
  • Early Adulthood (19-22)

Coping Power Program

The Coping Power Program is a preventive intervention for selected at-risk students. The program typically serves students in late elementary school (e.g. 5th and 6th grade) who exhibit aggressive behavior. The program consists of 34 group sessions for children and 16 group sessions for parents delivered over 16 months plus approximately six brief individual sessions per student. The child sessions target risk factors for substance abuse, delinquency, and conduct problems and use cognitive-behavioral techniques to teach self-regulation, conflict resolution, and social skills. The parent component focuses on stress management, communication, and behavior management. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL
  • Tier 2 SOME

Curriculum-Based Support Group (CBSG)

The Curriculum-Based Support Group (CBSG) program is a preventive intervention for youth between the ages of 4 and 17 identified as at-risk for future substance abuse, delinquency, and violence. The program is delivered in confidential small group sessions led by trained facilitators and is designed to help participants resist peer pressure, set and achieve goals, and make healthy choices. In the study included in this analysis, students in grades 2 through 5 participated in 12 weekly sessions. Each session lasted approximately one hour and group size was limited to 12 students. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 2 SOME

Resources

Guiding Good Choices (formerly Preparing for the Drug Free Years)

Guiding Good Choices (formerly known as Preparing for the Drug-Free Years) is a skills-training program for middle school students and their parents typically implemented outside normal school hours. The five-session drug resistance and education program, implemented one night per week for five weeks, aims to improve parent-child interactions that reduce the risk for substance use initiation. Sessions typically last two hours each and include a mix of group discussions, workbook activities, role plays, and multimedia presentations. Program content includes education about the prevalence of substance use and risk and protective factors associated with use, and the development of strategies in the home to prevent use (Session 1), establishing expectations and guidelines within the home regarding substance use (Session 2), education and opportunities to practice refusal skills (Session 3), managing family conflict and constructively handling disputes between family members (Session 4), and strategies for engaging the adolescent in family activities and ways to create supportive networks among parents (Session 5). Parents are required to attend all five sessions while the adolescent is required to attend Session 3. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Keepin' it Real

Keepin' it REAL is a universal school-based substance use prevention program designed in multicultural settings for middle school students. The curriculum is taught by classroom teachers in 45-minute sessions once a week for ten weeks. Classroom sessions include group discussions, role playing, games, and five videos produced by youth, designed to teach students drug resistance skills. Our review of the program is limited to the curriculum as implemented by the original developers and does not reflect the alternative implementation model used by Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) America. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Marijuana Education Initiative (MEI)

MEI offers resources for parents and educators on the topic of marijuana. They also offer curricula available for purchase for elementary, middle, and high school. MEI online, subscription based courses cover topics like Marijuana Impact Awareness (Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced), Marijuana Intervention, Marijuana Infraction Response, Athlete Awarness, Marijuana and the Developing Brain, and Marijuana Education - "Out of the Box." 

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Mentoring for students: Community-based (Including Big Brothers Big Sisters)

Youth in the juvenile justice system are assigned to a mentor, typically a non-professional volunteer, who meets with the youth approximately once a week. Mentors help youth build social capital by engaging in pro-social relationships. Mentors assist youth in gaining access to community resources necessary for reentry (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous), attend social functions together (e.g., movies or sporting events), and help youth engage in positive decision-making and problem-solving. Mentors typically maintain a minimum one-year commitment to the youth/program. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Positive Action

Positive Action is one example of a school-wide positive behavior program, aimed at improving social and emotional learning and school climate. Positive Action consists of a detailed curriculum of approximately 140 short lessons throughout the school year in K-6th grades and 82 lessons in 7th-8th grades. School climate components of the program reinforce the classroom curriculum and include training and professional development for teachers, resource coordination, and incentives for positive behavior. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Resources

Protecting You/Protecting Me

Protecting You/Protecting Me (PY/PM) is a classroom-based alcohol prevention program for elementary school students. The program aims to reduce underage alcohol use, and injury or death associated with riding in vehicles with drunk drivers. PY/PM consists of a series of 40 developmentally appropriate lessons, with 8 lessons per year for grades 1-5. Weekly lessons are approximately 30 minutes or 1 hour in duration, depending on the grade level, and are delivered by teachers or high school students. PY/PM lessons and activities focus on teaching children about alcohol and the brain, vehicle safety, and life skills. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Raising Healthy Children

Raising Healthy Children is a long-term school-based prevention program designed to increase students' bonds to school and prevent problem behaviors. The intervention begins in grade 1 and continues through grade 7. Teachers in those grades attend workshops in classroom management, cooperative learning methods and strategies to promote student reading, participation and interpersonal skills. In grades 4-6, the program provides after-school tutoring and includes family participation workshops, after-school homework clubs, summer camp, and retreats for students. This study followed students who began the program in 1st and 2nd grade and measured until grade 10. The program is based on the model used for the Seattle Social Development Project, which is a shorter intervention. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Strengthening Families for Parents and Youth (10-14)

Strengthening Families for Parents and Youth 10-14 (also known as the Iowa Strengthening Families Program) is a family-based program that attempts to reduce behavior problems and substance use by enhancing parenting skills, parent-child relationships, and family communication. The seven-week intervention is designed for 6th grade students and their families. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Strong African American Families

Strong African American Families (SAAF) is a seven-week community-based program developed for African American youth ages 11-12 and their caregivers. Families meet in interactive small groups with trained facilitators once a week for 2 hours. Lessons are intended to promote regulated, communicative parenting (monitoring and setting limits, clear communication around expectations about alcohol and sex, and racial socialization), as well as youth protective factors. The aim of this program is to prevent youth drug and alcohol abuse, and postpone youth sexual involvement. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL