ARKANSAS PREVENTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT (APNA) STUDENT SURVEY
To help schools with the needs assessment and meet No Child Left Behind requirements, the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention through the Department of Human Services will conduct its annual Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment (APNA) Student Survey. Only one class period is needed. The 2007 survey is scheduled to be administered to all participating public schools anytime between November 5 and 16, 2007. All completed questionnaires for all schools in each district are to be returned to the survey contractor, Pride Surveys, by December 1, 2007.
The focus of the student survey is to collect data on health risk behaviors such as alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and violence that can result in injury and/or impede positive development among youth. The survey also includes risk and protective factors, which include attitudes and opinions that research has shown predicts involvement in the health risk behaviors. All public school districts are offered the opportunity for all students in the 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grade levels to be surveyed at each participating school.
Data gathered in this survey addresses the State Outcomes and Targeted Measures of the State of Arkansas Strategic Prevention Framework and will be used in a broader effort to help plan for the prevention needs of the State of Arkansas at the county, regional and state levels. That is why all schools are asked to participate. Individual building and district level report data can be used for prevention planning for each district.
WHY SHOULD A SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTICIPATE?
-Provides data for the No Child Left Behind reporting requirements AT NO COST to the district
-Provides valuable information on health risk behaviors such as alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and violence that can impede positive development among youth
-Uses risk and protective factors that predict the involvement in these health risk behaviors
-Identifies the prevention needs for the school district
-Helps in preparation of school improvement plans relative to school environment, external factors that present barriers to learning, community involvement, learning process, and school risk factors
-Gathers information regarding factors that may indirectly affect intellectual development and career planning goals of the student
WHAT WILL THE SCHOOL RECEIVE?
-Local data including a district-level report and individual building reports for each participating building (if there is an adequate number of respondents)
-Trend data on drug and alcohol use rates, age of first use, delinquency rates, student perceptions of drug and alcohol health risks and social acceptance, and levels of risk and protection
-The opportunity to provide valuable data to members of the community involved in prevention planning and persons seeking funding for prevention efforts
The district’s results will be made available to the school superintendent during the winter semester of 2008.
To view the State of Arkansas Strategic Prevention Framework planning document, please visit http://www.arkansas.gov/dhs/dmhs/Arkansas%20Strategic%20Plan%20Document%20and%20cover.pdf.
For information on how to participate in the survey, please call Ms. Stephanie Starks at the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention at 501-686-9030 or Ms. Tommie Waters at 501-686-9515. Also, assistance can be provided from the attached list of Prevention Resource Center staff concerning the completion of the APNA Survey Agreement Form.