Official State of Nebraska website - Return to  Safe and Drug-
Free Schools: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs  Why Prevention
Is Important  Prevention Programs and School Performance
According to the high school study noted above, "It is likely
then, that if we were able to reduce the risk for alcohol,
tobacco and other drug use, we would be better able to ensure
academic success." (Jumper-Thurman, Bates and Plested)  In fact
this is now happening. As more prevention programs are
evaluated, evidence of academic improvement after prevention
programming is growing rapidly. For example, the Florida
Department of Education's Office of Safe Schools has published a
bibliography of 32 selected programs that show this
relationship. Each program showed improvements in one or more
areas, including attendance, class participation, commitment to
school, standardized test scores and grades.  While many of
these programs focused directly on academic improvement, many
others were originally designed for ATOD or violence pr