An Evaluation of the Impact of Mandatory Random Student Drug Testing

Contractor: RMC Research Corporation, Mathematica Policy Research

Background/Research Questions:

The Grants for School-Based Mandatory Random Student Drug Testing (MRSDT) Programs began in 2003 and is authorized under Title IV, Part A, Subpart 2, Sec 4121 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The program, administered by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, awards grants to LEAs to implement school-based drug testing programs for students to reduce substance use. In MRSDT programs, students enrolled in school-sponsored, competitive, and extracurricular activities consent to random drug testing as a condition of participation in athletics and other school-sponsored competitive extracurricular activities. The programs are designed to (1) identify students with substance use problems for referral to appropriate counseling or treatment services; and (2) deter substance use among students subject to testing as well as, through peer or "spillover" effects, other non-participating students. As the first large scale randomized control trial of MRSDT, the current evaluation will examine two primary research questions:

• Do high school students who are subject to MRSDT report less use of alcohol, tobacco and other illicit substances than comparable students in high schools without MRSDT?
• Do high school students who are subject to MRSDT have different attitudes toward school or reduced participation in extra-curricular activities than students in high schools without MRSDT?

Design:

This evaluation involved 36 high schools from 7 grantees that received awards under the Department's student drug testing grant competition in 2006. In spring 2007, a baseline survey was conducted in each school among a random sample of students with parental consent asking about substance use and extra-curricular activities. After baseline data collection, about half of the schools were randomly assigned to implement their district's MRSDT program in the 2007–08 school year. The remaining schools were assigned to delay implementation until after the following year. The evaluators also collected information on implementation strategies and the aggregate outcome of each drug testing event during the year.

Cost/Duration: $5,886,929 over 5 years September 2006–July 2011

Current Status:

The first and final report was released in July 2010 (see http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20104025/index.asp).

Key Findings:

• Fewer students subject to drug testing reported using substances covered by their district's testing policy in the past 30 days compared with comparable students in schools without drug testing (16% versus 22%).
• In the one-year period studied, there was no evidence of any "spillover effects" to students who were not subject to testing—the percentage who reported using substances in the past month was the same (36%) in treatment and control schools.
• There was no effect of students' intentions to use substances in the future. Of the students subject to drug testing, 34 percent reported that they "definitely will" or "probably will" use substances in the next 12 months, compared with 33 percent of comparable students in control schools.
• There was no evidence that the drug testing reduced students' participation in extracurricular activities or affected their connection to school.