Too Good for Drugs is a universal violence prevention and character education program that promotes the development of the skills, attitudes, and behaviors consistent with positive, pro-social living to encourage healthy emotions management and actions, resistance to peer pressure and influence, and self-awareness and social awareness to foster a drug free lifestyle.
Too Good for Drugs offers developmentally appropriate curricula for Kindergarten through High School. Each grade level builds on previous levels developing the skills sequentially with engaging, age-appropriate lessons and activities.
Too Good focuses on the risk factors and negative social norms that can be positively affected in the classroom: favorable attitudes toward substance use, violence, and other problem behaviors and friends who engage in problem behavior.
Too Good builds protection within the student by:
Too Good for Drugs introduces and develops self-efficacy and interpersonal skills linked with healthy development and academic success to promote self-awareness and social awareness:
Additional skills development and application concepts built into the course at the elementary level to promote positive social development and pro-social peer bonding and a perception of the harms of substance use and a rejection of substance use as acceptable include:
Too Good for Drugs promotes character development by strengthening nine character traits:
The Mendez Foundation developed Logic Models for Too Good to map out the Theory of Change and demonstrate graphically the assumptions that drive Too Good. The logic model communicates an "if-then" message of what changes the program intends to produce. It helps to make the connections among the target group, goals, strategies, objectives and planned program results and lays out what the program is expected to achieve and how it is expected to work.
Each of the Too Good evaluation studies were conducted by third-party researchers and used randomized treatment-control group designs (pre-test/post-test, 20-week post-test, or one-year follow-up). The Researchers examined pre-test equivalence between treatment and control groups; potential bias of loss of student data over time; quality of program implementation; and estimates of reliability and validity of assessment tools.
The award-winning Too Good programs have undergone rigorous, independent evaluation studies to measure their effects on students' skills, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national evaluation conferences. These studies demonstrate the effectiveness of Too Good.
Organization/Agency | TGFD K-8 | TGFV K-8 | TGFD&V High School |
---|---|---|---|
What Works Clearinghouse: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Science | Positive effects on behavior View Report | Positive effect on behavior & knowledge, attitudes & values View Report | Positive effect on behavior & knowledge, attitudes & values View Report |
CASEL: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning | Not Yet Rated | Elementary SELect Program View Report | Not Yet Rated |
NREPP: National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs & Practices | Reviewed evaluation View Report | Reviewed evaluation View Report | Reviewed evaluation View Report |
CEBC: California Evidence Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare | TGFD Grade 6 Scientific Rating 2 - Supported by Evidence View Report | Not Yet Rated | Not Yet Rated |
OJJDP: Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention | Promising program View Report | Exemplary program View Report | Exemplary program View Report |
Promising Practices Network: Programs that Work | Screened program View Report | Screened program View Report | Screened program View Report |
SAMHSA: Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration | Model program | Model program | Model program |
Too Good programs have earned recognition and acclaim for their impact in promoting safer and healthy youth and communities.
Recognition for Too Good for Drugs™ in Drug Strategies "Making the Grade": "Some very strong elements in this very detailed, 10 session per year curriculum. Provides developmentally appropriate information about alcohol, tobacco and marijuana. Normative education activities creative and compelling, new ideas for games. Includes no-use pledge."
Recognition for Too Good for Violence in Drug Strategies "Safe Schools, Safe Students": "A delightful package of materials (that) complements this highly interactive 4-9 session program. Strongly focused on critical skill areas. Extremely detailed instructions for teachers. Very complete."
The Teacher's Manual layout and design makes implementation easy with quick set-up and guided materials preparation and lesson objectives and activity timing. The layout...
The Student Workbook is an integral part of the lessons. Students launch into the activities by naming a personal short-term...
The Student Workbook is an integral part of the lessons. Students launch into the activities by naming a personal short-term...
Wagner the Peaceable Pup is a huggable little friend with a waggly tail who brings the learning to life for...
Students help Wagner practice making responsible decisions in this quick-paced whole-class activity. Wagner is trying to get back to his...
Students help Wagner practice making responsible decisions in this quick-paced whole-class activity. Wagner is trying to get back to his...
Wagner needs to get to hockey practice before he gets too tired and runs out of energy. In this whole-class...
Wagner needs to get to hockey practice before he gets too tired and runs out of energy. In this whole-class...
What makes for a good friend? In this fun activity, students learn to recognize the characteristics of a good friend...
Dexter’s friend has a sore throat. Dexter offers her some of his old medicine. Is this a safe decision? In...
Dexter’s friend has a sore throat. Dexter offers her some of his old medicine. Is this a safe decision? In...
Sometimes we need a superhero to help us manage a stressful situation with style. These brightly illustrated display cards help...
Students learn a quick poem to help them remember to stop and to think before making a decision. Included in...
Sometimes we need a little help communicating how we feel. Wagner's bone gives students an easy clue to help them...