Too Good for Drugs High School is a dynamic experiential course designed to immerse students in the core social skill development they need to navigate the world they will enter after high school. The experiential learning design applies interactive games and activities to let the students try on and apply the skills and strategies that are best learned through first hand application.
Ten developmentally appropriate lessons address the short and long term health and social consequences of the misuse and abuse of various legal and illegal drugs. Internal, peer, and media influences are factored into discussions and activities exploring the expectations teens have about substance use.
Students also explore these skills to help them face the challenges they can foresee and the obstacles they can’t as they work to reaching their goals.
Perception of the harm of substance use is a primary prevention tenet. Too Good for Drugs applies an education strategy to provide developmentally appropriate information to the students on the negative health effects of using the various substances covered in the course. Together with the skills development foundation, Too Good for Drugs works to promote no use norms and values. Topics include:
Too Good for Drugs High School focuses on and mitigates the risk factors that can be positively affected in the classroom: favorable attitudes toward substance use and friends who engage in substance use.
Too Good builds protection within the student by:
These essential social skills enhance success in the classroom and at home. Capacity in these skills promotes self-awareness and social awareness and have been linked with school success and positive development:
The Mendez Foundation developed Logic Models for Too Good to map out the Theory of Change and demonstrate graphically the assumptions that drive the learning and behavior change in 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.
The 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.
Each of the 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.
Click the button links below to download and view the research reports. A summary of the report findings and the full reports are below in pdf format:
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 Too Good for Drugs High School 2021 Edition Student Workbook is an integral part of the lessons. Cooperative learning designs...
The Student Workbook is an integral part of the lessons. Cooperative learning designs promote bonding through skits, role-plays, and games....
The Forensic Files include all of the evidence necessary for a thorough investigation: Eight Sets each of the following: Incident...
My Year Book Picture role play set includes scripts for each player including the Narrator, Bella, Blake, Howard, and Nikki. In...
Players make their way along the Trial Run course as they overcome obstacles to reaching their goals. Positive thinking strategies...
Players make their way along the Trial Run course as they overcome obstacles to reaching their goals. Positive thinking strategies and a...
In Roll Call, students divide into pairs to apply their effective communication skills. Speakers describe the images of the people...
Students differentiate fact from fiction as they test their knowledge of the effects of THC and marijuana use in this...
My older brother always understood me best and he just moved away to college. I miss him so much. What...
Smoke Screen is an engaging activity that tests student knowledge about nicotine products and their health risks. Categories include Effects...
Should you go to your parents' college or find the one that fits you best? Would watching television really be...
In this capstone activity, students are prompted to verbalize, perform, or draw their answers to challenging questions that review and...
Are the effects physical or financial? Neurological or social? These are just a few of the areas that can be...
Alcohol Consequences balls are used in a student volunteer exercise to demonstrate how the consequences of underage alcohol consumption interfere...
Set of six game pieces in six bright colors and one die for use with various in class activities and...
Fact Check challenges high school students' perceptions of THC and marijuana to see if they align with scientific fact. Students...
Role-play activities give the students an opportunity to practice and experience the tools and techniques introduced in the course. In...