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An Alternate Route to Policy Influence

How Evaluations Affect D.A.R.E

Bibliographic Data

ID12470918
AuthorsCarol Hirschon Weiss (Harvard University), Erin Murphy‐graham (0000-0001-8351-2244, Harvard University), Sarah Birkeland (Harvard University)
Year2005
Volume26
Issue1
Pages12-30
Publication date2005-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Evaluation (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1098-2140 • E-ISSN: 1557-0878
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1098214004273337
OpenAlexW2139116257
LanguageEN
Citations received70
References cited30

Investigators of the influence of evaluations on policy decisions have noted three main routes to influence: instrumental, conceptual, and political/symbolic. This study, an inquiry into the effect of evaluations of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, found a fourth main way that evaluations exert an influence: imposed use. The Safe and Drug Free Schools office of the U.S. Department of Education obliged districts to select a program that met its “Principles of Effectiveness,” which most districts construed to mean that the program had to be on the department’s approved list. Because results of D.A.R.E. evaluations repeatedly showed that D.A.R.E.’s effectiveness on knowledge and attitudes was neither sustained nor led to lower use of drugs, D.A.R.E. did not make the “lists.” Hence, many districts dropped or scaled back D.A.R.E. This kind of imposed use is likely to become more common when government agencies make greater demands for accountability

Accountability · Drug education · Government (linguistics · Medical education · Political science · Politics · Program evaluation · Public relations · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Substance abuse · Applied Psychology · Educational Assessment and Improvement · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

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Unique citing works70
Citations per year3,5
Citation span2006 - 2026 (21)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 70
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