A random sampling of students are invited to participate in this survey. Those selected should have received a letter and consent form mailed to your home as well as a recorded voice message and/or email. If you did not receive the invitation to participate this year, please do not submit the consent form below!
During the months of March, April or May of 2010, students in the Keller ISD will take The Texas School Survey of Drug and Alcohol Use.
Since the first statewide administration of The Texas School Survey in 1988 there have been nearly 3000 assessments conducted in school districts throughout the state of Texas. Well over two and a half million students in grades four through twelve have participated in the survey since that time. This year, as many as 350,000 students will take part in The Texas School Survey. The survey takes about thirty minutes and should not interfere with overall teaching objectives.
Survey questions have been carefully designed to draw out student responses as to actual use of tobacco products, alcohol, inhalants and illicit drugs; identified behaviors related to substance use; parental attitudes towards substance use; and the effectiveness of school-oriented substance use programs and/or activities. Examples of inhalants include correction fluid, spray paint and paint thinner, while examples of illicit substances include marijuana, powdered and crack cocaine, uppers and downers, steroids and ecstasy. The version used in the primary grades (four through six) is more simplified and general in nature than the secondary one.
Participation in The Texas School Survey is completely voluntary. There will be no adverse consequences---grades or class standing will not be affected in any way whatsoever--- for any student choosing not to participate. Those choosing not to participate are asked to read or work quietly during the administration of the survey.
Research design and protocols ensure that participation in The Texas School Survey is completely anonymous. There is simply no way that the responses provided by any given student can be traced back to that student.
The Texas School Survey has two primary objectives. It serves to inform state and local policy-makers about the extent and nature of the substance use problem in Texas schools and provides a statewide standard of comparison for districts conducting local assessments of drug and alcohol use. Administration of The Texas School Survey of Drug and Alcohol Use is conducted by the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University on behalf of the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Click here to fill out and submit The Texas School Survey participation consent form.
If you have any questions concerning the survey methodology, you may contact Allison Seibert at the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University at (979) 845-1922 or email at aseibert@ppri.tamu.edu. This research study has been reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board---Human Subjects in Research, Texas A&M University. For research-related problems or questions regarding subjects’ rights, the Institutional Review Board may be contacted at (979) 458-4067 or irb@tamu.edu.