Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. As opioids and tobacco continue to claim Hoosier lives, many are looking toward K-12 school-based prevention programs to stem the tide. One of the most well-known prevention programs is Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E. At its height, D.A.R.E. was implemented across the world, with more than $750 million spent on the program annually. But study after study has found little evidence for the impacts of D.A.R.E. on drug use. This is a common problem: Keeping kids off drugs and alcohol is not easy. As a result, not every intervention works. The good news is […]

Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Early childhood investments like state-funded Pre-K targeting low-income students have received a lot of attention in Indiana lately. At the same time, state and local leaders continue to grapple with how to improve test scores and graduation rates in K-12 schools. Some have questioned the benefits of investing in Pre-K. These people wonder: Won’t the impacts of early childhood investments be diminished if students enter a K-12 system that has problems, too? Aren’t we better off focusing state dollars on strengthening K-12 schools? Others have raised an alternate perspective: Won’t investments in K-12 have limited […]