Lessons in Sobriety: An Exploratory Study of Graduate Outcomes at a Recovery High School

Abstract

This study sought to explore drug and alcohol use outcomes and educational attainment of students who graduated from one of the nation's longest-running, public recovery high schools. Seventy-two alumni participated in a survey that included the self-administered Addiction Severity Index (McLellan, Cacciola, Alterman, Rikoon, & Carise, 2006). Twenty-eight (39%) respondents reported no drug or alcohol use in the last 30 days. More than 90% of all subjects reported enrolling in college, and 6 graduated. This exploratory study found relatively high rates of sobriety and educational attainment among participants and paves the way for future research on outcomes of recovery school graduates.

KEYWORDS:

• recovery school
• drug abuse
• high school
• sobriety