Evaluation of Substance Abuse Education at Schools for Students with Disabilities: A Preventative Approach

ABSTRACT

This study examined teachers' professional perceptions about substance abuse (SA) education in Jordanian schools serving students with disabilities. Thematic analysis was conducted on interviews obtained from 60 teachers. Teachers indicated that they had low levels of professional preparation for their role as addiction educators; they also considered the SA education in their schools to be inadequate and expressed a desire for more courses on SA. These results suggest that the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Health (MOH) should emphasize the need for programs to address special education (SE) teachers' perceptions about their vital role in SA education in Jordanian schools serving students with disabilities and also to improve teachers' professional competencies

KEYWORDS:

• addiction education
• preventive approach
• schools for students with disabilities

Acknowledgments and Funding

I wish to acknowledge support from the Hashemite University (HU), National Institute on Drug Abuse-International Program (NIDA-International Program), and Jordanian Society for Scientific Research (JSSR) for funding the training workshop that helped in revising this article, and the support from the trainers from the University of California, San Francisco, and Yale University.