Focus on Assessment: Indicator Reporting Programs
Each week, the Higher Education Center showcases recent developments in the field of AOD abuse and violence prevention in higher education that may include new data and resources, upcoming events and programs, funding opportunities, and learning opportunities. To see a listing of previous This Week! features, visit the This Week! archive.
May 6, 2011
Indicator reporting programs illustrate local substance use problems and track the effect of efforts to address them. Community leaders and prevention professionals use indicator reporting programs to identify their most important substance use problems, focus their prevention and treatment strategies, and measure the results of new policies and programs.
IndicatorsHandbook.org, a project of Join Together and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, provides guidance for building an effective indicator program. The Web site and book provide a menu of alcohol and other drug indicators with examples of what to measure, links to data sources, interpretation guidelines, and other resources.