Frequently Asked Questions

The Kentucky Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse with the support of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy and the Federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention jointly sponsor this statewide student survey to assess the extent of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use among 11 to 18--year-olds throughout Kentucky and to evaluate the impact of prevention efforts aimed at reducing substance use.

2. What is the purpose of the Student Survey?

The Student Survey is part of the Kentucky Governor’s Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative (The KIP Project). Students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 will be asked to complete a survey that will be used for research purposes only. Their responses to the survey will be compiled to provide information to your school district about students’ use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. It also provides information about school safety issues.

3. Does my child have to complete the survey?

No. Participation in the Student Survey is completely voluntary. Your child will not be penalized in any way if he/she refuses to participate. We are asking your permission for your child to participate in this survey. The survey will be conducted by program evaluation personnel and trained volunteers during a regular class period at school.

4. Will anyone know how my child answered the questions?

No. Your child's responses to the questions will be confidential. His or her name will not appear on the survey forms and no one except the research evaluation staff will see the individual responses. The answers from all youth participants will be summarized so it will be impossible to identify your child in the responses.

5. What kinds of questions are on the survey?

Examples of questions to be asked in the Student Survey are listed below by subject.

¨ Alcohol, tobacco, and drug use: How often (if ever) have you smoked cigarettes in the past month (30 days)? On how many occasions (if any) have you had more than a sip or two of beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey or gin) during the last 30 days? How often (if ever) have you smoked marijuana?

¨ Attitudes toward alcohol and drug use: How wrong do you think it is for someone your age to drink beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey or gin)? How wrong do you think it is for someone your age to smoke marijuana? In the past 30 days, how many times did you speak with a friend about a personal or family problem?

¨ Antisocial behavior: How many times in the past year (12 months) have you been suspended from school? How many times in the past year (12 months) have you taken a handgun to school?

This survey has been administered to many thousands of students across the Commonwealth and the vast majority has experienced little difficulty in answering the questions. Because answering questions about personal and sensitive behaviors can be uncomfortable, students are assured that they may skip any questions they do not want to answer. Students are also told that if, after completing the survey, they have any personal concerns, and they should talk to their school counselor, who can direct them to resources for consultation.

6. What benefits are there from my child participating in this research?

Although your child will not directly benefit from completing the survey, his/her answers—along with those of thousands of others—will provide valuable information that may be used to improve programs for youth.

7. How accurate is the KIP Survey?

Dealing with the problem of students who provide false answers to KIP survey questions has been a subject of concern for years (since the KIP survey program began) and has involved the collaborative efforts of substance abuse prevention authorities in the federal government and in many states that use surveys similar to KIP.

While some students do mark answers indiscriminately, or intentionally exaggerate their drug use to "impress their friends", we exclude from consideration the answers from students who do so.

Since students can leave any or all questions blank, or decline to participate in the survey,
only a couple of percent of students give us replies that we find it necessary to exclude.

In summary, the following factors contribute to the accuracy of the self report data in KIP

Significant efforts go into protecting the anonymity of responses (students know that a response cannot be traced back to them).
The anonymity of the responses greatly reduces the risk associated with telling the truth.
In most reports, REACH uses the 30 day measures (as opposed to one year or lifetime), as this measure is less likely to be flawed by faulty recall.
In the data cleaning process, REACH searches for implausible responses and discrepancies, and eliminates those surveys from the tallied results
Stringent administration guidelines ensure that data are collected in the same manner across school districts, increasing the reliability of the data

Although it is not perfect, self-report data has more strengths than other data gathering options.

In an interviewer-administered survey, youth may be more tempted to tell the interviewer what the youth thinks the interviewer wants to hear (or what is acceptable behavior in their community). Since KIP deals with behaviors that are against state laws and school rules, youth may be unwilling to speak candidly/truthfully to an adult in a face-to-face or telephone interview.
Observation is another method of gathering data. However, the costs associated with following youth during all the hours in which they could be engaged in these behaviors is prohibitively costly and unrealistic. Also, an observer’s presence could dramatically alter the youth’s behavior.
Drug testing. As you know, this method of data gathering carries with it certain costs and liabilities; and, depending upon the precise test, it may not address the myriad of substances that a youth may use.

8. Is the KIP Survey administered every year?

No. The KIP survey used to be administered annually, but now is being administered every other year in even-numbered years.

9. Are parents allowed to view the KIP survey?

Yes. Copies of the survey should be available for viewing at the school office or some other appropriate location. However, in order to protect the confidentiality of the document, the survey may not be removed from the building.

10. How long will the KIP survey take to administer?

Allow a full 50 minute time period for survey administration. The survey itself takes about 25 minutes for the average student to complete, but there are always some students who will take longer.

11. When should I schedule a KIP survey make-up date for our district?

KIP guidelines recommend waiting at least one week after the initial survey date to administer the make-up survey, so that the data will be more complete and more accurate.

12. What if I did not receive all the KIP materials that I need?

A few KIP coordinators do not, at least at first, receive all of the boxes of KIP survey materials that were sent to them.

If you think that you may not have received all of your boxes, one of the first things that we can do is to track the boxes using the UPS.com web-site. Each box that you do receive will have a tracking number with which anyone can track all of the boxes in the group sent to you. Please notify REACH if you did not receive all the surveys, all the instruction sheets, and all the envelopes that you should have received.

13. Should labels or printed information on the KIP surveys identify individual schools?

No. To save money, to reduce the work needed at the local level, and to simplify the logistical complexity of the entire KIP survey project, we are not identifying individual schools on the survey instrument this year. This makes it vital that the boxes of completed survey that you send back make clear from whom they are coming.

While few districts are making arrangements for school-level reports, those that

are must also be sure to bundle surveys by school and mark each bundle clearly.

14. What about students who are not participating in the KIP survey?

Students not participating in the survey could, for example, remain at their desks or go to the library to read a book or do homework. The activity should not be construed as either a punishment for non-participation, or as a more desirable alternative to taking the survey.

15. Does my district need to provide pens for survey administration?

Yes. Blue or black pens must be provided by the school district for students who do not have one.

16. Should the surveys be passed out in the envelopes?

No. Envelopes and instruction sheets should be passed out first. Then, after each student has received an envelope and instruction sheet, and has a blue or black pen, the surveys may be passed out. During the survey, students should be encouraged to use the envelope to cover their responses. After finishing, each student should place his/her survey in his/her envelope and seal it. (Just discard the instruction sheets.)

17. How do I train survey administrators?

You may want to make an outline based on the film or training manual, reiterate the most important points, and ask for questions about each subject. Going over the dates and times for survey administration would also be a good idea. Additional copies of the KIP Student Survey Training Manual may be printed off here. Administrators may want to familiarize themselves with the survey process by carefully reading the training manual.

18. Is the “Agreement of Confidentiality and Professional Ethics” (page 24 of your KIP Survey Training Manual), intended to be sent to REACH of Louisville, or kept on file at our district?

The Agreement of Confidentiality and Professional Ethics should be kept on file at your district for one year.

19. On the “Classroom Administration Report Form” (p. 34 in the manual), how should I record information about “read aloud” students?

The instructions on page 33 say that for the two questions on the form that are
above the box, “Total Enrolled ____” and “Total Absent Today ____”, the
“read aloud” students should be counted as part of the classrooms from which they came.

Thus if a classroom had 25 students, 1 was absent, and 2 were “read aloud”,

then the numbers in the two blanks should be 25 and 1.

As for the six questions within the box on the form, the instructions imply, but do not
clearly state, what to do. The second example on the instructions sheet says that
questions #1-6 should be completed on the sheet for the “read aloud” classroom.

These students should not be double-counted by being included on the sheet for the
classroom from which they came.

Thus the answer to question #1 “total students present for today’s administration”

is not 24, but just 22.

In retrospect, it would have been better to include another question above the box,

one that asked how many students from the classroom were “not present” in that
they had gone to another room for a “read aloud” survey administration.

Writing in “Read aloud _2_” would be a good way make explicit why the number
of “students present” does not equal “total enrolled” minus “total absent today”.

On the sheet for the “read aloud’ students from other classrooms, you would
put “Total Enrolled _N/A_” and “Total Absent Today _N/A_” as the
example #2 on the instruction sheet indicates.
For the six questions within the box, you simply answer them for the group
of students (which might come from many different classrooms) actually
present in the classroom for the “read aloud” administration.

There is no need to differentiate between these “read aloud” students
in terms of the classrooms from which they came, because the answers
to questions #1-6 do not need to be recorded on the sheets for the
classrooms from which they came.

20. What do I do with my district’s completed surveys?

The sealed envelopes containing the survey forms should be packaged and prepared for pick-up as soon as possible (within one week) after each school has completed its survey. Upon receipt of your completed KIP Student Survey Return Form (located on page 39 of your KIP Training Manual), Lisa Kauffmann at REACH will arrange for your boxes to be picked up and shipped to Document Control Systems.

Once every school in your district has completed its survey administration (including make-up surveys), immediately bundle each group of surveys, labeling each bundle by school. Also, separately bundle and mark any Spanish language surveys or Read Aloud surveys. Label each box ‘KIP Surveys.’

· Do not remove the student surveys from the return envelopes.

· Bundle the completed surveys and clearly mark each bundle and box with the names of the school district and school.

· Separately bundle surveys that were read aloud to students and clearly mark such bundles with the words Read Aloud on the outside of the box or envelope along with the school district name, and school name.

· Separately bundle any Spanish surveys, and clearly mark such bundles with the words Spanish Surveys on the outside of the envelope along with the school district name and school name.

· Enclose a copy of ALL Classroom Administration Report Forms for each school and grade in the shipping container.

The KIP Student Survey Return Form is located on page 39 of your training manual. Complete this form, and be sure to accurately fill out all requested information, including exact box dimensions (Length x Width x Height), box weight, as well as
the address, including building name, where the boxes may be picked up.

Include any specific pick-up instructions, e.g., ‘pick up from back door of middle school.’

FAX a copy of the completed KIP Student Survey Return Form to Lisa Kauffmann at (502) 589-1582, and enclose a copy of the form in the shipping container. After she receives your completed KIP Student Survey Return Form, Lisa Kauffmann at REACH will arrange for your boxes to be picked up and shipped to Document Control Systems. You do not need to address the boxes- UPS will provide a pre-addressed shipping label upon pick-up.

21. Our district is ready to ship our boxes back, but we do not have a scale large enough to weigh our KIP survey boxes. How can we report their weights?

You can estimate using the weight of the boxes of KIP survey materials sent to you. You can determine those weights by using a tracking number. One appears on the smaller of the two shipping labels on each of the boxes sent to you. To do this, go to www.ups.com, click on the “tracking” tab, and enter one tracking number. Then agree to the routine conditions, and click “track”. This will give you basic information about that box. If you received more than one box, then click the “Show All” button. Then you can use the “Detail” buttons to find the weight of each box. Adding those weights together will give you your total incoming weight. The weight of the boxes that you send back will be about 85% or 6/7 of the incoming weight, since the students will be discarding

most of the instruction sheets. The total weight of your group of boxes is far more important than the individual weights, so just estimate box weights so that they add up to the proper total.

(Example: if you received three boxes with a total weight of 72 pounds, then
calculate 85% of 72 lbs = 61.2 lbs. Round that to the nearest pound and distribute
that weight over the number of boxes that you are sending back. Thus you could
say that the weights are 20 lbs., 20 lbs., and 21 lbs.)

The original boxes in which your KIP surveys were shipped in are affixed with a sticker that contains the tracking code for your shipment. By going to www.ups.com, and choosing the ‘tracking’ tab, then entering in your tracking number, you may view the weight of your original shipment. From this number, you may divide and estimate the weight of your boxes. For instance, if you were sent six boxes, and you see that the total weight of the original shipment was 39 lbs, you can assume that without the instruction sheets your boxes now weigh a little less, and report that your boxes weigh about six pounds each. If you need help accessing your tracking information on the UPS website, or estimating the weight of your boxes, please contact Lisa Kauffmann at REACH of Louisville, 502-585-1911.

22. What should I do with any unused survey materials?

Any blank, unused surveys should be bound separately and returned along with the completed surveys. Please discard all instruction sheets. Any leftover envelopes may either be kept or returned with your complete surveys- whatever is most convenient.

23. When can I expect to receive our district’s KIP Survey Report?

You will probably receive your district’s survey results in late Winter following survey administration.

24. How do I give permission for my child to participate in the survey?

If you give permission and your child agrees to participate in the survey, you do not need to do anything. Your child will be provided with a survey form during the class period designated for the survey. If you object to your child’s participation in the evaluation survey, you must complete the attached form, sign your name in the space provided and return the form to {insert program administrator’s name} at your child’s school by {insert date}. If you like, you may also call {insert program administrator’s name} at {insert phone number} if you have questions.