DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O.
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 116
June 8, 2007
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Billy K.
Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Youth
Tobacco Survey |
In the fall of 2007, Virginia
Commonwealth University (VCU) will administer the Youth Tobacco Survey in
randomly selected school divisions for the Virginia Tobacco Settlement
Foundation. VCU conducted this survey in
schools in 2003 and 2005.
The random survey sample, drawn by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will include an estimated total of
2,000 students in selected middle and high schools. It is anticipated that about 100 classrooms
will be surveyed.
Each survey requires one 45-minute
class period to administer. A classroom
teacher or other school personnel may administer the survey, or a survey
administrator will be provided. The
survey process will be coordinated by VCU.
Your cooperation in allowing the survey
to be administered (at no cost) in your school division will be appreciated. The
data obtained will serve a number of purposes.
Collecting the data will:
1.
Provide a comparative data set to enable
trend analysis using information from prior surveys,
2.
Offer data to organizations for use in
obtaining grant funding for prevention purposes,
3. Support the planning efforts of other state
agencies, including the Governors Office for Substance Abuse Prevention,
4. Support community prevention coalitions in determining
targeted risk factors and selecting appropriate science-based tobacco use
prevention programs,
5. Assist in determining the need for technical
assistance and direction for future efforts, and
6. Support evaluation of the effectiveness of
the Commonwealths tobacco use prevention programs.
If a school is selected as part of the
statewide random sample, school division superintendents will be contacted
directly by VCU. As an added service,
school divisions may choose to contract separately with VCU to expand the size
of the sample to collect their own separate division-level data.
To request a sample of the survey, or
to obtain additional information, please contact Mert
Rives, Coordinator for the Virginia Youth Tobacco Survey, at (804)828-6760 or merives@vcu.edu.
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