OUT TONIGHT? PARTY RIGHT! - … · EXECUTIVE SUMMARY About Out Tonight? Party Right Out Tonight?...

OUT TONIGHT? PARTY RIGHT!

Evaluation report

Prepared for: Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing August 2014 P09235

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................. 1-4

1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 5 1.1 ABOUT OUT TONIGHT? PARTY RIGHT .......................................................................................... 5 1.2 EVALUATION APPROACH .................................................................................................................. 6

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................................... 10 2.1 REVIEW OF PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION ................................................................................... 10 2.2 STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION .................................................................................................... 10 2.3 SCHOOL SURVEY ............................................................................................................................... 10 2.4 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH WITH SCHOOLS.................................................................................... 12

3. EVALUATION FINDINGS............................................................................................ 13 3.1 PROMOTION OF OUT TONIGHT? PARTY RIGHT TO NSW SCHOOLS...................................... 13 3.2 AWARENESS, UPTAKE AND USE OF OUT TONIGHT? PARTY RIGHT BY NSW SCHOOLS..... 13 3.3 TEACHER FEEDBACK ON OUT TONIGHT? PARTY RIGHT........................................................ 20 3.4 STUDENT FEEDBACK ON OUT TONIGHT? PARTY RIGHT........................................................ 23 3.5 IMPACTS ON STUDENT AWARENESS OF ALCOHOL ISSUES....................................................... 25

4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................... 27

APPENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

APPENDIX B: OTPR PROMOTIONAL POSTER

OTPR evaluation plan 16-Oct-14

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

About Out Tonight? Party Right Out Tonight? Party Right (OTPR) is an interactive, online resource for senior NSW high school students. It is publicly accessible via www.partyright.nsw.edu.au. It was designed to promote awareness of the potential risks and dangers associated with alcohol consumption. It is intended as a support for the mandatory Crossroads program taught in NSW government schools. It was developed by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) with input from the NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC) Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre (CLIC).

OTPR gathers a range of resources in one place and includes links to relevant videos, lessons and games. Fact sheets and presentations are available for parents and carers and an implementation guide is available for teachers. OTPR is one of many resources that are available to teachers in meeting the requirements of the Crossroads program. Schools were encouraged but not obliged to make use of the resource.

OTPR was promoted to schools through a variety of methods including via the direct mail and email to PDHPE coordinators in all public schools, through the Catholic Education Commission and Independent Schools networks, via PDHPE Teachers’ Association newsletters, through Local Liquor Accords and via social media. The resource was promoted from late 2012 to late 2013.

The evaluation The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) appointed Inca Consulting Pty Ltd to undertake an evaluation of Out Tonight? Party Right. The evaluation had two focal points: feedback on the resource itself; and the manner in which it was implemented. The objectives of the evaluation were to:

• assess the implementation of the OTPR resource in high schools across NSW

• assess the effectiveness of the OTPR resource in improving knowledge and awareness around alcohol, the law and potential risks and dangers associated with alcohol consumption among senior high school students

• assess the effectiveness of the OTPR resource in changing students’ attitudes and behavioural intentions in relation to alcohol

• identify improvements which can be made to the OTPR resource to enhance its effectiveness.

The evaluation included a review of program documentation, stakeholder consultation, analysis of web statistics for the OTPR site, a survey of NSW schools, and qualitative research with school representatives. Evaluation results

OTPR evaluation report 16-Oct-14 1

www.partyright.nsw.edu.au

Awareness Despite a lower response rate than was anticipated, the survey of NSW schools (which comprised 32 responses) showed that 66% of schools were aware of the existence of OTPR. Awareness was evident across public, Catholic and Independent schools. However, this figure should be treated with some caution due to the probability that those schools unaware of the resource will have been less likely to respond to the survey. A separate effort to contact schools by telephone and to speak to PDHPE coordinators found that of the 40 public schools contacted, 18 (or 45%) were aware of the OTPR resource. It is reasonable to conclude that around 50% of NSW schools were aware of the availability of Out Tonight? Party Right, indicating a successful effort to promote OTPR to NSW schools.

Usage The school survey, telephone contact with additional schools and analysis of website statistics provided results to support an estimate that one in eight NSW schools (around 100 in total) made use of OTPR in the classroom. The resource was used throughout 2013 and early 2014. Many schools indicated that they were likely to use the resource in the future. It can be estimated – using web statistics and survey results - that around 12,000 students were exposed to the resource.

OTPR was used because it was thought to be a high quality resource that would be engaging for high school students and that supported self-paced learning activities.

Non-usage Schools that reported that they had not looked at OTPR most commonly said that this was because they had an established program and associated resources and therefore had no need to make use of OTPR. Others said that they had recently reviewed or re-written their programs or else were waiting to review their programs and had not yet had the opportunity to review OTPR – a matter of timing. No schools chose not to use it because of a perceived lack of quality or relevance.

How was it used? The results demonstrated that OTPR was used in a variety of ways but generally it was comprehensively rather than superficially explored. There was a clear focus on the topics around reducing risk but schools also touched on social and economic impacts. Fewer schools focused on the licensed premises topics. The resource was used by students from Year 8 to year 12 but was most commonly used in the classrooms of Year 10 students.


Teacher and student feedback School representatives were in agreement with a range of positive statements about the OTPR resource, strongly suggesting that schools that had used it had a high regard for the resource, its relevance, balance, level of detail, interactive nature and ease of use. Schools also highly regarded the supporting materials that were available to teachers. Most schools reported that they would use the resource again and no schools gave OTPR an overall negative rating.

Despite the overall positive response, there was some constructive criticism offered by the teachers consulted. A number of teachers thought that the site could have included more opportunities for interaction and more suggested classroom activities or independent learning activities. Some saw that the site was a little too ‘text-heavy’ and relied on information and facts to communicate messages rather than embedding them in activities.

Only a small number of responses were obtained directly from students. However the feedback provided did suggest a fairly strong positive view of the resource and a reasonably high level of engagement with the topic areas. The teachers consulted through the evaluation provided feedback that their students seemed to engage with the OTPR resource and they were generally of the view that awareness of the risks of alcohol consumption had been lifted. A majority agreed that students seemed to learn from the information, that they found it interesting and that good discussion was stimulated.

Conclusions and recommendations The Out Tonight? Party Right resource was developed to bring consistency and quality to the teaching of content about the risks of under-age alcohol use and to meet community demand for a resource like OTPR. While clearly there was some demand for the resource, this demand was not universal. Many schools reported that they are well served by existing resources and others tackle the issue of risky alcohol use in other ways that do not rely on classroom teaching resources. In this context, take-up by one in eight schools in the first year of a resource’s life is a good achievement.

Taking a consultative approach, tapping into the networks of various stakeholders and communicating directly with schools using a variety of methods underpinned the results achieved. Importantly though, the quality of the resource itself also ensured strong take-up and a very positive reaction from teachers and students.

If OTPR will continue to be made available to NSW schools, the following recommendations for refining the product should be considered:

1. Incorporate more classroom activities for teachers to use in place of some of the ‘drier’ content


2. Incorporate more video content

3. Incorporate some hard copy teaching resources for teachers to download, to allow use by schools with limited computer and Internet access

4. Incorporate some more content with a harm minimisation focus – that acknowledges that there will be alcohol use (and abuse) and that highlights how to avoid risk and respond to problematic situations

5. Incorporate activities or projects designed to engage parents

6. Incorporate activities or projects designed to engage local community organisations (eg Police, Local Council, sporting clubs, service organisations, hoteliers etc).

OLGR also needs to consider whether it will continue to ‘own’ the resource and lead the effort to update content and promote the resource to schools. This responsibility – and a teaching resource of proven high quality - could instead be passed on to the NSW Department of Education and Communities. Another alternative would be to tailor the resource to the educational needs of Local Liquor Accords as a support to their activities.


1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 About Out Tonight? Party Right

Out Tonight? Party Right (OTPR) is an interactive, online resource for senior NSW high school students. It is publicly accessible via www.partyright.nsw.edu.au. It was designed to promote awareness of the potential risks and dangers associated with alcohol consumption. It is intended as a support for the mandatory Crossroads program1 taught in NSW government schools. It was developed by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) with input from the NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC) Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre (CLIC).

The genesis for OTPR was the former Government’s Hassle Free Nights (HFN) program and OLGR’s liquor accord program. Under the HFN a number of precinct liquor accords identified the need for an education resource to assist young people, particularly those turning 18, to understand their rights and responsibilities regarding their patronage of licensed premises. Concurrently, a number of liquor accords (in response to community need) already had an education resource available to high school students. This took varied forms. Sometimes it entailed a visit to the pub in conjunction with the Police Local Area Command – letting young patrons know about their legal requirements etc. Other times, it entailed a talk at the school about the harmful effects of alcohol. And at other times, the approach entailed subsidising Responsible Service of Alcohol training for high school students in the accord area. The objective was to consolidate these education efforts and to ensure a consistent, quality standard in the delivery of information to high-school students.

OTPR gathers a range of resources in one place and includes links to relevant videos, lessons and games. Fact sheets and presentations are available for parents and carers and an implementation guide is available for teachers. OTPR is one of many resources that are available to teachers in meeting the requirements of the Crossroads program. Schools were encouraged to make use of it but they had no obligation to. There is inherent flexibility in how schools can make use of OTPR and while various suggestions are made, it is up to individual schools to decide how OTPR will be delivered and integrated with other activities.

During its development, OTPR was subjected to a trial, conducted in phases. The trial commenced with a single-school trial of a prototype resource in February

Crossroads is generally taught as part of the PDHPE curriculum and is designed to, among other things, educate young people about positive behaviour and safe celebrating.


1


2012. Two further trials were conducted with a larger number of schools as the resource neared completion. The results of this trial were reported separately in a report prepared by the NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre.

OTPR was then subjected to a ‘soft launch’ to 12 schools in September 2012 in order to test technical stability.

Based on these trial experiences, refinements were made in order to make the resource and supporting materials more workable and effective. OTPR was formally launched in February 2013 by the Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Hospitality and Racing.

1.2 Evaluation approach

The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) appointed Inca Consulting Pty Ltd to undertake an evaluation of the Out Tonight? Party Right (OTPR) educational resource. The evaluation had two focal points: the resource itself; and the manner in which it was implemented. The overall aim of the evaluation was to demonstrate the impact of the resource and to make recommendations for its future use and development.

The evaluation was required to:

• assess the implementation of the OTPR resource in high schools across NSW

• assess the effectiveness of the OTPR resource in improving knowledge and awareness around alcohol, the law and potential risks and dangers associated with alcohol consumption among senior high school students

• assess the effectiveness of the OTPR resource in changing students’ attitudes and behavioural intentions in relation to alcohol

• identify improvements which can be made to the OTPR resource to enhance its effectiveness.


The hierarchy of outcomes was drafted for the OTPR resource development and promotion program and is set out in Figure 1:

Figure 1. Hierarchy of outcomes

Ultimate outcome 1. Students are more aware of the risks associated with alcohol use

Intermediate outcomes 2. The resource is well regarded by schools 3. OTPR provides a focal point for school engagement with external organisations regarding

student alcohol use 4. Students make use of and engage with the resource

Immediate outcomes 5. Schools are aware of the availability of the resource 6. Schools review the resource to determine its appropriateness for inclusion in the school

curriculum 7. Schools incorporate OTPR resources in Crossroads lessons

Activities and inputs 8. Collaborative development of a web-based resource, providing links to videos, games, lessons

and activities relating to the risks of alcohol use 9. Development of supporting materials including parent fact sheets, implementation guides etc 10. Promotion of the resource to NSW schools

Building on the hierarchy of outcomes, a full evaluation framework was drafted, setting out the key research questions, indicators and data sources required to support the evaluation. The evaluation framework was a key deliverable for this project and guided the ongoing evaluation of the OTPR resource. It is included below.


Figure 2. Evaluation Framework

ULTIMATE OUTCOME

Evaluation questions Key Indicators Approach/ data sources

1. Students are more aware of the risks associated with alcohol use and practical tips to address these risks

What did students learn? Were the desired messages conveyed?

What impacts did OTPR have on attitudes towards alcohol use?

What impacts did OTPR have on student behaviour?

% of schools to report that students learnt from OTPR

Student ability to recall key messages

Student reports of changing attitudes and behaviour

School survey

In-depth interviews with teachers

In-depth interviews with students

INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES


2. The resource is well regarded by schools

What did schools think of OTPR after using it? How was it useful? What were the most/least useful components?

Were the supporting materials highly regarded?

% of schools to rate OTPR highly

% of schools to use supporting materials

School survey


3. OTPR provides a focal point for school engagement with external organisations regarding student alcohol use

Was OTPR linked to other school-based activities?

Was there any contact with external organisations via Local Liquor Accords? What was the nature of this contact?

Was there any engagement with parents around OTPR?

% of schools to engage with external organisations

% of schools to engage with parents

School survey


Consultation with external organisations

4. Students make use of and engage with the resource

How many students were exposed to OTPR?

How did they make use of it? How long did they spend with it? Where did they access it?

How engaging did they find the materials? Was it interesting? Was it discussed with peers/parents?

Estimated number of students exposed to OTPR

Teacher perceptions of level of student engagement

Student perceptions – degree to which OTPR was thought to be engaging

School survey


In-depth interviews with students

Cont…


IMMEDIATE OUTCOMES


5. Schools are aware of the availability of the resource

Are schools aware of the existence of OTPR? How did they find out about it? Were the promotional activities effective?

% of schools aware of OTPR

% of government/ catholic/independent schools aware of OTPR

% of metro/rural schools aware of OTPR

Sources of awareness

School survey

6. Schools review the resource to determine its appropriateness for inclusion in the school curriculum

Did school staff review OTPR? Who did the review? What was discussed within schools?

What did schools initially think of OTPR? How easily could it be incorporated into the curriculum?

% of schools to review OTPR

% of favourable initial perceptions

School survey


Web statistics

7. Schools incorporate OTPR resources in Crossroads lessons

How many and what types of schools use OTPR resource in crossroads lessons?

How do schools make use of it? What are the typical ways in which the resource is used?

What are the reasons for using/not using it?

How were the supporting materials used?

% of schools to use OTPR

% of government/ catholic/independent schools to use OTPR

% of metro/rural schools to use OTPR

% of schools to make a lot/only some use of OTPR

Stated reasons for using/not using it

School survey


Consultation with regional DEC staff

Web statistics

ACTIVITIES AND INPUTS


8. Collaborative development of a web-based resource, providing links to videos, games, lessons and activities relating to the risks of alcohol use

What was the process for developing OTPR?

What resources were incorporated and why?

What was the evidence base for the approach?

- Review of program documentation

Consultation with OLGR and DEC

9. Development of supporting materials including parent fact sheets, implementation guides etc

What supporting materials were developed and how?



10. Promotion of the resource to NSW schools

How was OTPR promoted?

What role was played by Local Liquor Accords and others?




2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The evaluation framework in the previous section required a review of program documentation, a survey of schools and visits to a number of schools to conduct some in-depth interviews with teachers and students. These research activities are discussed in the following sections.

2.1 Review of program documentation

OLGR provided the consultants with various materials to inform the approach and to provide context for the evaluation. These materials included:

• Results of the OTPR trial phases

• Details of promotional activities and stakeholder consultations

• Relevant correspondence

• Analysis of web statistics for the OTPR site.

2.2 Stakeholder consultation

During the course of the evaluation, interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders and/or people who had been involved in the development of the OTPR resource, the trial and/or the soft launch. These included representatives of:

• NSW Department of Education and Communities

• PDHPE Teachers’ Association

• Association of Independent Schools

• Catholic Education Commission and each Catholic Diocese

• A number of Local Liquor Accords.

2.3 School survey

The intent was to conduct an on-line survey of at least 200 NSW schools to ascertain, among many other things, the proportion of schools that had made use of the OTPR resource.

A survey questionnaire was developed in consultation with OLGR and set up as an online survey. A hard copy version of the questionnaire is included in Appendix A.

The survey was launched on 3 December 2013, in the last weeks of term 4. The timing – although close to the end of the school year – was intended to allow schools every opportunity to make use of OTPR before providing a response.

For NSW state schools, an email was sent to all 579 schools on the generic email list provided by OLGR, marked to the attention of the PDHPE coordinator. The email included some brief information on the evaluation and a link to the online survey.


For NSW Catholic schools, an email was sent to the networks of teachers managed by Diocesan drug and alcohol education advisors. Some, but not all, Dioceses passed on the survey link to schools in their networks.

For NSW Independent schools, an email invitation to participate in the survey was sent by the NSW Association for Independent Schools to its Student Wellbeing network, which includes PDHPE and other teachers across the sector.

The emails to stakeholders included a pdf copy of the questionnaire that could, if respondents wished, be completed in hard copy and posted back to the consultants. The approach email to public schools also included a letter of endorsement from NSW DEC.

By the end of the school year, a lower than expected response was obtained – only 29 responses were received.

The survey was re-launched on 11 March 2014 in the hope of obtaining further responses, particularly from public schools. The survey was advertised by the NSW PDHPE Teachers’ Association newsletter as well as being re-sent to all email addresses as provided by OLGR. An incentive to participate was offered in the form of an entry to a draw to win $1,000 worth of sporting equipment. By 7 April, only an additional three responses were received, making for a total of 32 – a long way short of the target.

The response is set out in tables 1 and 2.

Table 1. Survey response by school sector

n=

Public school 19 Catholic school 8 Independent school 5

Total 32

Table 2. Survey response by location

Sydney metropolitan 12 Newcastle, Central Coast, Blue Mountains 11 or Wollongong Large regional centre 3 Small rural town 6

Total 32

In order to determine the reason for the low response rate, to gather some feedback from schools and to identify schools that could be visited for evaluation purposes, some 71 schools were telephoned in an attempt to speak with the PDHPE coordinator or other relevant person. Of these, successful contact was made with 40 school representatives – 39 public schools and one catholic school. A truncated – and more open-ended – version of the online questionnaire was


administered to these individuals over the telephone by Inca Consulting researchers.

2.4 Qualitative research with schools

The intent was to visit ten schools across NSW that had made use of the OTPR resource, in order to interview teachers and students. It was envisaged that survey respondents would indicate their willingness to take part in these further evaluation activities after completing the online survey. Due in part to the poor response to the survey, only three individuals provided their contact details.

During the supplementary telephone survey of schools, an effort was made to recruit schools to take part in the research, again with limited success.

Contact was also made with Local Liquor Accords and the schools that had taken part in the trial phases of the project and associated consultations.

Only four schools could be recruited to take part in the qualitative research. Two were visited in person and representatives of two schools were interviewed in-depth by phone. The schools were located in the Sydney and Hunter regions. Interviews were conducted with ten teachers across these four schools.

Although arrangements had been made to interview students during one of the school visits, it transpired that the relevant students were not available on the day and this was unfortunately not communicated to the researchers prior to the visit. In the end, no students were interviewed directly as part of the evaluation project. However, two schools were able to independently survey students. One of these surveys used a short, open ended questionnaire devised by the consultant and administered to students from a public school in western Sydney. The other was a structured survey independently devised by a Catholic school in the Hunter region, as an adjunct to the teaching resources provided by OTPR. In total, 31 students provided feedback on OTPR via these survey mechanisms.


3. EVALUATION FINDINGS

3.1 Promotion of Out Tonight? Party Right to NSW schools

The OTPR resource was promoted to NSW schools almost from the very beginning of the process. Due to the consultative development of the resource and the trials and soft launches, representatives from the three school sectors as well as a limited number of teaching staff were involved throughout and knew that the resource ‘was coming’.

More specifically, the OTPR resource was promoted – at various stages of its development via:

• Conference presentations eg the PDHPE Teachers’ Association annual conference

• Correspondence with all Liquor Accords and presentations to some of them

• DEC Facebook page and twitter feed

• Published articles in PDHPE Teachers’ Association newsletters, Association of Independent Schools circulars, Liquor and Gaming magazine, NSW Trade and Investment e-newsletter

• Presentations to the Catholic Education Commission and Association of Independent Schools Student Wellbeing/PDHPE network meetings

• Direct mail, email and fax to government secondary schools

• Provision of posters and brochures to schools and sector organisations (see Appendix B)

• Formal launches, media events and media releases

• Ad-hoc correspondence with representatives of sector organisations and professional bodies/networks.

These promotional activities took place between late 2012 and late 2013.

3.2 Awareness, uptake and use of Out Tonight? Party Right by NSW schools

Understanding the proportion of NSW schools that are aware of Out Tonight? Party Right and the numbers of students exposed to the resource is of course critical to the evaluation of the resource and the way it has been promoted. Due to the low response rate achieved to the school survey, however, it is unfortunately difficult to provide accurate data in relation to awareness and usage. Nonetheless, considering various data sources does help to provide reasonable estimates of the proportions of schools that were aware of OTPR and that made use of it.


Awareness of OTPR The survey of NSW schools (comprising only 32 responses) showed that 66% of schools were aware of the existence of the resource. Awareness was evident across public, Catholic and Independent schools. However, this figure should be treated with some caution due to the probability that those schools unaware of the resource will have been less likely to respond to the survey.

A separate effort to contact schools by telephone and to speak to PDHPE coordinators found that of the 40 public schools contacted, 18 (or 45%) were aware of the OTPR resource. These figures should also be treated with caution due to the small sample size. However, for argument’s sake, it is reasonable to conclude that around 50% of NSW schools were aware of the availability of Out Tonight? Party Right.

The online survey found that a variety of mechanisms resulted in this level of awareness. Of the 21 schools surveyed that were aware of OTPR, the following sources of awareness were identified:

• Information sent by the PDHPE Unit at DEC, the Association for Independent Schools or the Catholic Education Commission or Diocese (14 schools, 67%)

• Information sent by the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (3 schools, or 14%)

• Promotion or information made available via a professional association conference or newsletter (1 school, 5%)

• Via a colleague (1 school, 5%)

No schools reported that they had found out about OTPR via mainstream media coverage or via a parent or community contact. Two schools were unsure where they had first found out about OTPR.

While these results should be treated with some caution due to low sample sizes, they do strongly indicate a successful effort to promote OTPR to a large proportion of schools. The results also suggest that institutional channels are the most effective in promoting a resource like OTPR to the three school sectors.

Usage Of the 32 schools to respond to the online survey, nine (or 28%) reported that they had used the OTPR resource in the classroom. Again, these included public, Catholic and Independent schools. A further seven schools (or 22%) reported that they had looked over the resource but not used it in the classroom. Five schools (16%) had not looked at the resource even though they were aware of it.

The additional phone-around of public schools found that 15% had made use of the resource, including schools that were involved in the OTPR trial. It is


reasonable to estimate then that, conservatively, one in eight schools in NSW has made use of the resource. This would equate roughly to 100 (public, Catholic and Independent) schools across NSW2.

The online survey found that of those schools that were aware of OTPR but that had not yet used it, a large majority (six of seven schools or 86%) said that they were at least fairly likely to use OTPR in the future. The separate telephone survey of schools found a lower proportion of schools (17%) that said that they were likely to use the resource in future. Again, the sampling error associated with these results is large but it can be concluded that at least some schools that have not yet used OTPR intend to use it in future.

Reasons for using and not using OTPR Survey respondents were asked why they decided to use OTPR. A variety of responses were received, most revolving around the view that the resource was well put together and suited the needs of students. The response was as follows:

• I thought our students would engage with the topics (89% of schools that used the resource)

• It is a high quality teaching resource (67%)

• It is hard to find good resources like OTPR to use in the classroom (67%)

• It supported self-paced, personalised learning (56%)

• It was relevant to the needs of secondary students (11%)

• There was no reason not to use it (22%).

The telephone conversations with school representatives obtained a similar response. One school noted that they used OTPR because it was interactive, visual and provided some variation from paper-based work that helped to maintain students’ interest. As this person said: “Our Year 10 unit needed more zing.”

Schools that reported that they had not looked at OTPR most commonly said that this was because they had an established program and associated resources and therefore had no need to make use of OTPR. Others said that they had recently reviewed or re-written their programs or else were waiting to review their programs and had not yet had the opportunity to review OTPR – a matter of timing. There were however some additional reasons reported (via the survey and telephone consultations) for why schools had not made use of OTPR. These included the following:

• A tendency to use existing teaching resources rather than adapting programs to make use of new materials

2 The total number of secondary schools in NSW varies from year to year but in 2010, there were 818 secondary schools (ABS. 42210DO001_2010 Schools, Australia, 2010)


• The availability of similar resources that were highly regarded, for example, www.mynight.com.au developed by NSW Police

• A preference for using more topical or current stimuli, freely available via news services, YouTube etc

• A lack of classroom or student computer facilities that would make delivery of the OTPR resource problematic, despite the resource being developed to suit government-issued tablets

• Crossroads content being delivered in other ways ie not via the PDHPE curriculum, by third parties or through alternate formats (eg school camps).

What was clear from the response was that OTPR clearly met a need in some instances and was regarded as a quality resource. In other instances, schools simply did not have the need to use OTPR at that point in time – no schools chose not to use it because of a perceived lack of quality or relevance.

These results are supported by brief interviews conducted with Liquor Accord members (Eastern Beaches, Bankstown and Eurobodalla). All three reported that there had been very little feedback from schools and not much was known about which schools had or had not used it. The assumption was that, despite the perceived quality of the resource, many schools were not able to, or did not need to, fit OTPR into the existing curriculum. This also demonstrates a fairly weak feedback loop between Liquor Accords and schools, at least in some regions. Following are a couple of illustrative quotes:

“I think it’s an excellent resource and schools should have taken it up more, but I think they had too much on their plates.”

“We only spoke about this yesterday at an accord meeting and we have received no feedback or interest from the schools to which it was disseminated to.”

“We’re not familiar with any schools in the area whom have adopted the strategy.”

How OTPR was used in schools Although OTPR was intended as a complement to the NSW Crossroads program, it was often not used in that context. Only one of the four surveyed public schools that had used the resource said that they had used it as part of the Crossroads program. It was instead used in a variety of other ways – as part of a unit on road safety, as an example of a health promotion campaign, in a legal studies lesson or in the general PDHPE curriculum.

None of the surveyed schools said that there had been any communication with parents prior to, during or after using the resource and only one school reported


www.mynight.com.au

that there had been some contact with a community organisation – the local Police and Citizens Youth Club – though it was unclear what the nature of this contact was.

Based on the survey results and the telephone consultations, it was clear that OTPR was most commonly used with Year 10 students (in about two thirds of cases). However, the resource was also introduced to Year 8, 9, 11 and 12 students.

Most commonly, OTPR was integrated into the school program and taught throughout a whole term or over a longer period of time (55% of surveyed schools). Other schools (44%) used it over a few lessons or during an intensive block of lessons. None reported that it was used in a ‘one-off’ lesson. Typically, schools reported that OTPR was used in both guided and independent learning activities – 78% of surveyed schools said this was the case. No schools reported that students were simply left to explore the site on their own without any guidance.

Two thirds (67%) of schools reported that students partially explored the site and the various activities and a further 22% said students thoroughly explored the site. Only one school reported that the site and activities were explored in only a superficial way.

A majority (56%) of schools said that they had used a few of the suggested classroom activities and 33% said that they had used a lot of them. Only one school that had used OTPR reported not doing any of the suggested classroom activities. Particular mention was made of the interactive games and several of the schools consulted said that these provided a point of interest and balanced some of the other text-based material.

Although the survey results are notional, they do suggest that OTPR was generally used in a considered, planned and integrated way rather than in some ad-hoc classroom activity.

Extent of use by students Schools were asked to estimate how many students were exposed to OTPR. Estimates ranged between 14 and 260 students (obviously dependent on the size of the school and the way OTPR was used in the school). The average number of students exposed, based on the survey, was 127 students. Multiplying this by the estimated 100 schools to have used the resource provides an estimated student reach of over 12,000 students. Again, this should be considered an indicator that OTPR successfully reached NSW school students – in raw numbers if not as a proportion of all students. It is also a reasonably conservative estimate given that one school reported an ‘outlying’ result of 14; most schools reported that between 100-200 students accessed OTPR.


This estimate can be at least partially verified by considering the OTPR website visitation statistics. These statistics show that to 23 February 2014, there were 14,638 Australian visitors (unique IP addresses) to the OTPR website. It should be noted that these visitations include the small proportion of visitations from people in other Australian States and Territories and any Australian-based ‘spiders’ or ‘bots’3. It will also include visitations by people other than students (teachers, DEC and OLGR employees, researchers, parents etc). Importantly, it also double counts people who visit the site on multiple occasions. On the other hand, the web statistics do not account for students working in pairs or for group browsing via a smart-board, for example. It is of course impossible to say precisely how many students have been exposed to OTPR but the above estimate of 12,000 is quite well supported by the web statistics.

Usage over time Of the nine surveyed schools that had used the resource, three had used OTPR in Term 2 2013, two had used it in Term 3 2013 and five had used it in Term 4 2013. The OTPR web statistics, however, provide a more reliable indication of when the resource was most actively used. The figure below shows that there was most activity around the time of the formal launch of the product (ie February 2013). Subsequent peaks in activity were evident in May 2013 (Term 2 and immediately following the launch of OTPR) and in October 2013 following further direct promotion of OTPR to public schools via fax and email. It is important to note that the data plotted in the chart has not been corrected for spurious visitations (eg from overseas) – the raw figures in the chart represent roughly double the amount of genuine visitations (as discussed in the previous section). Nonetheless, the time series shows steady visitation to the site and the abovementioned peak times of activity.

3 ‘Spiders’ and ‘bots’, also referred to as web-crawlers, refer to automated browsing of the world wide web by third parties, primarily for the purpose of web indexing


Figure 3. Monthly visitors to the OTPR website

Most used elements of OTPR According to the online survey, there was a clear focus on the topics around reducing risk (89% of schools) but schools also touched on social and economic impacts (44%). Only one school (11%) reported focusing on the licensed premises topics. The OTPR website statistics however provide a more accurate picture of the areas of the website that were most heavily accessed. Apart from the OTPR homepage, the following are the top ten pages that were accessed:

• Binge Drinking and Partying - Binge drinking 2,903 visitors

• Sport and Alcohol – Sponsorship 1,378

• Binge Drinking and Partying - Risk taking 1,325

• Drinking and Your Health - Physical 1,315

• Binge Drinking and Partying - Parties 1,296

• Social and Economic Impacts - Social costs 1,229

• Sexual Activity and Alcohol - Sexual Activity 1,138

• Sport and Alcohol - Sport and Alcohol 898

• Binge Drinking and Partying - Special events 776

• Create a presentation about pre-fuelling 636

The least-often visited page was the mind map of possible community complaints about alcohol use – this attracted 154 visitations.

Again, these results show that there was interest in a variety of topics and that the resource provided ‘something for everyone’. On average, visitors to the OTPR


website visited 5.64 pages which also suggests that there was a fairly high level of engagement with the site.

3.3 Teacher Feedback on Out Tonight? Party Right

Of the nine surveyed schools that had used the resource, all agreed that the supporting materials were of a high quality and useful to teachers. Specifically, all schools agreed with the following statements:

• The implementation guide and other materials have been very useful

• The materials are well put together

• The materials have provided good direction for how to use the resource.

Schools were also in agreement with a range of other statements about the OTPR resource, strongly suggesting that schools that had used it had a high regard for the resource, its relevance, balance, level of detail and ease of use. The following chart sets out the full response of the nine schools that had used the resource. Beyond this blanket approval of the resource, the results only suggest that there was milder enthusiasm for the classroom activities than for other aspects and one school disagreed that OTPR was accessible for all students.


Figure 4. Agreement with statements about OTPR

None of the nine surveyed schools reported that there were any technical difficulties associated with using the site, though two schools were unsure on this point.

Eight of the nine surveyed schools said that they will definitely use the resource again in the future and one reported that they might. None said that they would not use it again.

Schools were asked to rate OTPR overall. One school rated it as excellent, six rated it as very good and two rated it as good. No schools gave OTPR a negative rating overall.

In support of the survey findings, the interviews conducted with teachers that had used the resource also revealed a very positive view of the resource. Following are some direct quotations from the teachers interviewed, which also demonstrate the


value seen in the interactive nature of the site and the relevant, real-life examples used to emphasise the messages about drinking and risk taking:

“It’s well laid out- with different aspects of drinking- logical- easy to find the bits you need.” (Public school)

“The kids get very excited when they see the games. One was great, the other not so good. Don’t Turn a Night Out into a Nightmare, was the one they liked.” (Public school)

“The interactive game was a good summing up tool at the end.” (Public school)

“We used part of it over various sessions this year, we had quite a cramped curriculum to cover so we couldn’t use it all. But we may be using it further next year. I thought it was excellent. It provided good focus for discussion and it elicited the kind of acknowledgments it required.” (Catholic school)

“Any improvements? No, nothing. It was really good.” (Catholic school)

“It was good, the kids were happy going through the stuff and using the links. It was very relevant to them because they tend to disengage a bit, so we left it until the last semester. Real stories were a lot more relevant.” (Catholic school)

“The stuff I liked were the interactive games and the videos, the variety was good and it was enjoyable for the kids. I liked the tips for drinking responsibly.” (Catholic school)

Despite the overall positive response, there was some constructive criticism offered by the teachers consulted. A number of teachers thought that the site could have included more opportunities for interaction and more suggested classroom activities or independent learning activities. Some saw that the site was a little too ‘text-heavy’ and relied on information and facts to communicate messages rather than embedding them in activities. Some teachers reported that the level of detail and amount of text was off-putting to some students, particularly where English language proficiency or general literacy was an issue. The amount of text also made it difficult to use elements of the resource in a group setting where not all students had a laptop and where students had to present the information on a smart-board or read out the information. Following are a couple of typical quotes:

“Maybe not enough student centred work. There’s an activity for most lessons, but I’d like to see more.”


“There’s lots of reading and learning but not enough actually doing.”

“Reading out the scenarios for the kids at the back of the class was a nightmare.”

Some teachers also reported that some of the links on the site led to overly technical information sources (eg part of the ABS website). It was suggested that a short paragraph of text could often provide the relevant information in a more user friendly, age appropriate manner.

One final comment was made by a teacher who saw that the resource was too negative or alarmist in tone, providing an opportunity for students to ‘switch off’ or disregard the messages:

“It’s too heavy- kids switch off - like graphic road safety ads. They see their parents drinking and they’re OK. There should be more harm minimisation approach.”

3.4 Student Feedback on Out Tonight? Party Right

As already noted, the intent was to identify schools that had used the resource and to visit some of those schools in order to interview students. Unfortunately, and for various reasons, these student interviews did not eventuate. However, some anecdotal information was supplied by the teachers interviewed and two schools were able to survey some students who had been exposed to the resource. One of these surveys used a short, open ended questionnaire devised by the consultant and administered to three students from a public school in western Sydney. The other was a structured survey devised by a Catholic school in the Hunter region.

The survey conducted by a Hunter region Catholic school of 28 students asked participants to rate each of the lessons taught in terms of relevance, educational value, amount of work required and level of enjoyment. Students were asked to rate each lesson on these criteria using a 1 to 5 scale. The results are set out in the table below and show a clear student preference for topics that related to individual issues and implications rather than societal ones. For example, ratings were higher for the lessons on sexual activity and health issues and lower for the lessons on social and economic impacts and licensed premises. Importantly though, all the lessons (with the exception of licensed premises) received a positive rating on average.


Table 3. Results of independently-conducted survey of student feedback on OTPR

Relevance of Educational Amount of Level of content and value student work enjoyment

activities required

Lessons: Rating on a scale of 1 to 5 (mean score)

Sexual activity and 4.14 3.82 3.07 3.71 alcohol Drinking and your 4.10 4.35 3.53 3.32 health Binge drinking and 3.78 3.85 3.07 3.46 partying Reducing risks 3.78 3.78 3.39 3.50 Sport and drinking 3.32 3.60 2.67 3.25 Political and legal 3.03 3.78 2.60 2.53 implications Social and economic 3.00 3.07 2.85 2.78 impacts Licensed premises 2.92 3.21 2.57 2.53

The separately-conducted survey of three students of a western Sydney public school found that all three students rated each of these same lessons as either excellent or quite good. Two of the three students rated OTPR as excellent overall and the other student rated it as good. All three students said that they had discussed aspects of OTPR with friends and one said that s/he had discussed it with a family member. When asked what could be improved about the resource, one person suggested that there could be more depth to the topics (the other two people did not offer a response).

These three students were also asked to say in their own words what they thought OTPR was trying to achieve. Their responses were as follows:

“To teach youths about safety issues when out partying.”

“To inform people about the different scenarios that could occur on a night out and to promote safe partying.”

“I think that OUT TONIGHT PARTY RIGHT was trying to achieve with us students - was to teach, show and develop our knowledge better to what life is really like in reality and all the possible consequences it comes along with. And by taking all this valuable knowledge with us, after learning it with teachers, it has exposed us to learning about ourselves and could possibly help others surrounding us, while showing us reality.”

Obviously, these responses come from a small selection of students and are not necessarily representative of all students who were exposed to the resource. They do nonetheless suggest a fairly strong positive view of the resource and a reasonably high level of engagement with the topic areas.


3.5 Impacts on Student Awareness of Alcohol Issues

It is difficult (without using an experimental research design) to establish in empirical terms whether the ultimate goal of making NSW school students more aware of the risks of alcohol consumption has been in any way met. Given the limited opportunity to speak with students, it is also difficult to ascertain the precise knowledge gains that may have resulted. However, the program logic (see p4) dictates that if OTPR is put in front of enough students who find it engaging and informative then it should follow that there has been some increase in awareness of the issues presented in the resource.

The teachers consulted through the evaluation provided feedback that their students seemed to engage with the OTPR resource and they were generally of the view that awareness of the risks of alcohol consumption had been lifted. Following are some typical quotes:

“The kids were engaged.”

“They were engaged and asked questions. In terms of behavioural change only time will tell.”

“It raised awareness and interest.”

As already reported, the feedback provided by students via the two small surveys also suggests a fairly high degree of engagement and educational value.

The online survey of the schools that had used OTPR also asked teachers some questions about the degree of student engagement. The results are set out in the following chart and show that of the nine schools that responded, the majority agreed that students seemed to learn from the information, that they found it interesting and that good discussion was stimulated. Although based on proxy measures of impact and a small number of responses, the response at least suggests that OTPR had good potential to raise awareness of the risks of alcohol use among NSW school students.


Figure 5. Agreement with statements about student engagement with OTPR


4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The evaluation allows some estimates to be made about the reach of the Out Tonight? Party Right electronic resource, albeit with some level of uncertainty. It is estimated that around 50% of NSW schools are aware of the existence of the resource and that around one in eight schools have made some use of it in the classroom. Potentially at least, this translates to approximately 12,000 students who have been exposed to the resource to date.

The resource was developed to bring consistency and quality to the teaching of content about the risks of under-age alcohol use and to meet community demand for a resource like OTPR. While clearly there was some demand for the resource, this demand was not universal. Many schools reported that they are well served by existing resources and others tackle the issue of risky alcohol use in other ways that do not rely on classroom teaching resources. Some schools are able to make use of electronic teaching resources while others find this difficult. In this context, take-up by one in eight schools in the first year of a resource’s life is perhaps as much as should be hoped for – no one resource can be all things to all people.

If this take-up rate can be considered acceptable (indeed it should be considered as much more than acceptable) then it should be concluded that the effort on the part of OLGR to promote OTPR has been very successful. In particular, taking a consultative approach, tapping into the networks of various stakeholders and communicating directly with schools using a variety of methods would seem to have underpinned the results achieved.

Importantly though, the quality of the resource itself has also ensured strong take-up. Schools and teachers will simply not use a resource that is inappropriate, unprofessional, uninformative or difficult to use. Indeed, the main reasons that schools decided to use the resource related to its relevance and suitability for use in secondary school classrooms. Those that used it said that they would gladly use it again. With this said, it was commonly suggested that OTPR could feature more interactive tools and structured activities in place of text-heavy, informational content.

It was clear from the research that students engaged positively with the materials presented in OTPR and this was one of the main factors that resulted in positive teacher feedback. Although some more emphatic evidence would be desirable, the results suggest that students learned about the risks of alcohol use through their exposure to OTPR. At the very least, the high level of engagement provided every opportunity for them to learn about the topics. Interestingly but perhaps not surprisingly, students were drawn more to the topics that related to their personal


relationship with alcohol and the personal risks associated rather than to societal or legal issues.

While the conclusions drawn here are that the OTPR project has been successful, there may have been an expectation or a mandate on the part of OLGR to have the OTPR content introduced more universally across the NSW school system. If this is the case, it needs to be accepted that an ongoing effort will be required to promote it to schools. This would necessitate a process of continually refreshing the resource’s content. It would seem that there are three options for consideration, depending on what OLGR hopes to achieve in the longer term:

• OLGR could consider the costs and benefits of maintaining and updating the OTPR resource over time to determine the viability of ongoing OLGR management of the resource. If considered to be viable, OLGR could continue to actively manage the resource. OLGR would need to revise the resource based on some of the recommendations in this report, and refresh the resource on an annual basis to include contemporary news items and issues.

• OLGR could investigate the possibility of providing information relating to licensed venues and the liquor laws that is currently included in Out Tonight? Party Right to the Department of Education and Communities. OLGR could continue to support secondary school education and knowledge of the liquor laws by providing updated content as required but otherwise rely on the Department of Education and Communities to lead the project.

• OLGR could tailor the resource to meet the educational needs of local liquor accords and update and promote the resource to liquor accords each year.

If OTPR will continue to be made available to NSW schools, following are some further recommendations for refining the product:

1. Incorporate more classroom activities for teachers to use in place of some of the ‘drier’ content

2. Incorporate more video content

3. Incorporate some hard copy teaching resources for teachers to download, to allow use by schools with limited computer and Internet access

4. Incorporate some more content with a harm minimisation focus – that acknowledges that there will be alcohol use (and abuse) and that highlights how to avoid risk and respond to problematic situations

5. Incorporate activities or projects designed to engage parents

6. Incorporate activities or projects designed to engage local community organisations (eg Police, Local Council, sporting clubs, service organisations, hoteliers etc).

A final note should be made about the effectiveness of the methodology used to evaluate OTPR (or any similar resource). Assumptions made about the number of schools to have used the resource and the willingness of teachers to provide


feedback were not realised. It may have been more effective to rely on the trial phase to produce the required evaluation results. Schools could have been more effectively engaged to participate in the evaluation, allowing more ready access to teachers and students. For example, schools could have been offered some funds to employ relief staff during evaluation visits, freeing up teachers to dedicate some time to making arrangements for the evaluation. It may have been beneficial to have developed an evaluation framework and commenced the independent evaluation earlier in the project. This may have provided an opportunity to build in some more reliable evaluation mechanisms rather than seeking feedback ‘after the fact’.


Appendix A: Survey Questionnaire


Evaluation of Out Tonight? Party Right electronic teaching resource Survey Questionnaire for NSW schools September 2013

INTRODUCTORY EMAIL: Attention PDHPE coordinator The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) has engaged independent research organisation Inca Consulting to conduct an evaluation of Out Tonight? Party Right, an online digital learning resource developed by OLGR in partnership with the NSW Department of Education and Communities. The resource was made available to schools in 2013.

Your feedback on how the resource was used and received by students is critical to the evaluation. It would be greatly appreciated if you could take the time to complete a short survey by clicking on the link below or pasting the link into your web browser. Alternatively, you can print out the attached questionnaire and post it back to the address provided. The survey should take you about ten minutes to complete.

If you are not familiar with Out Tonight? Party Right (www.partyright.nsw.edu.au), or did not make use of it in your school, please just indicate this in the first few questions of the survey and you will only be asked a few additional questions about your school. You may also pass this email on to a colleague who may have more familiarity with the resource.

Your feedback will be completely anonymous. This research has been developed in consultation with the Information and Online Services team at the NSW Department of Education and Communities [INSERT LINK TO LETTER OF ENDORSEMENT]. If you have any questions about this survey or the evaluation in general, please contact Murray Benton from Inca Consulting via email: [email protected]

[INSERT LINK TO SURVEY]

[INSERT IMAGES OF OTPR RESOURCES]



Q1. Are you aware of Out Tonight? Party Right? It is an online digital learning resource developed by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing in partnership with the NSW Department of Education and Communities. It was made to available to schools in 2013.

1. Yes 2. No – GO TO Q26

[INSERT PICTURE OF OTPR HOMEPAGE]

Q2. How did you first hear about Out Tonight? Party Right? SINGLE RESPONSE

1. I was sent some materials by the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing 2. [FOR STATE SCHOOLS] I was sent some materials by the PDHPE Unit at

NSW Department of Education and Communities 3. [FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS] I was sent some materials by the

Association for Independent Schools 4. [FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS] I was sent some materials by someone in the

Catholic Education Office in my diocese 5. I heard about it through a professional association conference or newsletter. eg

PDHPETA Newsletter or Annual Conference 6. I heard about it from a colleague 7. I heard about it from a parent or community contact 8. I saw something in the media 9. Other (please specify _____________________________) 10. I can’t recall


Q3. Which of the following best applies to you? SELECT ONE

1. Although I am aware of it, I have not looked at the Out Tonight? Party Right resource at all

2. I have looked at the Out Tonight? Party Right resource but we have not used it in the classroom – SKIP TO Q5

3. We have used the Out Tonight? Party Right resource in the classroom – SKIP TO Q7

4. Not sure – SKIP TO Q26

Q4. Which of the following describes the reasons that you have not looked at Out Tonight? Party Right? SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

1. We have adequate existing resources on alcohol-related topics 2. We have not had much of a focus on alcohol education 3. We review our teaching program and resources annually and have yet to

consider this part of our programs 4. We have not had time 5. Other (please specify ______________________) 6. No particular reason

SKIP TO Q26

Q5. How likely is it that you will use the resource in the future? SELECT ONE

a. Very likely – SKIP TO Q26 b. Fairly likely – SKIP TO Q26 c. Not very likely d. Not at all likely e. Not sure

Q6. What are the reasons that you are not likely to use the resource in your school? SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

1. We have adequate existing resources 2. Limited access to suitable technology 3. The content is not appropriate for our students 4. The resource seems difficult to use 5. There is not enough/adequate lesson plans, activities and other teacher aids 6. I don’t think our students would respond well to it 7. Other (specify ______________________________) 8. No particular reasons

SKIP TO Q26

Q7. What are the reasons that you decided to use the Out Tonight? Party Right resource? SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

1. It was a high quality teaching resource


2. It supported self-paced personalised learning 3. It is hard to find good resources like this to use in the classroom 4. I thought our students would engage with the topics 5. It is relevant to the needs of our senior students 6. It provided strong support to our Student Welfare / pastoral care programs 7. We were encouraged to use it by parents or others in the community 8. We were encouraged to use it by advisors in our school sector 9. There was no reason not to use it 10. Other (please specify _____________________) 11. Not sure

Q8. When was Out Tonight? Party Right used by students in your school? SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

1. Term 1 2013 2. Term 2 2013 3. Term 3 2013 4. Term 4 2013 5. Term 1 2014 6. Not sure

Q9. [STATE SCHOOLS ONLY] Has Out Tonight? Party Right been used in the context of Crossroads lessons or some other lesson?

1. Crossroads 2. Other (please specify eg Legal studies, Commerce ___________________) 3. Not sure

Q10. To date, which students have made use of Out Tonight? Party Right? SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

1. Year 10 students 2. Year 11 students 3. Year 12 students 4. Other (please specify _____________________________) 5. Not sure

Q11. Approximately how many students in your school have been exposed to Out Tonight? Party Right? WRITE IN NUMBER

_____ students


Q12. Which of the following applies to how Out Tonight? Party Right has been used? SINGLE RESPONSE

1. We really only used it in a single lesson 2. We used it across a few lessons 3. We integrated it into our program and used across a whole term or longer 4. We allowed students to work though activities and then had focused class

discussions and reflection. 5. Other (please specify _____________________________) 6. Not sure

Q13. Which of the following best applies to how the Out Tonight? Party Right resource has been used by students in your school? SELECT ONE

1. Students have been asked to explore the site in a fairly independent way 2. Students have been guided through the site by a teacher 3. A mix of the above 4. Not sure

Q14. Although each student may use the resource differently, have students typically…? SELECT ONE

1. Thoroughly explored the site and the various activities 2. Partially explored the site and the various activities 3. Superficially explored the site and the various activities 4. Not sure

Q15. Which topics contained in Out Tonight? Party Right have you focused on while using the resource? SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

1. Binge drinking and partying 2. Drinking and your health 3. Sport and alcohol 4. Political and legal responses 5. Sexual activity and alcohol 6. Social and economic impacts 7. Reducing risk 8. Licensed premises 9. None of the above 10. Not sure


Q16. Which of the following best applies to how the suggested classroom activities have been used in your school? SELECT ONE

1. We have used a lot of the suggested classroom activities 2. We have used a few of the suggested classroom activities 3. We haven’t really used the classroom activities 4. Not sure

Q17. Out Tonight? Party Right includes an implementation guide and other supporting materials for teachers. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements about these materials? SELECT ONE

1. Strongly agree 2. Agree 3. Neither agree nor disagree 4. Disagree 5. Strongly disagree 6. Not sure

a. The implementation guide and other materials have been very useful b. The materials are well put together c. The materials have provided good direction for how to use the resource

Q18. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements about Out Tonight? Party Right, based on your professional opinion? SELECT ONE


a. The website is easily navigated b. The website is accessible for all students c. The topics are important ones to cover with our students d. The topics are relevant to the school’s curriculum e. The information goes into the right amount of depth f. The content is age appropriate (for Senior students) g. There is a good blend of text, videos, pictures, case studies etc h. The content helps to satisfy some of the requirements of our curriculum i. The suggested classroom activities are worthwhile j. The resource makes it easy for me/my colleagues to cover these topics k. There are enough opportunities for students to interact with the site beyond

just reading the information

Q19. How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statements about Out Tonight? Party Right, based on your observations of students? SELECT ONE


_______________________________________________________________


STATEMENTS a. The students seem to genuinely engage with the resource b. Students find the website easy to use and navigate c. Students find the information interesting d. Students seem to learn from the information e. Good discussion is stimulated by the resource

Q20. Did you have any concerns about any of the content that was included with the resource? SELECT ONE

1. Yes (please note your concerns _______________________) 2. No

Q21. Have there been any technical difficulties experienced in accessing and using the resource?

1. Yes (please describe them here ____________________) 2. No 3. Not sure

Q22. Has there been any communication with parents in advance of using the Out Tonight? Party Right resource? SELECT ONE

1. Yes (please describe what communication there has been

_______________) 2. No 3. Not sure


_______________________________________________________________

Q23. Has there been any communication with or involvement from community organisations, for example, those involved with a Local Liquor Accord? SELECT ONE

1. Yes (please describe

_______________) 2. No 3. Not sure

Q24. Will you make use of the resource again in future (for example, during 2014)? SELECT ONE

1. Yes 2. No 3. Maybe 4. Not sure

Q25. Overall, how would you rate Out Tonight? Party Right as a resource for teaching students about alcohol and related issues? SELECT ONE

1. Excellent 2. Very good 3. Good 4. Poor 5. Very poor 6. Not sure

Finally, just a few questions about your school Q26. Which of the following best applies to your school? SELECT ONE

1. Public school 2. Catholic school 3. Independent school 4. Other (specify ____________________)

Q27. Is your school in…? SELECT ONE

1. Sydney metropolitan area 2. Newcastle, Central Coast, Blue Mountains or Wollongong 3. A large regional centre 4. A small rural town 5. A very small or remote community 6. Other (specify ______________________)


_________________________

Q28. Is this school…? SELECT ONE

1. A large school (900 or more secondary students) 2. A small school (fewer than 900 secondary students) 3. Not sure

Q29. How would you describe the average socio-economic status of your school’s secondary students? SELECT ONE

1. High 2. Medium 3. Low 4. Not sure/don’t wish to say

Q30. Would you say that alcohol consumption by young people and associated problems in your school’s community are… SELECT ONE

1. Not as bad as in some communities 2. About the same as in most communities 3. Worse than in most communities 4. Not sure/don’t wish to say

Many thanks for your time in completing this survey.

[DISPLAY ONLY IF CODE 3 AT Q3] We will be conducting some further research in a small number of schools – to hear more from teachers and to also hear feedback directly from some students. If your school might be willing to participate further, please provide the name and phone number or email address for the best person to contact to make some arrangements.

Name _____________________________. Phone or email

Note: providing these details will not obligate you to participate further nor guarantee that you will be contacted. We are simply trying to identify some schools that we can approach to discuss the logistics of doing some further research.

Again, thank you for your time. CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR SURVEY EXIT TO www.partyright.nsw.edu.au



Appendix B: OTPR Promotional Poster


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