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Abstract Widespread implementation of effective programs is unlikely to affect the incidence of violent crime unless there is careful attention given to the quality of implementation, including identification of the problems associated with the process of implementation and strategies for overcoming these obstacles. Here we describe the results of a process evaluation focused on discovering common implementation obstacles faced by schools implementing the Life Skills Training (LST) drug prevention program. The evaluation was conducted by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) under the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Initiative in conjunction with the designer of the LST program, Dr. Gilbert Botvin and his dissemination agency, National Health Promotion Associates (NHPA), and was funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). This evaluation revealed that the 70 sites involved in the project faced many obstacles when implementing this science‐based program in the “real” classroom setting, outside the rigorous controls of a research trial. Nonetheless, the schools were very successful in delivering the program in its entirety and with a high level of fidelity to the program model, and we attribute much of this success to the high level of independent monitoring provided by CSPV, as well as our ongoing efforts to work with schools to identify and overcome problems associated with implementation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 31: 235–253, 2003.
Fagan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.