Table 2.

Ho’ouna Pono (HP) Implementation Barriers: Item Refinement and Selection

1. Natural disasters on Hawai‘i Island (e.g., lava, hurricanes) disrupt school-based prevention efforts, like HP.

2. HIDOE administrators are resistant to endorsing HP, due to fear of asking overburdened teachers to try something new in the classroom.

3. Some HIDOE teachers are resistant to trying new curricula like HP, because it feels like “one more thing you [administrators] want me to do in the classroom.”

4. Marijuana use is socially acceptable on Hawai‘i Island, diminishing the need for HP.

5. The turnover of state-level administrators will disrupt the ongoing implementation of HP.

6. Teachers may not use the HP curriculum, because they are afraid that it could prompt their students to ask them about their personal drug use histories.

7. There may be a lack of enthusiasm for the HP curriculum because health education is not a standardized or measured content area.

8. The HIDOE emphasis on vocational training diverts school resources away from drug prevention programs, like HP.

9. The frequent turnover of principals in my school will disrupt the ongoing implementation of HP.

10. Substance use is not perceived to be a major problem in my school.

11. HIDOE senior teachers at the top of the salary scale (Class 7) do not need PDE credits associated with implementing the HP curriculum for reclassification.

12. Lack of familiarity with HP makes me hesitant to use the curriculum.

13. The HP curriculum lacks a social media presence (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).

14. The HIDOE does not specify the structure or content of substance use prevention in schools.

15. The HIDOE emphasis on college- and career-readiness diverts school resources away from drug prevention programs, like HP.

16. Restrictions on federal funding (e.g., Title 1) make it difficult to support curricula like HP.

17. The HP curriculum introduces language and concepts that may be academically advanced for the sixth-grade level.

18. Some HIDOE teachers feel that pre-packaged curricula like HP threaten their autonomy in the classroom.

19. The nine-lesson HP curriculum has too much drug-specific content to fit within a semester-long health course.

20. Some HIDOE teachers believe that drug prevention curricula like HP have limited impact in promoting internalization of youths’ drug-free attitudes.

21. The relatability of the HP curriculum is limited primarily to sixth and seventh graders. Older youth may find it to be “silly” or too “immature”.

22. Some HIDOE teachers believe that drug use is symptomatic of deeper issues (e.g., depression), which should instead be the focus of prevention.

23. Some HIDOE teachers believe their current drug and alcohol content is effective, so they don’t see any added benefit to the HP curriculum.

24. There may be a lack of enthusiasm for the HP curriculum because health education is not prioritized in the HIDOE.

25. There is a lack of HIDOE funding to support prevention curricula like HP.

26. Drug prevention curricula like HP encourage the discussion of sensitive topics, which could lead to overstepping student–teacher interpersonal boundaries.

27. Qualified adult instructors outside of the HIDOE are not available to teach HP lessons to youth.

28. Incorporating the HP curriculum into my curriculum map will take planning and effort.

29. After 10 years, the HP curriculum may need updating, by changing youths’ language and jargon depicted in the videos.

30. The HP curriculum does not extensively cover current or recent forms of substance use, such as vaping.

31. HIDOE job performance measures (e.g., CESSA) do not explicitly measure growth on student health indicators.

32. The Hawai‘i Board of Education may see HP as redundant to other drug prevention curricula in Hawai‘i Island schools, like DARE.

33. Some families live a “counter-culture” lifestyle, and might not want their children exposed to drug prevention.

34. Shifting National priorities (e.g., bullying) take the focus away from substance abuse prevention programs, like HP.

35. Senior HIDOE teachers are comfortable with their current drug and alcohol lessons, and are therefore not interested in the HP curriculum.

36. HIDOE teachers who prefer didactic teaching methods may not feel comfortable with the interactive approach of the HP curriculum.

37. Health education is not included in the middle school promotion policy, therefore there is no urgency to implement drug prevention curricula like HP.

38. The implementation and training related to the HP curriculum will be difficult to fit into teachers’ busy schedules.

39. The HP curriculum does not specifically address Common Core standards in writing and math.

40. The HIDOE emphasis on “moving” school-wide standards-based test scores detracts from health education and prevention efforts like HP.

41. The HP curriculum would require additional work for teachers in immersion schools who need to translate the lessons into Hawaiian.

42. The structure of the HP curriculum can get repetitive for some students over the course of nine lessons, affecting their engagement.

43. The HP curriculum is structured primarily on skill-building (e.g., decision-making) rather than on teaching standard health topics (e.g., facts about drugs and alcohol).

44. It is difficult for teachers to talk about drug and alcohol use in the classroom setting with their students.

45. Mainstream publications (Honolulu Magazine) do not use health indicators in establishing their annual rank-ordering of public schools.

46. The responsibility for teaching health frequently shifts from one teacher to another teacher in my school.

47. The HIDOE OCISS (State-Level) Health Resource Teacher has not explicitly endorsed the HP curriculum for Hawai‘i Island schools.

48. The HP curriculum introduces terms that might be difficult for ESL students to understand.

49. The delivery of the HP curriculum is assigned to a teacher who is resistant to using the curriculum.

50. The frequent turnover of teachers in my school will disrupt the ongoing implementation of HP.

Note. HIDOE = Hawai‘i Department of Education; PDE = Professional Development & Education; CESSA = Comprehensive Evaluation System for School Administrators; OCISS = Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Support.