This document contains an executive summary and a six-part report presenting findings from a series of small studies assessing the research on school-based drug prevention programs and surveying federal, state, and local school district prevention activities. It focuses on prevention, or education, activities directed toward school-age youth between the ages of 5 and 18. Part 1 presents research findings on the nature and effectiveness of school-based prevention programs and describes current prevention activities at the federal, state, and local levels. Part 2, An Assessment of the Research on School-based Prevention Programs, considers research on a variety of prevention programs, exploring the types of programs available and what is and is not known about their effectiveness. It presents a typology organizing prevention programs according to the various levels of influence that may increase or decrease the probability that youth will use illegal substances; describes each prevention strategy and the available data concerning its effectiveness; discusses the problems that limit the effectiveness of most prevention programs; and presents short- and long-term recommendations for program selection, implementation, development, and resarch. Part 3, A Summary of Federal Drug Abuse Education and Prevention Programs for Youth, summarizes federal agency activities, including brief descriptions of all major programs reported. Part 4 looks at prevention activities of state education agencies, part 5 examines prevention activities of state alcohol and drug abuse agencies, and part 6 focuses on prevention activities of local school districts. (NB)