The evolution of health education programs aimed at reducing the use of tobacco is discussed, and out-of-school educational programs are compared with in-school programs. Further, methodological differences in program evaluations were considered. Out-of-school programs are defined as involving several dimensions not found in schools: (1) goals and objectives; (2) nature of activities--experiential, educational, recreational, or unstructured; (3) structure or schedule of meetings--camps, daily, weekly, or monthly; (4) leaders--volunteer parents or coaches; and (5) range of ages, and other characteristics of youth clientele. Discussion of the out-of-school groups is limited to such groups as 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Campfire, Boys' Clubs, and YMCA programs. Three elements in the design of in- and out-of-school projects are compared: unit of analysis (group versus individual); generalizability of the study; and potential for treatment contamination. The on-going case study, Project 4-Health, is described, as are the project's three phases: assessing the use of smokeless tobacco in 4-H youth in California; developing and field testing programs about tobacco and smokeless tobacco; and follow-up. (MGD)