ASSESSMENT PLAN:
Based on our preliminary research, it’s evident that the chosen maturation and sexual education programs for Utah teens are heavily influenced by multiple boards and agencies, as well as some vocal parents and community members who believe the home, not the school, is the best forum for such an education. Despite the varied and powerful forces that shape the sexual education curriculum in public schools, it’s uncertain if parents understand or support what is being taught to teens. To gain a better understanding of this issue, our group has developed an assessment plan to obtain information from parents and teachers regarding attitudes about sex education in public schools, how and if these topics are effectively taught at home, and the resources parents rely upon to obtain the requisite expert information. We have chosen to conduct a focus group at the Salt Lake Center for Science Education (SLCSE). This is a Title 1 charter school located in Rose Park and was created in partnership with the Salt Lake School District and the University of Utah. The student body includes a diverse population of teens in grades 6th through 12th. Admission is open and non-discriminatory. Many students commute to SLCSE from a radius as wide as 15 miles. We hope the unique nature of this institution will provide a diverse sample group of households and parents.
SLCSE has an active Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO) and School Community Council (SCC) that both meet monthly. Our group member, Jamie Stolp, has an existing relationship with this school and will arrange with the PTSO meeting facilitator, Donna Drown permission for select members of our group to attend the February 12th, 2015 SCC meeting at 5:00pm and the PTSO meeting at 6:00pm. Arrangements have been made with Larry Madden, SLCSE principle, for our group to have time at the end of each meeting. We expect to be included on the evening’s agenda and be able to conduct a focus group directly following both meetings. The SCC has planned a discussion regarding school policy related to the public display of affection by students. The following meeting with the PTSO may continue with the discussions, since parents will attend this meeting directly after SCC. We are hopeful that the related nature of this subject matter will transition into strong focus group participation.
We plan to recruit parents to participate in our focus groups prior to each meeting through a 1) brief introduction during the meeting and 2) by individual invitation of parents directly following each of the meetings. We expect to recruit 5 to 8 focus group participants following each meeting to be led by 3 to 4 group members. Our group believes this will allow us to obtain sufficient data to inform our action plan. However, following the focus group, should we feel additional data is needed, we are prepared to expand our assessment plan and conduct parent interviews and/or surveys. At this time, Jamie, Amanda and Debra plan to co-facilitate the focus group while Janet takes notes and provides additional support should the number of participants be large. We hope to obtain permission to audiotape the discussion. Roxane and Sarah will perform data analysis on what is collected from the group.
SEMI-STRUCTURED ASSESSMENT GUIDE:
The purpose of our assessment is to learn more about parent and teacher attitudes and their scope of knowledge as it pertains to sex education among middle school and high school students in the Utah schools system, community and at home. Our introductory script is as follows: “Hello everyone. My name is Jamie. Amanda, Debra and Janet are here with me tonight to facilitate a group discussion on sexual health education curricula for middle and high school students. We are currently in our final semester of our Masters of Social Work program at the University of Utah and this is a year-long project our group of six has developed. Based on our preliminary research, it’s clear that many Utah parents have supported the shift from comprehensive sexual health education curricula to a program that focuses instead on “healthy relationships.” We’ve also learned that many parents have voiced the strong desire to teach sexual health education to their children at home rather than in schools. We are wondering if parents at our school may have different wants or needs for resources surrounding sexual health. Thanks to Rachel for SCC and Donna for PTSO, we have come here tonight with the hope that you may be willing to speak with us about sexual health education curriculum in the school and at home for middle and high school students. We hope to better understand where and how teens are getting information about sexual health. If possible, we would also like to have the opportunity to follow up with you via email or phone, whichever you prefer if we have further questions after tonight’s discussion. We will pass around a contact sheet if you would like to add your information. Your participation is voluntary and confidential. We will not publish or release names in association with the opinions expressed here tonight and you may choose to opt-out of the discussion at any time. We welcome all thoughts on the topic you may have, even if they are critical, or different from the majority, as those discussion points can sometimes be the most helpful.”
Focus Group Questions:
1) How important is education about sexual health in your community? Why is it important or unimportant?
2) Who do you think should be responsible for teaching children/adolescents about sexual health, parents or schools? Why or why not?
3) How are you currently providing your child with information about sexual health? For example, as parents, do you access outside resources to get information about sexual health for your child?
4) Do you feel that you have enough information to teach your children about sexual health? If not, what would you like more information on?
5) Do you feel that SLCSE has an appropriate role currently in your children’s sexual health education? For example, how do you view Healthy Relationships as a curriculum?
Our wrap up will be brief. “Thank you for your time tonight. We will be assimilating the information and opinions you provided for our final project report. We appreciate your attention and participation. ”
