Discussion Guide for Use with School Administrators

INSTRUMENT #4

Discussion Guide for Use with School Administrators

Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) Evaluation

Discussion Guide for Use with School Administrators

[Introduction.] As you may know, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March of 2010, established the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) which funds programs designed to educate adolescents on both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and at least three adulthood preparation subjects. We are conducting a study of the PREP program on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of the study is to document how programs funded through PREP are operationalized in the field and to experimentally test a number of selected PREP-funded programs’ effectiveness using random assignment methods.

We are beginning an exploratory phase to obtain feedback from program administrators and staff, researchers, policy experts, and school administrators. We are speaking with you specifically because we are interested in learning more about how your school interacts with program(s) that attempt to prevent teen pregnancy. Eventually, we will discuss involvement in the study with specific programs and schools and, only with their consent, will include them in the evaluation. In addition to programs in your school, please be sure to let us know of existing programs that might be appropriate demonstration sites.

Lastly, please note that your responses will be discussed internally among the research team and the funding agency (the Administration for Children and Families) but that, to the extent allowable by law, individual identifying information will not be disseminated publicly.

School Name:

Program Location:

Date of Communication:

Individual(s) Interviewed: (names and titles)

Module A: Background on School

A1. [School Background] Please tell me about this school.

Probes:

1. Size of school

2. Size of staff, composition of staff

3. Demographics (e.g. race/ethnicity, gender, grades/ages, SES, urbanicity, etc.)

4. Truancy, failure, and drop-out rates

5. Protective factors for student population (e.g. parental involvement, high levels of academic achievement, level of involvement in extracurricular activities, religious affiliation, etc.)

6. Risk factors for student population (e.g. level of violence, drug/alcohol use, gang activity, etc.)

A2. [Current Role and Motivation] Please describe your current role in the school, and your reason for working in the school.

Probes: What is your current role/position in this school? How did you come to be involved in this school? What are your reasons for working in this school? What is your motivation for working with this school as a school administrator?

A3. [Challenges] From your perspective, please describe some of the major issues and/or challenges facing the school.

A4. [School Attitudes toward Problem] Please tell me about the prevailing attitudes in the school towards adolescent sexual and other risk behaviors.

Probes: What about attitudes by others in the community? What are the beliefs about teen pregnancy (i.e. a large problem, a manageable problem)? Are teen sexual behavior and pregnancy perceived as problems by members of the school community?

A5. [Additional Background on School] Please tell me any other background information that we should know about this school, and your involvement in it.

Module B: Background on Program

B1. [Current Program Design] Please tell me about the program(s) to prevent teen pregnancy.

Probes: Do you know how the program is currently designed? What are the activities/components of the program? Do you know what curriculum is used? Do you know the frequency, duration, or intensity of activities/components? Where is the location/setting where activities/components are delivered? Do you know the program catchment area (area in which services are provided, neighborhood(s), communities, schools)? Does the cacthment area expand beyond the school?

B2. [Mission of Program] Please tell me about the mission of the program.

Probes: Are you aware of any mission of the program? What are the primary goals of the program?

B3. [Strengths, Weaknesses, Challenges, and Gaps in Program Design] From your perspective, please describe any strengths, weaknesses, challenges, or gaps in program design you see.

Probes: Is the program (and the components of the program) adequate to address program goals? Are there missing elements that would strengthen program? What are the reasons for gaps (e.g. financial resources, appropriate staff, space constraints, local opposition, etc.)? What people or factors have led to the program’s development or success? Are there components of the program that are more successful than others? Do you have any anecdotal or statistical data to demonstrate this success? Are there any areas of disappointment? What people or factors have led to these disappointments? Were there any challenges that the program faced during start up, as compared to currently? Are there any unique challenges of serving this population or community? What future challenges do you foresee?

B4. [Perceived Effectiveness] Please tell me any effect you see of the activities of the program on participants?

Probes: Do you think the program’s activities are effective? How effective do you think they are – what is the extent of change you see in participants? Which activities seem to be most effective? Are there any anecdotal stories you have heard or witnessed as to the outcomes of this program? What are its major accomplishments?

B5. [Evaluations] Please tell me of any efforts to evaluate this program.

Probes: Are there any efforts to track attendance, in-house surveys of participants, use of external evaluator, other? Are there any written documents/reports available?

B6. [Additional Background on Program] Please tell me anything else that we should know, as background on the program.

Module C: School Involvement with Program

C1. [Beginning of Involvement] Please tell me how this program came to be involved with the school.

Probes: Do you know of any perceived problem or impetus for the program? When did the program begin? Was there an organization or entity responsible for getting it off the ground?

C2. [Initial Design of Program] Please tell me anything you know about the initial design of the program.

Probes: Do you know how the program was initially designed? Who was involved in the design of the program (e.g. were school administrators/staff involved)?

C3. [Relationship between School and Program] Please describe the relationship between the school and the program.

Probes: Is there a formal relationship between the school and the program? Are there documents demonstrating this relationship?

C4. [Financial Relationship] Please describe any financial relationship between the school and the program.

Probes: Is there a financial relationship between the school and the program? Are there documents demonstrating this relationship?

C5. [Student Involvement in Program] Please describe student involvement in the program.

Probes: How are students involved in this program? What is the target population (race/ethnicity, gender, grades/ages, SES, urbanicity, etc.) of the program? Is participation voluntary or mandatory? What constitutes completion of program? If program uses student/peer teachers or counselors, please tell us about these students (e.g. ages of students involved, roles and responsibilities, time commitment, educational background, previous knowledge/experience prior to volunteering with program)?

C6. [Staff Involvement in Program] Please describe how staff are involved in the program.

Probes: Are your staff involved, or are the staffs of the program and the school completely separate? What is the number and type of staff involved (full-time or part-time; paid or volunteer; teachers, medical personnel, community members, etc.)? What are the background and qualifications of staff?

Module D: Synergies and Conflicts

D1. [Informal Relationship] Please describe how the program and your school relate informally.

Probes: Are there informal notions of how the school and the program should work together? Do you have examples of how these informal notions have worked well/not worked well?

D2. [School Attitudes and Support/Opposition] Please describe school attitudes – and possible support or opposition – for the program.

Probes: What is the attitude of the school community toward the program? What is the level of support and/or opposition for the program from schools/school supervisors/community? What are the sources of support and/or opposition for program from schools/schools supervisors/community? Are attitudes or the level of support different between the school and the larger community? In what ways? Have you received any positive or negative messages about the program? Are there particular components of the program that are perceived more positively or negatively by the community?

D4. [Effects of Attitudes and Support/Opposition] From your perspective, please tell me the effects of these attitudes – and support or opposition – on the program.

D5. [Synergies] Please describe any synergies between the program and the school.

Probes: In what ways have the school and the program worked well together? Have there been facilitating factors, i.e. people or factors supporting program development or progress? Have the school and the program created shared activities? Have you held shared meetings (e.g. to discuss common goals)?

D6. [Conflicts] Please describe any conflicts between the program and the school.

Probes: In what ways have the school and the program experienced conflict? What underlies this/these conflict(s)? Were the challenges limited to only during start-up, or do they currently exist? What do these conflicts relate to (e.g. unique challenges of serving this population or community, community attitudes and level of support, level of support from school district and staff, receptiveness of target population)? Do you think these conflicts can be resolved? How? How have the parties worked to resolve these conflicts? Are there unresolved conflicts? What future challenges do you anticipate for the program?

D7. [Additional Information on Relationship between School and Program] Please tell me any other information you feel is pertinent to understanding the relationship between the school and the program.

Module E: Other Programs and Services in Community

E1. [Other Programs] Please tell me about other programs related to pregnancy prevention in this community.

Probes: Are there other (a) sexual risk and pregnancy prevention; (b) youth development; or (c) health programs and services available? Please provide their name, location, school or community sponsorship, services provided, ages served, characteristics of population served, needs of youth addressed by program, perceived impact and effectiveness of other programs on target population and community

E2. [Unmet Needs in Community] Considering this program and the other programs you have mentioned, please tell me about unmet youth-related sexual risk and pregnancy prevention needs in this community (as well as youth development or youth health needs in the community).

Module F: Lessons Learned, Participation in Evaluation, and Other Programs

F1. [Lessons learned] Please share any lessons learned.

Probes: Are there any lessons learned that you have shared, or could share, with other school administrators or programs? What advice would you give other school administrators or programs?

F2. [Participation in Evaluation] We will be reviewing responses from a number of schools and programs, after which we may want to follow-up with you about participating in this evaluation. I can explain more about the evaluation if you would like. Would your school be interested in participating in an evaluation like this? If so, what would be the best may to involve your school?

F3. [Other Programs] Are there other schools or programs you know of that might be interested in participating in a study like this? How would be get in contact with these schools or programs?