Data Collection to Inform a Curriculum Adaptation for the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP): Promising Youth Programs (PYP) Project

Instrument 2: IDD Facilitator Interview Guide

Personal Responsibility Education Program: Promising Youth Programs
Facilitator Interview Topic Guide

1. Background (5 min)

Thank you for joining us today. Our names are [NAMES OF FACILITATOR/NOTE TAKER], and we are from an independent research firm called Mathematica. We are part of a research team funded by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

We are here today to learn more about your experiences implementing the two lessons on Internet safety adapted from the Digital Citizenship curriculum for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As you know, the purpose of the lessons is to help youth navigate online interactions and build healthy and rewarding friendships both online and off. The discussion today will focus primarily on your satisfaction with the lessons, how your students responded to the lessons, and any adaptations you recommend making. [We will be probing on some of your responses from the fidelity logs as well, so thank you for completing those.] Your point of view is valuable to us. We expect the interview to take about 60 minutes of your time.

While there is no direct benefit to you, you will be helping ACF develop lessons for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities on online safety. Being part of this interview is completely voluntary. There are no penalties or consequences for not answering our questions. The only risk to you connected with this study is that you may be uncomfortable answering some questions during the interview. If that happens, you do not have to answer any questions that you are not comfortable answering. You may also stop taking part in the discussion at any point. There are no right or wrong answers to our questions. Our questions are designed to learn about your experience with the lessons and your opinions.

Privacy statement: To the fullest extent permissible by law, we will keep the information you share with us private. If we use quotes from this discussion, we will not include the real name of the person who made the statement. All names will be changed to ensure privacy. No one but the researchers will see any of the notes from our discussion. The notes will be destroyed after the analysis of the data.

Do you consent to take part in the interview? [If not, stop the discussion there.]

Do you mind if we record our conversation today to help us fill in our notes? [If the respondent does not want us to record do not record.]

Do you have any questions before we begin?

Discussion questions (55 minutes)

1. Can you please provide some background on the class where you implemented the Internet safety lessons? What are the students in your class like? What is their average reading level? What types of disabilities are represented in the class?

2. How long have you been teaching youth with IDD?

3. How would you describe the lessons on Internet Safety to another special education teacher [or staff person]?

   1. What did you think was the goal or purpose of each lesson was?

4. Now I’d like to discuss your feedback on each lesson and the specific activities. As a reminder, activities in Lesson 1 included watching and talking about the Movistar: Love Story video; the scenarios where Sara is talking to someone online; and working as a group on Sheyna’s situation to discuss how to handle red flag feelings. Lesson 2 included watching the Teen Voices video, discussing friendships and feelings, and discussing the scenarios with Jason and Tim that worked through the feelings and options thinking routine. [Note: provide additional detail on specific activities as needed to help the facilitator recollect the content and ask for examples to flesh out their feedback if they do not provide any].

   1. Discuss lesson 1, “Chatting and red flags”

      1. How well did the risky online relationship activity that included watching and discussing the Movistar: Love Story video help students understand the concept of the “real you” and grooming?

      2. How well did the texting scenarios help students understand risky online relationships and what a red flag feeling is? How well did students relate to the scenarios presented?

      3. How well did Sheyna’s Situation help students understand how to use the Feelings and Options thinking routine to respond to a red flag feeling?

      4. How well did the group assessment work to measure whether students understood the material presented in lesson 1?

   2. Discuss lesson 2, “Rewarding relationships”

      1. How well did Texting and Talking and the Teen Voices video help students understand how relationships can be affected by devices and the Internet? Did the students relate to the youth in the Teen Voices video?

      2. How well did the Amaze video and discussion help students understand the concept of healthy vs. unhealthy relationships?

      3. How well did the John and Tim scenario help students reinforce how to use the Feelings and Options thinking routine to respond to a red flag feeling? How well did students relate to the scenario presented?

      4. How well did the group assessment work to measure whether students understood the material presented in lesson 2?

5. Are there any activities you think could be changed or improved and why? How would you recommend changing them?

   1. Which activities did you like and why?

   2. Which activities did you not like and why?

6. What concepts, if any, were hard for students to understand? How would you recommend changing the lesson or activities to help students better understand that concept?

   1. Are there any changes you recommend for youth with specific disabilities that the lesson(s) did not work well for?

7. How did the pacing of the lessons work in your class? How many sessions did it take to get through each lesson? [Note: the interviewer can reflect on the fidelity log notes]

8. What did you think about the lesson plan write-up and facilitator instructions?

   1. Was the lesson plan format easy to follow? Did it help you plan the lesson easily?

   2. Were the facilitator instructions clear? Would you recommend any changes or improvements to the guidance provided?

   3. Was there any additional guidance that would have clarified how you were supposed to implement a specific activity or the lesson overall?

   4. How much preparation was required to feel comfortable teaching the lessons?

9. Were there any topics you wish the lessons included that it didn’t cover? Or topics you think youth wanted to learn more about?

10. How much did youth in your class participate in the activities? Please describe their level of participation and how you know they were engaged.

    1. Were there activities they participated more than others? Which ones and why?

    2. Is there any way the lessons could be changed to encourage youth to participate more?

11. What was the response of youth to the lessons? Did they like the lessons, not like the lessons, or was it a mix depending on the activity?

12. Would you recommend this lesson to a friend or colleague to use in their classroom? Why or why not?

13. How would you recommend we advertise the adapted lessons to teachers? Are the certain publications or websites you use to learn about new resources?

14. Do you have any other questions before we end?

Thank you!

DRAFT 11/13/24 Mathematica 3