Studying Parental Involvement in School-Based Sex Education: Lessons Learned

Abstract:
In a 1996 study in Memphis, Tennessee, the authors examined the value of supplementing a family life curriculum with joint parent-child homework assignments and a voluntary parental training program on communication skills. In this article, the authors share their experiences and provide insights to others contemplating evaluation work in school-based sexuality education. They describe their initial strategies, the impediments they encountered, their midcourse corrections, and the eventual outcome. The article is compelling for two reasons. First, the clear and vivid writing helps the reader to imagine every step of the sometimes-frustrating journey--for instance, as teachers failed to send home the homework being evaluated and as the Board of Commissioners refused to allow distribution of survey instruments. Second, the authors generalize their experience into strategies to help others evaluate sexuality education programs more effectively. These strategies include: bond with those who must deliver the program (i.e., teachers); be assertive concerning selection of project participants (to ensure a more rigorous study design); hold fast to the project design; think 'qualitative' (in addition to quantitative); and notice who is watching (i.e., clients and primary stakeholders). This is an excellent article that will be extremely helpful to those evaluating school-based sexuality education programs.

Author(s): OLIVER, Diana P.; LEEMING, Frank C.; and DWYER, William O.

Publication: Family Planning Perspectives


Date Published: 5/1/1998

Pages: 5

Location Code: 8261