Evaluation of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Approaches:
This eight-year (2008–2016) evaluation is a summative - outcome evaluation being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and its partners, in response to persistent concerns about the consequences of teen sexual activity. The PPA evaluation is on WAIT Training, abstinence-until marriage program designed for middle school students that aim to provide adolescents with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to delay sexual initiation, thereby reducing the prevalence of teen pregnancy and STD.
Step-By-Step Guide to Effective Evaluation
Defining theresearch population
WAIT Training aiming to educate middle school and high school students on the risks of sexual
activity outside of marriage, and to shape students’ attitudes, beliefs, and ultimately their behavior a classroom-based curriculum designed for youth in grades 6 to 12 is used.
Identifying stakeholders and collaborators
The evaluation team cast a wide net to identify candidate program approaches and sites by reviewing existing research, conducted interviews with a wide range of stakeholders (including program developers, government agencies, researchers, professional organizations, and advocacy organizations), and visited programs currently in operation, held discussions with program developers to gain additional information.
Defining the evaluation objective
The evaluation is aimed at expanding the evidence base on pregnancy prevention approaches. Examining the context and delivery of a program and the contrast between the services received by program participants and the counterfactual condition
Selecting a research design that meets the evaluation objective
The experimental design was appropriately used exploring, the main difference between youth in the treatment that will receive the WAIT Training curriculum while those in the control group will receive an alternative curriculum, project L.E.A.N., but its focus is on diet and exercise and so is not expected.
Selecting variables for measurement
Post-intervention outcomes between the treatment and control groups was selected for measurement. To increase precision they adjusted the impact estimates for any baseline differences in students characteristics and reported behaviors using regression models. To account for the possible correlation in the outcomes among students within the same cluster (intraclass correlation), they used the Huber-White method to estimate the standard error associated with each impact estimate.
Selecting sampling procedure
The external validity of the evaluation is high. It states that, a stratified random assignment design was employed using cluster-level characteristics such as the racial composition of the student population and study consent rate as bases for grouping school clusters.
Implementing research plan
Evaluation of the study protocol was done. Paying attention on the logic model of the wait Training program “Theory of Planned Behavior”
Analyzing the data
The data were analyzed to assess impacts across a range of sexual risk behaviors and behavioral consequences to provide a complete picture of potential effects of the program on teen sexual risk behaviors and the consequences. Also the exploratory analysis was used to estimate impacts on a range of mediating factors.
Communicating the finding
The findings in this evaluation has not thoroughly been reported. An interim report summarizing preliminary impact findings based on only the first two rounds of data collection will likely be
completed in late 2014. While the final report, summarizing impacts of WAIT Training across the range of confirmatory and exploratory outcomes, will be completed in December 2015.
So far this ongoing, systematic review of the evidence base on the use of wait training curriculum to prevent pregnancy, STDs, and associated sexual risk behaviors has made sense.
Reference
Smith, K., & Colman, S. (2012). Evaluation of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Approaches: Design of the Impact Study. Retrieved from
DiClemente, R. J., Salazar, L.F., & Crosby R.A. (2013). Health behavior theory for public health: Principles, foundations, and applications. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
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