CURRICULUM EVALUATION TOOLS

Standards for STD/HIV Prevention Curricula in Secondary Schools, William L. Yarber - PDF file
Checklist of 63 standards health education practitioners can use to evaluate their existing STD/HIV prevention education programs or to develop new curricula and materials; include topics, essential messages, and learning approaches, emphasizing health-enhancing behaviors.

Handbook for Evaluating HIV Education - This handbook of nine interrelated booklets includes evaluation designs and measurement tools necessary to collect data on the basic program components of policy development, curriculum design, teacher training, and student outcomes.

Ten Characteristics of Effective Sex & HIV Education Programs

1. Focus on reducing one or more sexual behaviors that lead to unintended pregnancy or HIV/STD infection.

2. Are based on theoretical approaches that have been demonstrated to influence other health-related behavior and identify specific important sexual antecedents to be targeted.

3. Deliver and consistently reinforce a clear message about abstaining from sexual activity and/or using condoms or other forms of contraception. This appears to be one of the most important characteristics that distinguishes effective from ineffective programs.

4. Provide basic, accurate information about the risks of teen sexual activity and about ways to avoid intercourse or use methods of protection against pregnancy and STDs.

5. Include activities that address social pressures that influence sexual behavior.

6. Provide examples of and practice with communication, negotiation, and refusal skills.

7. Employ teaching methods designed to involved participants and have them personalize the information.

8. Incorporate behavior goals, teaching methods, and materials that are appropriate to the age, sexual experience, and culture of the students.

9. Last a sufficient length of time (i.e., more than a few hours).

10. Select teachers or peer leaders who believe in the program and then provide them with adequate training.

Generally speaking, short-term curricula – whether abstinence-only or sexuality education programs – do not have measurable impact on the behavior of teens.

SOURCE: Kirby Douglas, Emerging Answers, Research findings on Programs To Reduce Teen Pregnancy, May 2001