An Evaluation of the Yes You Can... Make Smart Choices Curriculum

Launched by NEW JERSEY PHYSICIANS ADVISORY GROUP · Apr 2, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying the effectiveness of a program called "Yes You Can... Make Smart Choices!" designed to help prevent teen pregnancy and promote healthy choices among adolescents. The program will be tested in 13 public high schools in Newark, New Jersey, where 9th-grade students will participate. The main goal is to see if students who go through this program are less likely to engage in sexual intercourse within a year compared to those who do not participate in the program.

To be eligible for this study, students must be in 9th grade at the participating schools and not have serious cognitive or behavioral challenges that would prevent them from being in a regular classroom setting. Parents will receive information about the study and have the option to opt their child out if they choose. However, even if a parent opts out, their child will still receive the standard sexual education provided by the school. This study aims to gather important information that could help improve teen pregnancy prevention programs in schools and communities.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• • Youth served and recruited will be limited to 9th graders from health classrooms at the NPS sites participating in this program who do not have severe cognitive, mental, or behavioral impairments. Students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) who are in a restricted placement due to such issues will not be able to participate in the program as they will not be a part of the mainstream classrooms where the program will take place. Students with an IEP who are placed in regular classroom settings (i.e., mainstreamed) will be included in the program.
• • New Jersey law only requires passive parental consent to be obtained, using a written notice about the evaluation provided to students to bring home with an option for parents to sign the notice to opt their child/student out of the evaluation. If parents wish to opt their child/student out of the evaluation, the child will still receive the program because it is the Newark Board of Education-approved sexual education curriculum treatment group health classes. When the Educator goes back to the classroom to pre-survey, they will collect any 'opt-out' notices and survey only those students whose parents have not elected to 'opt-out' their child.
• • Ineligible students include students with IEP who are in a restricted placement and students that bring back 'opt-out' written notices. Since we are using the same form for treatment and control schools (making it unclear to parents what group their child is in), we do not expect differences in opt-out rates between treatment and control schools.