Teen sexual activity is costly, not just for teens, but also for society. Teens who engage in sexual activity risk a host of negative outcomes including STD infection, emotional and psychological harm, and out-of-wedlock childbearing. Genuine abstinence education is therefore crucial to the physical and psycho-emotional well-being of the nation's…

Science-Based Approaches (SBAs) have a number of specific characteristics. First, the development and implementation of an SBA must be fully informed by rigorous research. Second, an SBA must use strategies accepted in the scientific community as thorough and reliable. Third, the evaluation of an SBA must have shown it to be effective in achieving…

The reproductive health of American adolescents has been, and continues to be, a matter of serious concern. America's teen birth rate--already the highest among developed nations--is again on the rise, and rates of sexually transmitted diseases among American teens are very high. As such, the development and identification of effective…

The problem of productivity in evaluative research is addressed from three perspectives in health education. Two perspectives are scientific, while the third is practical and deals with the implementation of evaluative research. This third perspective is illustrated through an example of a health education program about sexually transmitted…

Although a necessary component of good program management and accountability, monitoring data do not usually provide answers to questions about whether, how, and why a specific program works. More in-depth, systematic inquiry is needed to do this. In this article, the authors focus on the evaluation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-prevention…

The evaluation field in the United States has seen an increase in evaluations with and of diverse cultural populations, including racial or ethnic populations as well as those cultures and subcultures with special interests, concerns, or needs, such as the youth and gay and lesbian communities. These evaluations have occurred as the populations…

Describes the Wisconsin Youth HIV Prevention Institution, a program to enhance HIV prevention peer education for reaching youth at high risk, focusing on its intensive multicultural education and empowerment approach. Summarizes evaluation findings related to participation in the program and discusses implications of the program for HIV prevention…

International commitment to the human immunodeficiency virus-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic has grown rapidly in recent years, stimulated by the leadership of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and its cosponsors and supported by a range of new mechanisms. These include the World Bank's Multi-Country…

Conventional monitoring and evaluation (M&E) textbooks rarely address the various political influences exerted on M&E of public health programs. Policymakers are often the largest consumers of M&E information; indeed, the genesis of many public health program evaluation efforts is a need to inform public policy. People define "political…

Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) are the most pervasive, destructive, and costly communicable disease problems facing America's youth. The need for and appropriateness of school-based STD education, some elements of high-quality STD education, and strategies for dealing constructively with controversy are discussed. (JN)

In this article, the authors first highlight the experiences in global monitoring and evaluation (M&E) coordination and collaboration. They then describe the collaboration experiences of two U.S. government agencies active in HIV prevention and care, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Centers for Disease Control and…

This report evaluated the impact of the Help-Neighborhood Center Program which was designed to inform parents of fifth through eighth grade students about health problems and community concerns. Four thousand elementary and junior high school students and 100 parents participated in workshops on venereal disease, drug abuse, welfare rights, mental…

Outlines steps taken by the University of California San Francisco in achieving partnership with a local urban school district to implement a school-based sexually transmitted disease/human immunodeficiency virus prevention program. Emphasizes the process of recruiting school districts, health education liaisons, teachers, parents, and students.…

All Individuals Deserve Support (AIDS) is a collaborative prevention program between graduate students in a Community/Agency Counseling program and the Children's Home Homeless Youth Program in Peoria, Illinois. Graduate students developed a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention program for homeless youth as a class project. Project design involved:…

This report summarizes three bodies of research on teenage pregnancy and programs to reduce the risk of teenage pregnancy. Studies included in this report were completed in 1980 or later, conducted in the United States or Canada, targeted adolescents, employed an experimental or quasi-experimental design, had a sample size of at least 100 in the…