Taking Charge:
A Life Skills Group for
Adolescent Mothers
Program development and
evaluation through the evolution of a
school-based program
Mary Beth Harris, PhD
University of Southern California
San Diego Center
June 28, 2011
Getting Started:
Developing the Program Should
Inform the Evaluation
1.
2.
Why this program is important. What is the problem?
What contributes to the problem, who is affected, what are the
consequences for those affected and for society.
3. Programs & practices that target the problem and evidence that shows
these programs and practices are effective.
4. Goals for the local program or practice. What parts of this problem you
plan to impact.
5. Specifics of your program - what it involves and how it works.
6. Why your program should work – the change process.
7. Evidence that says this program should be effective with the students,
families, etc. at your school.
8. Who needs to be involved and what they will each be doing.
9. Time required to develop, prepare, and present the program.
10. Cost of the program in actual $$ and in resources.
The History of Taking Charge
A call from school social workers on
the U.S.-Mexico border for help with
keeping teen mothers in school and
helping them to graduate.
THE PROBLEM
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
1. School Dropout
60% of pregnant and parenting
students drop out of school and
do not graduate.
Attendance & grades predict dropout.
Attendance drops 30% with pregnancy.
Attendance directly impacts grades.
2. Poverty
• Women who give birth before age 20
are 10 times more likely to live in
poverty with their children.
• 54% less likely to have a high school
diploma, GED, or career training by 20.
• 62% less likely to sustain jobs with
adequate pay through adult life.
3. Consequences for children
of adolescent mothers
• 25% more likely to have developmental
problems.
• More frequently fall behind in school.
• More often have behavioral problems.
• Boys more likely to be incarcerated
• More likely to become teen parents.
Review the Literature
to find…
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What causes the problem
What research recommends to be done
What programs are already being done
What evidence shows that these work
Explanations for why they should work
How they DO work – what features do the
best ones have in common?
A lit search highlighted
four challenging domains for
teen mothers
Education
Relation
ships
Career
Parenting
9
School Challenges
• Stigma with teachers
• Isolation, loss with peers
• Demands of parenting and childcare
• Conflicting school & home requirements
Personal Relationships:
Challenges and Needs
Family members, particularly mothers
Father of baby
Father’s family
Friends and peers
Parenting
• Knowledge of child development is linked
to child neglect and abuse.
• Childcare skills are linked to the quality of
mother-child bonding.
• Parenting efficacy, a sense of parenting
competence, impacts overall child
adjustment.
Career Planning:
Too soon to care?
• Teen mothers & their children are 10 times
more likely to live in poverty.
• Early career preparation predicts
economic self-sufficiency in adult years.
• Career planning in adolescence earns
45% more over a lifetime.
Components of best programs &
practices addressing these areas
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Social skills-building
Delivered in groups
Task-centered
A cognitive-behavioral base
Developmentally appropriate
What adolescent issues are these
programs targeting?
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school drop-out
transitioning out of foster care
physical & developmental disabilities
immigrants & refugees
incarcerated youth
substance abuse & addiction
Teen pregnancy? Generally not.
What kind of programs DO focus
on adolescent mothers?
Programs to inform and train teen mothers
on childcare, nutrition, child development,
sexuality, STDs.
None focused solely on mastering skills that
support school achievement, personal
relationships, parenting efficacy, or career
development.
Skills-Building Approach
• Considering the 4 areas of challenge for
teen mothers - and
• Considering how these fit with those
targeted by skills-building interventions,
• I focused on skills-building with teen
mothers in developing Taking Charge
Program Goals & Objectives
Program Goal:
To strengthen skills and behaviors in pregnant
and parenting students that will increase
school retention and high school graduation.
Program Objectives:
1. To improve academic achievement
2. To improve problem-solving skills
3. To increase active coping skills
What kind of program can
best achieve these goals?
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A strengths-based approach
Developmentally relevant
A cognitive-behavioral explanation
A group format
Based on social learning theory
Using a task-centered model
8 to 12 sessions
A strengths perspective assumes …
• Teen mothers need immediate life skills
that most of us master in our twenties.
• Need for experience and skills is the root
of most problems that young mothers
confront, rather than personal deficits.
• Adolescent mothers can master skills
to manage their roles as students, parents,
providers.
Developmental Theory says…
Adolescents are only beginning to
develop the skills they will need as
adults.
Pregnancy compounds the
developmental tasks of adolescence;
it does not replace or resolve them.
Adolescent mothers are still
adolescents.
Cognitive Behavioral theory
explains behavior…
1. How we perceive and understand things
determines how we act and react.
2. People cope with problems by
(A) Avoiding or ignoring them
(B) Accepting & adjusting to them
(C) Actively trying to resolve them
3. We develop life skills by observing
others, practicing, and mastering.
Research on coping shows…
• People who believe they can change things are
more likely to take action.
• Adults tend to take action.
• Adolescents & children tend to avoid or adapt and
accept.
• Taking action leads to better results.
Benefits of a
Task-Centered Group
• Cognitively: Participants experience how their own
behaviors link to managing their problems.
• Behaviorally: They gain practice in trying out and
mastering new behaviors and skills.
• They can practice new skills in the context of a safe
peer group.
The Change Process:
How it all works
1. Self-identify goals in school,
relationships, parenting, career.
2. Practice new behaviors by performing
self-appointed tasks.
3. Plan and practice tasks in the group,
and also review the results.
4. Develop active coping and problemsolving skills, which promotes selfefficacy.
Six-Step Social
Problem-Solving Process
1) Identify the problem & the goal
2) Identify underlying causes
3) Identify resources
4) Explore all possible solutions
5) Select the most feasible plan
6) Carry out the plan.
Incentives & Reinforcement
External rewards provide motivation
until internal satisfaction kicks in.
Food - Lunch or a snack
Small surprise gifts
Point System with awards
The Point System
Points awarded for these behaviors:
• Attending school
• Doing homework assignments
• Doing extra Credit assignments
• Attending group
• Completing tasks
Benefits of a
Practice Manual
• Program continuity & reliability.
• Standard training for group leaders.
• Session-by-session guidance.
Session 1
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Explain purpose of the group
Play icebreaker game
Explore topics and activities
Introduce the point system
Discuss importance of confidentiality
Sign confidentiality contract
Invite suggestions for ground rules
Session 2
• During lunch or snack, explain the problemsolving process.
• On a flipchart, lead group through the
problem-solving process with a hypothetical
young mother and her school goal.
Session 3
1. During lunch or snack briefly review the
problem-solving process.
2. Ask the group to identify things they
would like to achieve with school. Write
their comments on the board or flipchart.
3. Distribute the goals & tasks worksheets.
4. Help members identify their school goal.
Work the process to identify 2 tasks.
5. Give everyone a surprise as they leave.
Session 4
• During lunch members share how their tasks
went and get feedback from the group.
• Discuss this week’s goal: Relationships. Ask
participants to identify a relationship and
what they would like to see different. Write
these on a flipchart sheet.
• Distribute goal & tasks worksheets and help
members identify relationship goal and tasks.
Sessions 5 and 6
• Discuss how last week’s tasks turned out.
• Discuss this week’s goal. (Session 5 Parenting.
Session 6 Career Planning)
• Write comments on a flipchart page.
• Pass out goal & task worksheets. Guide
members in identifying goals & tasks.
• Members get a surprise at end of session 6.
Session 7
• Review tasks results during the week and
solicit feedback.
• Members identify tasks that they haven’t yet
accomplished and discuss these.
• Rethink and plan new tasks or ways to
accomplish old tasks.
• Discuss next session being the last and what
that means. Invite group to plan a special
activity or treat.
Session 8
• Discuss how final tasks turned out.
• Group discusses “What has the group been
like for you? What have you gotten from this
experience? What do you believe you will
continue to use from the group in dealing with
problems?
• Tally final points.
• Present every member with a certificate.
• Present awards to those with earned points.
Summary of Sessions
• Sessions 1 & 2: Discuss group purpose, activities, rules.
Learn the problem-solving process
• Sessions 3-6: Members identify goals and
carry out 2 tasks for each goal.
• Session 7:
Focus on unfinished tasks.
Plan for disengagement.
• Session 8:
Discuss accomplishments.
Plan for further work beyond the group.
Receive awards for points earned.
• To extend to 12 sessions: Devote 2 sessions rather than 1
to each goal.
Evaluating the Program
Is it working?
STUDY 1: 73 Latina teen mothers, 5 urban high schools,
U.S.-Mexico border.
STUDY 2: 46 teen mothers, varied cultures/races,
1 urban alternative school.
STUDY 3: 19 teen mothers, 1 semi-rural alternative school.
CURRENT PROPOSAL: Teen mothers, urban high schools,
East Coast.
Step 1: Refer to
Program Goal(s)
• Program goal is the overall change
expected as a result of the program.
• It helps when the goal is compatible with
goals and priorities of the school.
• It should be specific enough to suggest
measurable objectives.
Outcome Objectives: Measurable
aims that support the goal
GOAL: To strengthen skills and behaviors in
pregnant and parenting students that
support school retention and high school
graduation.
• Increase attendance by 20%
• Increase grade averages by 5 points
• Improve Problem-Solving Skills by 20%
• Increase active coping skills by 20%
How will the outcomes be
defined & measured?
1. Academic achievement: Defined as attendance
and grade average. Both can be measured with
school records.
2. Problem-solving skill : Defined by the Social
Problem-Solving Inventory Revised, a self-report
questionnaire that measures problem-solving
behaviors.
3. Active coping: Defined by the A-COPE, a selfreport questionnaire for adolescents that
measures coping styles.
Objectives and Measurment
• From the Goal we develop objectives
• Outcome objectives are the specific changes
expected.
• These must be measurable.
– Self-report with standardized instruments
– Behavioral changes often documented in school or
other records
About standardized instruments
• Changes in most cognition/affect can be
measured. Usually questionnaires with scaled
response choices of 1 to 5.
• Choose one tested with people in the same
age group and with other similarities to your
program recipients.
• Try to choose one that has a .80 or higher
reliability and validity quotient.
Behavioral Outcomes
Behavioral outcomes identify changes in
actual behavior such as increased school
attendance or drop-out reduction.
1. Stakeholder groups understand at a
glance.
2. Gives feedback over time rather than
subjective snapshots.
Evaluation Design
3 feasible program evaluation designs in
schools:
1. Single group with a pretest & posttest.
2. Two groups, non-randomized, with pretest,
posttest, and a possible follow-up.
3.Time-line, with multiple points of
measurement.
Design Diagrams
Design Diagrams
O X O
Weakest but most common:
Simple pretest-posttest
Design Diagrams
O X O
Weakest but most common:
Simple pretest-posttest
O X O
O O
Strongest but least feasible:
Comparison group pretest-posttest
Moderately strong and feasible
O O X O X O X O O
How do I analyze data?
Results can be determined by simply calculating
the percentages or raw numbers identified in
outcome objectives.
Examples: At pretest the average attendance of
the Taking Charge group members was 77%.
At posttest the average attendance was 91%,
an increase of 14%. The average score on the
A-COPE at pretest was 58, and at posttest it
was 71, an increase of 13 points or 36%.
So, was the goal achieved?
• Outcome objectives identified changes that
closely reflect the goal of the program.
• Each outcome objective identified a
measurable degree of change.
• When these degrees of change are achieved,
you have EVIDENCE that the program goal was
achieved.