ERIC Number: ED383465
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1995-Feb
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Prevention Initiative Program. Final Evaluation Report Fiscal 1994.
O'Neill, Patricia; Borger, Jeanne
This report provides an evaluation of the Prevention Initiative Program's second-funded year in the Chicago Public Schools. The program's purpose was to reduce school failure by providing health and social services to young families, improving parenting skills, and assisting young mothers to complete high school. The program served pregnant or parenting teens who had dropped out of Tesla Alternative High School, and those who attended Simpson Alternative High School for Pregnant Girls. The program featured case management, in-home parenting sessions, and group-based parent training sessions. The evaluation was based on the observation of program activities, surveys from participating parents, interviews with service providers, and review of program attendance and activity records. The Tesla program developed an Individual Service Plan for each Family. Thirty-seven of 60 mothers returned to school and 40 families demonstrated improvement in parenting skills, suggesting that home visits made by the social service providers had a positive effect on the mothers. Simpson High School assessed the project's success by having each student prepare and display a Parenting Product Portfolio that promoted awareness of good parenting practices. Peers participated in evaluating the portfolios. Recommendations to improve delivery of services to young families through the program included providing home-based instruction from both schools, designing and administering pre- and post-evaluation instruments for participants to complete in order to better assess the outcomes of the program, and providing opportunities for parent-child interactions to enhance parenting skills and teach child development. The program highlighted a vital need in the community to reach young teenage mothers through the high schools and provide parenting training and support. (Includes the Illinois State Board of Education form for Demographic information.) (AA)
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative; Numerical/Quantitative Data; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Chicago Public Schools, IL. Dept. of Research, Evaluation, and Planning.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A