Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Sidi Lakhdar
Committee Member
Stan Hannah
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic achievement, adolescent pregnancy, adolescents, comprehensive school health education, contraception, dropout prevention, early parenthood, health services, Healthy Start Program, infant health care, maternal health care, Miami-Dade County, Miami-Dade County Health Department, Miami-Dade County Public School System, parenting teens, pregnancy, program effectiveness, school-based services, secondary education, social services, social workers, teenage parent programs, youth programs
Abstract
Based on alarming results of adolescent pregnancy in several areas of Miami-Dade County for the past 3 years, programmatic research methods and strategies were implemented in a joint collaboration with the Miami-Dade County Public School system and Miami-Dade County Health Department, Healthy Start Division, to address the issue of high teenage pregnancy in 3 targeted high schools.
The Miami-Dade County Public School system is required to provide an education for pregnant and parenting teens, coordinate the health and psychological services, and provide ancillary services to the students who attend the program. Although the Continuing Opportunity for a Purposeful Education Centers offer a comprehensive array of services on site, pregnant and parenting students in their home schools do not have the benefit of comprehensive onsite services.
The purpose of this applied dissertation was to provide resources that improved health and social services for teen parents by developing a cadre of social workers and paraprofessionals to assist the Teenage Parent Program school contacts at 3 pilot senior high schools in the Miami-Dade County Public School System. The role of the cadre of professionals was to develop, implement, and monitor maternal and infant health care plans for parenting tends and their children
One leading indicator for teen pregnancy is poor academic skills. According to research, this is true regardless of the students’ ethnicity or socioeconomic status (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994). In addition, pregnancy and parenting are the main reasons for female students dropping out of school (Heights & Trad, 1999). The success of the Healthy Start Program indicated that these services were useful and vital in the success of these pregnant and parenting teenagers.