HIV/AIDS prevention in a large urban school district.
Int Conf AIDS 1992 Jul 19-24; 8:We58 (abstract no. WeD 1070) Baker C, Rich R, Wulf K; Los Angeles Unified School District, CA.
This paper addresses the "lessons learned," i.e., problems and successes, in implementing an HIV/AIDS curriculum into the instructional program for four years at the elementary, junior high, and senior high grade levels of the 600,000 students in Los Angeles Unified School District. While Los Angeles is one of the world-wide centers of HIV infection, with more than 11,000 cases in Los Angeles County alone, the area nevertheless is representative of large urban school districts across the United States in terms its teachers' lack of earlier training about the infection and difficulty in educating parents to the need for in-school instruction regarding HIV. This paper addresses four major components of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) HIV/AIDS Prevention Project: a) training of teachers, b) parent involvement, c) monitoring of classrooms to determine implementation, and d) student pre-post knowledge and attitude testing. Each of these topics will be discussed from the point of view of the author of the curriculum, the project coordinator, and the project evaluator. Strategies will be recommended for large-scale teacher training, emphasizing ingredients for success; for parent meetings to build parent support (across a variety of cultural groups represented in the Los Angeles population); for effective teacher monitoring; and for appropriate student testing to measure growth in knowledge, attitudes, and skills as a result of the instruction. Four recommendations, based upon the LAUSD experience are: 1. At the outset form an advisory council comprised of representatives of the community (health-care providers, mayor's office, etc.) to review the HIV curriculum and endorse its use in the schools. 2. Implement the curriculum only after intensive teacher training, beginning with an initial training goal of one teacher in each school. 3. Seek parent support by holding parent meetings, in the parents' own native language, at each school site before any implementation of the HIV curriculum. The trained teacher at that site can help with the meeting. 4. Monitor implementation of the HIV curriculum in a sample of classes where teachers have been trained. The presentation will include samples of the HIV/AIDS elementary, junior high, and senior high curricula, in addition to evaluation instruments used with teachers, students, and parents. At the end of the presentation time will be allocated to questions and discussion.
Keywords: AEGIS, Schools, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Curriculum, Health Education, Teaching, Students, HIV Infections, Program Evaluation, Faculty, Inservice Training, Attitude, Attitude to Health, Education, Continuing, Los Angeles, United States, prevention & control, education, ICA8
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WeD1070
