Unit 5 Assignment 2

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Capella University *

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5016

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Health Science

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Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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1 Program Evaluation and Methodology Emily Williams Capella University SWK5015: Advanced Statistics, Research, and Program Evaluation Dr. Adam Quinn May 10, 2023

2 Program Evaluation and Methodology Introduction Becoming a teen parent can change the course of an individual’s life, interestingly enough the consequences of teen births, low socioeconomic status and educational challenges, can also be predictors of teen pregnancy. In 2021, according to the statistics drawn by the UNICEF, across the world 14 percent of adolescent girls gave birth before the age of 18. There are a number of risks associated with early pregnancy and delivery, including but not limited to mental health disorders, lack of education, and homelessness (UNICEF, 2023). This agency provides an eight-week course for teen parents in our rural town to assist teen parents of both genders to have a better understanding of child development and reduce the burden of parental stress. Program evaluations are vital to program development, implementation and sustainability. Strong program evaluations not only assist agencies in identifying the programs to invest money into but also help determine how to how to sustain a program and assure it is operating to the best practice standards (CDC, 2023). By increasing the use of program evaluations we can develop and continuously improve programs as they currently being run. Description As stated briefly above this agency provides an eight week parent course for teen parents in an urban environment. This program is open to both teen mothers and teen fathers no matter the age of their children. Local schools, hospitals, social services, and the department of children and family services provide referrals to families in the community for this program. This program provides weekly parenting classes focused on child development, effective communication, stress management, and compassion. This program’s goal is to increase

3 knowledge of child development, increased competency in parenting, decreased stress and increased ability to manage stress, as well as confidence in compassionate behavioral management. Research Questions Does the implementation of additional education for teens and their families decrease the likelihood of teen pregnancy? Does the application of additional support for teen parents decrease the challenges teen parents experience in self-sufficiency? Independent Variable - Informational and educational programs Dependent Variable- Teen Pregnancy Methodology A longitudinal data collection plan would be most appropriate for this evaluation as it would allow for a few years of data to be collected to establish a pattern of the program’s effectiveness (Caruana, et al., 2015). Additionally, utilizing a mixed methods approach to data would be most beneficial allowing for us to get information utilizing qualitative and quantitative questions. Then data could be collected on years of schooling completed, number of pregnancies before 18, as well as getting an understanding of how the education in these courses effected the competence and stress levels during parenting. Rather than utilizing a control group and comparing data between two separate groups I feel it would be beneficial to do before and after data of the same group to see if the additional information provided during these courses has

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