0920-16ML Att 4-Middle School Student Focus Group Guide

Form Approved

OMB No. 0920-New

Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

Student and Teacher Perspectives on Sexual Health Education in Fort Worth Independent School District

Attachment 4

Middle School Student Focus Group Guide

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Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD)

Middle School Student Focus Group Discussion Guide

Moderator Initials: ________ Focus Group Start Time: ________

Date of Focus Group: ________ Focus Group End Time: _________

Welcome and Overview:

Thank you again for coming to our discussion today. We are __________ & __________from ICF International, a research and evaluation company that is helping your school district learn more about your health course. We appreciate you agreeing to talk openly about your health class and some of the lessons that were taught by your teacher. We know that some of the things may be hard to talk about so we would like to encourage everyone to respect each other. For us, that means (1) giving everyone in the group a chance to speak, (2) not judging other people or their ideas, and (3) keeping everything we discuss private (not telling other students or teachers what your classmates may have said during this focus group).

During the focus group today, I will be asking the group different questions. You are really the experts on what your class experiences have been like, so we would like to hear from all of you. We want to hear your opinions about the health lessons on abstinence, puberty, and romantic relationships as well as better understand how students your age feel about these topics. We will be recording the discussion and _________ will be taking notes to help me remember what we discussed. But, no one will be able to put your name with any of the comments you make so what you say will stay private.

At the end of our discussion, you will receive a $30 gift card as a thank you for your time.

Before we get started, let’s go over a few ground rules. [Note to moderator: Refer to pre-written ground rules (on flip chart or board) and go over aloud with group.]

• Give your complete attention to the group (e.g., no cell phone use, no side conversations).

• Participate as much or as little as you want.

• Allow everyone to participate.

• Don’t judge other people’s comments – they may have a different experience than you did.

• Try to speak up, speak clearly, and speak one at a time,

• Keep things private – what is said in the group stays in the group. Please do not share what is said with others outside of the group.

• Please do not use the real names of other students in our discussion,

OK, before we start, do you have any questions?

[Note to moderator: Answer any questions posed by participants]

Great, I will now turn on the recorder and we will get started. [Note to Moderator: Start audio recorder.]

Ice Breaker

We are going to begin our discussion today by talking about your experiences in your health class this year and how different health topics were taught. After, we will spend the rest of the time talking about how the material may have impacted you or other students in your class.

So, how many of you know the game “hot potato”? To warm up, we are going to play a quick game. I am going to pass the ball to someone and I want you to tell me one thing that someone your age can do to stay healthy. After you answer, I want you to pass the ball to someone else. Remember, you must answer and toss the ball quickly so that your hand does not burn up from the hot potato!

Let’s begin…. [Note to Moderator: Begin game and allow group to play for a few minutes. Remind participants to answer quickly and that there are no wrong answers if they are holding the ball for too long. If possible, try to incorporate answers students gave throughout discussion where there is a natural fit. ]

Excellent, you gave some really good answers. Those were all great examples of things that young people can do to stay healthy.

General Sexual Health

Since all of you are taking health this year, I know there are a number of different topics that you cover. For now though, let’s think about sexual health topics in particular, which include abstinence, puberty, and romantic relationships. Whenever we say “abstinence” we mean choosing not to do any sexual activity that can result in pregnancy or an STD. “Puberty” is the time when your body changes from a child’s body to an adult body, and “romantic relationships” are relationships that involve feelings of love or affection.”

1. When you found out you were going to talk about these things in your health class, how did you feel? What were you hoping to learn?

[Note to Moderator: Please have definitions of terms (abstinence, puberty, and romantic relationships) pre-written on flip chart to refer to during discussion.]

Quality of Delivery of Sexual Health Lessons

The way you learn and what you find useful from a class is often influenced by your teacher. So, I want to talk for a while about your health teacher. I realize you may have different teachers, which is why it is important for us to hear from several of you. Your experiences might be the same, or they might be very different. We won’t tell your teacher or the school district what is said about any specific teacher, so you can be completely honest.

2. Did you like the way your teacher taught health? Why or why not? (Think about the way he or she teaches all kinds of health topics—not just those related to sexual health.)

Probe: What makes him or her a “good” or “not-so-good” health teacher?

3. How comfortable was your teacher discussing abstinence, puberty, and romantic relationships? (For example, did he or she seem to act different or weird teaching these topics compared to other health topics like healthy eating or exercise?)

Probes:

1. Were there any topics related to abstinence, puberty, or romantic relationships that seemed to make your teacher particularly uncomfortable (for example, getting your period, waiting to have sex, having erections)?

2. What makes you think your teacher was uncomfortable talking about these things?

4. Did your teacher make the classroom a comfortable place to talk about these things? How so?

5. How comfortable were you asking questions about any of the topics covered by the sexual health lessons? Was it easy or was it hard to ask questions? What made it easy or hard?

6. Did you feel like your teacher was able to answer the questions you and your classmates had about abstinence, puberty and relationships?

7. Were there any questions that your teacher either would not or could not answer? Tell us about that. (What were the questions about? Did they forget to answer them or just not want to answer them?)

8. Other than the teacher reading information to you, what types of class activities do you remember doing in the sexual health lessons? (For example, did you do things like role playing, a skit, or a play?)

Probe: What did you think of the homework or activities in the workbook or student journal? Was this something your teacher used often?

9. When your teacher taught you things like how to have a conversation with someone you that you like, did you have time to practice it in class? Was this enough time to practice? Why or why not?

10. Thinking about everything that was covered in class related to sexual health, is there a topic you wanted to spend more time on or anything else you wish you had learned about?

11. If you could tell your teacher how she or he could help next year’s students learn more about abstinence, puberty, or romantic relationships, what would you say?

Probe: What could your teacher do to teach the information better?

Student Attitudes/Perceptions about Abstinence, Puberty, and Relationships

Okay, so now we are going to change topics. We’ve been talking about your health teachers and how they taught. Now I want to ask you about how the sexual health lessons did or did not change your attitudes about abstinence, puberty, and romantic relationships or the attitudes of other students in your class.

12. Do you think that students your age know about how their body changes during puberty and where to find more information if they need it? Why or why not?

13. Did anything you learned in health class change the way you think about peer pressure and how to avoid risky situations? If so, what did you learn and how did your attitude change?

14. Did anything you learned in class help you learn how to show romantic feelings in healthy ways? If so, how?

15. What are some of the benefits to being abstinent that you learned about in your class? [Note to Moderator: Use flip chart or board to list benefits and direct students to list when talking.] Were any of these things that you had not thought about before? If so, which ones?

16. Did anything you learned in class make you feel more confident in your ability to wait to have sex? If so, what did you learn that helped make you more confident?

17. Now that you have had health class, do you think you will be able to make healthy decisions about abstinence and romantic relationships? Why or why not?

Final Thoughts and Closing

Thanks so much for spending your time with me today and sharing all your ideas and experiences. This ends our discussion. Do you have any questions or anything extra you would like to share? [Note to Moderator: Allow sufficient time/pause for group to answer.]

We appreciate your sharing your thoughts today. It has been extremely helpful. [Note to Moderator: Turn off audio recorder and provide incentive.]

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