257508 Uneven Progress: An assessment of sex education policies and practices in California public schools

Monday, October 29, 2012

Sarah Combellick, MPH , Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Claire Brindis, DrPH , Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
California has an established leadership history of promoting the sexual and reproductive health of its adolescent population. It has paved the way for other states by pioneering a legislative emphasis on evidence-based, medically accurate sex education. In 2003, the State Senate passed the landmark California Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Education Act (SB 71), which strengthened and clarified the Education Code. The current study aims to examine the status of sex education in California public schools following implementation of SB 71. A survey was distributed to a representative sample of unified school district officials in California (representing 33 districts). A significant number of districts had policies which did not comply with the requirements of SB71. For example, 21% of districts had non-compliant policies that parents must sign a permission slip for their child to participate in HIV/AIDS prevention education. Additionally, 19% reported that in their instruction, birth control methods were mentioned, but most of the time was spent on the benefits of abstinence. Furthermore, 16% of districts reported that they teach that “condoms are not an effective means of preventing pregnancies and STDs/HIV”. Moreover, many school districts did not cover sex education topics which are mandated by the law, such as emergency contraception. Several districts combined different sections of textbooks and curricula, often omitting parts of or adding to a curriculum. Some districts used written materials that were out-of-date. In spite of legislative support for quality sex education, there remains substantial room for improvement in school-based instruction in California.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe California’s legislative history regarding sex education, including the key components of SB71. 2. Explain five major items of concern with sex education implementation in California public schools. 3. Consider goals for improving the quality of California sex education through district-level changes and local and/or statewide advocacy efforts.

Keywords: Health Education, Adolescent Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been a research associate and project director for research and evaluation projects at UCSF for five years. For this specific project, I was involved in the study design, survey development, data collection, data analysis and presentation of findings.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3294.0: PRSH Posters: Sex Ed