![[Table of Contents]](/icons/up.gif){kind=icon}
| Graduation, Reality, and Dual-Role Skills (GRADS). A program to keep pregnant and parenting teens in school, with additional goals of encouraging good health care practices and helping young parents set occupational goals, for grades 7-12. |
Audience Approved by PEP for all pregnant and parenting teens, male and female, in grades 7-12 from city, exempted village, local, and joint vocational school districts in urban, suburban, and rural communities.
Description Graduation, Reality, And Dual-Role Skills (GRADS) is a family and consumer-sciences instructional and intervention program. Regular GRADS classes are supplemented with seminars and individual projects. Teachers trained in the program serve one school or travel among three or four. The instructional component focuses on use of the 1300+ page teacher-written Adolescent Parent Resource Guide, which provides the practical problems, concepts, and strategies which guide the development of skills in teenage parents. The guide discusses communication and skills necessary for effective problem solving in the teen family. It recognizes the stresses affecting pregnant teens, focusing on management skills required for teen family wellness. Central themes of the guide and the curriculum (which emphasizes practical problem solving) are the perennial and practical problems of the adolescent parent at home, school, and work; and the development of knowledge and skills to solve problems in real life, including identifying alternatives, examining consequences, considering personal goals and values, scrutinizing decisions, and taking morally defensible actions. The four content areas include positive self, pregnancy, parenting, and economic independence. Audio visuals, supplemental texts, and other materials are also part of the program. The advisory committee component and home and community outreach component seek to build strong relationships with students through home visits and/or contacts with family. Collaboration and agency linkages are necessary for addressing the obstacles teen parents face to being able to remain in school until graduation. The evaluation/research component seeks to identify and report student and program outcomes. All programs report outcomes, and a state and national report is published annually.
Evidence of Effectiveness Pregnant and parenting teens enrolled in the program are more likely to remain in school until graduation, during pregnancy, and after childbirth; they have also significantly increased their knowledge of positive parenting practices as measured by pre- and posttest instruments. Pregnant mothers are also more likely to deliver healthy babies than teens not enrolled in the program.
Requirements A certified family and consumer science teacher must secure the resource guide and attend a two-day inservice training. Needed equipment includes student tables and chairs, a teacher desk, file cabinets, lockable storage, audiovisual equipment, and a telephone for private conversation available at all times.
Costs Awareness presentation (one to two hours) costs consist of travel expenses for the presenter. Training (two days) costs consist of travel expenses for the presenter, and the purchase price of the Adolescent Parent Resource Guide, which must be obtained for each teacher or school team, at a cost of $78. Cost sharing may be requested for the GRADS Implementation Notebook (the training materials).
Services In addition to training and materials, the program provides updates, technical assistance, and processes for monitoring and evaluation of the program's effectiveness. Awareness materials are available at no cost.
Developmental Funding: Comprehensive Employment Training and Administration.
PEP No. 90-08 (2/9/90)
-###-
[Score for College (SCORE)]