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Objectives: Expectant and parenting students (EPS) at community colleges are an underserved and often under-resourced group. In a rural, Midwestern state, the department of public health was awarded the Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) grant to assist this population. This paper outlines the results of the implementation evaluation and offers suggestions for programs and evaluators working with this population in the community college setting. Methods: We conducted a multicomponent evaluation utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods. Evaluation activities included tracking activities/services, surveys and interviews with participants, and interviews with community college staff implementing grant activities. The research team calculated frequencies for quantitative data and coded qualitative data for themes. Results: Data from the community colleges and students' self-reports revealed that EPS most commonly received concrete support from the program, often in the form of stipends or gift cards. Students reported that concrete support was beneficial and helped to relieve financial stress during the semester. Students' major barriers to participation were lack of knowledge about the program and busy schedules that prevented them from accessing PAF services. Staff reported that difficulty identifying EPS and the short one-year project period were major implementation challenges. Conclusions for Practice: We recommend that community colleges work to identify EPS, use fellow EPS to recruit program participants, and implement programming that works with the students' schedules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of education for a student with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is to help the person achieve a productive and independent life. This paper discusses the results of qualitative research that examine how educators in some Midwestern school districts describe the development of basic literacy skills by high school students with ASD. Important findings include the school districts' perceptions that (a) legal regulations often hamper the efforts of professionals who wish to impart literacy skills to students and (b) school districts' perceptions that parents have limited interest in literacy skills. Recommendations include suggestions about how laws could be modified and how pairing vocational rehabilitation counselors with professionals who work with students with ASD in public schools could improve the quality of life for students with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies a sociology of childhood approach to the study of the sexual socialisation of young children in the USA. It examines both children's and parents' active participation in this dynamic and collaborative process through conversations between 49 parents and their 54 preschool children that were audio-recorded while they read books about ‘where babies come from’. Parents also participated in a brief survey. The authors found that, while parents do foreclose such conversations as previous research has indicated, they also use a variety of other tactics, including adding information and emotion management. These findings illustrate children's active engagement in their own sexual socialisation through their questions, confusions and distractions, which affected the amount and type of information that was elicited. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose/Objectives: To determine the feasibility of Web-based, multisite data collection using electronic instruments and the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of that data collection method to parents of children with cancer.Design: Prototype development and feasibility study.Setting Three Children's Oncology Group centers in the United States.Sample: 20 parents of children with cancer who made a treatment decision within the previous six months.Methods: Eight instruments were translated from print to electronic format and deployed using a secure Web-based server. Parents completed printed versions of two of the instruments to assess comparability of the two formats. A post-survey interview focused on parents' computer experiences and the acceptability and ease of use of the instruments.Main Research Variables: Time to orient parent to Web site, time to complete instruments, investigators' field notes, and postsurvey questionnaire.Findings: Eighty percent of parents preferred the Web-based data collection and found it at least as easy as completing paper-and-pencil instruments. All parents, regardless of their computer expertise, were comfortable with the electronic data collection system. Statistical analysis demonstrated no evidence of systematic or clinically significant bias.Conclusions: The Web-based data collection was feasible, reliable, and preferred by most study participants. The authors will use this strategy in future intervention trials of parents making treatment decisions.Implications for Nursing: Web-based data entry is feasible and acceptable to parents of children with cancer. Future multicenter collaborative studies should develop and test nursing interventions to support parents making treatment decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]