A-STOP Wise as Serpents Curriculum
EVALUATION REPORT

BACKGROUND

Brief Program Description

In the late 1980's, Reverend Alvin Erickson, at that time Director of the Grassroots Ministry Alliance, became concerned that young people were being targeted for commercial sexual exploitation. He decided to take an active role in educating communities about these dangers to young people, and to give young people skills to protect themselves. In 1990 he founded the organization that later became the Alliance for Speaking Truths on Prostitution (A-STOP). A-STOP believes that when sexual behavior is used to generate money, the result is exploitation to all persons involved, including prostitutes, pimps, customers, and the communities in which the prostitution is taking place. A-STOP's mission is to encourage leaders as they work to prevent commercial sexual exploitation and bring honor and accountability to all relationships.

In 1998 the Aid Association for Lutherans gave A-STOP a matching grant to create the "Wise as Serpents" curriculum. These materials are being evaluated in this report. "Wise as Serpents" was intended as a tool for Christian education teachers to help junior high-school age youth become aware of and resist the dangers of commercial sexual exploitation, and help them to use their Christian faith as both a guide and a source of strength as they face these dangers. It is intended for use primarily in Bible study, Sunday school or Confirmation classes. Leaders using this curriculum are encouraged to involve students' parents by sharing information about the curriculum with them. Teachers are also encouraged to ask students to take home "Table Talk," a worksheet assisting students with discussing topics at home with their parents.

As of September 1999, 186 churches had purchased the curriculum. In July of 1999 Amy Hartman, Wise as Serpents Project Manager, called all churches that had purchased the curriculum, and determined that 34 churches had used some or all of the curriculum. In addition to the curriculum, A-STOP offered a training workshop to educate teachers about the curriculum, and to help them use it effectively. Teachers from 54 churches have attended the ten training sessions which have been offered thus far.

In Al Erickson's 10 years of experience helping young people in the Upper Midwest to avoid and escape prostitution and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation, he has seen a steady increase in the prevalence and acceptance of this kind of exploitation. One author estimates that there are one million juvenile prostitutes in the United States (Flowers, 1998). A 1996 article in the Christian Science Monitor indicates that the sex industry in Minneapolis is estimated to be valued at 50 million dollars annually ("Child Sex Trade," 1996). However, as the attached paper by Anne Rasmusson describes, research on the prevalence of and trends associated with prostitution is very difficult to conduct due to the sensitive and often illegal nature of the topic (see Appendix 10). Existing research findings are scant and often inconclusive. If educators, outreach workers and others striving to prevent commercial sexual exploitation are to thoroughly understand the extent to which this is occurring, and to be aware of current trends in how, where, and when young people are targeted, more research needs to be conducted. Of vital importance would be the use of creative research techniques to find people involved in commercial sexual exploitation.

The staff of A-STOP has encountered skepticism and disbelief regarding the extent of and the harm caused by the sex industry, especially in the Midwest of the United States. Research on the prevalence of the participation of young people in the sex industry would greatly benefit their efforts to raise awareness about the problem, and to generate community interest in preventing the recruitment of young persons into this way of life.

Purpose of Evaluation

The purpose of evaluating the Wise as Serpents curriculum is four-fold. The evaluation aims to determine what kinds of things young people have learned from the Wise as Serpents curriculum, and which activities have made the biggest impact on them. The evaluation is also seeking feedback from teachers on their experiences using the curriculum, and how useful they felt the leaders' training was.

Evaluation Design

Six evaluation instruments were used to evaluate the various aspects of the Wise as Serpents curriculum. Wise as Serpents Project Manager Amy Hartman and Consultant Catherine Yamoor developed the questionnaires to be completed by students and teachers. Amy Hartman collected the data and Catherine Yamoor summarized the results on these instruments. Wilder Research Center staff developed the Student and Parent Phone Interview in cooperation with Amy Hartman. Staff from Wilder Research Center conducted the phone interviews and summarized these results.

  1. Student Knowledge and Values Questionnaire: This questionnaire was designed to be a pre- and post- test. However, only one church complied with A-STOP's requests to give the test before and after the course. Therefore, analysis focuses on the 64 students who completed the questionnaire after they had participated in the course.
  2. Student Evaluation Questionnaire: This self-administered questionnaire was completed by 96 students. This instrument was a general assessment of the Wise as Serpents curriculum.
  3. Student and Parent Phone Interview: This two-part survey was conducted with four students and one of each of the four students' parents. Parents responded to the first part of the survey, gave permission for their child to be interviewed, and the child responded to the second part of the survey. The interviews assessed what students thought they had learned, and the perceived impact of the program.
  4. Teacher Curriculum Questionnaire: Twenty-one teachers completed a self-administered questionnaire about their experiences with the curriculum. Three additional teachers responded to identical questions over the phone with Amy Hartman, and one teacher described her/his general experience with the curriculum and Amy Hartman matched these responses with similar questions.
  5. Teacher Training Questionnaire: Fifty-nine of the teachers who attended the Wise as Serpents training completed a self-administered questionnaire about the training session.

The participants who went through this curriculum were primarily sixth to ninth graders, although some adults also went through the program. The adults did not complete evaluations, and are thus not included in this report's findings.