THE DIFFERENT PATHS TO HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION FOR YOUNG MOTHERS by Margaret Waterous B F A , The Un1vers1ty of V1ctona , 1986 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION COUNSELLING © Margaret Waterous , 2000 THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA October, 2000 All rights reserved . This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. Abstract Th1s descnpt1ve study exam1ned the vanous components that compnse the educational path that young mothers take to graduat1on 1n School 01stnct #73 1n Bnt1sh Columbia The study exam1ned aspects of adm1n1strat1on, support and programm1ng w1th respect to how these issues facilitated or 1mpeded progress toward h1gh school graduat1on Additionally, the study descnbed the roles of the serv1ce-prov1ders for young mothers Th1rty-n1ne young mothers w1th a mean age of 20 54 years part1c1pated 1n the study The sample was developed through recommendations of Involved professionals and 1ncluded young women from both urban and rural centres A m1xed des1gn was used wh1ch Included 1nterv1ews wrth the servrce-providers and the young mothers and a researcher-developed questronnarre for the young mothers The questronnarre rncluded both structured and unstructured sectrons The structured responses were tallred and presented usrng descnptrve stat1st1cs The unstructured responses were sorted for common themes , and then tall1ed and presented The teen mothers studied succeeded agarnst exceptronal odds and offered a refreshing counterpoint to the populanzed myth of unmot1vated and unsuccessful welfare dependents. The findings indicate that there is a vast array of h1gh quality serv1ce opt1ons and educational programming options for young mothers 1n School D1strict #73 and there is a great deal of flexible school programming happening in the distnct. The issue of support (by staff and family) was highlighted as very important. Specific areas that pose difficulties are childcare subsidy, transportation , and absenteeism-related concerns . The support services are working and many teen mothers are experiencing high levels of personal success. To further encourage young mothers and enhance their options, recommendations include further development of flexible programming (usrng IndependentDirected Studies, Course Challenge and Equivalency) to accommodate mothers with differing needs and to combat the difficulties described. An increased use of Career Preparation programs is recommended for this population. Further it is recommended that the variety of service and educational options be coordinated through a case manager and/or a comprehensive catalogue of resources . II Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................ II Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... Ill Lrst of Tables .............................................................. VI Lrst of F rgures ............................................................................................................. VII Acknowledgements VIII 1 lntroductron 1 Adolescent Parentrng as a Problem 5 Study Ongrn and Statement of the Problem 7 Purpose 9 Contnbutron 9 Research Questron Lrm1tatrons and Delrm1tat1ons .............................. ·········································· 10 11 Defin1t1ons and Operational Terms L1terature Rev1ew .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. ... .. . .. .. ..... .. . .. . .. . .. ... . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .............................. 16 .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. ... .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. ... 16 Introduction The H1gh School Dropout . ................................ .. ............ ......... . ....... .. ..... ............... 19 Defin1t1on and Reportrng .. .. .. ... .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .... .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .... .. .. . . 20 Family Charactenst1cs .. .. . ......................................... .. ..................... ........ 22 Ethnicity and Socioeconom 1c Status . ..... .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. ... . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. ..... .. ... . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 24 Gender and Age .. ... ............. ... . .. ... .......... .. ............................. .. ....... .... .. ............... ..... . 25 School Factors . .... ........... ... ... ... ... .................. .. ...................... ... .. .. . ... ....... ....... .... ... ..... 25 Substance Use ...................... ... ... .......... ... ...... .... ... .. ... ............. ........... ... ....... ... ........ ..... 28 Social Issues ............................................................................................................... 28 Psychosocial Variables ................................................................................................ 29 Employment and Economic Factors ............................................ ................................. 31 Consequences of Dropping Out ...................................................................................... 32 Recommendations from the Literature ... . . .. .. . ... .. . .... ............... .. .. ......................... ... 33 Special Issues for Pregnant and Parenting Students .......................................................... 33 Support ........................................................................................................................... 34 Additional Children ......................................................................................................... 36 Childcare ......................................................................................................................... 37 Transportation ................................................................................................................ 38 Attendance ...................................................................... ..... ............ ..... ...................... 39 Consequences of Early Motherhood .............................................................................. 40 Conflicting Information................... . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. . .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. .. .. . .. ... .. .. ... ... .. ...... .. .. .... 42 Outcomes for Children of Young Mothers ...................................................................... 44 Young Mother Programs .............................................................................................. 46 Intervention ....................................................................................... .. ... ... .......... .... ... . .. .. 52 School Options ..... ................... ... ...... . ... .... ....... ...... ..... . .................. . .. ..... .. ... .. .. ... .......... .. 57 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 60 Ill Research Procedures . .. . .. . . .. .. . . .. . .. .. . . . .. . . .. . .. .. .. . . . .. . . .. . .. .. . . .. .. . .. . ... . .. . .. . . .. . ... . .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 62 Introduction ..................... .. ..... ... .................... ........................ ....... ... .......... ...... 62 Method . ......................... .. ...... ...... ............................................ ...... ...................... 62 Des1gn ..................... .............................. ....................... ................. ...... ............... 62 Sett1ng .......... ..... .. ........................................... ...... ...... ... .. ... .. ...................... 63 Part1c1pants .. .. . . .. .. . .. . .. ... . . .. ... . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . .. . .. . ... . . . . . .. .. .. . . .. .. . . .. .. .. .. . . . .. . .. .. .. . .. . 64 Serv1ce-prov1ders . .. . .. .. .. .. . . ... . . .. ... . . .. .. .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . . . .. . .. . 64 The Young Mothers . . .. .. .. .. . ... . .. .. .. .. . .. .. . .. . . .. ............................................ 65 Respondent select1on .. .. .. .. . . . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . . .. .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. .. .. . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . ... .. 65 Select1on b1as . .. . . .. . . . . .. . .. .. .. . . .. .. .. .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . ... . . .. . . . .. . .. . . . .. . ... . .. . . . . . .. . . . 67 Instruments .. .. .. . . . .. .. .. . . .. .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. .. . .. .. .. .. . . . .. . . .. .. .. .. . .. .. . . .. .. .. ... . . 68 Descnpt1on of Serv1ces .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. ... . . . ... . . .. . .. .. .. .. .. . . ... .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. . ... 68 Young Mother Quest1onna1re ........................................................................... 68 Procedure ........................................................................................... 69 Rapport Bu1ld1ng .. ... .. ...... ... .. .. ... . . . .......................................... 69 Serv1ce Provtder lntervtews ... . . . .. . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .. .. .. .. . .. .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. .. .. . ... .. 70 D1stncts Information .......................................................................... 70 Quest1onna1re Adm1n1strat1on ..... .. ...... .. ...... ........... ........... ...... ........................... 70 lnterv1ew sett1ng .............................................................................. 71 Survey ........ .. ............ ...... .. ...... .. ... .. .. .. . .. . .. .. ... . ..... ...... ...... . 71 lnterv1ew .. .. .. ...... .. .. .. .. .. . .. . . ...... .. ... .. ........ .............. ...... 72 Eth1cal Cons1derat1ons ............................................................................. 73 Treatment of Data .... .......... ......... ................... ............ ......... ..... ............... 73 Serv1ce Prov1der lntervtews ... . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . . ... ... .. . .. . . . . .. . .. . . .. .. . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . 7 4 Structured Responses . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. .. . . .. ... . .. . .. .. 74 Unstructured Responses .. .. . .. .. .. ..... .. .. .. . . .. .. .. ...... .. ............... ..... ...... . 7 4 Field Notes . ......... .. ...... .. .. .... .. .. ...... .. .. ........... ....... ...................... . 77 Summary .... ........................................... ............ ......................... ............................ 77 Results ................. .. ............................. ......... ..... .. ...... .. ... .. .. .. ......... ............................... 78 Service Providers . .. . . .. ... .. .... . .. . . .. .. . . .. . .. . . . . . . .. . . .. .. ... . . . . .. . .. .. . .. . ... . . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. . . . . . . .. 78 Counsellor Interviews .................................................................................................... 78 Correspondence ... . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. .. .. ... . .. . . .. . .. . . . . .. .. .. . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . .. . ... . . . . .. . ........ 82 Hospital-Homebound Services ................................................................................ 83 Virtual School . .. . .. . .. ... . .. .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . . .. .. . ... .. . . .. .. .. . .. .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .. .. . . .. . . .. . . ... . . . .. .. .. . 84 Kam loops Alternate School .................................................................................... 84 First Steps ................................................................................................................... 86 Marion Hilliard House .................................................................................................... 90 Elda Marshall House ................................................................. . . .. . ... . . . . .. . . . . . . .. .. .. . . . . . . 91 Public Health ............................................................................................................... 91 Other Programs ............................................................................................................... 92 Childcare Subsidy Program ............................................................................................. 93 District Contacts .................................................................................................................. 94 Young Mothers . . .. . . .. .. . . .. . .. . .. . ... . . .. .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. .. ... . . . ... . .. .. ... . .. . .. .. . . . . .. . . .. . .. .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . 94 Structured Responses ................................................ .. . . .. . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . .. .. . . . . .. . . . .. .. .. . . . .. . 94 Section (a) General. ................................................................................................... 94 Section (b) Paths. . . .. . .. .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. .. . . .. . .. . . ... . .. . .. .. . . .. . .. . . .. .. . .. . . .. .. . .. . . .. . . .. . .. .. . .. . . . .. .. . .. .. . . . 99 Section (c) True/False ............................................................................................. 100 Section (d) Rating Scale .......................................................................................... 102 Section (e) Support Charts.................................. ..... .. .. ...................... ... . ... .. ... 107 Unstructured Responses ............................................................................................... 108 IV Discuss1on .. .. .................................................................................................... . 110 Administration ...................................................................................................... 110 Attendance .................................................................................................. 111 Ch1ldcare .................................................................................................... 112 Transportation ....................................................................................... .. 113 Support ...................................................................................................... . 114 Staff Support . ...... .. .. ... ... .. ... .. . ... ............ . ........................... . 114 Hospital-Homebound Support ......... .... .. .... .. ... ... ... . .................................... .. 116 Self-Reliance and Other Support ....... .. .... .. ....... .... .. .. .. .................................... . 117 Program .. .. ...... .. ... . . ....................................... . 118 ............................................................ . 118 Full-t1me and Part-t1me Stud1es ...................... . 121 Program Cho1ce and Trans1t1ons Program Spec1f1cs IDS , Alternate , Challenge and Career Prep ........................ . 124 ......................... . 127 Other Program Issues .. .. .. .. . . . ............................................... .. 128 Other Hard school .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... . ..... . . ... ... .. ..... .. ... ... .. .. .. .. ......................... . 128 Future Plans .... ..... . .. .. .. .. .. ....... .. ...... .. .... .. .. .... .. .. ............................. .. 131 Path ....................................................................................... . . 132 142 142 149 151 Conclusions Recommendations Suggest1ons for Future Research Summary References • • • • • • • 0 • • • • • • • 0 • • ••• 0 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••• 0 • • • • • • • • • • • 0 • ~ • • • • 0 • • • • • • • • • • • 0 0 ••••••••••• 152 Appendices . .. .................. 162 Appendix A. Br1t1sh Columb1a School D1stncts' Young Mother Programs . .. .. ... .. ... 163 .................. 166 Appendix B· Unstructured Response Data .. .. ...... .. .. ... .. ... .. .................... ...... ...... 167 Summaries . Adm1n1strat1ve Issues . .. .. .............. ......... ........ .. ... .. . .. .. .. ........ ................. 168 Support Issues .................................................................................... 170 Program Issues . .... ......... ............ ......... .. ...... ... .. . .. .. 170 Appendix C: Prov1ncial Graduat1on Programs .................. .. .. ....... ... ......... ...... .. 171 The New Credit-Based Graduation Program ....................................................... 172 The Old Course-Based Graduation Program ........................................................ 172 The Adult Graduation Diploma and ABE Opt1ons ..... ... .. .......... ........ .... ...... ......... . 172 Appendix D: Alternate Programs ......... .. . . ..... .. . .. ... .... .. .. . .... ... . .. . . .. . .. .. ... . .. ... . .. . 174 School District #73 Alternate Programs .............................................................. 175 In-School Alternate Programs .. .... ........ .. ..... ... ............. ............. ...... .. ...... ........ .. ....... 176 Correspondence .. .. .... . ...... ........ .. ... ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... . .. .. .... .. .. . .. . .. ... .. .. . .. . .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... 176 GED ................................................................................................................. 177 Appendix E: Interview Protocols ....................................................................................... 178 Counsellor Interview Protocol ................. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .. .. . .. . 179 Service Provider Interview Protocol. .............................................................................. 180 Appendix F: Letters of Introduction and Consent.. ............................. ...... ......... .... .. ... .. ... 181 Letter of Introduction to Young Mother ........................................................................ 182 Letter of Introduction to Service-Provider .................................................................... 183 Consent Form ...... ... ......... ... ... ... ....... ... .... ... .... .... ..... .. ... .. .. ....................................... 184 Appendix G: Request for Other District Program Information ........................................... 185 Information Request Letter ......................................................................................... . 186 Response Card ............................................................................................................ 187 Appendix H: Young Mother Questionnaire ........................................................................ 188 Appendix 1: Letters of Approval. ........................................................................................ 204 Approval from School District #73 .............................................................................. 205 Approval from University of Northern British Columbia . .. .... ... .... ..... ......... ............ .... 206 Appendix J : Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations .......................... ..... .. .... 207 Summary of Study Conclusions ......... .. .... .. .. ..................................................... 208 Summary of Study Recommendations ......................................................................... 210 v Lrst of Tables Page Table 1 8rrths for Canadran Adolescents 2 Enrollment rn Frrst Steps Programs for Hrgh School and Alternate School 3 Program Enrollment Chorces Just Prror to Pregnancy 4 Area of School Attendance 5 ldentrfied MaJor Component of Educational Path ..... ...... .. ... ...... .. .. .. ... ... ... ... 99 6 Last School of Attendance 100 7 Enrollment by Program 100 8 Data from True or False Sect1on 102 9 Rat1ng Scale Results for Admrnrstrat1ve Issues ..................................................... 104 10 Rat1ng Scale Results for Support Issues ......... ...... ..... ... .. ... .. ...... ... ...... .. .... 105 11 Rat1ng Scale Results for Program Issues .. ......... .. ... .. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. 106 12. Support VVh1le Attend1ng School Dunng Pregnancy 13 Support VVh1le Attending School Dunng Parent1ng 107 14. Admrn1stratrve Issues 108 15. Support Issues .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. . . .... . .. .. .. .. .. . ... .. .. .. ........................ .. . 109 16. Program Issues . 109 17. Other Issues .. 18. Comparison by Religious Aff1liat1on 81 . Tally of Minor New Topics Introduced in Unstructured Response Sectron . . ...... .... 82 . Sorted Summary of All Unstructured Response Statements ...................................... 167 83. Attendance ................................................................................................................ 168 84 . Illness ............................... . .. .. . .. . .. .. .. ... ... .. .. .. .. .. ..... .. . ............ .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. ..... .. .. .. 85. Childcare ..................................................................................................................... 169 86. Transportation ........................................................................................................... 169 87 . Experiences of No Support ....................................................................................... 170 88. Experiences of Support ............................................................................................ . . 170 89. Full Time Versus Part Time .................................................................................... 170 . ....................... 18 . ...... . . . . .. .. . . .............. 87 ........................................... 97 . ... .. . .. .. . ... .. . ... . . . . ... . .. . . .. .. . . .. . .. .. . . 98 . .. .. ...... ......... .................. ... ................................................................................. . 107 ......................................................................... 109 ...................... 140 VI 167 169 L1st of F1gures Page Figure 1 Organ1zat1on of lnst1tut1onal Obstacles to H1gh School Graduation for Young Mothers ......... 8 2 Negat1ve TraJectory Lead1ng to Dropp1ng Out of School 51 .. . . . ... . . . .................................. 3 Sample of Adolescents Considered for Study 66 4 Organ1zat1on of Study Data 76 5 Age at F~rst B1rth 95 6 Number of Months Intervening Before Return to School 7 Grade Enrolled 1n at T1me of Pregnancy . . .... . ...... ... ...... . . .......... . . . .... . 95 96 ................... . 8 Latest Month of Pregnancy for School Attendance 98 9 Rat1ng Scale Data Show1ng B1polar Nature of F1nd1ngs 103 10 Helpfulness of Part-t1me School Attendance ..... ...... . ...... . ........ ...... ..................... . ........ 119 .. ........ ...... ............... ... ...... . ...... . ...... . ...... . . . ........ 120 11 Difficult to Attend School Full-t1me 12. Preferences for School Program Opt1ons . . . . ... . . ...... 125 13 Part-t1me School Helpful and Full-t1me School Difficult Case Companson Dunng Pregnancy .. 130 14 Part-t1me School Helpful and Full-t1me School Difficult Case Companson Dunng Parent1ng 15. Web of Paths Traveled by Young Mothers .130 . . .................................................... 133 16. D1agram of Educational Paths Chosen by Young Mothers 134 17. The Four Major Components of the Educat1onal Path 135 .................. 139 18. Age of Respondents at First Birth . . 19. Ethnicity Breakdown of Respondents Compared to Prov1nc1al and National Statist1cs .. . . .. . .140 VII Acknowledgements Th1s study would not have been poss1ble w1thout the ass1stance and support of many 1nd1V1duals Without my adv1sor, Dr Bryan Hartman , I would not have reached th1s stage He was unfa1l1ngly encourag1ng , supportive and pat1ent I am very grateful for h1s thoroughness and h1s attent1on to detail, as well as h1s talent for help1ng me to grasp the b1g p1cture I have apprec1ated h1s sense of humor throughout the thes1s process and have felt very fortunate to have had an opportun1ty to experience h1s gu1dance My comm1ttee members Dr Peter MacMillan and Sylv1a Barton have both been very support1ve and the1r gu1dance and careful attent1on to my work has been greatly appreciated The professional ass1stance prov1ded by the Un1vers1ty of Northern British Columbia Reg1onal Librarian and her staff has been except1onal Throughout the lengthy course of my graduate program they have been extremely eff1c1ent wh1le st1ll ma1nta1n1ng a personal touch . I deeply apprec1ate the candid way 1n wh1ch the study part1c1pants shared of themselves The serv1ce-prov1ders and the young mothers were very generous w1th the1r t1me and for this I am grateful. I am espec1ally Indebted to the professionals who put me 1n touch w1th the young mothers. Without the1r grac1ous assistance I would have been unable to complete this study The extens1ve emot1onal and Instrumental support prov1ded by my husband, Gord , has been crucial to my completion of many years of study. He has steadily supported me every step of the way and has always been there to help me find ways to squeeze time for thesis purposes . My children , Heather and Kieran , who were born during the course of my studies , have been patient with their mother and have provided endless inspiration on my topic. My parents have encouraged me and always asked about my progress . My dear friends have been tremendously supportive and have been true cheerleaders for me. Many many thanks to all these people whom I love. VIII Few would argue that the level of education 1nd1v1duals ach1eve Influences the1r soc1al and econom1c status High school graduat1on 1s often seen as the min1mum requ1rement for later soc1al and econom1c well be1ng (Furstenberg Brooks-Gunn & Morgan, 1987) Level of educat1on has been repeatedly linked to employab1l1ty and other lifestyle 1ssues (Burden & Klerman , 1984, Card & Wise , 1981 , Furstenberg & Crawford . 1981 Hayes, 1987, McCaul , Donaldson , Coladarc1 & Da v1s, 1992, Pol1t & Kahn , 1987, Rumberger. 1987, S1mk1ns , 1984, S1tl1ngton & Frank, 1993, T ru ssell, 1981 , Upchurch , 1993) H1gh school IS trad1t1onally v1ewed as a penod 1n l1fe where identiti es are formed , fnendsh1ps are forged and l1fe 1s relatively carefree For many young people, the academ1c program take s a back seat to the soc1al-emot1onal agenda Human development theonsts targ et adolescence as a penod where def1n1te tasks are undertaken (Kegan , 1882). Though 1n other cultures , adolescent parenthood m1ght be cons1dered norm a l, 1n Western culture early childbeanng is perce 1ved as an aberration even though "1deas about teen sexual ity and 'altern ative' fam ily structures may have become less ng1d" (Kelly 1996c, p 422) Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood is a topic that has insp1red fi erce debate among researchers , politicians , and members of the pub lic Adolescent Parent1ng as a Prob lem The role and status of women has undergone tremendous change th1 s century Women have moved from being the center of a family's hom e-life to a place where the1r role 1s not so 1 2 eas ily defined . Marriage and motherhood have been , for centunes, the conventiona l soc1etal asp tration of women all over the world In earl1er eras, teenage mamage followed by motherhood was a common , approved path to adulthood and fulfillment for a gtrltn many sectors of society. Educat1on for g1rls was not always constdered a useful expenditure of resources From this world-view, the Western world evolved to encompass attitudes that supported an expanded ro le for women Dunng wart1me , women 's roles changed as they filled a vo1d 1n the work force Educatton for gtrls became 1ncreas1ngly valued as the years passed Though the roles of women as wtves and mothers were st11l valued , a later age for th1s transttton was encouraged Dunng the 1960's, as the mean age for marnage tncreased , premanta l pregnancy became a visible phenomenon , and dunng the 1970's 1t became a markedly publtc 1ssue (Furtstenberg et al. , 1987). Gtrl s who became pregnant wtthout the beneftt of marnage had few opt1ons . Secret abortions, shot-gun (hasttly-arranged) marnages or escapes to secluded maternity homes to deliver and g1ve up the infants for adoptton were the alternatives most often chosen (Petrie , 1998) A single pregnant teenager gotng full term whtle attendtng a regular high school was unthinkab le. Now school s ex ist that are des1gned specifically for pregnant teenagers (Seitz, Apfel & Rosenbaum, 1991 ). Currently an unm arried adolescent mother can continue her secondary education while parenting her child . At the cl ose of the 20th century, there are many viable options for a school -aged girl who discovers that she is pregnant. In 1985, Tim e magazine ran a cover story th at has stnce been repe atedly cited by researchers and jou rnalists (Stenge l, 1985). The title, "Children having child ren" has become the catch phrase for the topic of adolescent parenting . These words do not induce im ages of young mothers struggling val iantly to continue their education against overwhelming odds . Instead , the words connote negative images of early parenthood that are broadcast by the med ia and studied by researchers. There is no shortage of sources discussing the damag ing resu lts of ado lescent pregnancy and parenting (Anderson , 1993b; Card & Wise , 1981 ; Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998, Farber, 1989; Furstenberg , 1976, 1991 ; Furstenberg et al. , 1987; Hayes, 1987; Hoffman , Foster & Furstenberg, 1993; Oritz & Bassoff, 1987; Prater, 1992; Simkins, 1984; Streetman , 1987, Trussell , 1981 ; Upchurch , 1990, 1993; Wallace, 1990). Young mothers have been described as 3 contributing to the corrosion of the social fabnc (Stengel , 1985) and be1ng emotional ly disturbed (Woodard , 1998) These young women have also been descnbed as sexual ly brazen teenagers who have been Influenced by the fem1nist movement (Byf1eld , 1999) as well as impulsive k1ds w1th rag1ng hormones (Shap1ro , 1995) Into the fray leap researchers and JOurnalists who tackle the top1cs of sex-educat1on , contraception , abort1on for m1nors, parental nghts and the costs to soc1ety 1n the form of soctal ass1stance. spec1al programs , daycare and health problems (Kelly, 1996c, Smtthbattle, 1992) Not least among these controversial top1cs IS the concept of providing support for the young mothers so they may conttnue the1r educatton Some of the public outcry may be due to the medta coverage that accompantes the unfortunate 1nstances of adolescent mothers abandontng thetr tnfants (Mclean , 1998, Slobodtan , 1998) Though the reasons for these abandonments are extremely complex, the understandable publtc response 1s horror and the negattve status of teenage pregnancy 1s further entrenched Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood do pose problems There are problems for the individuals involved, for affec ed InStitUtions, and for soctety in general Though the effects of adolescent pregnancy and parent1ng are all too evtdent, the cause IS muddy. Therefore clear sol utions escape us, though some wnters have advocated a retum to shot-gun we ddings as a way of solving the problem of parent1ng adol escents (Byfield , 1999) The arena 1n whtch the controversy is played out 1s often the school system . The debate rage s on the results of sexeducation in schoo ls. Pro ponents of ch ast1ty-focu ssed curriculum cite recent rising pregnancy rates in Canada as proof-pos itive that sex-education is in effect ive at least and actu ally pro motes sexual activity and teen pregnancy at worst (Byfi eld, 1998; Hansard, 1998; Wood ard , 1998) When the focus shifts from pregnancy to parenthood , the debate continues. Adolescent mothers are often portrayed as a drain on public funds . "Teen mothers are often depicted as th e cause and consequence of poverty and welfare dependency" (Kelly, 1996c, p. 421 ). Issues such as subsidized daycare for school-attending young mothers cau se unease among many peop le. The associated costs of these support programs are debated and in som e cases it is suggested that support of school-associated young mother programs promotes adolescent sexual activity . In some areas, these opinions are upheld at the mun icipal governm en t level such as when a ctty 4 alderman publicly procla1ms that teen mothers are "too dumb to educate anyway 1f they got themselves 1nto th1s pos1t1on" (' Th1s Redneck's," 1993, p 38) Few wnters dispute the suppos1t1on that the path of adolescent parenthood leads to a permanently negat1ve soc1al and econom ic cycle and disastrous consequences for mother and child Econom1c and health consequences of early births and unprepared and uneducated mothers w1th few econom1c resources are the concepts that galvan1ze pol1cy makers to search for programs to solve the problem As well, children of teen mothers have lower graduat1on rates, h1gher cnme rates and run a h1gh nsk of l1v1ng 1n poverty (Kie1n. 1996, Woodard , 1997) Th1s knowledge fuels the search for solut1ons It would be unw1se to v1ew these consequences of early parenthood lightly but there IS some ev1dence that all 1s not lost once a teenager becomes a parent (Furstenberg et al , 1987, "Start of a New " 1997 Teen Moms · 1997 Upchurch & McCarthy 1990) In fact , the ev1dence 1s far from conclus1ve that early parenthood IS persona lly and educationally disastrous for every adolescent mother Frank F Furstenberg , Jr has researched and wntten extens1vely on the top1c of adolescent mothers A long1tud1nal study was conducted 1n Ba lt1more , Maryland that started 1n th e late 1960's and looked at the outcomes for adolescent mothers and the1r children over a period of 17 ye ars . The f1nd1ngs of this research Indicated that "the popular bel1ef that early ch ildbeanng is an almost certa1n route to dropping out of school , subsequent unwanted births , and economic dependency is greatly overs1mpl1fi ed , if not senously distorted" (Furstenberg et al , 1987' p. 46). Throughout the Unites States and Canada , progra ms have evolved to deal w1th the "prob lem" of teen preg nancy and parenthood. These run the gamut from support1ve environments focussed on mother-infant bonding to the recently Introduced Lea rning , Earning , and Parenting (LEAP ) in Ontario that requ ires teen mothers to attend school and take parent1ng classes as soon as poss ible after the baby is born or lose social assistance (Mus1ck, Bernstein, Percansky & Stott, 1987; "Teen Mothers," 1999) . The impetus for these programs may be stnctly financial (spend the money now, rath er than later), or humanitanan or somewhere 1n-between 5 Whatever the source, the prog rams are vaned tn format , delivery, cltent-base and tntended outcome Often , there is overlap and a young mother might access a number of dtfferent programs concurrently or consecuttvely Even w1th1n one commun1ty the array 1s bewildering T he assumption 1s that these programs are benefictal but there 1s ltttle controlled research that supports or refutes their efficacy Study Ong1n and Statement of the Problem My 1nterest 1n th1s toptc comes from three doma1ns As a school counsellor I have had the opportun1ty to work w1th pregnant and parent1ng teens I have helped them with course programming , career plann1ng , personal counselltng and access1ng resources. I also have an interest 1n alternate educat1on As well . I am a work1ng mother who also attends school. As a new pa rent I began to wonder anew at the challenges faced by adolescent mothers as they negotiated htgh school. I have struggled w1th the 1ssues of manag1ng s1ck children , finding competent daycare , cop ing wtth exhausting days followtng exhaust1ng nights, transport1ng Infants in inclement weather, never hav1ng enough t1me and Juggltng my work, home, and famtly responsibilities . In my favor, I was a mature woman with an education , a support1ve spouse and financial resources . As I refl ected on these young women and the obstacles they overcam e to attend school, I wondered if th ere was som ething spect al about thetr abtlity to persevere. I delved into the research and I learned th at there were a great number of variables associated with teenage pregnancy and parenting. It appeared th at school perseverance wa s correlated with a myriad of interacting variab les . The focus on institutional obstacles as variables in school perseverance was a top ic addressed in the literature. Weisner (1984) studied variab les th at affected a woman's postsecondary education status. She referred to an earlier source (Ekstrom , 1972) who also examined barriers to women 's participation in post-secondary education . Both of these sources deal with post-secondary education for women in general and not specificall y mothers . Ekstrom sorted the barriers to post-secondary education into three categories : institutiona l, situational , and dispositional. This is also an efficient organizational scheme for school-attending young mothers 6 Ekstrom's rn stitutronal bamers rncluded admrssrons practrces , financral ard practices , regulations, curnculum , servrces and faculty/staff attrtudes The srtuatronal barners rncluded those barrrers that were part of a woman 's personal envrronment, such as family responsrbrlrties or financial need Finally, drsposrtronal barners were those factors that were personal to each indrvidual , for example , fear of farlure , passrvrty or level of asprratron Wersner renamed these barriers as instrtutional, srtuatronal and personal barners In an attempt to narrow my focus and concentra te on an area that offered scope for concrete change , I decrded to focus on the instrtutronal factors that would affect the abrlrty of an adolescent mother to reach her goal of hrgh-school graduatron In exam rnrng the rnstrtutrona l factors that Ekstrom and We rsner pos rted and comparrng them to the hrgh school srtuatron, I determ rned a number of rssues that could erther pose a bamer or could facilitate graduatron for thrs popu latron A closer exam rnatron of the possible components of rn strtutronal obstacles revea led that a further sub-grouprng was vrable Consequently I chose to examine instrtut rona l obstacles rn three domarns adm rnrstratron , support and program . Within the administration group ing fe ll such factors as at endance day-care rssues and transportation . These are issues that fall drrect ly under the decJsron-makrng realm of school and drstrict admini stration. The second area for focu s was support . Within thrs domarn are the topics of staff support (teachers, administrators and other staff) , and hospital-homebound support. The third domain encompassed program issues. These included part-trme versu s full-time studies options , career gu idance and program plann ing, Independent-Directed Studies (BC Ministry of Education course title), in-school altern ate courses , course ch allenge, course equivalency, and Career Preparation (BC Ministry of Education program title) (BC Minrstry of Education, 1999). Figure 1 graph ica lly represents th is sorting of topics . The general problem investigated in th is study revolved around the unique ch allenges experienced by young mothers as they attempt the dual ro les of pare nt and studen t Specifically, this study asked the question , wh ich educational path best facilitates high school graduation for young mothers within School District #73 (SO #73) in Kamloops, British Columbia. SO #73 does not have a specific educational program that is mandatory for a ll adolescent mothers. Instead, there are a number of paths that a young mother cou ld travel on the way to secondary school 7 graduation . These paths access a number of serv1ces and are compnsed of a vanety of components SD #73 d1rectly sponsors some of the servtces , whereas others are admin tstered th rough external agenc1es One program 1s adm1n1stered through a partnership between SD # 73 and other agenc1es The concept of "best" educational path IS deceptive There are many different path s through wh1ch a young mother m1ght successfully achteve graduation status The Institut ional components of the vanous paths ex1st 1n a vanety of sett1ngs and programs and they cumulative ly contnbute tn e1ther a fact11tat1ve or obstructive manner It ts l1kely that there 1s an 1nteract1on between the various components Purpose The purpose of thts descnpttve study was to explore the vanables that young mothers fee l fac1l1tate and/or obstruct the1r path to htgh school graduatton. The procedure was designed to elicit relevant and practtcal Information, and 1t focussed on young mothers who have managed to navigate the ob stacles to the ir educatton . T he partiCipants provtded valuable Informat ion th at w ill hopefully inform dect slon-makers on educa tional pol1cy at the distnct and school level. A s Worthe n & Sa nders (1987) describe, the evaluators prim ary responsibility is to gather and interpret 1nform at1on th at can help key ind ividua ls and groups improve effo rts, make enligh tened deci sion s, and provide cred ible inform ation for publ ic con sumption . (p. 21 0) This study focussed on description and explanation as opposed to predicti on. Determining the causes of school perseverance in young moth ers w as overly am bitious for the scope of this study. I fe lt that it was not "feasible to man ipu late the potential causes of behavior, [and the] variables are not easily identified or are too embedded in the phenomenon to be extracted for study" (Merriam , 1988, p. 7). The focus was on the day-to-day deta ils of a young mother's academic life with goals of illuminating gaps in serv ice , determining he lpful aspects identified by the young mothers , and highlighting possible areas for change. 8 BARRIERS TO WOMEN 'S PARTICIPATION IN POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION (Ekstrom, 1972) Institutional Situational Dispositional INSTITUTIONAL OBSTACLES TO ADOLESCENT MOTHERS' PARTICIPATION IN SECONDARY EDUCATION Administration Support Program Attendance Staff support Part-time studies Ch ildcare Hospita l-homebound support Gu1dance and transitions Transportation Independent Directed Studies In-school alternate courses Course challenge/ equivalency Career Preparation Figure 1. Organization of institutional obstacles to high school graduation for young mothers. 9 Contnbut1on T eachers, counsellors and adm1n1strators are often search1ng for ways to make a highschool educat1on more accessible and relevant Y oung mothers m1ght have a difficult time attaining their educational goals lncreas1ng accessibility and relevance for school-age d mothers woul d hopefully result 1n a higher graduat1on ra te and 1mproved econom1c and soc1al outcomes. School counsellors can have a tremendous 1mpac on the l1ves of these young women Counsellors are often some of the f1rst profess1onals to learn of a student's pregnancy . In addition to the other counselling and support prov1ded for an unplanned pregnancy, counsellors can help these students plan and gu1de the1r educat1onal program from the outset Counsel lors can help young mothers understand the b1gger p1cture and can help sort out any necessary resources. Counsellors develop 1ndJv1dual educational programs for young mothers and they Will have an advantage 1f they are aware of the components of educat1onal programs that have been most useful to other young women 1n th1s sJtuatJon Because there are a vanety of options for young mothers 1n SO #73 , a clear map of the different paths available will prove helpful . Resea rch Question The principal questi on directing th e proposed Investig ation has evolved from the literature and from my own profess ional experience. What educational path best facilitates high sch ool graduation for yo ung mothers ? The lite ratu re has identified a host of variable s that are pos1tively associated w ith dropouts return1ng to school as we ll as variab les associ ated with th e fin al educational level attained by adolescent mothers. Th is study w 1ll hopefu lly illum inate some patterns of institutional practices in SO #73 that contribute to ed ucat iona l success. To that end three parts to the question are proposed as follows : 1) Vv'hat services exist in SO #73 that facilitate young mothers' graduat ion? To address this question , the service-providers were interviewed. Furthermore, to get a sense of where SD #73 was relative to the rest of the province, a query was sent to every schoo l di strict superintendent in the province asking about the existence of any adolescent mother programs in their districts. The results of this query are summarized in Appendix A. 10 2) VV'hat specrfic educatronal paths facllrtated educatrona l attarnment for young mothers? To determrne rf there was a pattern that represented a favored path , respondents were asked to chart the different educatronal1nstrtut1ons they passed through from pre-pregnancy to parent1ng 3) What do young mothers report about the helpfulness of certarn components on their path? Th1s aspect of the study was addressed through a quest1onna1re Lrm1tat1ons and Del1m1tatrons As w1th any type of research thrs study had some Inherent l1mrtat1ons and some del1m1tations In add1t1on to the detailed quest1ons on the survey , I w1shed to 1nclude an opportunrty for respondents to brrng forward the1r own concerns on the top1cs 1n case I had negl ected any s1gn1f1cant 1ssues The study categorres were l1sted but there was also an opportun1ty to record add1t1onal comments Th1s techn1que d1d allow respondents to Introduce new issues and IS , therefore, a IJm1tat1on of the study To cope w1th th1s l1m1tat1on, the unstructured response data were sorted accord1ng to the selected var1ables and the new top1cs A new topic was Included as a find1ng only if at least 25% of the respondents elected to comment on it. A summary of all the issues is descrrbed 1n Appendix B. The variab ility in the survey com pletion constitutes another limitation of the study The respondents completed the survey in different sett1ngs depending on the choice of the respondent. The settings included schoo ls, restaurants, the respondents' homes with children around , and the respo ndents ' hom e with chil dren as leep, away or otherwise occupied . Because of th is variabil ity, the comfort and attent ion leve l of th e respon dents had to differ, which may have affected the ir openness about bringing up new issues . To com bat thi s limitation, the survey includes both open-ended and structured questions. As we ll, when the survey was completed orally, responses were copied verbatim . Another lim itation was the varying memory level of the responde nts regarding where and when they went to school . Since many of the respond ents had several tra nsitions within a single year and these were several years in the past, most of the respondents took longer than 11 anticipated to complete the chart To combat th1s , I told the respondents how to complete the chart I used the same 1nstruct1ons for each respondent Two dellm1tat1ons of th1s study are the sample s1ze and sample compos1t1on Th1s investigation exam1ned what 1s happen1ng 1n SO #73 The potent1al part1c1pants are limited to those adolescent mothers who were or are be1ng educated 1n th1s d1stnct This populat1on is not large and tracking down suff1c1ent partiCipants was a cha llenge In the end , 39 participants were Included. These part1c1pants had a vaned background and demographic profile , but they were eligible for 1nclus1on because they represented d1fferent patterns and paths w1thin SO #73 The exceptional vanat1on of the sample cons 1tuted a dellm1tat1on because parts of the 1nterv1ew quest1onna1re offered opportun1t1es for llm1ted responses that may not have accommodated the breadth of the vanabl11ty of the sample (Palys , 1992) However, the focus of the study 1s description and the stones of al l part1c1pants added to the nchness of the descnption. A difficulty that was presented 1n the 1nterv1ew of serv1ce-prov1ders was that their relevance to a young mother's pursu1t of high-schoo l educat1on was not always clear. Some service-providers had much more relevance than others to the focus of this study. To deal w1th this I have included a thorough descnption of the more relevant service-providers Where relevan ce was question able , I have catalogued a brief description of the services prov1ded to allow the reader to come to his/her own conclusions . This study will have limited generalizability. The pattern of programs and serv ices offered in SO #73 may not be re plicated in other locations. I have attempted to combat this bias by surveying the other schoo l districts to determine wh at programs are in place and have presented th is information in Append ix A. Though this will not give a complete comparison , it will suggest what level of educational program for a young mother might be looked for in the other di stricts Definitions and Operational Terms For the purposes of this study , the mothers stud ied had either completed or were completing regular or adult graduation requirements subsequent to the birth of each participant's first child . Alternatively, they were enrolled in a program leading to a General Educational 12 Development (GED) cert ificate Three young women who were not curren tl y parent1 ng were also included in the study These young women were 1ncluded because of what they had to offer about school attendance dunng pregnancy Two of the young women had given their ch ildren up for adopt1on and a th1rd was due to del1ver w1th1n a month of the Interview For the purposes of report1ng , unless otherw1se specified , the term "mothers" w1ll also Include these three young women The terms "young women" or "women" 1n add1t1on to "girls'' have been used throughout th1s report for a vanety of reasons The moment of trans 1t1on from g1rlhood to womanhood IS 1nexact It could be argued that because the respondents have become mothers, they have made this transition, albe1t prematurely Also as w1ll be detailed elsewhere 1n the study, many of the re spondents gave birth after turn1ng 18 and thus would be considered women by other standard s F1nally, many respondents had already completed the 1r graduat1on requ1rements and were at a different stage of the1r lives Though they may have been girls at the time of the1r f1 rst birth, they were certainly women by any standard at the t1me of the interv1ew It would be awkward to try and describe the respondents 1n terms of g1rls and women for each refe rence ; therefore , the more general term s of "young women " or "wom en" have been used interchangeab ly with the term "girls". Although the terms "ado lescent mothers" and "teen mothers" w1ll be used 1n this investigation , older mothers were included . Virt ually all of these moth ers were in the1 r teen years when they gave birth to their first ch ild. Desp ite the ir current status as adu lts , th ey were teenagers during the early stages of the ir parenting careers. The literature alm ost exclu sive ly calls these individuals adolescent or teenage mothers even when discuss ing follow-up stud ies where the young women are in their twenties or th irt ies (Furste nberg et al. , 1987) . For the purposes of this study, the terms "young mothers", "teen mothers" and "adolescent mothers" will be interchangeable. Throughout this paper the terms "successful" and "success" have been used to 1dent1fy those young mothers who have completed or were in the process of completing high-school graduation requirements or a GED program . In this report, the oppos ite of success is not fa il ure 13 Use of these words 1n no way 1mpl1es that young mothers whose paths led them elsewhere are cons1dered fa ilures. The Regular Graduation Program 1s the term used to descnbe the program of stud1es followed by most secondary school students 1n the Bnt1sh Columbia publ1c school system For the purposes of report1ng, there 1s no need to d1st1ngu 1sh between the old course-based program and the newer cred it-based program , but both are descnbed 1n Appendix C The "Adult Graduation Program " 1s the term used to descn be the requ 1rem ents for el1g1ble students planning to graduate w1th a Bnt1sh Columbia Adu lt Graduation Diploma wh 1ch 1s also known as an "Adult Dogwood" The spec1fics of th 1s prog ram are deta iled 1n Appendix C An "alternate program '' or "alternate school" 1s the term used to describe a program administered 1n a non-trad1t1ona l school sett1ng or t1me but wh 1ch stil l leads to either a Regular or an Adult Graduation Diploma. The alternate programs ava ilable 1n SO #73 are descnbed 1n Ap pendix 0 An "in-schoo l alternate program" (ISA) 1s the term used to descnbe a program admini stered within a regular secondary school but wh1ch 1s somehow different from the program in w hich th e majority of secondary school students are enrolled. In some schools th1s IS called an "adapted program" The ISA programs available in SO #73 are described in AppendiX D. A correspondence program refers to courses offered through the reg1onal correspondence centre in Me rri tt. A lthough the South-Central Reg ion al Correspondence School is techn ica lly in another schoo l distri ct, the ir material is used by many non-tra ditional SO # 73 students; therefore , it wa rrants cons ideration as a form of progra m delivery As well , Virtual Schoo l (described in the body of this report ) uses the correspondence cumculum . The correspondence program is described in Append ix 0 . The "General Educationa l Development program" (GED ), is al so called the "Graduation Equivalency Diploma". This program of stud ies does not lead to a Dogwood graduation certificate. Though the GED has been under scrutiny in the literature (see Cameron & Heckman , 1993), this program was included because some respond ents used the GED program as a stepping stone to the regular graduation program . As we ll, many of the issues that challenge 14 students on a regular or adult graduation program also challenge students on a GED program Finally, there 1s potentially some transferab1l1ty of cred1t poss1ble and th1s will be an 1mportant cons1derat1on for plann1ng The GED program 1s descnbed 1n Appendix D "Part-t1me study" 1s the term used to apply to any program of studies that is not full t1me A part-t1me program will take vanous forms depend1ng on the 1nst1tut1on One school might have a part-t1me student attend every mom1ng Another school would have a part-t1me student attend every other day Students who are reg1stered 1n one or two study blocks but who otherw1se have a full schedule are cons1dered full-t1me students An "Independent-Directed Study" (IDS) course 1s a one or two credit opt1on that allows students to learn 1n areas that are beyond those usually taught 1n [a] school course Th1s could take the form of extend1ng the curnculum at a h1gher level , address1ng parts of the curnculum that have not been taught. conduct1ng an 1n-depth study of an aspect of the curnculum , or do1ng more focused act1v1t1es relat1ng to parts of the cumculum (BC M1n1strv of Educat1on . Skills. 1996, paragraph 2) For further detail about the Independent-Directed Study opt1on , readers are recommended to access the Brit1 sh Columbia Min1stry of Educat1on web page at . In th e Briti sh Columbia secondary education system , students may obta1n grade 11 and 12 course credit thro ugh any of the three modes of external credit , course challenge , and equivalency. Since profess ionals and student s often confuse these three terms they will be distinguished here. External courses refer to Ministry of Educat ion approved credenti als for programs that are offered outs ide the British Columbia school system . An example would be the external credit awarded for specific achieved levels in Girl Gu ides or Royal Con servatory dance. Equivalency recognizes documented learning from other ju risdictions and institutions outs ide the British Columbia school system . For equ iva lency to be awarded , there mu st be approximately an 80% match in the learning outcomes of the proposed equ iva lent Ministryauthorized or locally-developed course . A frequently cited examp le of equ ivalency is language equivalency for students who have English as a second language. In this case, documentation of one year of junior secondary school in a foreign language is considered equivalent to the grade 15 11 course for that language School d1stncts and schools have the authonty to report equivalency Course challenge 1s the process employed 1f equ1valency can not be demonstrated through documentation The course challenge procedure provides an opportunity for students to obtain credit for M1n1stry-authonzed or locally-developed courses The purpose IS to "acknowledge learn1ng wh1ch students have done 1n other sett1ngs and wh1ch correspond to the learning outcomes 1n the prov1nc1al curnculum " (BC M1n1stry of Educat1on, 1998, p 1) A Career Preparat1on (CP ) program allows a student to develop sk1lls 1n a spec1fic career sector It cons1sts of 24 cred1ts of study (s1x courses ) related to a particular career area and includes a four cred1t work expenence course Students must also meet prov1ncial graduat1on requirements and upon successful complet1on of all requ1rements the1r transcripts will show a Career Preparat1on Program des1gnat1on Finally , the terms "h1gh school" and "secondary school" are used Interchangeably in this document. In Brit1sh Co lumbia the more common term used JS "secondary school" and represents the school years of e1ght through twelve ' y 1 f' \.'\' Introduction The roles and expectations of young women have changed extens1vely over the last one hundred years Although the rate of s1ngle motherhood differs little from a century ago , the reasons differ greatly Widowhood IS no longer the root cause of s1ngle motherhood (Grey, 2000) . In the past, there have been soc1al sanctrons agarnst an unmarrred adolescent choosrng to retain custody of her ch1ld. For those young women who earned therr pregnancy to term , the acceptable options were adoptron or marriage to the infant's father to legitimize the birth (MacNider, 1998). For all the young women , there was a social st1gma associated w1th being teenaged and pregnant (Petrie , 1998). Schools were not supportive of an expectant mother who wished to continue with her education and she was often not even welcome to remain in school once her pregnancy became known . If a girl chose to keep her infant and marry the father, she generally did not continue with her school ing as her new role of housewife and mother absorbed her energies. Her husband was presumed to provide for her and the newborn and as a family they were expected to forge a new life Today, the scenario for a pregnant teenager is different. Society no longer has such stern social sanctions against young unwed mothers . Though many adults still lament the lost futures and potential difficulties faced by these young women and their children , the teenage single mother is no longer an anomaly . Pregnant and parenting young women are permitted to 16 17 attend publ1c school and a vanety of programs des1gned espec1ally to support them have sprung up across Canada and the Un1ted States (Furstenberg 1976, MacN1der, 1998 Pol1t & Kahn, 1987 Ray & Roloff, 1994 Roosa . 1986. Wh1te & Cumm1ngs 1995. Wood , Bloom , Fellerath , & Long , 1995) Young women can no longer count on marnage to their infant's father as a route to econom1c secunty As well family and other Informal support networks are less l1kely to prov1de for s1ngle mothers (Grey 2000). Increasingly the1r role models are work1ng women as opposed to housew1ves Through formal and 1nformal means , these young women have been repeatedly 1nstructed that an education IS necessary to ge ahead 1n l1fe Add1t1onally they watch many of the1r non-parent1ng fema le peers selec goals hat include Independence and self-sufficiency The relat1onsh1p between teenage mothenng and educat1on constitutes a fa1rly broad research top1c Within th1s general top1c a number of subordinate 1ssues ex1st One quest1on that 1s frequently addressed 1s the causal order of dropp1ng out of h1gh school and adolescent mothenng Other aspects of the top1c 1nclude the nature of the populat1on the consequences and outcomes of educat1onal dec1s1ons and the 1ssues rela ed o serv1ce proviSIOn Add1t1onally, there are econom1c and thus pol1t1cal , overtones to the top1c because the percept1on ex1sts that teenage mothers dra1n welfare reserves (Kelly, 1996b) Due to the var1ety of underlying 1ssues associated w1th teenage pregnancy and parent1ng , the appro aches of researchers seek1ng to study the phenomenon of school completion have been dive rse (Upchurch, McCarthy , & Ferguson , 1993) Teen "mothers are not a homogeneous group , and the re latio nship between adol escent ch1ldbeanng and school1ng 1s different for different groups" (Upchurch , 1993, p. 439). Studies have exam1ned racially , economically, and geograph ica lly diverse populations us ing varied methodo logies and theoretical orientations General izations about one group of adolescent mothers may not be applicable to another population . In the associated fie ld of pregnancy pred iction, complicated interactions are evident As Walters , Walters , & McKenry (1987) state, clearly , the right model of high risk has not yet been developed. It is possible that some of the psychological and fam ily va ri ables-particularly 1f combined w1th predictors of being in the right place at the nght time-could be assembled 1nto a model to predict early pregnancy. Such a model is likely to be a complex one combining subsets of models. (p. 27) 18 An analogy m1ght be made about the complexity of a model of h1gh school complet1on for adolescent mothers Desp1te a public 1mpress1on that teenage parenthood 1s an out-of-control phenomenon , the actual rate of b1rths to Amencan teens has decreased s1nce 1960 w1th the majority of teen births concentrated 1n the 18-19 year old age group (Coley & Chase-Lansdale , 1998) Canadian teenage pregnancy rates, though reported to be half that expenenced 1n the Un1ted States (Alan Guttmacher lnst1tute , 1998) have some Sim llant1es to the rates reported by Coley and ChaseLansdale Stat1st1cs Canada (1996) 1nd1cates a drop in ac ual pregnancies and l1ve births for all adolescent groups but notes hat pregnancy rates for teenage women have been underrepresented 1n the Reproductive Hea l h comp 1lat1on The maJonty of l1ve b1rths are reported for the older teenage group (see Table 1) Table 1 B1rths for Canad1an Adolescents Year 1974 1993 Change All ~es a Birth L1ve Births Rate 59 9 346,913 50 0 388 ,394 -9 gb +4 1,481 b - Under15 B1rth Live B1rths Rate 1.4 337 14 256 -81 00 15-1 7 L1ve B1rth s 13 ,513 7,975 -5,538 Birth Rate 19 7 14 1 -5 6 18-19 B1rth L1ve BirthS Rate 59 6 27 ' 110 40.4 15,462 -19 2 -11 ,468 Note Rates are represented per 1 ,000 females of the same age as per the original data source . alncludes cases where age was not reported . Denommators for the rates are women aged 15 to 49 years . bDespite an increase in the number of live births du ring the 19 year period , the rate decreased because the population of women of "All A ges" increased yet the rate of births did not keep pace Data sou rce : Wadhe ra & Millar (1996). As demonstrated in Table 1, actual births and rates of births to teenagers have decreased in Canada since 197 4. What these statistics do not repre sent, however, is the number of unwed teenagers electing to ra ise the ir children or be ing financially dependen t on public assistance. Local statistics do no separate teenage births by age of mother, but 1996 information derived from vital statistics indicates that eight percent of live births in the Ka mloops region were to teenage mothers. This is higher than the 5.1 percent province wi de but is similar to other communities in the area (Selected Perinatal Statistics, 1996). 19 Adolescent mothers who pers1st w1th the1r schooling represent a m1nonty of teenagers S1nce the late 1950's, the proport1on of adolescent mothers who complete h1gh school has been 1ncreas1ng. yet research 1nd1cates that teen mothers are still much less likely to complete school than are those who delay childbeanng. Wne her the birth was a causal factor in school dropout IS , however, st1ll very controversial (Nord Moore, Morrison, Brown & Myers, 1992) S1nce pregnant and parent1ng young women may experience complete or part1al school dropout, an exam1nat1on of general dropout charac ens 1cs is in order Additionally, there are many spec1al 1ssues related spec1f1ca lly o school continuation or th1s group The rema1nder of th1s literature rev1ew addresses the op1cs of dropout charac ens ics, spec1al issues for pregnant and parent1ng adolescents , and a d1scuss1on of programs and nterventions for th1s populat1on The H1gh School Dropout In Bnt1sh Columbia the maJonty of students enrolled 1n school progress through to graduat1on h~rteen years after the1r kindergarten enrollment ( Elementary-Secondary Education," 1999). For some the h1gh schoo l port1on may take an extra year and these students manage to graduate a year beh1nd the1r grade cohort Another group progresses through h1gh school on a mod1fied or spec1al educat1on program and w1th1n the standard f1ve or SIX years ex1ts w1th a school-leaving certif1cate A m1nonty of overage students who have struggled w1th school take home an adult graduat1on certificate A final group of students do not graduate w1th1n a reasonable t1m e and do not continue to attend school. These students are class1f1ed as h1gh school dropouts . Dropouts have bucked the trend to h1gh school graduation and a s1zable body of research has been devoted to attempts to understand them. It 1s felt to be an extreme outcome due to the sma ll number of students who do not graduate by the time they turn twenty (A stone & Mclanahan, 1991 ). The high school dropout phenomenon is portrayed 1n the media as an enormous prob lem (Dierkhising, 1996), and accusations about poor tea ching skills , ill-behaved children and inattentive parents are just some of the causes attributed to the problem. It 1s more likely, however, that the root of the dropout problem has a societal , rather than 1nd1vidual basis The 20 problem is not likely caused by the farlure of a srngle sacral group, instrtutron or ministry to meet students' needs (Bearden , Spencer & Moracco , 1989) Rather, the "school dropout may be a symptom as much as a cause" (Carrns . Carrns & Neckerman , 1989, p 1451) Definitron and Reportrng How to define school success rs one of the frrst problems tackled by researchers in this subject area To provrde clues, a survey can be made of the lrterature on hrgh school dropouts Rather than provrdrng a clear-cut answer to the defrnrtronal problem , a new set of problems becomes evrdent The drfficulty of de ermrnrng an accurate and consrstent defrnrtron of a hrgh school dropout has been noted by a number of authors (Carrns et al , 1989, Drerkhrsrng , 1996, Forste & Trenda , 1992, Phelan , 1987, Rumberger, 1987, Wersner, 1984) Many young people who are classified in the lrterature as hrgh school dropouts are really JUSt undergorng a delay or temporary setback and wrll later contrnue wrth herr educatron Furstenberg et al (1987) rn therr longrtudrnal study Thrs rs documented by It rs also supported by Canadran research that indicates that roughly a quarter of the 1991 school dropouts had returned to school at some pornt and graduated by 1995 ("The Drop-outs," 1999). Rather than a discrete event , others view drop ping out as a process of failure in school that begrns early rna student's academic career .... [as] some stud ents begrn to disengage from school at a relatrvely early age When disengagement reaches a certain level during the hrgh school years, the student leaves sch ool. (Aston e & Mclana han, 1991 , p 31 0) For some researchers, high school graduates may include both those young persons who have obtained a high school diplom a and those who obtained a General Educatronal Development (GEO ) certif icate (Cameron & Heckm an , 1993; Upchurch & Mc Carthy, 1990). Other authors make no mention of GED certification . Still others defined dropouts as those students who were not enrolled in school at the time a sample was se lected (Wood et al., 1995). Rumberger (1987) has written a comprehensive rev iew of the dropout literatu re in rel ation to def inition and samples and states that no one knows what the high school dropout rate re ally is in the United States . That is because there is no consensus definition of a h igh school dropout, nor is there a standard method for computing th e dropout rate. (p . 103) 21 He c1tes the two most w1dely used stat1st1cs in the Un1ted States as show1ng very different dropout rates He cla1ms the differences are due to differences 1n purpose , cohort, 1n1t1al membership 1n cohort, defin1t1on , t1me for determ1n1ng dropout status . information source, and level of determ1nat1on The typ1cal educational agency def1n1t1on of a dropout refers to someone who has not graduated from , or 1s not currently enrolled 1n a full -t1me state-approved educa t1on program GED certificate holders, and attendees at an alternate educat1on or part-t1me program may be considered dropouts Length of t1me to graduat1on also affects dropout classlf1cat1on as students who take longer than the usual number of years to comp lete school are often class1f1ed as dropouts The other s1de of the spectrum 1s represented 1n the Un1 ed States by Census Bureau cntena wh1ch allows for h1gh school equivalency and 1ncludes as non-dropouts those who are still attend1ng school w1thou reference to type of program or years beh1nd peers Further problems anse due to school transfers and 1naccurate or 1ncons1stent school record keep1ng, and 1t can be Inferred that the vanabi11ty 1n reported es 1mates of dropout rates may not reflect actual differences (MacMillan, Balow , Widaman , Borthw1ck-Duffy & Hendnck, 1990 Rumberger, 1987 Phelan , 1987, Wallace, 1990) As far as Canad1an stat1st1cs are concerned , a recent report by some Quebec researchers cla1ms that "roughly one th1rd of all students will drop out of h1gh school w ithout hav1ng rece1ved the1r h1gh school diplomas, both 1n Canada (Canada Manpower and Imm igration, 1990) and 1n the Un1ted States" (Va llerand , Fort1er, & Guay, 1997, p 1161 ) These statistics, however, suffer from th e same vanabi11ty of defin1t1on descnbed above Desp1te the noted inconsistency, the literatu re 1s replete w1th studies that 1nvest1g ate characteristics of students as re lated to the1r dropout status and som e general themes have emerged. A student at-nsk for dropping out is most often a male from a rac1al , ethn1c or language m1nority He is likely to experience low socioeconom ic levels, prev 1ous school failures, poor ability and grades, attendance and behavior problems , boredom, probl ems w1th school staff, and substance abuse . Other predictors of dropping out 1nclude spec1fic fam1ly ch aracteri stics, age, social issues, and psychosocial variables (Bearden et al. , 1989 ; Rum berger, 1987). For pregnant young women , it is very difficult to distinguish the causal order of pregnancy and dropp1ng out of school. For example , some reports cite that one th1rd of teen age mothers 22 drop out of school before becom1ng pregnant (Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998) From a comprehensive rev1ew of the literature, Rumberger (1987) reports that a th1rd of all female dropouts report pregnancy or mamage as reasons for leav1ng school On the other hand , Tidwell (1988) reports that few respondents c1ted mamage or ransportat1on as a reason for dropp1ng out Others have observed that though pregnancy may not cause dropp1ng out, for women w1th poor school attitudes and amb1t1ons. 1t may prov1de a conven1ent rat1onale (Prater, 1992) Desp1te the unknown causal direct1on, 1t has been found that there IS an assoc1at1on between level of educational atta1nment and age of f1rst b1rth The 1ncons1stency 1n reported dropout rates cont1nues once a g1rl moves from pregnancy to parenthood. Stud1es have y1elded find1ngs of a maJonty of teen mothers graduat1ng from h1gh school (Nuzum , 1990) Earl1er results have found that approximately half of all students who become mothers drop out of h1gh school (Card & Wise, 1981) More recent stat1St1cs looking at all teen mothers (mamed and unmamed) have 1nd1cated hat 70% of teen mothers completed h1gh school (Alan Guttmacher lnst1tute 1998) Th1s conflicts with other literature reporting an 8085% dropout rate among teen mothers (Wallace, 1990) Some authors have stated that teen mothers comprise one quarter of the total dropout population (McGee & Archer, 1988). When looking at women who have experienced a marnage, only 18% of teen mothers (childbearing initiated when mother was below age 18) ever completed high school compared to 57% of those who initiated childbearing at later ages (Trussell , 1981 ). Even beyond the in1tial post-partum stage, it has been stated that young mothers are dropping out at three times the rate of their female peers (Anderson , 1993b). Clearly these reported rates differ widely. Regardless of the actual num bers, the con sequences of dropping out for young mothers can be devastating and the risk may persist for several years . Fam ily Characteristics Some resea rchers have been very specific about the role of the family in the education of the child . For examp le, the association between fam ily disruption and lower educational attainment raises the question of whether the sharp increase in family instability during the past two decades will have lasting negative consequences on the educational attainment of the next generation. (Astone & Mcl anahan , 1991 , p. 309) 23 It would be dtfficult to dtspute that parents are role models for thetr chtldren and , as such, tnfluence academtc achtevement (Wallace , 1990) Astone and Mclanahan have suggested that tneffecttve or Inadequate parental ass1stance may lead to a school dropout 1f the child feels overwhelmed Some authors have also ctted the educattonal level of parents , occupattonal level of parents , number of readtng matenals tn the home, and asptrattons of parents as tnfluencing school mottvatton, perststence and asptra tons tn thetr children (Anderson , 1993b, Astone & Mclanahan , 1991 , Rumberger, 1987 , Ttdwell 1988 Upchurch, 1993, Upchurch & McCarthy, 1990, Vallerand et al , 1997 , Wallace 1990) Others have reported confltcttng results (Bearden et al ., 1989) Spectftc ftndtngs for the educatton level of he parents of teenage mothers have also been made In a longttudtnal study tt was found that those adolescent mothers who had better- educated parents were more ltkely to expertence success later tn ltfe (Furstenberg et al , 1987) More spectfically, teen parents whose mothers were at least htgh school graduates, were onethird less likely to drop out of school than were teen parents whose mothers had less education . When the father of the teen mother was a htgh school graduate, the teen mother was 15 percent less likely to drop out (Upchurch & McCarthy, 1990; see also Upchurch, 1993). In addition to parental achievement level , other family factors tnfluence the decision to drop out. Such factors as lack of discipline , little parental interest in school/education , demanding home respon sibilities, financial problems and abuse make it difficult for some teens to persist (Egg inton , We lls, Gaus & Esse lman, 1990). Living arrangements also seem to have an impact on dropping out. Belonging to a si ng le-parent fam ily may negatively impact a student's grade-point average, atten da nce, college expectations , educationa l atta inment and school engagement (Anderson, 1993b; A stone & Mclanahan , 1991 ; Rumberger, 1987; Upchuch, 1993 ; Upchurch & McCarthy, 1990). Additionally, the number of people living in a household can negat ively impact schooling (Anderson , 1993b; DeBolt, Pasley & Kreutzer 1990; Wallace , 1990). The more children or the fewer parents , the less individual time is received by a teen. The picture is even more complex when stepparents are considered. In single parent fam ilies, Zim iles and Lee (1991) found that children livtng wtth 24 like-gender cu stodial parents were less likely to drop out However, 1n stepparent fami1 1es , children 11v1ng w1th l1ke-gender custod1al parents were more l1kely to drop out For dropout adolescent mothers, family configuration has an even greater 1mpact living 1n the fam1ly of ong1n can promote a return to school and some researchers have found a large proportion of teen mothers I1V1ng w1th the1r parents (Herrmann Van Cleve & Lev1sen , 1998) However, for those who choose to drop out , there are 1nd1cations that the fam1ly's expectation is that the adolescent does most of the housework and chtldcare w1th little ass1stance (Colletta, Lee , & Gregg , 1980) Add1t1onally "1t IS known that most een mothers move away from the1r fam1ly of orig1n after a short durat1on" (Furs enberg , 1991 p 133) and so the benef1ts for educational attainment are l1m1ted The effects of fam1ly charac enst1cs can not be underestimated In a qual1tat1ve study where dropouts were quened d1rectly as to the1r reasons for dropp1ng out 39 1% c1ted family reasons (Tidwell, 1988) Ethnicity and Socioeconom ic Status F1nding s for ethn1c1ty and dropout status are m1xed Researchers have reported f1nd1ngs for race and dropout statu s (Ca 1rns et al , 1989; Streeter & Franklin , 1991 ) In h1s comprehensive revi ew of the literature, Rumberger (1987) reports that students from raci al, language and ethnic m1norities are more likely to drop out. In Canada, Abong1nal teen agers older th an 14 have lower levels of school ing tha n do s1milar non-Aboriginals ("The Drop-outs," 1999) Anderson (1993b) found higher than average rates of dropping out for Africa n-American and H1spa nic mothers. Though not specifically tied to dropping out of school , racial differences in teenage pregnancy and parenting rates have been observed as we ll but are somewh at mixed (Coley & Chase-Lansdale , 1998; Upchurch, 1993; Wallace , 1990; Walters et al., 1987) . To understand the association , a number of hypotheses have been brought forward . Furstenberg (1987) notes that the differences in adolescent birth rate between Caucasian and African-American women has been declining but is still much higher for younger African-American adolescents . He also suggests that poor, minority young women enter parenthood early because they may feel there are few disadvantages. Similarly, Upchurch suggests that teenage parenthood may be a route to 25 adult status for young women from disadvantaged econom 1c and educational backgrounds . Within disadvantaged communities , 1t IS hypothesized that a subculture of teenage motherhood has developed that provtdes pos1t1ve feedback for young women who m1ght get l1ttle otherw1se (Rauche-Einekave, 1994 Roosa , 1986) Nor 1s th1s JUS an Amencan trend as 1t has been recogn1zed that Canad1an street youth are g1v1ng b1rth at 1ncreas1ng rates The descnbed rationale is that 1t g1ves them some leg1t1macy Importance and 1dent1ty (Philp, 1998) One of the most commonly reported correlates of early htgh school leav1ng 1s soc1oeconomtc status (SES) Generally adolescents from less advantaged backgrounds are less likely to graduate (Astone & Mclanahan, 1991 Ca1rns e al , 1989, Rumberger, 1987, Streeter & Franklin , 1991 , Upchurch , 1990) In Canada the dropout rate for all children has been declining but 1n 1992, poor children dropped out of school almost tw1ce as often as d1d children who were not poor (Canad1an Council on Soc1al Development , 1994) Gender and Age The literature reveals that dropou s are mostly male and JUSt over legal mm1mum age (Bearden et al ., 1989, Ca1rns et al , 1989, Rumberger, 1987) RamJfJcat1ons for younger dropouts are tha t they appear to be less successful when retneved 1nto alternative programs (Dowling , 1994). A similar positive correlation between age and success 1n return1ng to school has been found for adolescent mothers where a younger age at first b1rth IS correlated w1th a greater r1sk for dropping out (Wallace, 1990; Anderson , 1993b; DeBolt et al. , 1990). This dropout pattern is unfortunate since "parenting adole scents have as much potential for academic success as their nonparenting co horts" (Prater, 1992 , p. 141 ). School Factors Well-researched and intu itive pred ictors of dropout statu s are ability and school ach ievement. The literature generall y reveals consistent results. Poor academic performance and a history of grade retent ion are pred ictive of early scho ol leaving for both the regular popu lation and for teen mothers (Anderson , 1993b; Asto ne & Mcl anahan , 1991 , Bearden et al. , 1989; Cairns et al ., 1989 ; DeBolt et al. , 1990; Marin, 1990; Rumberger, 1987; Streeter & Franklin , 1991 ; T idwell , 1988; Wallace , 1990). An associ ated fi nd ing is that college-preparation academ 1c 26 programs yield fewer dropouts (Anderson , 1993b, Upchurch , 1990). In a study by Tidwell, school was reported as being "bonng" by dropouts Other reasons for dropp1ng out 1n th1s study 1nclu ded being beh1nd on cred1ts and be1ng unable to graduate w1th peers Pregnancy and parenthood create obstacles for even the most a cad em 1cally capable adolescent When pregnancy and parenthood are pa1red w1th a history of poor ach1evement the results can seem insurmountable (Prater, 1992) There 1s a strong assoc1at1on between grade retent1on and early schoolleav1ng (Rodenck, 1995) Rodenck reports three aspects of the retention expenence that place students at nsk for dropp1ng out (a) students rece1ve the message that they are not capable , (b) students are overage for grade level 1n adolescence , and (c) students may become 1ncreas1ngly frustra ted and disengaged The not1on of students rece1v1ng the message that they are not competent is supported by Vallerand et al (1997) who found that dropouts perce1ved themselves as be1ng less competent and autonomous at school act1v1t1es . For educators, some of the most obv1ous charactenst 1cs of a student at-risk for dropp1ng out of school are poor attendance and behavioral difficul ties A student who expenences conf lict in one or more of th ese doma1ns will l1kely have a sign1f1cant d1srupt1on 1n schooling and quite possibly, subsequent failure. Wa llace (1990) descnbes th1s pattern well · It wou ld seem to be a se lf-fulfilling prophecy , that students who are bored , act out. To avoid unpleasant Situat ions , they arri ve late, or have sporadic attendance, and, by virt ue of th at behavi or, end up doing poorly academically. (p . 23 ) This notion is supported by the research wh ich found th at in general, pers isters exhibited regul ar attendance whereas dropouts demonstrated poor attendance (Astone & Mclanahan, 1991 ; Dierkhising , 1996; Egg inton et al. , 1990; Rumberger, 1987; Wa llace , 1990) . Behavioral difficulties of dropouts are also reported in the literature (Ca irns et al. , 1989; Marin , 1990 ; Upchurch, 1990). Conflict with teachers and school administration also accounts for some early-schoolleaving behavior (Rumberger, 1987). In a qualitative study of reasons for leavin g school , 24.3% of respondents cited teacher problems , particularly the unmet need for academ ic help, unavailability of counsellor time, and teacher insensitivity and intolerance (Tidwell, 1988) 27 Va llerand et al (1997) found support for the suggest1on that teacher and adminis trator support can impact the dec1sion to rema1n 1n school Th1s aspect may be particularly salient for young mothers as they battle b1ases and preJUdice from the1r teachers regard1ng their status as adolescent parents Prater (1992) found that the teen mothers experienced 1nsensit1vity on the part of teachers about the1r d1ffenng needs A student's program (academic versus vocat 1onal ) has been hypothesized to have an association w1th early schoolleav1ng but the f1nd1ngs 1n th1s area are not clear The preva lence of the use of vocat1onal tra1n1ng 1n dropout prevent1on programs seem1ngly 1s based on the assumpt1on that a lack of Interest 1n school IS a major dnv1ng force 1n the deciSIOn to leave and that by focus 1ng on vocat1onal educa tion , students become more Interested 1n the a cad em 1c port1on of school and thus are more likely to rema1n (P1t man , 1991 . p 288) However, P1ttman notes there IS an 1ncons1stency 1n research results 1n th1s area and 1n h1s study , using a large nat1onal data samp le, he found no assoc1at1on between part1C1pat1on 1n vocation al/bus1ness courses and dropp1ng out Students who part1c1pated 1n vocat ional or business courses were no more persistent than the1r peers who d1d not participate in these types of courses . A final school factor related to dropouts is the transition difficulty faced by elementary students as they enter second ary school. Phelan (1987) reports a higher dropout rate in the first yea r compared to later years and suggests thi s is indicative of transitional difficulties. In terms of issues specific to teenage mothers, 1t was foun d in a longitudin al stud y th at women who experienced high ach ievement and had high educationa l as pirations at the ti me of the first birth were much more likely to have a successfu l later life (Furstenberg et a l. , 1987). In a study by Rauche-E inekave (1 994 ) it was found that in read ing and language skill s, the mothers scored one or more years below grade leve l. She suggests that there may be a high incidence of undetected learning difficulties in th is group who were part of a comprehens ive prog ram for teen mothers and their infants. She further hypothesizes that these learn ing problems are assoc1ated with the high rate of early school leaving among tee n mothers. Other researchers have a lso reported findings of teen mothers being below expected grade level (Herrmann et al. , 1998) Finally, Polit and Kahn (1987) found some evidence that conflicts w ith the oth er dropout research 28 results . In their study , the teen mother's h1story of repeat1ng grades had no effect on her dropout status. What was s1gn1ficant was that mothers who were closer to graduat1on at the beginning of the study were more likely to have graduated or rema1n 1n school Th1s suggests that those teen mothers who have further to go to reach graduation are more likely to give up and drop out. Taken holistically, 1t would appear that school fac ors are very Important 1n the deciSIOn to drop out of h1gh school for all types of students Substance Use Although some confl1ct1ng results are noted by Bearden et al ( 1989), 1t appears that drug and alcohol 1ssues do have an assoc1at1on w1th early school leav1ng (Eggert & Hert1ng, 1993, Mann , 1990). Th1s rat1onale 1s succ1nctly stated by Egg1nton et al. (1990) who wrote "regular use of drugs and alcohol produce effects and a state of m1nd w1th1n students wh1ch are Incompatible w1th th e re spons1b1ht1es of student l1fe" (p 35) Th1s factor also affects teen mothers as Upchurch and McCarthy (1990) found that adolescent females who began smok1ng or dnnk1ng before age 16 were 26% more likely to leave school early Social Issues It has been asserted that bonds to the school are max1m1zed by successful school experiences th at may not be related to cumculum (Finn , 1989; Gottfredson , 1980; Hemm1ngs, Jin & Low, 1996). The re sults of a vanety of studies, however, have not completely clarified the role that these social issues play. Athl etics and extra-curricular involvement have been shown to be important for school pers istence (McNea l, 1995 ; Pittman, 1991 ). A re ason for this may be that, involvement may prov ide an identity within the school that is derived from some formal school-sanctioned activ ity .... the greater sense of identity with th e form al structure of the school becomes a part of the students' personal identiti es, and those individua ls are less likely to separate themselves from a source of personal meaning. (Pittman , 1991 , p. 291 ) Some conflicting evidence for these findings do exi st, however, as Bearden et al. (1 989) found that most of the dropouts had participated in extra curricular activities, prim arily athletics, and Cairns et al. (1989) found that their sample of dropouts did not experience be ing "unpopular". Egginton et al. (1990) reported that dropouts and at-ri sk fema les did indicate problems with peer pressure. For adolescent mothers, the relationship of extra-curricul ar invol vement to school 29 persistence has spec1al mean mg. Young parents who must collect ch1ldren from day care can suffer from role overload and generally do not have the t1me or energy for extra-curricu lar act1v1ties and thts may contnbute to feelings of 1solat1on (Prater, 1992) Although peer relat1onsh 1ps of dropouts have rece1ved less attent1on than some of the other factors , it has been de term 1ned that dropouts tend to assoc1ate w1th other dropouts, w ith the association be1ng stronger for gtrls than boys (Ca1ms et al 1989, P1ttman, 1991 , Rumberger, 1987) One aspect of peer relat1onsh1ps IS the 1n1t1at1on of sexual act1v1ty For girls, the earlier the sexual debut occurs , the h1gher the like lihood of dropp1ng out (Upchurch, 1993, Upchurch & McCarthy, 1990) The role of soc1al 1ssues 1s no clearer for ado lescent mothers The convent1onal w1sdom is that adolescent mothers often encounter alienation from fnends , peers , and partners as time and attent1on devoted to the new baby Isolates them from the support of, and soc1al expenences with , previous assoc1ates However th1s not1on IS only partially supported by the literature (Boisseau-Goodw1n , 1993; Colletta et al , 1980) Elsewhere 1t 1s descnbed that many adolescent mothers do not report peer ISOlation (Wallace , 1990) In tim e, th e social 1ssues aspect of the dropout profile may become more certa1n but currently it is ri sky to assume that dropout status can be pred1cted on the bas1s of feel1ngs of social alienation. Psychosocial Variables Some of the most com mon psychosoci al concepts are locus of control (LO C) , motivation , and goa l orientation . Some authors reported fin ding th at dropouts had lower self concepts, lower educationa l aspirati ons and lower levels of intrinsic motivation than did pers1sters (Marin , 1990; Polit & Kahn , 1987; Rumberger, 1987; Vallerand et al. , 1997) . An assumption that may be made about pregnant or pa rent ing adolescents is that they were unable to practise w ise reproductive decision-m aki ng and were lacking control and were irresponsible. In other words , they had low internal LOC as defined by Reber (1987) . Locus of 30 contro l is a general term 1n social psychology used to refer to the perce1ved source of control over one's behavtor It ts measured along a dtmenston runntng from htgh internal to h1gh external, w1th an tnternal person be1ng one who tends to take responstbllity for his own act1ons and an external as one who tends to see control as restdtng elsewhere (p 407) Th e verdict on the relat1onsh1p of LOC to pre-m anta! adolescent pregnancy ts , however, far from defintttve VV'h1te and Cumm1ngs (1995) note 1n a rev1ew of stud1es exam1n1ng LOC and teen pregnancy that some research has shown an assoc1at1on between external LOC and teen pregnancy whtle other research has not In the1r own study , these researchers found no significant differences 1n LOC for the1r pregnant or parenttng subJects as compared to a control group Similarly, LOC was not systemat1cally related to non-manta! chlldbeanng 1n a study ustng a large nation al database (Piotntck & Butler. 1991) Walters et al ( 1987) found that female adol escents who had experienced a pregnancy were not dtsttngutshable from the general population of adolescents nor from a matched sample of never-pregnant g1rls for LOC . Ca1rns et al. (1989) found no difference for LOC between young mothers and "never pregnants" , whereas Bo issea u-Goodwin (1993) found that teen mothers tended to possess an external sense of control and have lower self-esteem . For her sa mple of young mothers , Nuzum (1990) reported significant interactions between grades and self-concept and between grades and LOC . In thts study, teenage mothers with low grades, a high internal locus of control and low self-concept were more prone to dro p out. This finding of a higher internal LOC is counter-intuitive yet reflects an important subtlety and has ramifications for progra m planning. Those students with a high internal LOC attribute poor ach ievement to something witht n th emselves. Drop ou t prevention attempts to increase interna l LOC for all at-risk students cou ld be detrimental. Wa llace (1990) points out that time of measurement of the variab le is important because measurem ent after a birth may reflect more typical feelings of uncertainty associated with becoming a new mother. This construct does not provide a clear-cut way to distingu ish girls at risk for becoming pregnant or distinguish already pregnant and parenting girls at risk fo r dropp ing out. Motivation is a construct associated w ith high school success. Prater (1992) found that most of the teen parents were motivated to graduate from high school. The effect of motivation 31 and asp irations should not be underestimated As Wallace (1990) reports, "the greatest differences between those teens who stayed 1n school and those who dropped out was either a total absence of career asp1rat1ons/Job asp1rat1ons, or unrealistiC expectations assoc1ated with job goals" (p 95) Goal onentat1on ts a related construct that rs relevant to teen mothers but ltttle research on the goal-setttng behavrors of th1s group has been conducted (Whrte & Cummrngs, 1995). Though Wh1te and Cummrngs drd not ftnd any srgnifrcant drfferences rn goal orientatron between their sample of pregnant and parentrng adolescents versus a control group of non-pregnant and non-parentrng teens , they drd drscover hat there were srgn1f1cant differences regardrng the most important goals Pregnant and parent1ng teens were more concerned about rnterpersonal goals com pared to the rntra-personal goal rnterest of the control group The authors suggest that these drfferences may be due to the control group teens feelrng there are fewer "restnctrons and more options when thinkrng about therr personal futures" (p . 263 ) Farber ( 1989), rna qualitative study , found some support for the notion that hrgher educatronal and vocat ronal asprratrons among som e teenagers cause them to engage rn behav1ors that mrn1m1ze the nsks of pregnancy. On the other hand , Wa lters et al. (1987) found no si gn rfrcant differences for their sample on the psychologica l dimension of purpose rn life Srmrla r to the LOC construct, the ev1dence is equivocal. Assum ption s that the se girls do not have cle ar life goals cannot be totally supported . Th is small subgroup of the adolescent populatron may in fact be more like other adolescents th an unlike them on th is dimens ion. Employment and Econom ic Factors Another factor associated with early school leav ing is econ om ic need. Rumberger (1987) reported that 20% of all dropouts cite this as the ir reason for dropp ing o ut of sch oo l. Ti dwell (1988) also found support for this notion w ith 29.8% of respondents identify ing wo rk as th e reason for dropping out. Despite this reason , many dropouts are not successfu l in the w orld of work , particularly if they have a learning disability. In their study of learning d isabled dropouts, Sitlington and Frank (1993) determined that one year after the graduation date of their peers, on ly 56% of their sample 32 were employed full or part trme . This was compared to 77% of the1r peers who had graduated Fem ale, learning disabled dropouts were even less l1kely to be work1ng than were the1r ma le counterparts. When they were employed rt was generally 1n laborer or servrce-worker pos1t1ons In another study, only one half of the dropouts had managed o obta1n full - or part-time employment (Tidwell , 1988) Canadian statrst1cs from 1997 show lower unemployment rates for high school graduates compared to those persons who did not graduate from hrgh school ("The Drop-outs ," 1999) Con sequences of Dropp1ng Out In general , the research clearly supports the not1on that negat1ve consequences follow the deci s1on to drop out of school (Rumberger, 1987, Tidwell , 1988) For dropouts w1th learning disab1l1 ties, the consequences for adult adJustment appear to be even more negat1ve (Srtlington and Frank, 1993) The drffrcultres caused by a dropout's educatronal deficrts lead to lrmrted econom1c potential whrch can , in turn , lead to lower levels of social well berng. These consequences can then lead to social costs of brll1ons of dollars through lower tax revenues , and increased demands on soc1al services (Rumberger, 1987). An early school Ieaver might 1nrtially get a job and w ork whil e his or her peers remarn rn school. However, over time those who graduated w ill have more potential for competitive employment. The level of employment initrally experienced by the dropout may continue throughout his or her lrfe. Most of the dropout literat ure opens with statem ents about the bleak fu ture prospects for dropouts but there have been re latively few studies done on thi s topic. Using a large database , McCaul, Donaldson , Co ladarci, & Da vi s (1992) made comparisons of dropouts and graduates with no post-secondary training to determine the consequences of dropping out. Major find ings included no difference for self-esteem , greater alcoho l consu mption by male dropouts , les s political and social participation by dropouts , less work sat isfaction for female dro pouts , no difference in salary earned , greater numbers of jobs held by male dropouts and fewe r num bers of jobs held by female dropouts. Although not as devastating as one m ight assum e, th e resu lts suggest that, particularly for female dropouts, the future is not altogether promi sing. For 33 adolescent mothers who drop out, there are pred1ct1ons of an even more discouraging fu ture which includes a perpetuation of the cycle of poverty (Wallace, 1990) Recommendations from the Literature Most researchers who study the dropout phenomenon make recommendations at the end of the1r report. Generally, the 1ssue IS cred 1ted as be1ng highly complex and the recommendations 1nclude mult1-d1mens1onal programm1ng to serve the many sub-populations of early school leavers (Rumberger, 1987 Streeter & Franklin, 1991 ) A greater understanding of the 1mpact of non-school aspects IS requ1red Programs w1th a m1x of educational and non- educational components are suggested 1n order to encourage at-nsk students' non-academic involvement The Importance of early 1dentlflcat1on and prevent ion of dropping out IS highligh ted . Appropriate educational programm ing teacher tra1n1ng , and attent1on to scheduling and location are all noted The encouragement of parent and commun1ty support and the promotion of strong positive individual relat1onsh1ps between students and school staff IS another topic of recommendat ions (Phelan , 1987; Pittman , 1991 , Prater, 1992, Rumberger, 1987, Streeter & Fran klin , 1991 ). Special Issues for Pregnant and Parent1ng Students Certa in scho ol attitud es and experi ences have been assoc1ated with early childbearing. Specifica lly, a num ber of authors have noted that those girls having a more positive attitude toward school were less likely to have a non-m arita l birth (Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998; Furstenberg, 1976; Plotnick & Butler, 1991). Using a large nati onal database, Anderson (1993b) determ ined that pregnant students and mothers are much more likely to drop out th an are students who are not pregnant or mothers (see also Klepinger, Lundberg & Plotnick, 1995). Nuzum (1990) , however, discovered that "a surprisingly large number of teenage mothers ... graduated from high school" (p. 143). She further notes th1s conflicts with the literature but notes that her sample may be representat ive of all teenage mothers . The direction of causality between dropout and pregnancy has been stud ied and debated (Anderson , 1993a, DeBolt et al. , 1990; Forste & Tienda, 1992 ; Furstenberg, 1991 ; Roosa, 1986 ; Upch urch, 1990; 34 Upchurch et al , 1993) However, 1t does not change the fact that teen mothers w1shing to complete h1gh school face many obstacles (Hayes , 1987) Support The not1on of confl1ct1ng role demands "role overload" (Prater, 1992) or "status-conflict" (Furstenberg , 1976) refers to the d1ff1culty expenenced by school-age mothers as they try to juggle the concurrent demands of being a student and a parent (see also Musick, 1990) One can 1mag1ne the overwhelming stress for a teenager who must deal With an unplanned pregnancy and subsequent parenting while still grappling with the tasks of adolescence There 1s support for the staggenng effects of th1s role-conflict and assoc1ated stress Telleen and Colletta (1987) found that, 1n a sample of dropouts, those who were mothenng suffered from depress1on more often th an d1d those who were not For street girls, h1gher rates of abuse , attempted su1C1de , depression, family conflict and drug use have also been reported by pregnant or parenting girls versus the1r non-pregnant or non-parenting peers (Ray & Roloff, 1994 ). Support to continue w1th schooling IS a multidimensional concept and part1cular types of support may be warranted 1n different s1tuat1ons (Boisseau-Goodwln , 1993). In order for a teen mother to pers ist in her schooling, she requires emotional support (including encouragement), econom ic support and childcare support (Anderson , 1993b, Wallace, 1990) F1nd1ngs In the literature indicate that the infant's grandmother is most often the source of the majority of the support provided (Colletta et al. , 1980; Da vi s, 1994; Wallace, 1990). Not surprisingly, the grandmother has th is role more often with younger unemployed teen moth ers and fat hers (Voran & Phillips, 1993). However, Oritz and Bassoff (1987) found that al most half of th e teen mothers in their study felt relatively distant from , and were lacking in guidance and help from their parents. Some researchers have found that social support dropped significantly between six and eighteen months after the birth (Herrmann et al. , 1998). Educational and economic gains can most often occur when the teen mother res ides with her family of origin (Burden & Klerman , 1984; Furstenberg , 1976; Furstenberg et al. , 1987; Furstenberg & Crawford , 1981 ). These gains have later been found to translate into more positive economic outcomes (Furtstenberg et al. , 1987). Conversely , mothers on assistance 35 rece1ved less support to continue the1r educat1on (Ontz & Bassoff, 1987) When fami ly support is received , teen mothers expenence fewer obstacles 1n school attendance but for mothers who dropout, lower levels of support are reported (Colletta et al , 1980, Ontz & Bassoff, 1987) Overall , however, adolescent mothers report less soc1al support than do the1r non-parenting peers or older mothers (Burke, 1990) Trussell (1981) linked a ns1ng 1nc1dence of poverty w1th a falling age of motherhood. In the1r rev1ew of the literature, Coley and Chase-Lansdale (1998) also noted that those teenage g1rls ra1sed 1n poverty were more prone to ado lescen parenthood (see also Lu , 1987 , Upchurch, 1993, Wal ters et al , 1987) Second generat1on teen mothenng also contr1butes to Circumstances of poverty. In Prater's (1992 ) study, most of the part1c1pants' mothers were also teen parents The cycle cont1nues for 1f poverty IS linked to adolescent pregnancy then most certa1nly adolescent parenthood 1s assoc1ated w1th cont1nued poverty and ilm1ted opportunity (Ontz & Bassoff, 1987) Adolescent mothers who elect to rema1n s1ngle form part of a larger group of single parents With one-ha lf of Canad1an s1ngle mothers living be low the poverty l1ne, th1s is not an enviable group to join. Many of these mothers face the dist1nct possib1l1ty that they may spend part of the parenting time without adequate shelter (Grey, 2000; Morrison , Page, Sehl, & Smith , 1986). The situa tion is not improving . In 1996, the 1nc1dence 1n Canada of ch1ld poverty in single mother fam ilies was 65% . BC children fare slightly better with an incidence of 58 .6% . By comparison , overa ll child poverty in Ca nada at the same time was 21 .1% and in BC was 20.2% (The Centre for International Statistics , 1993). Clearly the children of single mothers face dismal prospects. This issue has sparked keen governmental interest due to its relation ship to welfare The reason for concern becomes clear when rates of ass istance are examined more clo sely. In 1993, American women who became mothers as teenagers accounted for 55% of the total of mothers receiving aid (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1998). In Canada , single parents account for 29% of the welfare caseload . In BC the rate is 25% (The Centre for International Statistics, 1998b). When published , these types of statistics contribute to the social stigmatization that still seems to haunt many adolescent mothers. 36 The f1nanc1al woes of an adolescent mother attempting to prov1de quality care for her ch1ld are exacerbated 1f she l1ves Independently "Teenage mothers who cont1nue to l1ve w1th the1r parents and do not marry are less likely to rely on welfare than [mothers] who leave home without marry1ng or than [mothers] who marry leave home and subsequently become s1ngle parents through separat1on and d1vorce" (Burden & Klerman , 1984, p 13) children are 1nexpens1ve Few would argue that In 1998 1n Canada ra1s1ng a child to age 18 cost roughly 160,000 dollars (The Centre for International S at1st1CS , 1998a). If an adolescent mother 1s attempt1ng to hold down a JOb to defray expenses she has II tie energy left to devote to schooling The lack of schooling contnbu es to the young mother's inanc1al wornes as she 1s unlikely to secure a well paying JOb and 1s therefore l1kely to become part of he grow1ng popula 1on of young parents who have trouble mak1ng ends meet No surpns1ngly then , many young mothers struggle w1th poverty, often alternating between work and welfare for years (McGee & Blank, 1989 p 14) The wage d1spanty w1th men occurs even among women who delay chlldbeanng Young full-t1me female workers who have less than 12 years of educat1on earn less than do 70% of the1r male counterparts (Levy & Murnane, 1992) Without some measure of support the l1fe prospects of adolescent mothers are gnm Additional Children Common sense m1ght suggest that once an adolescent has encountered the d1fficult1es inherent in raising one child she would ensure that she did not Jeopardize her s1tuat1on further by having another child . However, many teen mothers have subsequent children as adolescents, and in general women who beg1n childbearing dunng adolescence have more children than do w omen who delay childbearing (Marin, 1990; Nord et . al. , 1992, Polit & Kahn , 1986, Prater, 1992, Scambler, Ad ler, & Congdon, 1980 ; Seitz & Apfel, 1993; Wallace, 1990) It is difficult to get a high school education wh ile simultaneously ca ring for one child . The extra burden on time, f inances , and personal resources that an additional child poses can place the goal of a h1gh school education out of reach. Con versely, those mothers who are Involved 1n an educational program are less likely to have a second chi ld wh ile st 1ll in school (Polit & Kahn , 1986). Consequently they are more likely to graduate and to experience success 1n later life 37 (Furstenberg , 1976, Furstenberg et al , 1987, Hayes, 1987, McGee & Blank, 1989) How ever, many teen mothers are unsuccessful 1n meet1ng the1r goal of delay1ng a second pregnancy (Furstenberg , 1976, Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1998) The psycho-social mechan1sms beh1nd th1s phenomena are not well understood but there IS no ev1dence to support the myth that tee nagers have the1r f1rst and subsequent children 1n order to obta1n welfare benefits (Kelly, 1996b, Polit & Kahn , 1986) W1th a second or th1rd child to care for, the obstacles re lated to poverty and soc1al st1gma become even more sal1ent Childcare The need for appropnate and affordable day care for the1r children 1s the most obv1ous need of adolescent mothers plann1ng on return1ng to school Th1s not1on has been supported by a variety of researchers (Colletta et al , 1980, Prater, 1992, Tidwell , 1988, Wallace, 1990) When the provider of childcare 1s the adolescent's mother or other close relat1ve , th1s obstacle 1s often overcome Without f1nanc1al hardship The grandmother can also prov1de care when an 1nfant IS 111 . Those mothers who do not have th1s opt1on have both the financial hardsh ip of affording daycare and the disrupt ion to th eir routin e wh en the1r child falls 111 and they must stay home to provide ca re (Wa llace, 1990). As w ell , adolescent mothers are unl1ke ly to return to school in the event that the ir ch ildren are not hea lthy (Roosa , 1986) . In Canada , chil dcare subsidies can help offset the costs for single mothers who are return ing to work or schoo l. However, moth ers are not necessarily aw are of these su bs idies as was discovered in a Toronto study (Morri son et a l. , 1986). Group day care is advocated as providing high quality care compared to other ch ildcare services , yet in Canada it is most ofte n accessed by the wealthiest and most educated parents (Mahoney, 1984 ; Kivikink & Schnell , 1987). The lower-income parents must often rely on unregulated or un licensed ch ildcare. Even when care is subsidized , the quality of the care arrangements is often un known (BC M inistry of Social Development, 1999b). Importantly, subsidized daycare is on ly helpful if it is access ib le. Waiting lists can be long and once a child is accepted , the location of the daycare may seriou sly impact healthy family functioning due to stress dictated by travel demands (Mahoney, 1984, Michelson , 1990). 38 Ch ildcare concerns crop up locally as well A needs assessmen t for Bn tish Co lumbia chi ldcare w as conducted tn 1997 A number of concerns relevant to th1s study topic were hig hlighted . Childcare concerns prevented nearly a thtrd of the study's parents from pursutng work or educatton , frequent child-care problems were encountered by 43% of the parents attending a school or tratntng program , and 61% of he parents reported that childcare w as too expens1ve As well , th1s needs assessment found that the gap between the subs1dy rate and the real cost of chlidcare was $100 00 per month (BC M 1n1stry of Soc1 al Development , 1999b). Other problems have also been reported w 1th subs1dy use A 1993 BC study reported that over a quarter of the study partiCipants had expenenced a refusa l to prov1de care because of subs1dy issu es (BC Min1stry of Soc1al Serv tces , 1993) As we ll, 1ncons1stenc Jes 1n fund1ng young pa rent programs ex1st wh1ch does l1ttle for the stabli1ty of these programs (R1vers & Assoc1ates , 1995). T he loca l picture for chlidcare for adolescent mothers does have some prom1s1ng aspects however. In Br1t1 sh Columbia, the M1n1stry of Educat1on (MOE ) and the M1n1stry for Children and Families (MCF ) have collaborated w 1th a number of school d1stncts to support school-based childcare so that appropriate chlidcare is available while the young parent accesses an educational progra m (L. Taal, person al communication, February 18, 1999). Th ese young parent programs are funded from the childcare subsidy budget and cu rrently cons1st of 800 childcare spaces operating at BC second ary schoo ls (BC M inistry of Soc1al Development, 1999b). Qual itat ive data co llected on thes e programs ind icate th ey have assi sted the young moth ers with attendance, academ ic performance , school be havior and school pers istence (Rivers & Associates , 1995). Transportation Transportation issues are often entwined w ith daycare issues and can pose a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to high school graduat ion (Grobe , 1995; Roosa, 1986; Wa llace, 1990) . This is often an overlooked obstacle for teen mothers. To successfu lly attend a ne ighborhood high school , a teen mother must arrange to transport her child to daycare and then get herself to school on time. It is the rare teen mother that owns her own vehicle or even ha s acce ss to one. Many young mothers do not have a driver's license. Public trans it is often the onl y route available 39 and may tnvolve numerous transfers Mothers 1n outlytng areas often do not even have the option of publtc transit and must transport thetr children on foot enormously difficult and frustrating In the w1nter, thts can be If a teenager in an outlying area would normally rely on a school bus to get to school , she has even fewer options than does a mother who lives tn a town or village Some teen mothers are fortunate to attend an alternate school that provtdes daycare. Although thts has advantages the centre IS often well across town and transportation IS aga1n an issue Wallace found that 50% of those teen mothers havtng transportatton problems dropped out In contrast, of the teen mothers who dtd not drop out, 70% reported satisfactory transportation Other researchers have reflec ed upon he tmportance of transportation 1n other areas of an adolescent mother's l1fe A h1gh level of tnfant tmmuntzatton was attributed to the efforts of publtc health nurses who case managed young mothers and helped them with transportation for cltntc appotntments (Herrmann et al , 1998) Attendance Attendance may prove to be an obstacle for schoo l-attendtng pregnant or parenttng adolescents . Absenteeism can result from nausea , infant til health, deltvery recovery t1me or complica tions, medical or financial asststance appointments, post-natal depression, exhaustion or nursing issues. A great deal will depend upon the nature of the program 1n which the mother is enrolled . A self-paced alternate program can be qutte flextble with regard to absenteeism . Conversely, missing a few days in a row on a quartered or semestered school program can be devastat ing to the student who has few spare minutes in her life to spend catching up. Ad ditionally, some schools may have rigid attendance policies that penalize students who are absent (Roosa , 1986). With the overwhe lming nature of obstacle s facing adolescent mothers, it is a wonder that any of them are able to persist w ith the ir schooling. Evidence indicates that those mothers who interrupt their schooling as little as poss ible, returning as early as two weeks post-partum but on an average of 6-8 weeks post-partum , have the best chance for success in persisting with their education (Wallace, 1990). 40 Consequences of Early Motherhood Much like the consequences for the general school dropout, the consequences for the pare nting dropout are almost uniformly reported as negat1ve However, 1t IS unclear whether these consequences are the result of the early btrth or whether unmeasured underlying differences between early and late chlldbearers are the source (Nord et al , 1992, Upchurch , 1993, Upchurch et al , 1993) Research tnto th1s 1ssue has uncovered consequences for high sch ool graduat1on, family stze and economtc well -betng that ex1st Independent of fam1 ly background 1ssues (Hoffman et al , 1993, Stmk1ns 1984) As well , chtldbeartng adolescents can range tn age from 12 to 19 and the consequences are not untform across this age range (ScottJones & Turner, 1990) One of the reported consequences ts a larger fam 1ly s1ze for women who had the1 r fi rst child as adolescents And wtth thi s tncrease tn children comes a drastic tncrease tn the likelihood of we lfare dependence (Scam bier et al , 1980, Furstenberg et al. , 1987, Hayes, 1987). Welfare dependence is of primary concern to governments and poltcy makers When the adolescent mother drops out of sch ool, her low level of educational atta inment dictates that options for economic independence are drastica lly reduced (Card & Wt se, 1981 , Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998; Furstenberg, 197 8, Po lit & Kahn , 1987, Stmktn s, 1984, Wood et al. , 1995) Polit and Ka hn describe th is chain reaction nicely. Education still represents the best veh icle for upward mobility in our society. The teens who are affected by teenage pregnancy are precise ly the ones whose lifelong econom ic prospects in our society are most bleak, even in the absence of an early pregnancy-they are fema les , they are disproportionate ly minority, and they are disproportionately from lower-income backgrounds. Th is group's need for a high school diploma is acute. (p. 134) Actual numbers to support this notion are supplied by Hoffman et al. (1993) who report that a teen birth doubles the probability of poverty and the probability of be ing at least middle cl as s is reduced by more than 50% . This reduction in economic well-being is described as human capital format ion whi ch is the product of a woman 's labour force participation and the wage rate ava ilable to her if she were to work (Trussell , 1981 ). Even if a woman enters the work force earlier than a peer, "a year of education is more important than a year of work experience, other things being equal" (Trussell , 41 1981 , p 253). Additionally, Trussell points out that the psychological fulfillment that arises from engag1ng 1n more stimulating work 1s lost for adolescent mothers who drop out. The subJect of the health consequences of ado lescent motherhood IS a vast area of research that can not be fully descnbed here Bnefly, a typ1cal teenage mother has a complicated pregnancy and poor birth outcome (Furstenberg 1978, Pete-McGadney, 1995). lnd1v1dual circumstances will have a large beanng on the particular social and psychological consequences expenenced There 1s some evidence for Impaired self-esteem In pregnant and parent1ng adolescents (Herrmann et al . 1998, Pete-McGadney , 1995, Plotnick & Butler, 1991 ) Others, however, have found no difference 1n self-esteem measures for this population (Rauche-E lnekave, 1994, Streetman, 1987) Streetman suggests that "the responsibilities accompanying motherhood wou ld appear to have an 1m pact on one's personal and social Identity View ing oneself as a mother may Indeed be a profound Identity change for a young female" (p 463). Herrmann et al also remark on the ro le change and Its effects on selfesteem . In the 1r study, the se lf-esteem of mothers dropped 1n the first SIX months after the birth but it was felt that becom ing a mother "stimulated positive change In the1r l1ves" (p 432 ). The noted ch anges might offset any setback in self-esteem . A topic that has far-reaching ramifications is the stigmatization experienced by pregnant or parenting ado lescents . Certainly, the sexual mores of the 1990's and the new millennium are significantly different from those of the 1950's, and the stigma of teenage pregnancy and parenthood is "popularly perceived to have lessened in recent times" (Kelly, 1996c, p. 422) . Evidence for the more accepting nature of society and th e past half-century of chan ge can be found in the stead ily declining reg istrations at British Columbia's prenatal homes which were noted as early as 1980 (Petrie, 1998; Scambler et al., 1980) . Media-promoted sexual ity in a variety of forms is ubiqu itous and pregnant or parenting teenagers are less often portrayed as pariahs in a politically correct media. In spite of th is more accepting moral tone in society , stigmatization still presents as a force to be contended w ith by young mothers (Kelly, 1996c, 1997). Cooper and Moore (1995) reported that teacher-expectations for grades, school completion and post-secondary attendance were lower for adolescent mothers . Ortiz and Bassoff 42 (1987) found that teenage fathers garnered tw1ce as much respect as teenage mothers As well , these researchers found that peers pitted the young mother and the young father but devalued only the young mother Thts sense of p1ty or sympathy for teen mothers who were perce1ved as vict1ms and the unfa1rness of the double standard as applted to teen fathers was echoed in some Canadtan research (Kelly, 1996a, 1997) The double standard for teen fathers IS also reported by Anne Petne tn her 1998 book on Canadtan materntty homes She wntes that the moral pendulum has swung and now adolescent gtrls feel pressured to keep thetr baby yet "the second part of the baby equatton-the old 'putat1ve father'-seems as elustve and untmportant as ever'' (p 243) . Shapiro (1995) reports that unmamed teenaged gtrls st tll suffer from st tgmattzatton whereas the fathers , who are often adult males, suffer Itt le censure Pnnt med1a frequently target teen mothers for story subjects and a number of mtsconcepttons are popularly promoted tn the medta tncludtng the beltefs that (a) poverty causes teenage motherhood , (b) teenage motherhood causes poverty , (c) women become pregnant tn order to obtatn welfare , and (d) teen motherhood causes welfare dependency (Kelly , 1996c) Few people are prepared , like the Alberta alderman wh o called young mothers too stuptd to educate ("This Redneck's," 1993), to voice politically incorrect op inions in public However the more subtle evtdence of sttgmattzatton will tnevttably work its unwelcom e way into the lives of young mothers. For a thorough , current review of the stigma issues faced by teen mothers see Kelly , (1996c) Conflicti ng Informat ion Desp ite the significant amount of research that predicts dismal consequences of an early birth , some evidence has accumulated th at puts some assumptions into question. One of the most oft-cited researchers in the field of adolescent motherhood is Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr. This researcher, on his own or in conjunction with others , has authored numerous papers, reports , books and chapters on th is top ic (Furstenberg , 1976, 1987; 1991 , 1992; Furstenberg , BrooksGunn & Chase Lansdale, 1989; Furstenberg et al., 1987; Fursten berg & Crawford , 1981 ; Furstenberg, Levine , & Brooks-Gunn , 1990; Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1986; Hoffman et al. , 1993). The basis for much of his earlier work wa s a longitudinal study of over 300 primarily urban African-American women in the United States (Balti more) who gave birth as adolescents in the 43 middle to late 1960's Follow-up stud1es were done at vanous ttmes At the 17 -year follow-up, it was shown th at a substantial maJority of the young women had completed h1gh school They also had found regular employment, and most eventually were no longer dependent on welfare. One of the surpnstng elements of th1s study for the researchers was how dtverse were the mothers' pathways to success (Furstenberg et al , 1987) Some mothers atta1ned economtc security and success through a stable marnage, but 1n general . the findtng was that over t1me the differences between early and late chtldbeanng seemed to decrease (Furstenberg et al , 1989) Another researcher 1n the field who has presented some research that conflicts w1th the expected outcomes 1s Dawn Upchurch She IS a more recent entrant into th1s f1eld bu t has authored numerous papers and reports (Upchurch , 1990, 1993, Upchurch & McCarthy, 1990, Upchurch et al , 1993) Her research focussed pnmanly on the sequenc1ng and t1m ing of dropp1ng out and g1ving b1rth and used data from the Nat1onal Long1tud1nal Survey of Youth and an event-hi story techmque She reported that though an adolescent b1rth does Influence eventual graduation , the nature of that influence has been Incorrectly described by other researche rs Women who were enro lled 1n school dunng pregnancy and who returned to school short ly after the birth were no more likely to drop out than their non-parenting peers. For those young women who had already left school, an ado lescent birth reduced the ch ance of eventual grad uat ion (Upchurch & McCarthy, 1990). The Upchurch work, however, has not been without 1ts critics (Anderson , 1993a). In a re-interpretation of their data, Anderson stated that unambiguous evidence is provided to show that "women who give birth are far more likely to drop out and are far less likely to return to school and graduate than are their peers-rates of eventua l graduation are lower for mothers" (p. 736). Even with further responses from Upchurch, the issue does not appear settled so it is sens ible to use caution in interpreting both sides of th is debate. A remark by Trussell (1981 ) sheds a different light on the whole issue of the negative outcomes of adolescent childbearing . He notes that these negative consequences "must be matched against the benefits, if any. Such benefits might include the satisfaction of be ing a mother, the comfort of conforming to some social norm , and the pleasure of procreating" (Trussell , 1981 , p. 251-252). This notion has received some support by other authors who have 44 discussed the poss ib1l1 ty of a subculture of adolescent motherhood that prov1des more benefits than negat1ve consequences (Rauche-Einekave, 1994, Roosa, 1986). Other benefits th at m1ght be 1ncluded here would be a teen mother's new-found matunty wh1ch evolves by necess1ty from caring for an infant (Kelly , 1997) Nord et al (1992) have conducted a thorough rev1ew of the research and 1nd1cated that resea rchers have controlled for pre-ex1st1ng cond1t1ons of poverty, educa t1on, ability, temperament, and fam1ly structure yet st1ll have found adolescent mothers hav1ng "lower ca reer asp 1rat1ons, lower wages and annual earn1ngs , lower occupat1onal prest1ge , less sat1sfact1on with job and career progress , and less t1me spent on the JOb when compared to their peers" (Nord et aL , 1992, p. 313) The rev1ewers go on to note, however, that the more sophiSticated methodolog ies appl1ed 1n recent research have uncovered a negl1g1ble effect of age at first b1rth on wages Reasonably recent research on the educational atta1nment and 1ncome of black adolescent mothers found s1gn1ficant but modest effects for early ch1ldbeanng These authors caution that the results fo r Afn ca n-Amencan women do not necessanly reflect the situation for Caucas ian mothers (Scott-Jones & Turner, 1990) In cons idenng the availab le resea rch on the top1c of adolescent mothers and schooling, 1t would be rash to assert that any of the pos1tions put forward by various researchers are absolute and correct The degree of interacti on between the variab les is enormou s and the outcomes obtained clearly depend upon how the topic is studied. What is supportable is th e not ion that increasing the opportun ity for young mothers to complete their schoo ling is a valuable endeavor (Roosa , 1986). A higher level of schooling for the adolescent mothers has been linked to a variety of outcomes including ramifications for the offspring of the young mothers . Outcomes for Children of Young Mothers Physical, psychological and social outcomes for the children of adolescent mothers is a bounded research area itself. This review does not attempt an exhaustive investigation of th is topic. It has generally been found that an early birth yields negative outcom es for the children of the adolescent mother. The research has produced varied results and not all researchers have 45 looked at all consequences but a number of 1ssues have rece1ved attent1on 1n the physica l, social and cognit1ve realms Such outcomes as a higher mortal1ty rate (caused possibly by resp 1ratory 1nfect1on, acc1dent, low b1rth-we1ght, developmental problems , membrane d1sease and hypoxia) , neglect, abuse , increased health problems and hosp1tal1zat1on, learn1ng disabilities, grade repetit1on , delayed language , lower math ab1l1ty, delayed soc1al skrlls, hostility, poor behavioral self-control , Intellectual differences and actrv1ty level d1ff1cult1es are some of the consequences reported for these children (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1998, Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1986, Canadian Counc1 l on Soc1al Development. 995 , Furstenberg et al , 1987, Nord et. al , 1992, Rauche-Einekave , 1994. Ray & Roloff 1994, S1mk1ns , 1984) These outcomes have , in turn , been linked to such possible causal factors as the age of the mother, b1rth order of the child , gender of the child, lack of prenatal care, den1al of pregnancy and nsky prenatal behav1or, incompletely developed bod1es and parental pract1ces of the teen mother (Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg , 1986, Stenge l, 1985) These factors may not be stnctly tied to the mother's adolescent status but may be entw1ned w1th such vanab les asSES alternate care-givers and fa mily background (S1mkins, 1984). There is some research th at ind icates a more pos1tive p1cture . A study conducted by Herrmann et al. (1998) found th at the teen mothers' 1nfants tested as developmentally normal and over 90% of the sample were up to date on immunizations . These results are attributed 1n part to the case manage ment of pub lic hea lth nurses. One finding of Furstenberg et al. (1990) th at conflicts w ith some of the myths surround ing teenage pregnancy w as th at the maJonty of the firstborn children did not become teen parents , althou gh they w ere still more like ly to be teen parents than were the children of older mothers . Another and bleaker fin ding of these re searchers w as that compared to the ir mothers , current teen parents were less likely to overcome the hand ica ps associated with early motherhood . A call has been made for more systematic stu dy of the influences and outcomes for the children of ado lescents (Brooks- Gunn & Furstenberg, 1986 ; Simkins , 1984). 46 Young Mother Programs There exists a vast array of programs des1gned to help offset the negat1ve consequences generated by adolescent pregnancy and parenthood Programs vary 1n scope , 1ntens1ty, availability, durat1on, object1ves, and sponsonng agency A complete catalogu1ng and assessment of all the vanet1es of availab le programs has not been made Further, though some individual programs are descnbed 1n the literature , few have undergone a comprehensive and systematic assessment to determ1ne the1r eff1cacy (Wood et al , 1995) The follow1ng paragraphs describe a vanety of programs and the avai lable outcomes The 1ntent1on 1s to g1ve a sense of the diverse nature of programm 1ng for teen parents and the poss1billt1es that ex1st for program creation and development The adolescent mother program tha 1s probably the most often c1ted 1s the Baltimore proJ ect wh1ch underwent repeated eva luations 1nclud1ng a long-term fol low-up (Furstenberg et al , 1987) Th1s phys1C1an-des1gned program was based at S1na1 Hosp1tal and offered comprehensive medical and social serv ices to pregnant adolescents The goal was to 1mprove the quality of prenata l and neonatal care prov1ded to the adolescents and the 1r children The f1rst evaluat1on , wh ich occurred as a five-year follow-up , compared the group of adolescent mothers with women who delayed childbearing This follow-up exam1ned trans1t1on to adulthood and the 1mpact of early childbearing on life chances . At thi s t1me , slightly less than half of the young mothers had completed high school. However, th ese authors discove red at a 17 year follow-up that more than half of the educationa l act ivity experienced by these young mothers took place more than five years after the initial interview . Th is activity included post-secondary education for the graduates but also included one th ird of the previous non-graduates who com pleted high school requ irements at a delayed time. What these find ings ind icate is that early dropout "red uce s, but does not foreclose , a young mother's chances of further schooling" (Fursten berg et al. , 1987, p. 27). This study is sign ificant because of the long-term follow-up data . Many of the following studies have only had short-term , if any, evaluation. Wood et al. (1995) provided a thorough description of Oh io's Learning, Earning, and Parenting (LEAP) program , which is a statewide program designed to encourage school 47 attendance among pregnant and parent1ng teens on welfare Th1s prog ram uses a system of bonuses and penaltres to encourage attendance rna school or 1n a fac1l1ty prov1d 1ng GE D rnstruct1on Absentee1sm that 1s excused IS nerther rewarded nor penalized Though the program is mandatory for all adolescent mothers on welfare exemptions are made for la te pregnancy, for the first three months following the brrth , and for teens llv1ng rn areas where transporta tion to school proves to be an rnsurmountable obstacle Once a teen completes her schoolrng or turn s twenty she 1s no longer requrred to partrcrpate The staffrng rnvolved rn runn1ng the program 1ncludes case managers who monttor compliance and assrst teens to overcome obstacles Ass istance for chlldcare and ransportatron are also provrded The early findrngs of the program evaluatron suggested that the program was successfulrn 1ts pnmary short-term goal of Increasing the enrollment and attendance of teen parents on welfare The majonty of the teens elected to enter GED prog rams However, even wrth the system of penalt1es and rewards , less than half of the dropout mothers resumed the1r educatron Follow up has not yet been conducted to determ ine wh ether th1 s 1ncrease rn enrollment translates rnto school completion and economrc independence. In Canada , the LEAP program has been Introduced in Ontano and includes funding for a one-bedroom apartment, subs rdy for daycare, and funds for ba bysrtt1ng, cloth1ng and transportation . These benefits are all depende nt on mainta ining school regrstration but if a young mother drops out, she loses her welfare money There have been critics of thi s progra m in Ontario. Some fee l that many mothers may not be able to focus on school ing because of competing concerns that may require counsell ing (Chisholm , 1999). Others worry that the mothers may be deprived of the time necessary to form a mother-i nfant bond wh ich has been demonstrated as important for infant outcomes (Musick et al., 1987; "Teen Mothers," 1999). The issues of availability of resources and a young mother's level of ability are also not addressed . The scenario of a mother who must stay home with a sick child yet lose her income due to absenteeism -based school dropout has been presented as another argument aga inst the mandatory nature of LEAP . One of the heaviest blows against the program comes from the critics who point out that many mothers would be happy to return to school if appropriate daycare 48 space could be found In Toronto, the wa1t1ng ltst for subs1d1zed daycare is 12,000 spaces (Chisholm , 1999) Wood et al (1995) descnbe several other Amencan programs 1n the1r rev1ew Learnfare is a program 1n Wisconsin begun 1n 1987 that requ1res all adolescents rece1v1ng public assistance to attend school Reductton of funds IS the process used to enforce the1r mandate The government-sponsored "Teenage Parent Demonstration" began 1n 1988 It also uses a reduction in welfare funds as a means of enforc1ng adolescent mothers on welfare to attend school or engage 1n employment-related ac 1v1tles A f1nal program that Wood et al ( 1995) descnbe IS ProJect Red1rec 10n " Th1s program expenenced stgn1f1cant systematic evaluat1on Th1s program was a voluntary, mult1-d1mens1onal serv1ce program for adolescent mothers It operated 1n four sttes 1n the early to m1d 1980's The serv1ces included counselling and support, as well as l1nks to educat1on , pre-employment sk1lls train1ng, health serv1ces , parent educat1on serv1ces , and family plann1ng serv1ces One of the key objectives for the program part1c1pants was h1gh school graduat1on At the two year evaluation date, education , employment and other outcomes were not s1gn1ficantly more posit1ve for program pa rticipants . At the five-year follow-up , however, employment or school Involvement and economic independence was Significantly improved for program participants. An add1t1onal finding was th at the children of participants expenenced more pos1t1ve outcomes in behavior and vocabu lary (Polit, 1987; Poli t & Kahn , 1987; Polit , Quint & Riccio , 1988, Wood et al. , 1995). The Graduation, Reality, and Dual-ro le Skill s (GRADS ) is a public school home econom ics intervention program aimed at helping at-ri sk preg nant and parenting adolescents graduate from high school , set life goa ls and feel empowered. Program objectives include rema ining in schoo l, carrying out pos itive health care practices , learning about child development, developing parenting skills, preparing for employment, and lea rning to balance work and parenting respons ibilities. Goal setting is the major thrust of the program (Wh ite & Cummings, 1995). "Cross walk" is an intervention program offered in Spokane, Washi ngton. It opened in 1985 offering food , counselling, employment readiness , a place to hang out, recre ation , clothing 49 and personal items, an alternate school, shelter and trans1t1onal homes (1nclud1ng one for mothers under age 18 w1th s1x spaces and apartments for young fam1l1es ages 18-21) A modified "Headstart" program for the Infants was added 1n 1993 The Headstart program serves the needs of 1nfants and toddlers up to three years of age and focuses on parent involvement, developmentally appropnate educat1on , health, soc1al serv1ces , and nutnt1on The alternate school prov1des 1nstruct1on and the opportunity to earn a GED or regular h1gh school diploma The staff includes counselors a teacher, publ1c health nurses , a soc1al worker. and a publ1c health advocate (Ray & Roloff, 1994) Volunteer programs where expenenced mo hers lend support to eenaged mothers are offered 1n two M1ssoun c1t1es These commun1ty resource-based programs 1ncrease teen mothers' access too commun1ty serv1ces , prov1de emot1onal support and encourage education Concrete support such as help w1th transportation , ch1ldcare, errands and problem solv1ng are also part of the program ' s mandate (" Resource Mothers," 1995) In Roosa 's (1986) rev1ew of adolescent mother programs . he concluded that those mothers who dropped out of school before , dunng or after pregnancy were not be1ng effectively served . He suggests that the gener1c teenage parent program available 1n schools prov1des a small , imm ediate increa se in the young parent's knowledge but that little long-term impact on parental attitudes or offspnngs' development is evident. He does ma1ntain , however, that these programs can help some young mothers complete their education if they can manage to persist in the program . In her report , Rhodes (1993) is critical of the transition services offered to adolescent mothers when they move from a specialized program back to their regular school (see also Zellman , 1982). She highlights the benefits of alternate programs for pregnant teens . They include "smaller classes , a less stigmatizing environment, and specialized health and socia l services" (p. 169). However, she laments that in many cases students are expected to return to their regular school after delivery and suggests that the lack of transition services may contribute to young mothers dropping out. She suggests that "a negative trajectory that begins w ith multiple conflicting demands can easily progress toward poor school attendance , underachievement, and 50 eventual school drop out" (p 171-172) Thrs trajectory 1s graphically represented rn F1gure 2. However, Rhodes does note that some schools offer course work and special servrces appropnate to pregnant and parentrng students wrth1n the regular school context, and others have provided a transit1on l1a1son person to help w1th d1fficultres rn the move from an alternate school to the regular school She rs clear that there IS a need for such support A s1m1lar observatron IS made by Pol1t and Kahn (1987) when they remark that the provrs1on of serv1ces to pregnant and parentrng teens 1s typ1cally fragmented and uncoordinated" (p 132) Clearly , these researchers support a network of servrces that would offer a contrnuum of support for the adolescent as she progresses from pregnancy to paren hood With the one noted except1on , the programs descnbed have been Amencan Canada 1s certarnly not lack1ng rn programs for adolescent parents but the research 1nvestrgatrng Canadian alternatives is a bit th1n and much of the 1nformat1on stems from newspaper accounts An example IS The Elrzabeth Fry soc1ety rn Pnnce George, Bntrsh Columbia whrch runs a teen parent program that focuses on prevention breaking the cycles of poverty and abuse , developrng selfconfidence and educat1on (Brekenridge, 2000) One innovat1ve 1ntervent1on w1th teen mothers that has rece ived some attenti on from a Canadian researcher involved the format of play building or the writing and perform ance by teen mothers of a theatncal product1on (Kelly, 1997) The purpose was to combat the stigma surrounding teen age motherhood by presenting the worldview of teen mothers. Though intriguing as a unique approach , the activity did not prove entirely efficacious for its original purpose, yet it still held som e educational promise. Some literature on other aspects of the adolescent parent cu lture and service opt ions is also available. The BC A lliance Concerned w ith Early Pregnancy and Parenthood (BCACE PP) is a not a teen parent program but rather a "network of practitioners wh o work with and have concerns about pregnant and parent ing youth and their children" (Ke rr, 1996 , p. 5). Persona l communication with Leonard Taal (February 18, 1999) from the Special Programs Branch of the Ministry of Education indicated that in British Columbia, in 1999, there were 385 schoo l-based childcare programs. Of these programs , 47 were specialized Young Parent Chil dcare programs that were operated in conjunction with the Ministry for Chi ldren and Fam ilies (MC F) . As well, he 51 Citizen + • . Home . · Absenteeism Falling Behind Failure Ftgure 2 Negative trajectory leading to dropping out of school. DROP OUT 52 indicated that MCF was developing a Prov1nc1al Childcare Pol1cy and Evaluation Framework wh ich would assist 1n the plannmg of childcare services Including the promot1on of partnersh ips between local government, schools, bus1nesses , un1ons, and commun1ty serv1ce-prov1ders He also Indicated that there was a school-based work1ng group that was exam1n1ng the potential for a BC school-based chlidcare pol1cy because the poi1C1es and pract1ces vaned between school boards and m1n1stnes A rev1ew by R1vers and Assoc1ates (1995) of BC young parent programs concluded that these programs not only prov1ded qual1ty care for young children but also improved school completion rates and academ1c periormance levels of the adolescent mothers. Hopefully, newly developed pol1c1es will result 1n an 1ncrease 1n programs for young mothers Research into the efficacy of these programs 1s the logical next step Intervention The implications for 1ntervent1on are multi-faceted Depend1ng on the des1red focus , intervention can occur 1n the phys1cal , psychological or soc1al doma1ns It can encompass prevention, schooling , parent educat1on , health 1ssues, childcare, employment 1ssues and life skills. Interventions can be delivered as part of comprehensive s1te-spec1fic programs or through a network of related service-providers Adolescent mothers who rema1n in school often have different needs than do those wh o have dropped out. As part of Weisner's ( 1984) review of available literature on the prob lems and needs of wom en re-entering higher education , she identifies a number of areas that are also barri ers for teen mothers. These include such obstacles as shortage of time, role conflict, adm iss ions proced ures , and childcare concern s. Her statement that "these women needed to coord inate the ir fami ly and job responsibilities before they could feel free to focus on academ ic studies" (p. 52) app lies equa lly we ll to ado lescent mothers seeking high school graduation . Although also discussing women re-entering postsecondary education, Ekstrom 's (1972) categorization of obstacles to educat ion is he lpful in orienting oneself to the difficulties faced by adolescent mothers. He divides the barriers into the following three categories : (a) institutional barriers-issues con cern ing the ways institut ions deal with the students, (b) situational barriers- the circumstances in the family/home of the student , 53 and (c) dispositional barn ers-the student's concept of herse lf and the w orld Though it w ould be d ifficu lt for school s and agenc1es to have a great deal of 1mpact on Situational and dispositiona l barners, there 1s a great deal of scope for change to 1nst1tut1onal bamers One cnt1cal area for the development of 1ntervent1ons 1s the provis1on of serv1ces for those students who have already dropped out (Roosa 1986) Another cnt1cal area IS the development of effect1ve pregnancy and dropout prevent1ve programs (Bearden et al , 1989, Cairns et al. , 1989, Furstenberg 1978 Pollt & Kahn . 1986) Th 1s type of program 1s supported by the finding that even after controlling for fam 1ly background , the est1mates of h1gh school education completed would nse from 54% to 86 4% 1f ado lescent parents postponed the1r first birth unt1l the age of twenty (Hoffman , et al , 1993) IntUitively. prevent1on seems a log1cal focus for coping w1th adolescent pregnancy but 1l wou ld be w1se for program planners to bear in mind that some external variables will be d1ff1cult to affect Vanables such as peer pressure , coerc1on , and the role played by older men 1n the pregnancy of many adolescents are obstacles that most programs would be hard-pressed to address (Ke lly 1996a F1sher, 2000 , Shap1ro , 1995) One approach, for the development of Intervention programs , IS to question teen mothe rs directly about what w orks and what does not work since they might be able to prov1de valuab le input about the school characteri stics th at are important 1n order to reta1n more students (T idwell , 1988). Po lit and Kahn (1 987) fo und th at, in the1r study , 80% of the adolescent mothers had been enrolled in some kind of educational program dunng a two-year follow-up period , and th ey suggest that th is indicates a des ire to comp lete school ing even if the girl s we re not eventua lly able to manage it. Th is further suggests that efforts to remo ve obstacl es to high schoo l graduation may reap sign ificant results . One of the obstacles that may be easily removed is the lack of educationa l cou nselling for this population since this form of counsell ing was associated w ith a significant ly more pos itive school status , particularly for Caucasian mothers (Polit & Kahn , 1987 ; see also Tidwell, 1988). As part of this educational counselling, there needs to be considerat ion given to the unique ca reer trajectories and training needs of young mothers. Employment for non-graduated young mothers is often in unskilled and low-paying jobs ("The Drop-outs ," 1999; Polit, 1987). In her stu dy of 54 adolescent mothers, Prater (1992) found that only two participants had rece1ved any type of vocat1onal tra1n1ng 1n high school Though her subjects reported hav1ng a goal of rece1v1ng a h1gh school diploma, she questions whether they had the understanding that an appropnate educat1on should also include the development of marketable sk1lls The career educat1on available for teen mothers has been examined by !mel and Kerka (1990) who state that as "teen parents mature, they have diminished educational and career expectations (and] they face S1gn1ficant challenges in completing the1r h1gh school educat1on pursu1ng post-secondary educat1on, and entenng the work force" (p 2) These authors advocate career educat1on and feel young parents should be encouraged to pursue careers lead1ng to a h1gher standard of I1V1ng F1nally, educational counselling would also encompass gu1dance around access1ng commun1ty resources It would be advantageous to have the counsellor act as a l1a1son w1th other agenc1es to prov1de 1nformat1on on ''how cruc1al opportuntty structures work and how to ga1n access to them" (Farber, 1989, p. 526) . All of these forms of counselling w1ll a1d the adolescent mother who may be overwhelmed by her life situation Roosa (1986) presents a usefu l descnption of three dist1nct types of adolescent-mother school dropouts. The first type of dropout is generally unsuccessful 1n school and drops out before or during pregnancy Her status as an adolescent mother is not uncommon in her subculture and education may not be a pnority. The second type includes those g1rls who intend to complete high school but drop out shortly after delivery. These young women lack an adequate support network th at will allow them to overcome the obstacles to their education . Part icular obstacles faced by this group include obtaining appropriate childcare, solv1ng transportati on problems, and meeting attendance requirements . The third type of dropout is the young woman with high asp irati ons and a strong network of support. She would likely complete high school except that she experi ences a second bi rth . Managing two children and school is simply overwhelm ing. Roosa suggests that many intervention program s are designed for a fourth group of young mothers. These young women have high aspirations, a strong support network and a base of resources to help th em manage the obstacles inherent in the dual role of parenting 55 and being a student. Th1s group manages to stay 1n school and though they w1ll certa1nly benefit from intervention programs , they are l1kely not the women most 1n need Roosa (1986) also makes recommendations for 1ntervent1ons for these types of students. He recommends that pregnant/parent1ng programs be housed 1n neighborhood schools 1nstead of remote external sites Use of the neighborhood school would allev1ate many transportation problems and bu1ld upon the natural support network of peers On-s1te childcare and flexible attendance reqUirements are also recommended A s1m1lar recommendation IS made by Mahoney (1984) who advocates a neighborhood centre model of daycare w1th group, homebased, regular, after-hours and emergency serv1ces Included Prov1d1ng educat1on w1th the goal of prevent1ng a second pregnancy would also be 1mportant Of cnt1cal1mportance for program developers is to "d!St1ngu1sh between these groups, determ1ne the1r part1cular needs, and des1gn programs specifically to meet those needs" (Roosa , 1986 p 316) Though they do not separate adolescent mothers tnto d1st1nct types, Pol1t and Kahn (1987) make sim1lar recommendations for 1ntervent1on efforts They feel that 1t is cnt1cal to design efforts at keeping pregnant g1rls in school as well as to develop 1ntens1ve outreach for those who have already dropped out. Further, they recomm end that in the post-natal penod , adolescent mothers wou ld benefit from educat1onal coun se lling. Ev1dence to support th1s approach is provided by Se itz et al. (1991) who determined that there was a lower likelihood of an ensuing pregnancy when an extended post-n atal intervention was in place. Another of the difficulties faced by thi s population is that often th eir problems are considered personal and not the respons ibility of the schoo l system (McGee & Blank, 1989). Th is difficulty is compounded by a judgmental public that views the mothers as "bad" and voices displeasure with the notion of schools be ing associated with se rvices to thi s group (McGee & Archer, 1985). Empath ic and non-judgmental serv ice-prov iders can go a long way towards offsetting these potentially damaging experiences. The se lf-concept of young mothers may already be suffering (Pete-McGadney, 1995). Many of these marg inal ized mem bers of society 56 have developed attitudes that are less hopeful than those of their peers, presumably because the pregnant teenagers have already encountered the well -documen ted sacral and economrc sequelae of unrntended teenage motherhood Therr pessrmrsm may contnbute to subsequent lrfe expenences (Ontz & Bassoff, 1987, p 401) Researchers call for a vanety of specrfic rnterventron efforts such as creatrng a school envrronment that rs canng and relatrvely obstacle free Thrs may rnclude extra trme scheduled into the day for homework, assrstance wr h goal se rng , rmprovement of the mother's self-concept (includrng development of Interpersonal skrlls and soc1al relatronshrps) Other suggestrons are for the establishment of srtes servrng non- radrtronal students development of support and referral networks that would lrnk commun1ty servrces and agencres, and newsletters to 1ncrease communication A case-management approach 1s recommended as prov1d1ng support, gurdance and monrtonng Teacher-trarnrng and specrfrc sex-educat1on are also advocated as IS a focus on the prevention of repeated early chrldbearrng (lmel & Kerka 1990, Nuzum , 1990, Orrtz & Bassoff, 1987; Prater, 1992; Sertz & Apfel , 1993, Wallace , 1990, Vv'hrte & Cumm1ngs , 1995) Clearly there is no dearth of suggestions for helping adolescent mothers wrth therr school1ng and lifemanagement. The difficulty comes 1n determ 1n1ng what particular aspects are most important for a local population and how best to del1ver those servrces . In planning educational programs for dropouts and teen mothers, it is rmportant to have a sense of the characteristics of the local population . There are enough conflicting results in the literature to encourage the planner to be cautious about adopting a ready-made program intended for a very different group. In fact, the program may indeed fail if the source of the data is too different from local characteristics (Dierkhi sing, 1996). Simply knowing the characteristics of the local population is insufficient. Even th e most conscientious planners may well "lack the insight necessary to ma ke a substa ntial impact on the unfortunate consequences of this socially devastating decision" (Dowling , 1994 , p. 29). And any program , ready-made or customized , is bound to suffer criticism fro m some sector of society . Plan ners who keep basic tenants in mind when developing local programs w ill almost inevitably latch onto the concepts of community supports, networks with oth er teen moth ers, educational opportunities , childcare arrangements and parenting skills (Nozick, 1998). 57 Areas w1th limited community serv1ces provide spec1al challenges for program developers. When "adolescent mothers feel the need for community services which are unavailable to them they feel less contented 1n the1r maternal role and are more likely to experience d1ff1culty 1n ch1ld reanng" (Colletta et al . 1980, p 5) D1ff1culty 1n child reanng will have consequences for the child that w1ll 1n turn contnbute to chances that the child w1lllater become a dropout In sp1te of the Importance of the content of the teen mother programs , an equally cnt1cal area for attention IS administration and serv1ce-dellvery An evaluation of several youth programs led Hahn (1992) to conclude that '1t IS poss1ble (and likely) hat successful programs simply had more able staff and a better-run organ1zat1on than other programs" (p 2) The complex nature of adolescent pregnancy and parent1ng and the mynad soc1al d1fficult1es that ensue can be bewildenng and d1shearten1ng to a serv1ce-prov1der who hopes to Implement change However, a pl anner can go a long way toward developing an effective program by cull1ng the best of what the literature has to offer and using a large dose of common sense School Options Clearly a schooling component is an important aspect of a young mother program s1nce 1t is well-d ocum ented that one of surest routes to self-sufficiency is through the venue of education an d abbreviation of this part of development can have far-reaching consequences (Chisholm , 1999; Prater, 1992). In 1980, th ere were few school options for pregnant or parenting young women in BC . As ide from the programs offered by the prenatal residential homes, young mothers could choose between attend ing a regu lar school, accessing correspondence or accessing a home-bound program with a vi siting teacher w ith th e proviso that thi s "must be budgeted for in April for the next year" (Sca m bier et al., 1980; p. 22) . There are now a variety of schooling options avai lable for dropouts and pregnant and parenting ad ol escents. A simplified vers ion of the three most common programs would be the regular high school program , the alternative school program , and the comprehensive program . 58 A neighborhood h1gh school can Integrate dropouts and pregnant and parenting adolescents 1nto regular classes and have common expectat1ons for attendance and participation . A variat1on on th1s program IS the h1gh school that offers these students a regular program w1th addit1onal supports These supports may take the form of remed1al classes , "stud1es" 1n which to do homework, in-house alternate programm1ng or spec1al groups for at-nsk studen ts (Bearden et al. , 1989). Regular school spec1al educat1on serv1ces m1ght be employed s1nce "students who are adolescent parents , though not cons 1dered d1sabled , are 1mpa1red by the1r S1tuat1on The1r cond1t1on 1s the d1sabl1ng effects of the env1ronment . 1nclud1ng the school commun1ty" (Prater, 1992, p. 141) The advantages of at endance 1n h1s type of se t1ng are that students are able to rema1n w1th their peers and to part1c1pate 1n a w1de range of extracurncular act1v1t1es and spec1al1zed courses , aspects reported to be Important (McNeal 1995, P1ttman , 1991 , Roosa , 1986) . Students also benefit from contact w 1th a w1de vanety of adults The disadvantages of thi s type of program are that flex1bi11ty 1n attendance 1s often d1ff1cult to ach1eve , and although supports are provided , the student must manage and mon1tor much of his/her own program Missed classes 1n key areas such as a science lab or Government exam course may be difficult to make up as th e teach er must keep th e cl ass moving Additionally, these students may have experienced difficulty in a regul ar school sett1ng 1n the past and the young mother may find the environment less supportive due to her un1que status (Zellman , 1982). Interventions at th1s level should focus on prod ucing "clearer future goa ls, greater commitment to high school , and better integration into the academic and social life of the high sch ool" (Hemmings et al. , 1996, p. 19). A second option is the alternate schoo l. Alte rn ate school s take a variety of forms and may offer regular academ ic courses or a GED-based program. Attention to the structure of proposed alternate programs is important as there have been f ind ings of diffe rent needs for Jun ior versus Senior high school students (Dowling , 1994 ). Alterna te sch oo ls often prov1d e far more flexibility in attendance and generally employ fewer staff and ma inta in a lower teacher-pupil ratio so students can get more personally acquainted w ith teachers and rece ive more ind ividual attention (Rhodes , 1993). The downside of a flex ible attendance pol icy is that mothers may lose momentum and may slide into academ ic lethargy. Attendance monitoring has been found to be 59 critical in assisttng young mothers to complete the1r educatton (Grobe , 1995) The teachers who work at alternate schools often have an 1nterest tn and a Willingness to work w1th the parttcular needs of the dropout or teen parent Ideally these alternate schools offer such opttons as flexible schedules, a shorter 1nstruct1onal day more expenenttal learntng , and programs that combtne education and work (McGee & Blank, 1989) Independent course work IS often the staple of the alternate school curnculum and though thts approach offers tremendous flextblltty, completton rates for independent study courses are qUite low relattve to regular htgh school courses (Otstlvestro & Markowitz, 1982) Desp1te the advantages. alternate schools rarely offer the breadth of vocational courses and some tmes lack a focus on getttng a h1gh school dtploma As well , some students who take the GED feel 1t ts not of same qual tty or standard as the "real thtng" of htgh school graduatton (Wallace , 1990) (see also Cameron & Heckman, 1993) Transportation may also pose a problem as one alternate school wtll generally provtde servtce to the same regton as a number of htgh schools A thtrd optton available to pregnant and parent tng adolescents tn some communtties is the comprehenstve program. A comprehenstve program may have many or few components and may have aspects that overlap with the regular school program or the alternate school program . T hese prog rams vary widely from live-in programs where pregnant teens learn academic, parenting, and life skills to day programs that offer an attached childcare centre and tutorial support to work on correspondence courses or life skills programs These settings have the advantage of ta iloring the progra m to the specific needs of the students. Other students in the program are experiencing similar difficulties with life and the peer support that many young women have lost can be re newed . Chi ldcare w orries may be made more manageable with an attached daycare and the re is often a supportive network of profe ssionals near by who can be consulted on various aspects of education, child rea ring, and life, including budgeting and career counselling . Transportation may aga in pose prob lems since these types of programs are even less common than alternate programs. Students from outlying areas may not be able to access them at all. As well , there may be little focus on high school graduation requirements or the educational goals may only involve the GED. T he politics of developing programs for adolescent 60 mothers can 1nterfere w1th plann1ng effective programs and there 1s some ev1dence of an overreliance on GED cert1f1cat1on to meet pollt1cal obJeCtives (Mittelstadt, 1997) A concern about rely1ng on the GED for one's educat1on 1s exam1ned by Cameron and Heckman (1993) These authors have determined hat GED graduates are stat1st1cally indistinguishable from high-school dropouts on a number of measures and they 1nd1cate that 1ts chief value lies 1n open1ng the doors to post-secondary school1ng and tra1n1ng . Desp1te these shortcomings , aGED based program may offer more flexibility for lower-ab1l1ty clients than one that requires part1c1pants to accumulate cred1ts toward h1gh school graduat1on Some comprehens ive programs may lack a complement of ruly comprehensive serv1ces 1n that they are short term or only ava1lable to pregnant students (McGee & Blank, 1989, Rhodes , 1993) These types of programs fa1l to take 1nto account the chang1ng needs of the adolescent mother Summary In order to prov1de a background on the d1fferent paths to h1gh school graduation for young mothers , the review of the avai lable l1 terature addressed 1ssues relevant to dropouts as well as issues relevant to adolescent mothers The student who has dropped out of h1gh school or is at-risk for dropping out of high school may display a number of characteristics. Within th1s popu lation is a subset of teen mothers who have the ir own part1cular needs, characteristics , and challenges. Providing for the needs of the potential dropout, the dropout, the pregnant adolescent and the parenting adolescent is a complex issue. A description of program types and the challenges facing planners as they develop intervention strategies was also described. Finally, school-specific issues were addressed . Obviously there is no perfect formula for an educational program for an adolescent mother. Program selection must take into account many factors including the young mother's ability, support needs, career goals, and perseverance . A goal would be to find the best match for the local population since Inevitably even the superior programs will present obstacles for some young mothers. 61 Adolescence ts a dtfficult penod of ltfe for any young person It Involves "attempts to find oneself in terms of the ambtguous expectations of the outs1de world " (Streetman, 1987, p 459) In terms of thetr schooling, some young mothers rema1n 1n htgh school , managtng to meet thetr academtc responsibilities desp1te the profound psychological and phys1cal changes assoctated w1th teenage pregnancy and parenthood For many students , however, the demands of pregnancy and parenttng are overwhelming The rout1nes , regulations, and factltttes of most htgh schools are not well SUited to the needs of pregnant and parent1ng students and spectal supports and servtces are rarely provtded (Rhodes , 1993, p 169-170) When coupled w1th the considerable demands of parenthood the road to adulthood for teenage mothers 1s littered w1th obstacles and fort 1f1ed w1th few clear s1gnposts about the best path to follow Introduction The research plan was developed o evaluate and descnbe the state of affa1rs for adolescent mothers who were try1ng to obta1n the1r h1gh-school graduations 1n SO #73 It includes a descnpt1on of serv1ces that are prov1ded to th1s population by school personnel and by agenc1es that are outs1de of the junsd1ct1on of SO #73 Method Design This study was approached as descriptive , evaluative research and 1t encompassed a combination of severa l recommended approaches . As an evaluative study does not fit tidily into either of the two clearly-defined camps of qualitative or quantitative inquiry, I have declined to situate my design exclusively within any one parad igm . This approach is supported by Worthen and Sanders ( 1987) who state, evaluation is not a discipline but merely a social process or activity aimed at determining the value of certain materials, programs , or efforts. As such , it necessarily cuts across disciplines, and evaluators are thus denied the luxury of remaining within any single inquiry paradigm . (p. 53) These authors further describe the conundrum faced by evaluative researchers as they search for 62 63 models and theones to guide research when they state that evaluative writ1ngs are not, deductive bod1es of knowledge They do not enable us to develop, manipulate, or Interrelate laws and explanations They do not perm 1t us to pred1ct or expla1n They are not tested 1n the emp1ncal cruc1ble or Interrelated w1th or validated aga1nst other relevant bod1es of knowledge In short . they are not theones (p 145-146) 1 have elected to use the cntenon of pragmat1cs to dictate the selection of research methods As a result, the research 1ncluded 1nterv1ew protocols, surveys , and open-ended quest1ons. Data analysis procedures were s1m 1larly vaned It 1s 1mportant to prov1de a rat1onale for the m 1xed des1gn strategy w1th respect to the spec1fic question under cons1derat1on Th1s research attempts to ach1eve a hol1st1c understanding of those institutional 1ssues that hinder or fac ilitate h1gh-schoo l graduat1on for young mothers Due to these broad goals, a narrowly focused research agenda was not appropnate Additionally, s1nce the goal was to determ1ne what was happen1ng across the d1stnct, an 1n-depth study of a small sample would also have been Inadequate Throughout the d1stnct there are a var1ety of program alternatives and service-prov1ders The study needed to allow for an appreciation of the role of these differing programs and organizations. The Design involved two maJor components . The first component 1nvolved an interview of those serv1ce-providers who have an impact on the young mother population The second component involved interviews of and survey completion by young mothers. Setting This study is not an evaluation of a particular program or institution , but rather an eval uation of th e available resources in a particular geographic zone . Because the focus 1s on high school grad uation, the zone is determined by th e catchment area of one school district. The Kam loops-Thompson schoo l district is one of the larger distncts in the province of British Col umb ia. It is an ama lgamati on of two prev ious districts that were centered in the communities of Clearwater and Kaml oops . The catchm ent area encompassed by SO #73 includes the outlying commun ities of Barriere , Chase , Clearwater, and Logan Lake , as well as the city of Kamloops . The rural areas associated with these comm unities w ere also included. The center of administrative operations and the majority of services are centered in Kamloops Because 64 adolescent mothers are present 1n all commun1t1es , an attempt was made to access some of the young mothers from the outly1ng commun1t1es to prov1de a broad p1cture Part1c1pants A purposive sampling techn 1que was employed for th 1s study due to the nature of the quest1on . Service-prov1ders The particular serv1ce-prov1ders selected for 1nte rv1 ews were representative of the vanous different groups School counse llors are the school serv1ce-prov1ders who are most likely to interact with young mothers on many leve ls Therefore, one school counsellor from each secondary school1n SO #73 was chosen for 1nterv1ew The selection of the Interviewee was based on availab ility Other serv1ce-prov1ders represent un 1que serv1ces In these cases , the select1on of the 1nterv1ewee was based on who wou ld have the most 1nformat1on to share (a program manager for example) Some programs emp loyed individuals who fulfilled dist1nct roles within the program . In these cases , a number of 1ndiv1dua ls were 1nterv1ewed w1th1n the same organization, and it was the adv ice of the program manager that determ 1ned whether further interviews were recommended . Some service-prov1ders had an impact on the l1ves of young mothers but not in an educational sense and their program was noted but no interv1ew was undertaken . The fo llowing service-providers were interviewed : • Personnel at the Kamloops alternate program , • a Virtual School represe ntative . .. high school coun se llors , • a hospital/homebound teacher, • personnel at South-Central Regional Correspondence School , • personnel at Marion Hilliard House (a prenata l house), • personnel at Elda Marshall house (a post-n atal house) , • personnel at the First Steps program, • a Public Health nurse, and • a representat ive of Child-Care Subs idy program . These service-providers were interviewed using a standard interview protocol (see Appendix E). 65 The Young Mothers In the dropout literature, sample defin1t1on 1s 1dent1fied as a compl1cat1ng 1ssue (OJerkhiSJng, 1996, MacMillan et al , 1990) The large data bases used to generate highly generalizable data often have a narrow def1n1t1on for successful complet1on of h1gh school The Baltimore study follow-up conducted by Furstenberg et al. (1987) illum1nated the misperceptions that can occur w1th narrow def1n1t1ons of school-completion success The purpose of the current study was to descnbe the educat1onal paths taken by young mothers and 1t was expected that some of these paths would 1nclude a penod of t1me when a young mother was out of school Participants were young mothers who had successfully completed graduat1on requirements within the last 10 years or who were currently 1n attendance at school in a program leading to graduation or GED certif1cat1on Students were not excluded due to registration 1n, or completion of an alternate program , a correspondence program , an adult graduat1on program or a GED program . All of these are valid routes to h1gh school complet1on that w1ll allow the student to pursue post-secondary studies Mothers qualified as participants 1f they were less than 30 years of age at the time of their graduation or at the time of the initial interv1ew. The parenthood role of the partiCipant was defined as hav1ng completed graduation requirements (or be in the process of working toward them) after the birth of a first child . Mothers with more than one child were not excluded . Three respondents were exceptions to this parenting description . Two of the se mothers had gone full term 1n their pregnancies while attend ing high school and had subsequently released their children for adoption. A third young woman was in her fin al trim ester of pregnancy while attending high school. The data from these respondents were incl uded because they offered insights about attending school during pregnancy. Respondent selection . There was difficulty gaining a large random sample of this population. Because 1 was interested in the school experiences of adolescent mothers, I focused on those mothers who had completed graduation requ irements or were in the process of doing so . This group afforded me 66 an opportunity to learn from those young women who had extended 1nteract1on w1th the school system By concentrattng on women who had expenenced or were expenenc1ng success , I hoped to ensure that I stud1ed a sample that had opt1mum exposure to the resources of the system Thts group compnses a very small subset of an already small subset of the adolescent populat1on (see F1gure 3) Because of the part1cular 1ssues I w1shed to exam1ne , a large sample of young mothers was not ava1lable Each "field " represents a successively smaller portion of the populabon (not to scale) D All Adolescents ~ Female adolescents D Sexually active females D Pregnancy ~Birth Return to school Success in school F1gure 3 Sample of adolescents considered for study . Survey respondents were identified during the service-provider interview phase. School counsellors and other service-providers suggested potential candidates. Introduction letters and consent forms (see Appendix F) were distributed to the candidates through the service-prov1ders. Follow up consisted of identifying consenting candidates and arranging interviews for survey completion . For some candidates, these arrangements were made through the third party of the service-provider. Other candidates were contacted directly by phone to set up arrangements 67 PartiCipants were selected from both rural areas and urban centers The terms "urban" and "rural" are used as per the StatJstJcs Canada ( 1997) defJnJtJon where urban Includes areas w1th a m1n1mum population concentration of 1 000 and a populat1on dens1ty of at least 400 per square kilometre Rural JS defined as all geographic areas outs1de an urban centre The urban centre was Kamloops and Included all serv1ce-prov1ders Situated w1th1n the c1ty l1m1ts The rural centres included Barnere, Chase , Clearwater and Logan Lake and the1r school catchment areas and 1ncluded the servJce-provJders s1tuated with1n the VIllage or town l1m1ts Urban part1c1pants attended one of the seven Kam loops h1gh schools he alternate programs or the Cottonwood Centre GED program Rural part1c1pants a tended one of the commun1ty h1gh schools or an alternate program w1th1n the town or v1llage Select1on b1as In an attempt to obta1n a d1stnct-w1de representative select1on of young mothers for the survey, each of the secondary schools was contacted and efforts made to 1nclude part1c1pants from each school However some schools did not have representatives It qu1ckly became apparent that the maJority of the urban, school-attend1ng young mothers attended one of the three programs associated with the special young-mothers subs1d1zed day care . As well , one of the outlying schools was in the process of undergo1ng a change in staff dunng the course of the study and had no one in a position to recommend potent1al candidates . Another outly1ng school was unreach able for follow-up on potential young mother interviewees. Repeated attempts to get 1n touch with the service-provider during the course of the study (cons1sting of numerous telephone messages and a fax) yield ed no response. Since no further contact was received from the service-provider and since the rest of the participants had been interviewed by this point it was decided not to pursue thi s source any further. Therefo re , the results predominantly reflect the opin ions of those mothers whose ch ildren attended the subsi dized day-care in the ci ty of Kamloops . Though th is comprises a selection bias, it is also representative of the path that the majority of young mothers appeared to take. 68 Instruments Descnpt1on of Servtces What serv1ces ex1st 1n SO #73 that fac1l1tate young mothers' graduation? I obtained full descnptions of the roles of the different servtce-provtders , the vanous components of thetr programs, th e1r poltctes , a descnpt1on of the staff roles , and any spectal programs that they offer. In order to gUide these tntervtews, an tntervtew protocol was used (see Appendtx E) A descnptton of the servtces offered 1n other d1stncts was requested through a letter to the supenntendents of those d1s nets Enclosed wtth each letter was a stamped response card (see Appendtx G) Young Moth er Questionnatre The quest1onna1re addressed parts two and three of the research quest1on What spectflc educa ti onal paths factlttated successful educattonal atta1nment for young mothers and what do successful young mothers report about the helpfulness of certatn components on thetr parttcular path? A se lf-admtntstered ques 1onna1re (see Appendix H) was developed and presented to 39 you ng women. The quest1onna1re was dtvtded tnto the followtng secttons. (a) General, (b) Path , (c) True/Fa lse , (d) Rating Scale, (e) Support Charts and (f) Unstructured Responses . The questionna ire items were coded fo r later sorttng into the three categones of admtntstration, support and program issues. The Genera l secti on exam ined some background details and provided informati on about the educationa l path ta ken . The Path sect ion focussed ent irely on the young mother' s educational route. The True/False section looked at fac il itative and obstructive issues and as well provided more information about the educational path . The 39 question Rating Scale was arrayed such that it covered topics within the domains of adm inistrative issues , support issues and program issues. The scale ranged from 1 (strong ly disagree) to 7 (strong ly agree). Questions were written in a pattern to discourage a response set from developing wi th the respondents. For example, questions 8 and 9 address sim ilar issues, namely the interruption of schooling caused by the birth and post-delivery period . These questions are phrased such that a strongly agree response to question 8 would also probably indicate a strong ly disagree response 69 to question 9. Simtla r reversals were made 1n vanous other parts of the questtonnatre attempttng to discourage respondents from favonng a parttcular stde of the scale (Palys, 1992). The Support Chart focused solely on tnst1tut1onal support dunng pregnancy and parenthood . Ftnally the Unstructured Response sect1on 1nv1ted respondents o add further detail on any of the areas prevtously addressed and allowed for the recordtng of spontaneous tssues that may not have been addressed in the questtonnatre Procedure Data collectton had two phases , serv tce -prov1der 1nterv1ews and young mother interviews and quest1onna1re completton After each 1nterv1ew . a sma ll token of apprec1at1on was presented to the part1c1pants Generally thts took he form of some chocolates When a meal was tnvolved , it included p1ck1ng up the tab for the mea l. When chtldren were present dunng an 1nterv1ew, they were allowed to choose a prize from a gtft bag Rapport Butld1ng It wa s Important to establish ·' trust, rapport and authentiC commun 1cat1on patterns w1th participants" (Janesick, 1994, p. 211 ) Th1s was ach1eved w tth some of the service-providers thro ugh the renewing of past profess ional relationships. The young mothers were inv1ted to talk and write about a top ic that gave th em pride, the accomplishment of a very difficult task. My status as a mother of two young children while jugg ling schooling and work appeared to prov1de some credibility and allowed a common ground to be estab lished at the outset. The full process of the study was described to the participants during the initial phase of the interview. Participants were invited to discuss the process of the study as well as th e actual research questions. The respondents were treated as the "experts" on the topic and it was explained that there were no "right" answers on the questionnaire . Genera lly , the rapport was qu ickly established and respondents were eager to share their stories . F1eld notes Indicated a num ber of respondents were very pleased that someone from a school setting was taking the time to listen to their stories . 70 Service Provi der Interviews Collecting data from the vanous servtce-provtders constituted the ftrst stage of the stud y. The serv1ce-prov1ders were 1n1t1ally contacted by telephone professionally acqua1nted w1th the serv1ce-prov1ders In most cases , I was already Generally, the letter of 1ntroduct1on was sent after the in1t1al phone contact A second phone call was made to arrange an interv1ew t1me In som e cases I was able to arrange an 1nterv1ew t1me dunng the ftrst phone call and 1n these ca ses I brought the 1ntroduct1on letter w1th me The setttng for most of the 1nterv1ews was the work-place of the serv1ce-prov1der In a few instances , the serv1ce-prov1der preferred betng 1n erv1ewed over the telephone In two cases , school coun sellors asked that I contac them at home tn the even1ng when they felt that they had more ttme to be Interviewed At the beg1nn1ng of each 1nterv1ew I discussed the study generally and descnbed how I hoped the serv1ce-provid er would be able to help by prov1d1ng 1nformat1on that would be useful then form ally went through the 1nterv1ew protocol and took hand-wntten notes I also collected any fo rm al data that th ey had prepared At th e end of the 1nterv1ew, I thanked them and asked if they had any questions . Often they did have questions and th1s provided an opportun1ty to discuss the study fu rther. Generally there was a high level of interest in the top1c and a willi ngness to help. The interview tim e averaged 30 minutes. At one school , I was unable to interview a school counse llor because th e pos ition was undergoing a ch ange in personnel and no one was ava ilable for interview. Districts Information In order to see how SD #73 compared to other distri cts , I wrote a letter to the superintendent of each district and requested information about whether the district operated a young mother program . Some districts chose to respond on the enclosed , stamped rep ly card . Others elected to respond to the email address that I had provided. Questionnaire Administration Once interview times had been set and consent forms signed and collected , 1 proceeded to interview each of the 39 young women . 71 Interview setting. The interv1ew sett1ng vaned accord1ng to the needs of the young women For the young women who were still attend1ng school . I arranged hrough the school counsellor, to Interview them at the1r school In some cases th1s occurred dunng the1r lunch hour In other cases it occurred during a flexible block of t1me With1n the school , the 1nterv1ew settings were vaned . They occurred 1n the back audiO-VISual room of the library, in a conference room, 1n a vacant counselling off1ce , 1n a school kitchen, and 1n a classroom A second group compnsed young women who were no longer 1n school and who were interviewed 1n the1r homes Genera lly, these were women who l1ved w1th the1r ch1ld(ren) on the1r own or w1th a partner I attempted to accommodate the1r needs as much as poss1ble, and interviewing them 1n the1r home caused the leas d1srupt1on 1n the1r l1ves A th1rd group of mothers were 1nterv1ewed 1n a public place These mothers had completed the1r schooling and had other arrangements for ch1ldcare dunng the interv1ew t1me . met these women in a restaurant and over coffee , breakfast or lunch, 1nterv1ewed them and had them compl ete the survey. In these cases I prov1ded all the materials and covered the costs of the food and beverages. In some cases I also arranged for transportation by driving the participants to the destinations and return1ng them to their homes. An offer to provide childcare costs for the interview time was made to each mother. Only one mother who had three children and who was paying for her childcare that day needed to take me up on my offer. The other moth ers had their children with them , or they had made other arrangements. The interview and survey could be comp leted in 30 minutes. However, I took my cue from the participants and paced the interview according to their needs. The interview time averaged about 50 minutes and a few interviews extended well beyond this time. In these cases the extra time was used to develop rapport and debrief the interview process. Survey. In most cases the young mothers completed th e survey with few questions for clarification . An area that presented difficulty for some of the young women was section (b) 72 where they were asked to chart the1r path through the vanous educational lnst1tut1 ons A number of young women who had been out of the school system for a few years had difficu lty remembenng when they had attended each 1nst1tut1on As th1s problem presented 1tself w1 thin the first few surveys, I developed add1t1onal 1nstruct1ons for the part1c1pants I suggested that each participant work backward from the1r most recently attended school Add1t1onally I asked them to est1m ate the dates and not be overly concerned w1th spec1f1c dates These supplementary instructions appeared to help Consequently the analys1s of the educat1onal paths d1d not focus on the dates s1nce 1t was felt these could be Inaccurate On the Unstructured Response section , the respondents were encouraged to wnte down anyth1ng they felt was appropnate or meaningful In a few instances, the survey was read out loud to the partiCipant and the answers dictated to th e 1nterv1ewer Th1s was done to accommodate the needs of the part1c1pant and unstructured responses were transcnbed verbat1m In one case the survey Instrument was mailed to an out-of-town part1c1pant and subsequently returned 1n completed form . The Informal aspects of the interview were conducted electronically hrough email as this was the most con venient option for th1 s re spondent. Th1s participant had moved away from the area but was interested in participat ing in th e stu dy. Intervi ew. The interview portion of the mee tings with th e participants started w1th an introduction about the interviewer and a genera l discuss ion about the study Once rapport was estab lished, the questionnaire was comp leted. With the exceptions previously noted, the partici pants completed the questionnaire on their own. The interviewer was availab le for cl arification as needed but generally, there were few questions asked . A general discussion of the research and/or the life experiences of the respondent followed questionnaire comp let ion. This part of the interview varied in length . Some participants had little time to spare whereas others seemed eager to share their stories. Permission was requested to take field notes (hand-written notes of informal discussion) during this phase of the meeting. I concluded the meetings by thanking the participants and letting them know I would forward a summary of the study results once available if this had been requested on their consent forms . 73 Ethical Cons1derat1ons The ident1ty of the respondents was protected throughout the progress of this study. Respondents were not 1dent1fied 1n the spec1fic responses recorded 1n th1s report. Wh en they used names of other persons 1n their responses , a descnptor such as 'child" or "teacher" was substituted. The commun1t1es 1n wh1ch spec1f1c respondents res1de were not 1dent1fied Each respondent s1gned a consent form (see Appendix F) that descnbed fully the nature of the study and the respondent's role 1n 1t The few underage respondents who still l1ved w1th the1r parents w ere asked to have the consent form s1gned by a parent Add1t1onally partiCipants were Informed of the1r righ t to withdraw from the study at any t1me w1thout penalty SO #73 administration and the Un1vers1ty of Northern Bnt1sh Columbia granted approval to conduct the study (see Appendix I). Respondents were not Jdent1f1ed by name on the quest1onna1re Completed quest1onna1res were placed 1nto sealed envelopes These envelopes were opened once all questionnaires were completed The quest1onna1res were numbered one through thJrty-n1ne , then during analys1s, all references to the raw data were made through the number only Questionna ires , inte rview protocol s and consent forms were stored 1n a locked fi11ng cab1net when not in use. Upon completion of th e study, all questionnaires and interv1ew protocols w11l be shredded. If respondents w ished to rece ive a sum mary co py of the results of the study they requested this at the bottom of the consent form (see Appe ndix F). A brief written report will be mailed to those respondents who w ished to rece ive the sum mary. Once these reports are mailed, all records of names and addresses of those that requested the resu lts w ill be destroyed. Treatment of Data Since the raw data took various forms , a description of how each data set was treated is described. 74 Service Prov1der lnterv1ews When the interv1ews w1th the serv1ce-prov1ders were concluded , the f1eld notes were tran scnbed The f1eld notes and any add 1t1onal data prov1ded by the 1nterv1ewees const1tute the basis of the descnpt1ve results of these serv1ces Structured Responses The structured survey data was compnsed of sect1ons (a) General , (b) Path , (c) True/False, (d) Rat1ng Scale, and (e) Support Charts The data from the General, True/False and Support Chart sect1ons were tallied and presented The data from the Pa h sect1on was diagrammed to determ1ne 1f there was an overall pa ttern . Each of the potent1allnstltut1ons was listed for the penods of pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and parent1ng Each quest1onnawe was ass1gned a color code and the path was traced The paths were traced on the same d1agram to determ1ne 1f there was a particular path that was favored . Then the path charts were exam1ned and a tally made of the number of respondents selecting an institution dunng a particular phase The Rating Scale section requ1red a more detailed treatment. The data were f1rst tallied and percentages were determined for each number on the Rat1ng Scale The data were then en tered into a statistica l program, SPSS (SPSS , 1995). Bas1c descnptive statistical results were determ ined and th e data were ch arted and graphed to search for patterns . As well , the data were sorted and grouped accord ing to the topic addressed . The data are descriptive and the sample is not random and so deta iled sta ti stical analyses were not considered appropriate for the data. Unstructured Responses The unstructured responses were first transcribed verbatim into a computer file. Each statement was tagged with the number ass igned to the questionnaire. The data were then screened for themes. Where the data specifically addressed issues brought up in the survey , they were categorized as such . Some new themes also emerged . Codes were developed for the subordinate categories within each of the main topics of adm inistration, support, and program . As noted, a number of new categories cropped up in th e Unstructured Respon se sect1on. In part this was to be expected since there was a section entitl ed "other" where participants were 75 invited to comment upon issues that the survey had not covered The statements that did not fi t 1nto ex1st1ng categories were grouped to represent common themes These new categones were Included as a category w1th1n a maJor top1c or added as an ent1rely new category 1f 25% or more of the respondents elected to comment on the theme The categones that rece1ved less than 25% of the respondents mak1ng comments were grouped together and are presented as minor themes in Appendix B With1n the general top1c of Administration are the categones of Attendance, Childcare and Transportation Within the genera l op 1c of Support are the categones of Staff Support and Hospital/homebound Support Also w1th1n the top1c of Support , new categones appeared including "self-rel iance" and "support from others'' Included w1th 1n the Program top1c IS Part-t1me versus Full-t1me stud1es , Program cho1ce (1nclud1ng trans1t1ons ), Independent-Directed Stud1es, In-school Alternate programm1ng , Course Challenge and Equ1valency, and the Career Preparation program . An "other'' program 1ssues category also appeared w1th1n th1s top1c. Finally, two new categories , which did not f1t w1th1n any of the three predeterm 1ned top1cs , were addressed by suffici ent num bers of respondents to warrant inclusion These categories within the top ic of Other are "hard school" and "future pl ans" The concept of educational path crosses all these topics . Figure 1 has now been adapted and is presented as Figure 4 Each respondent statement was pl aced in only one category. Statements were usually not comp lete grammatical sentences th at addressed a singular category or top1c. They were often , run-on sentences that encompassed a number of th emes . Therefore, statemen ts were taken as fragments and the fragment placed in the appropriate category. Once the fragments were organized thematically, they were reviewed to determine if further organization was warranted . For example, the category of staff support was further sorted into positive statements of support and negative statements of support. These subdivisions were further sorted into staff-type groupings. VVhen the final sorti ng was comp leted, a ta lly was taken of the number of statements and the number of different respondents 1n each category. These numbers, along with the associated percents and totals are presented in the results section of th1s document. 76 Support Program Other Attendance Staff Support (positive & negative) Full -time/Parttime Studies Hard School Childcare Hospitalhomebound Support Program Choice & Transitions Future Plans Transportation Self-reliance Independent- r Directed Studies I Other Support In-school Alternate Administration - Challenge & Equivalency Career Preparation Program Other Program Issues PATH Figure 4. Organization of study data . 77 Field Notes F 1eld notes that were taken were transcnbed 1nto a computer document and kept separate from the statements made on the surveys Because of the vanability surrounding the time and Circumstances 1n wh1ch these notes were taken , they are not considered an unb1ased representation of the respondents ' concerns When field notes are referred to, they are clearly specified as field notes or notes from the 1nformal 1nterv1ews to d1stingu1sh them from the statements made by respondents on the quest1onna1res Summary The data set collected for th1s study had a complex format It d1d not lend itself to neat, straightforward analys1s The purpose of the study was to prov1de descnpt1ve Information to ass1st service-prov1ders 1n the 1r ro les as they help young mothers reach the1r educational goals Rarely is such an endeavor s1mple and straightforward Serv1ce Provtders Counsell or lntervtews lnformatton was rece tv ed from ten schools One htgh-school tn the dtstnct was unable to provide a counse llor for an 1nterv1 ew due to a change 1n staff Seven of the counsello rs in cl uded in the study were fema le and three were male All the school counsellors con tacted stated that they had no forma l school policy that was spec1al to pregna nt or parent1ng teens Five counsellors added , however, that the tnformal pol1 cy was to be flexible and helpful 1n developmg and supporting an educat ional program Many of the serv ices prov ided to th1s popu lation were consistent across schools whereas other services were specific to the school or to the student's need . Career, academ ic, and personal counselling were offered at all schools . All counse llors ma intained that at the very least they would provide the same serv ices as for any other student. However, there were many additions to their role for this population . These additional services included prov1d ing opt1ons and helping to sort out choices , finding support for the student as needed , making necessary referrals, and working as a liaison between the school , parents , and community service-providers . One extra service that was described was arranging a special course at the school (a public health course for young mothers) . Another service that was described was a counsellorsponsored presentation to school staff about the issues of teen mothers attend ing a regular high 78 79 school. Some counsellors descnbed do1ng fam1ly counselling as part of the process to gett1ng the fam ily a referral. One counsellor Indicated that the counselling role Involved "peel1ng back the layers" to determ1ne how 1nvolved the student was w 1th her family or doctor so that appropriate support could be Implemented Another counse llor 1nd1cated she had brought a young mother's case up at a commun1ty-profess1onals team meet1ng 1n order to help del1ver necessary resources and serv1ces Counsellors 1nd1cated they would help the young mother plan and ma1nta1n her educational program Maintenance of the educational program took many forms Some young mothers were scheduled w1th a study block to prov1de t1me to complete work Other young mothers were scheduled into self-paced courses (In-school alternate courses ), often under the direction of a learn1ng ass1stance teacher For some young mothers, educat1onal ma1ntenance included lia1son w1th teachers to arrange for planned absences to take external programs such as a public hea lth workshop. Another counsellor demonstrated educational ma1ntenance by arranging for the grandmother to bnng the baby to schoo l so the young mother could nurse her infant on a schedule and yet still rema1n 1n her regular schoo l Some use has been made of course equ ivalency fo r youn g mothers to help th em garner suff1c1ent credits for graduation. Pub lic hea lth nurses were availab le as resources at all schools and school counsellors coord inated these services as needed . Counse llors also helped the student access other health resources such as the Birth Control Clinic, the STD Clinic and pre-n atal coun se lling. Many of the counsellors discussed the ro le of the pub lic health nurse in som e detail. It was described that thi s role is being filled inconsistently across the district. In some schoo ls, the pub lic health nurse is described as an integral part of the school's serv ice delivery team . In these cases the nurse has lots of contact with pregnant or parenting girls and may do follow-up at home. In these schools the nurse generally plays a significant role in the life of the pregnant or parenting student. In other schools , the public health nurse rarely deals with this popu lation . Disappointm ent was expressed about this scenario . Liaison with other service-providers occurred for all schools with the caveat that the schools in the outlying areas had a different relationship with particular service-providers. With 80 regard to the First Steps program , 1t was descnbed that young mothers 1n outly1ng areas less often attended the Kamloops-based alternate program w1th the subs1d1zed day care Many urban school counsellors descnbed the F1rst Steps program as one of the maJor programs for referral A number of school counsellors noted that fewer g1rls were now attending Manon Hlll1ard Prenatal house than had previously been the case Counsellors descnbed that 1t was often a matter of providing 1nformat1on to the student and her fam ily about the availability of programs and service-prov1ders The Baby's Headstart program was not often referred to dunng the 1nterv1ews School counsellors descnbed an 1ncons1stent use of the hosp1tal -homebound resource for th1s populat1on There were a large number of referra ls occurnng for h1s populat ion but little tracking of the girls' programs occurred once the students left the school It was descnbed that 1nformat1on was prov1ded and lia1son occurred when appropnate but the relat1onsh1p ended once a student left the school. It was described that somet1mes other serv1ce-prov1ders , who were in contact with the young mother, would keep in touch w1th the school, as opposed to the other way around. If a student ch anged schoo ls, 1t wa s treated as a permanent transfer In the outlying communities tracking was not an issue because often the student elected to rema1n in the home community to attend school. The average number of pregnant and parenting girls in a school 1n any one year varied tremendous ly. Most counse llors reported that an average simply was not representational because from year to year the numbers varied cons id erab ly. Statistical data on this topic w ere not kept. Estimates of pregnant and parenting students in any one year ra nged from zero or one for small schools to nine for the large high school associated w ith th e Young Parents subs idized daycare. It was suggested by schoo l counsellors that the number of pregnancies that were known about was likely far fewer than the number of actua l pregnancie s, particularly for the larger schools . The type of programs that were typical for adolescent mothers varied by schoo l. The seven urban high school counsellors stated that students would go through on a regul ar graduation program . Adult graduation from these schools was either very rare or non-existent. 81 The results for the outly1ng schools were m1xed w1th one school reporting that most mothers would take an adult graduat1on program , another report1ng that roughly equal numbers were 1n each program , and a th1rd school stat1ng that most went hrough on a regular program The outly1ng school that had most of 1ts young mothers go1ng through on a regular graduat1on program also had, unt1l very recently, access to a well-established commun1ty alternate school Counsellors reported a flexible attendance pol1cy for school-attending mothers The attendance expectations were descnbed as generally IndiVIdualized and attendance was mon1tored but ng1d standards were not 1mposed One school noted that the nature of the timetable and the student's select1on of courses dictated the level of flexibility All schools reported an opt1on of part- 1me attendance and that these students would be eligible for part1C1pat1on 1n an In-school alternate (ISA) program consistency in the ISA programs However, there was not Some schools had act1ve , work1ng alternate programs consisting of comb1nat1ons of Pathfinders (a computer based learn1ng program) Po1nts (text based , self-directed) , and correspondence or Open-school courses (text based , self-d1rected) Other schools had very limited resources 1n th1s area Schoo l counsellors descnbed inconsistent use of course-challenge and equivalency procedures . Some counsellors reported no use of the challenge or equivalency option whereas others ind icated they used the processes for spec1fic courses Independent-Directed Studies (IDS) courses were similarly reported as being inconsistently used across the district. Two schools reported no use of IDS , two reported reserving it for a gifted and talented program , and one reported 1ts use with an applied skills credit Some other schools reported its use for additional studies in French or Phys ical Education (e .g volleyball). A few schools use the option in a more flexible manner allow ing IDS programming in a broad variety of curricular areas . Career Preparation was available in all of the schools . No schools indicated any special initiatives for encouraging young mothers to participate. Attitudes and acceptance of teen mothers in regular high schools is m1xed according to school counsellors . Most school counsellors reflected on the positive change in acceptance of 82 parenting students compared to1 0 or 20 years ago Many also currently reported a positive , accept1ng atmosphere for school-attend ing young mothers Some school counsellors reported that there were st1ll some less accept1ng v1ews ev1dent 1n some staff members All counsellors were aware that there was on ly one on-s1te subs1d1zed daycare program in the d1stnct Th1s daycare prov1des serv1ces for students attend1ng one high-school , one alternate school and one GED program Pract1cally students attend1ng other urban schools or students in outly1ng commun1t1es must find the1r own chil d-care One counsel lor commented that the g1rls from her school preferred o rema 1n at the loca l school It was reported that the family structure usua lly allowed someone from he fam ily of ong1n to care for the ch ildren of these mothers Correspondence The correspondence program accessed by schoo ls 1n SO #73 1s the South-Central Reg ional Correspondence schoo l based 1n Merntt It prov1des matena ls and academ ic support. The academic support is prov1ded through tutors who are available by te lephone After students register, the programming depends on the s1tuat1on . If something IS unusual w1th the registration form or if th ere is a note from the previous school , there may be a personal contact made with the student prior to developing a program . For example , if the correspondence school counsellor knew that an 18 year old girl wa s pregnant and had not yet completed grade 11 and 12, then she might be counselled to pursue Ad ult Grad uation. The correspondence schoo l does not have a specific policy regarding tracking of students. Fo llow-up with students depends upon ava ilable time . They distribute reports five times a year. If little progress is be ing made in a course then the coun sellor might jot a note on the report card requesting information . If time perm its, the correspondence school w ill phone or send a form letter that ind icates the student w il l be withdrawn within 10 days for non-activ1ty in a course. If the student resumes progress in the course then her status will be reactivated. The ratio of adult versus regular graduation rates varies . Currently they have roughly 270 individuals in different degrees of comp letion on the adult program. Roughly twenty students per year complete requirements for a regular graduation program. However, th ese numbers are very 83 1mprec1se because often the course compl et1on statistics go to the school of record and the student graduates from that school Students currently have a one-year 1me lim1t to complete a course If students are reg1stered 1n full-t1me correspondence hen they can sign up or as many courses as they choose (full -t1me IS cons idered seven courses) Generally hey recommend one or two courses at a t1me for a student on th e adult graduation program The corre spondence school will offer lndependen -Direc ed Study courses as needed and may offer course challenge or equivalency in some cases . Hospttai-Homebound Servtces There are two hospttal-homebound teachers providtng 1 5 full- 1me equtvalen t servtce to SO #73 students These teachers can provtde up to hree hours of dtrec schooltng per week They act as a ltatson wtth the s udents home schools and they deltver curnculum They somet tmes help wtth ma rktng They meet wtth the s udents at the s udents homes or at Kamloops Comm untty Learntng Centre or a he Henry Grube Educa ton Centre A pregnant or parenttng student wou ld be eltgtble for servtces ltke any other homebound student A student who is incapacttated by nausea , and con seque ntly homebound. would be a candidate for the tr services The two hosp tta l-homebound teachers act as a ltatson wtth other serv tce-prov tders as needed. In the outly tng communtttes , a substttute teacher would be ht red to prov tde serv tce for a student. The goal of the hospttal-homebound service IS to be very access tble The mandate 1s directed at those students whose educatton is Interrupted because of absence from regular classes for an extended penod of time. The prim ary function ts to provtde dtrect educationa l instruction and support to those students who are absent from school and to factltta te thetr reentry into the school. The mandate is to focus on any student at any grade level who ts confined to hospital , home or a rehab ilitation institution for a period of ten days or longer. Exceptions may be made for some students away less tha n ten days. Studen ts may be referred for the followtng reasons: Illness (physical or psychological), injury or pregnancy The school maintains registration and program ownership of the student, and the homebound teacher acts as an agent 84 of the classroom teacher and the school Matenals w1ll be p1cked up and delivered to the student and completed ass1gnments returned to the teacher for mark1ng The amount of 1nstruct1onal t1me spent 1s determined by IndiVIdual needs Princ1pals counsellors , learn1ng ass1stance teachers , and classroom teachers can make referrals . V1rtual School In add1t1on o the services offered by he hospita l-homebound tea cher a new program called V1rtual School has recent ly started in SO #- 3. Th1s program allows students to do the1r schooling totally at home It 1s electron ically based and 1s a M1n1stry of Educat1on accredited d1stance educat1on program In th1s program . a compu er is prov1ded to students at home, they are prov1ded w1th Internet access , and hey have access to a fu ll 1me teacher for personal tutonal help or on-l1ne ass1stance There are a vanety of course offenngs and students have access to the1r local school for spec1al classes such as mus1c or French Most of the current secondary course offenngs are based on correspondence courses Currently the program has a s1ze restnct1on of 80 students Intake occurs tw1ce a year 1n September and January There IS wa1t l1 st for th e program s1nce, unl1ke trad1t1onal schools, the M1n1stry caps the fund1ng Screen1ng takes place through a wntten application and 1nterv1ew and students are selected who w1ll l1kely do best in the prog ram They have developed a web-s1te at To date, no teen mothers have accessed the program (T. Da le, personal com mun1cat1on, December 30, 1999) Kamloops A lternate School The Kam loops alternate schoo l includes a senior and a junior Pathfinder lab (see Appendix 0 ). The maJority of the young mothers accessed the sen1or Pathfinder lab A prim ary contact for these students was the School Support Worker (SSW) who has chlldcare and youth worker tra ining. Other educational staff at th is s1te included two tea chers w1th backgrounds 1n English, Math and Science. The teachers and the SSW were availab le to all the students 1n the continuing education program but the SSW primarily focussed on the young mothers. An even1ng program staffed by two teachers was also available. Curriculum was ad ministered through the Pathfinders computer program . Courses were also offered through th e Points program Other 85 specia lized courses were also offered to the young mothers 1nclud1ng a foods program offered through an organ1zation known as Commun1ty K1tchens A spec1al fitness program and a sw1mm1ng program for mother and child were also offered to these students L1fe sk1lls were taught and the mothers were taken on f1eld tnps to such places as the food bank The SSW monitored attendance for these students and was a l1a1son w1th the F1rst Steps intake counsellor Information was shared several t1mes per week and month ly attendance was mon1tored Cont1nued reg 1strat1on 1n the F1rst Steps program wa s cond1t1onal on ach1ev1ng satisfactory attendance The SSW also prov1ded emot1onal support, helped w1th soc1al networking, checked on academ 1c progress and Imp lemented programs such as Commun1ty Kitch ens. As well , the SSW d1d any necessary l1a1son work w1th other agenc1es or schools Students must reg1ster w1th the F1rst Steps program 1n order to rece1ve the subs1d1zed day care serv1ces If they have alternate ch 1ldcare arrangements they may reg 1ster as regular students In order to qualify for the subsidized day care program , the mothers must log 18 hours per week (a full-time program ) whereas a regular student may reg1ster on a part-t1me program The computer mon1tors attendance and students must s1gn 1n and out each day F1rst Steps students are expected to attend Monday through Thursday. Fr1day 1s an opt1onal day for those mothers who need to or wi sh to log more hours. Up to th1rty young mothers are served 1n a school year at the Kamloops Alternate School. Most of the young mothers were reg istered in th e adult graduation program (about 75%) . When they finish their prog ram they are eligible to go through th e school's commencement ceremony in June. The SSW and teachers provided persona l, career or ed ucationa l coun selling. A sch ool counsellor was not available at the alternate schoo l. Issues requ iring more attention were referred to community services. The daycare accessed by the mothers attending the alternate school is housed on th e grounds of a nearby high school and was designed to serve the needs of the alternate program students and the high school mothers. 86 The alternate program also has access to a half-t1me work expenence teacher Primanly th is posit1on serves the JUnior program but 1s 1t open to some of the older students Th1s teacher noted that she IS just start1ng to see older students become Involved 1n the Career Preparation program At the t1me of the serv1ce-prov1der 1nterv1ew, only one young mother had engaged 1n a work expenence placement First Steps F1rst Steps 1s the name assoc1ated w1th a comprehens ive young mother program 1n SO #73 The ten-year old program 1s the center of young mother serv1ces 1n the d1stnct The program 1s sponsored by SD #73 , Kamloops Youth Resources Soc1ety, the Un1vers1ty College of the Cariboo, and the Boys and G1rls Club The staff 1ncludes a coordinator, a college Instructor, daycare workers , a fam 1ly support worker and a Kam loops Youth Resources counsellor Facilities 1nclude two day-care s1tes , an adm1n1strat1ve off1ce , an 1ntake and counsell1ng off1ce and a set of cl assrooms The coordinator adm1n1strates the programs and superv1ses all the staff. The program mandate IS to provide an opportunity for young mothers to upgrade or complete the ir basic educat1on 1n a supported environment. In add1t1on to the school cumculum , the program prov1des day care, counselling, care er and educat1on plann1ng , and parenting instruction. The progra m serves moth ers who are14-24 years of age. If there are openings , mothers who are between 24 and 30 and who need to complete bas1c education (I.e ., th ey have no grade 12) may be permitted to reg ister. The age range for th e mothers tends to be 18 to 20 fo r the GED program and the alternate school. The mothers attending the regul ar high school tend to be a little younger. According to the program coordinator, in an average year, th e who le program serves roughly 50 mothers. Table 2 shows the ava ilable enrollm ent from First Steps. The whole program has a continuous intake until roughly mid-April but classes are in session from September to June. To qualify, potential students must have a ch ild who is less than six years of age. Except for exceptional circumstances, students are requ ired to attend school fulltime in all the programs. School policies dictate specific hours of attendance . 87 Table 2 Enrollment 1n F1rst Steps Programs for H1gh School and A lternate School School Year 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 Total Returnees Qurt Graduated Post-Secondary a 18 24 31 31 6 9 8 8 7 4 11 17 5 11 12 6 1 6 4 1 --- --- - - - Note Enrollment numbers were not available for the GRE program Enrollment by instltut1on was not available . aNumbers in this column represent only those mothers who were known to move directly to post-seconda ry schooling and likely under-represent the numbers of mothers pursumg further education The 1ntake worker reported that the trend has been hat more mothers are now attending the alternate sch ool th an are attend1ng the regular h1gh school two mothers attended the regular h1gh school In the 1998/99 school year, only In the spnng of the 1999/2000 school yea r, no mothers were attending the regular h1gh school whereas 20 mothers were attending the alternate school. The alternate schoo l and the h1gh school attached to the day care offer separate programs . Each have advantages and disadvantages The h1gh sch ool program meets the needs of more tradit iona l students-schoo l-age mothers who have support availab le to help them meet the institutional requ irements for attendance. The altern ate program caters to the other mothers. The high-school program has a dwindl ing popu lation (no current registrants ) and the alternate program seems to have expanded . Currently 20 mothers are participating. Consequently, some special considerations may be warranted. As of the spri ng of 2000, there is a proposal for a self-conta ined classroom at the alternate school that would serve the needs of the young mothers. This classroom would be staffed with a teacher and poss ibly a school support worker. One of the goals would be to provide a program that would alleviate the intensity of continuous self-directed learning. Currently, First Steps and alternate program staff try to do this through workshops , field trips and community presenters. Quarters are cramped , however, and the alternate facility and program were not really designed to accommodate this kind of special programming . Another goal is to provide direct parenting education sim ilar to the content 88 of the F1rst Steps GED program A th1rd goal1s to prov1de the young mothers with a school env1ronment that 1s respons1ve to the1r part1cular needs The First Steps daycare programs are part of a select group of school-based daycare centres 1n the prov1nce of Bnt1sh Columbia There are only about 50 h1gh schools 1n the prov1nce that have Young Parent programs (BC M1n1strv of Social Development, 1999a) The two F1rst Steps day care centres are fully funded for the mothers and have a staff to ch1ld rat1o of 1 3 because the children are class1f1ed as h1gh-nsk One of the cen res 1s on the grounds of the h1gh school and prov1des care for up to 12 children under four years of age Th1s day care serves the mothers who attend the regular h1gh school or the alternate school A second day care 1s at the same s1te as the GED program and prov1des care for up to h~rty children of the mothers who attend that program Students have the opt1on of at end1ng a regular h1gh school , an alternate school or a GED program using Adult Bas1c Educat1on (ABE ) curnculum (see Appendix C) The first part of the process 1s the intake. Once contact 1s made w1th program personnel (d1rectly or through a referral), the intake counsellor conducts a home-vJsJt to determ1ne an appropnate program . A number of issues affect program cho1ce. If the mother was currently reg1stered at a regular high school then she would generally be advised to attend the regular high school program . The mother's goals, age, ab ility level, and past educational h1story factor 1nto the program choice. The living situation and level of support, the need for parenting skills and the need for the emotional safety provided by a sma ll self-conta ined group also factor into the program choice . Mothers who choose to work toward a regular high school graduation diploma or an adu lt graduation diploma may attend the associated high school or the alternate school. In practice, however, most mothers attended the alternate school. The students who did attend the regular high school were on a regular graduation program . The students who attended the alternate school participated on either a regular graduation program or an adult graduation program . The GED program is housed in a community centre (Cottonwood Centre) adjacent to the high school. Hours of this program are from 9-12 and 1-3 with some flextime built into the program . The program employs a self-paced academic curriculum and students may be in the 89 program for up to five years There are spots for twenty students Th1s non-degree educational program is des1gned for older mothers or for mothers who are not concerned w1th gett1ng the1r high school graduation diploma It 1s a comprehensive program taught by a college 1nstructor us1ng a college ABE curnculum Generally the highest academ1c level that the ABE curnculum provides JS the equ1valent of grade 10, wh1ch will also prepare the mothers to wnte the GED (see Appendix D) Potentia lly, mothers could work beyond the grade 10 level of the ABE curnculum and work on courses that would be equ1valent to grade 11 and 12 There 1s flex1bi11ty 1n the program to allow a student to attend other courses 1f she f1n1shes the bas1c program early Some mothers have attended the college for an upper level ABE computer course Another has attended the alternate schoo l 1n order to reg1s er 1n Accounting 11 The breakdown for the different components of the ABE program 1s 1/3 academ1cs . 1/3 l1fe-skllls and 1/3 parent1ng As part of the parent1ng component, mothers do a pract1cum at the on-s1te daycare for a minimum of 15 hours. There 1s no fee for the ABE courses and students who are on 1ncome ass1stance can receive fu nding for texts and suppl 1es . If the mothers complete the program (pass the requ1red grade 10 level courses ), then they rece1ve a cert 1f1cate and may partiCipate 1n commencement ceremon ies at the Un iversity College of the Canboo Very recently , the parent1ng course taught at the GED program has become eligible for credit for Family Stud1es 11 which 1s a Min istry of Education authorized course . Th is occurred through the equ1valency process . Some mothers have elected to transfer to the alternate program to pursue a Prov incial graduation diploma after spending time in the GED program . Some counselling and related services are ava ilab le to the young mothers. In addition to the regular teaching and support staff at the high school and the alternate school , the mothers attending those schools have access to a Kamloops Youth Resources counsellor who works from an office at the high school daycare. This counsellor conducts the initia l intake to determ ine appropriate program placement, monitors attendance, provides personal counselling , provides parenting instruction and does outreach. The parenting component includes such topics as RCMP lady awareness , parenting videos on developmental issues , sexual assault centre information, information on custody issues, and Financial Aid Worker (FAW) issues (rights and 90 responsibilities) . The mothers who attend the GED program have access to a full-t1me youth counsellor. This counsellor works d1rectly w1th th1s program and 1s also available to help w1th the parent1ng component of the program For mothers at all the schools assoc1ated w1th F1rst Steps, spec1al programs are brought in, for example , the Salvat1on Army's good food box wh1ch helps the mothers deal w1th concrete issues such as prov1d1ng enough nutnt1ous food for themselves and the1r children Poverty IS a pervas1ve 1ssue w1th these clients and 1t 1s addressed formally through educat1on and Informally through personal counsell1ng Add1 1onally F1rst Steps personnel try to prov1de for recreational opportun1t1es for the1r clients ActJVJtJes 1nclude a mums' and tots sw1m , a VISit to a game farm , and exposure to different kinds of recreat1on such as play1ng tenn1s Marion Hilliard House Manon Hilliard House 1s a Prov1nc1a l pre-natal house sponsored by the Canboo Home Society and overseen by a volunteer board The home 1s under the umbrella of the Anglican Church . The Min1stry for Children and Fam1l1es prov1des 75% of the fund1ng w1th the remainder provided through donations Clients for the program are 1n care e1ther involuntarily or by agreement. This program has five components : Academic, individual and group counselling , parent1ng and life-skills, daily home and family management instruction and training , and prenatal classes. The coordinator also delivers the individual and group counselling . A house-mother manages the day-to-day aspects of the program. The clients are referred to community agencies when the need arises. The academic requirements are met through attendance at a local high school , the alternate schoo l, the First Nation s Storefront School , or by registration in correspondence. The program pol icy requires all clients to attend school but this policy has been relaxed recently to accommodate the changing client base. Many curren t clients present multiple concerns . For exa mple , a current client might suffer from mental ill ness, poverty, and low ability. Vvhen the client has very low ab ility and the secondary school options are not appropriate, then program staff flexibly work someth ing out to accommodate th e academic requirements. 91 Elda Marshall House Elda Marshall post-natal house 1s un1que 1n the prov1nce of Bnt1sh Columbia This centre, which is adm1n1strated by Kamloops Family Resources Soc1ety (a chanty organ1zat1on) , IS a teach1ng home wh1ch helps young mothers prepare for Independent I1V1ng Staff also conduct parent1ng assessments when requested by the M1n1stry for Children and Families Serv1ces are provided for emergency clients such as a young mother w1th no support As well , staff voluntanly prov1de outreach services for about 65 fam 1l1 es They also conduct teach1ng programs, such as 1nfant firs t a1d , as part of the1r voluntary outreach program They publi sh a newsletter that IS d1stnbuted to former cl 1ents The pnmary mandate 1s for new mothers under the age of 21 They are mandated to accept only one mother at a t1me who 1s over 21 There 1s room for up to five mothers and the1r children Cl1 ents are referred by a soc1al worker The g1rls may be 1n care by agreement, 1nvoluntanly or have prev1ous ly been on soc1al ass1stance Cl1ents do not fund their own stay at Elda Marshall house . The agency encourages and supports cont1nu 1ng educat1on but also supports a mother's decision to stay home to bond with her child Staff superv1se tests for clients and outreach clients as needed. Liaison with SO #73 personnel is informal and occurs as needed. A comprehensive parenting component is integral to the program . Clients live at the house and attend the mandatory teaching program for 4 1/2 to 6 months with the prov1sion for an extens1on if needed . Each cl ient has a key worker and she has weekly meetings with this worker for about one hour each week. The primary goa l of these meet ings is to help the young mother develop independence . The centre employs five fu ll-time and seven re lief workers . All employees undergo intensive on-site train ing. For 1998, Elda Marshall house provided 938 person-days of care. During their fiscal year, they served 8 res idential cl ients with 9 chi ldren , 3 emergency clients and 54 outreach famil ies comprising 1858 contacts and 1097 person-h ours of contact. Public Health Public Health runs a number of services and special programs th at are acce ssed by the population of young pregnant and parenting girls. These include Nobody's Perfect (a parenting 92 program ), the Birth Control Clinic, the Sexually Transmitted 0 1sease (STD ) clin 1c, and the Teen Prenatal prog ra m which offers a free rotat1ng four-class senes w1th continuous intake Public Health also conducts home-v1S1ts once the young mother returns home w1th her Infant With highrisk fam111es, public health nurses will do more 1ntens1ve follow-up Public Heal th also has a liaison nurse at the hospital who does screen1ng for hand1caps, low b1rth-we1ght, and Interaction factors wh1ch make for h1gh nsk Other Programs An Interagency comm1ttee , devoted to advocacy for young mothers, ex1sts 1n Kamloops This comm1ttee, wh1ch handles referra ls and shares 1nformat1on, meets every two months and has rep resenta tives from Elda Marshall house Manon H1 ll 1ard house, F1rst Steps program , PubliC Health (Nobody's Perfect), Kamloops Youth Resources (Fam il ies F1rst) Kamloops Home Support (Baby's Headstart), and SO #73 (A lternate Program ) Baby's Headstart 1s a program run by the Kamloops Home Support agency. This agency provides support and counsell ing to young pregnant women and prov1des concrete support such as pre-nata l vitamins and vouch ers for milk. Kamloops Home Support w1ll also prov1de support to young mothers through lay hom e visitors. These are paid positions where a helper goes into the home of the young mother. PAID and Healthy Beg innings are two other programs run by Kamloops Hom e Support Society. PAID is a parenting program for both parents . This progra m offe rs weekly group meetings. Healthy Beg innings is a program that fo llows up after Baby's Headstart. This progra m offers group meetings run by parents and the focus is parenting and life skill s. Families First is a community program sponsored by Kam loops Youth Resources that supports mothers parenting for the first time . It includes intense fo llow-up fo r mothers who are high-risk such as those with low education , low socio-econom ic status , or re lationsh ip prob lems. This program 's mandate is to reach out to parents who have a first chi ld under six months of age . They provide in-home support, life skills, parenting , budgeting, and support for weekends (24hour support through a pager number) . They would even go to court with a young mother over custody. They will do follow through until a child is seven years old. 93 The lnd1an Fnendsh1p Centre Informally prov1des support to young mothers Young women can access personal and fam1ly counselltng As well , staff are skilled at prov1d1ng referral services In add1t1on to funding Elda Marshall house Kamloops Fam1ly Resources Soctety provides a vanety of serv1ces 1nclud1ng pregnancy counselling , res1dent1al teachtng , and outreach Chtldcare Substdy Program The Bnttsh Columbia chtldcare substdy program is des1gned to assist lower-income famil1es so parents may attend school or enter the JOb market Currently th1s program has an annual budget of $188 mill ton and IS adm1n1stered by he M1n1stry of Social Development and Econom1c Secunty (BC M1n1stry of Soctal Development , 1999a) The subsidy program is incometested wh1ch means eltgtblltty for the program depends on a famtly's 1ncome level Subsidy rates usually do not cover the enttre cost of full-ttme day care and day care centres generally charge a monthly fee over and above the substdy rate In 1997 the extra costs averaged $100 00 per month (BC Mintstry of Social Development, 1999a, 1999b) The Ftrst Steps program does not charge mothers a surcharge because of an histoncal agreement between the Ministry for Children and Families, Human Resources and the Ftrst Steps program The maxtmum rate per child per month is $800.00 for the First Steps program and funding levels for stmtlar programs across the province of British Columbia vary greatly On the regular chlldcare subsidy program a moth er can only get the subsidy rate for which a maximum is currently $585 00 (BC Ministry for Children , 1998). There are other options to group daycare. A lower subsidy is available for a family-based daycare versus a group dayca re. Th e fa mily rate is the same whether the family daycare is licensed or un licensed . A subs idy is also available for a babysitter to come into the home. With the exception of an in-home babys itter, the care-giver is paid the subsidy directly. For in-home babys itters, the parent is considered the emp loyer and is entrusted with the subsidy funds . Mothers who have no additional sources of childcare funding and who are limited to the usual subsidy rate must find an unlicensed or fam ily childcare provider who is willing to accept the subsidy rate. Otherwi se the mothers must find fu nds to cover the surcharge on their own . 94 D1stnct Contacts A request was made of each of the 59 school d1stncts 1n Bnt1sh Columbia to forward a contact name and number for any young mother programs offered in the d1strict Of the 59 d1stricts contacted , 40 (68%) responded Of those that responded , 7 (17 5%) 1nd1cated that they had no program 1n place, 30 (75%) 1nd1cated they had a program 1n place and 3 (7.5%) Indicated that they d1d not have a program 1n place but young mothers attended the1r alternate school The responding d1stncts prov1ded a vanable level of 1nformat1on Where there was a particular program 1n place for young mothers, the d1stnct contact persons prov1ded a program t1tle and contact information In some cases program brochures or other 1nformat1on was forwarded Appendix A provides details of the programs as prov1ded by the contact persons. In the interests of privacy and because personnel changes over he years, the names of the contact people listed have not been included 1n th1s appendiX Interested part1es may request th1s 1nformat1on by contact1ng the researcher Young Mothers Structured Responses Section (a) General. The mean age of the respondents was 20.54 years old with a rang e of 9 years The youngest respo ndent interviewed was 16 and th e oldest was 25. The mean age of fi rst birth was 17.47 years with range of 8 years and a standard deviati on of 1.899. The youngest age of first birth was 15 and the oldest was 23. The moda l age was 16 with roughly 26% of the mothers giving birth at age 16. Figure 5 describes the data on age of first birth (n=38). The child's birth-month was surveyed to determ ine the level of potential disrupti on to schooling by a summer birth. Seven (or roughly 18% ) of the births occurred in the summ er. The modal number of months that intervened before mothers returned to school was more than 12 months with roughly 29% of the mothers respond ing that more than 12 months intervened. Figure 6 shows the actual numbers of respondents reporting in each category and those same responses grouped into less than and greater than six month s interveni ng. Even 96 Most young women only had one ch1ld wh1le attend1ng school Five of the mothers had more than one ch1ld wh1le attending school Most respondents were Caucas1an w1th 34 or roughly 87% report1ng th1s ethn1c category The only other ethn1c category reported was F1rst Na 10ns w1th five or roughly 13% of the respondents report1ng F1rst Nat1ons background These values are compared to Provincial and Nat1onal stat1St1cs 1n the d1scuss1on Most respondents reported no rel1g1ous affil1at1on as th1s opt1on was selected by 26 or roughly 67% of the respondents The rema1n1ng 33% of the respondents 1nd1cated they were act1vely Catholic (8), Protestant (4) or other (Mormon , 1) Roughly 64% or 25 of the respondents were enrolled 1n school at the t1me each learned she was pregnant Grade ten was the modal grade of those who were enrolled with a response rate of 40% (see Figure 7). 12 - - - - - - - 8 9 10 11 12 other Grade ~------------------------------ Figure 7. Gra de enrolled in at time of pregnancy. N=25 . Rough ly 59% or 23 of the respondents reported that they had not failed any grades prior to the ir pregnancy. Of the 16 respo ndents who reported grade failure, the majority of the failure (ro ugh ly 74%) occurred at the junior secondary level. A total of 19 grades were reported as failed by the 16 respondents . One subject reported two failed grades and another subject reported three fa iled grades. Of the 16 subjects wh o had reached senior secondary school prior to their pregnancy, 5 or roughly 31% reported failure of one or more courses . 97 Prog ram enrollment JUSt pnor to pregnancy was very m1xed Most respondents 1nd1cated they were enrolled 1n regular school (21 respondents or roughly 54%) but a vanety of other programs were also 1dent1f1ed (see Table 3) Table 3 Program Enrollment Cho1ces Just Pnor to Pregnancy Type of program Regular school attend1ng full-t1me Regular school at end1ng part-t1me In-school alternate program Kamloops alternate school Alternate program 1n an outly1ng school Correspondence Home school Oth er a Not in school Note Respondents Number Percent ------------------21 54 0 0 1 3 2 5 1 1 3 3 0 0 5 8 13 21 All percents are rounded to the nearest whole number N=39 a Includes a school of esthetics , Abbotsford alternate school , Umvers1ty College of the Canboo work expenence program , a GED program in Alberta and a nail techn1c1an program Respondents indicated attendance most often 1n a Kam loops school JUSt prior to and during preg nancy (see Ta ble 4). Thirteen , or a third , of the respondents ind1cated that they were not in schoo l for all or part of their pregnancy and a number of respondents Indicated they attended school in another city during their pregn ancy The centres listed for school attendance prior to pregnancy included Toronto, Abbotsford , Vancouver, Prince George, Alberta, Bella Coola , Vanderhoof, Canmore, Chi ll iwack and East Vancouver. The centres listed for school attendance during pregnancy were Toronto , Abbotsford (two res pondents), V ancouver, Alberta, and Canmore . Of those who indicated they were not in schoo l during th eir pregnancy, four indicated they dropped out during the course of the pregnancy whereas ni ne (23% of all re spondents) indicated they were not in school at all during the course of the ir pregnancy. 98 Table 4 Area of School Attendance Rural Urban Not in School Other No % No % No % No % Prior to pregnancy 17 44 4 10 10 26 8 21 During pregnancl 21 48 4 9 6 14 13 30 After birth , first areab 28 74 5 13 5 13 ---- Note The percent column reflects percent of quest1on responses versus the percent of all respondents Except for 2 the note listed , n=39 Respondents were permitted to select more than one area 1f they were transient during pregnancy Therefore , 44 areas were selected by 39 respondents bOue to one respondent not yet having g1ven b1rth , n=38 Part1c1pants were asked to tndtcate he latest month of thetr pregnancy that each attended school If school attendance 1s broken down by pregnancy tnmester, then roughly 10% attended only for the first tnmester, roughly 21% attended 1nto the second tnmester and roughly 46% of all re spondents indicated they attended 1nto the thtrd tnmester Roughly 33% of all respondents indicated that they attended school for the full term of the1r pregnancy. This was the moda l response. If only those mothers who attended school at all dunng thetr pregnancy are included (n =30) then the numbers of those who w ent full term nses to roughly 43% Figure 8 represents the latest month of pregnancy 1n which th e respondents attended school. 20 18 en ......- B N ot in scho ol 16 I!J Fu ll term s::: (J.) ""CI 14 rs:J 8t h 0 0.. 12 G 7th 10 • s::: (f) (J.) ~ '+- 0 L a 5t h c 4th 8 (J.) ..CJ .c: 6 z: 4 :3 6th D 3 rd rlS 2 nd 2 0 Fir s t Second Th ird Trimester F1gure 8 Latest month of pregnan cy for school attendan ce . N ot 1n School 99 Section (b) Paths The respondents charted the1r educational paths The path components were identif ied as taking place dunng three t1me penods pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and parent1ng For these t1me periods , respondents were asked to 1dent1fy the lnst1tut1on that they attended The ma1n res ults fro m th1s sect1on are l1sted 1n Table 5 Add1t1onal results not listed 1n the table 1nclude four respondents l1st1ng correspondence as a school1ng opt1on dunng one of the periods , and two respondents list1ng a rural alternate program as a schooling opt1on dunng one of the penods . No respondents 1nd1cated that they attended an In-school alternate program or took part 1n an other (non-correspondence) home school1ng program Th1s 1s 1ncons1stent w1th the results from question 13 where one respondent 1nd1cated she attended an m-school alternate program pnor to her pregnancy. An exam1nat1on of the raw data 1nd1cated that, on her path chart , th1s respondent indicated she attended an urban school dunng pre-pregnancy These two answers are not inconsistent but reflect a misunderstanding abou how to complete the path chart. Only 6 res pondents indicated that they attended a rural program at some po1nt dunng the three penods Table 5 Identified Ma1or Component of Educational Path Out of school No. % 14 36 Other No . 18 Pregnane~ a 17 44 9 % 46 23 Parenting Total a 18 22 50 56 7 19 20 51 Pre-Pregnancy a Alternate School No . % 2 5 7 18 17 44 21 54 Urban No . 22 12 13 % 56 31 36 26 67 Note. Numbers in the total row do not reflect the sum of the co lu mn but ra th er the total number of responden ts who selected that item during at least one ti me period . All perce nts ar e ro unde d to the nearest whole number. al:j_=39 . bl:j_=36 . The last school of attendance is listed in Table 6 for all respondents. Th is fina l school represents either the school the student graduated from or the school of current attendance. The results are reported for all respondents and for all parenting respondents because three respondents were not currently parenting and this could have a bearing on their choice of school. 100 Table 6 Last School of Attendance All respondents a --------------------------~ School Kamloops Alternate Urban First Steps Rural Rural alternate Other % No 18 46 18 10 5 4 26 13 10 7 5 1 1 3 3 50 19 14 11 4 1 1 3 3 Note All percents are rounded to the nearest whole number ·~=39 . b~=36 . Respondents were orally asked to 1nd1cate the type of program they were enrolled 1n on the Path chart Of the 39 respondents surveyed , 35 1nd1cated the program 1n wh1ch they were enrolled. The poss1ble programs are regular graduation program , adult graduat1on program , and GED program . Table 7 displays these data Table 7 Enrollment by Program Regular Numbera Percent 20 51 Adult 10 26 ABE Not indicated 5 4 10 13 Note. All percents are rounded to the nearest whole number ·~=39 Section (c) True/False . The True/False section of the questionnaire allowed respondents to select not applicable (NA) if they felt that the question did not apply to them . Therefore the total number of respondents (n value ) varies with each question. When the expression "the respondents" is used for this section it refers to the respondents to that question as opposed to all respondents (n=39) . The n value will be reported for each question but the results are more easily compared when viewed as a percentage . The percentage has been rounded up or down in the standard fashion to the nearest percent but the reader is reminded that it is not an exact representation of the number of responses. For the purposes of brevity, the word "roughly" has been eliminated from 101 the express1on of the percent but 1n each case 1t 1s 1mpl1ed Table 8 summarizes the data set from the True and False sect1on Part-t1me school attendance 1n a regula r school was 1nd1cated as an opt1on dunng pregnancy by 38% of the respondents (n=29) and dunng parent1ng by 40% of the respondents (n=30) Dunng pregnancy, 28% of the respondents 1nd 1cated 1t was not an opt1on and 34% indicated they d1d not know Dunng parent1ng , 40% 1nd1cated 1t was not an opt1on and 20% indicated they d1d not know Ten percent of the respondents (n=30) 1nd1cated they took an Independent-Directed Studies course dunng h1gh school Th1rty percent 1nd1cated they had the opt1on of tak1ng an alternate course at the1r regular h1gh schoo l (n=31 ) Th 1rty-f1ve percent of respondents indicated th1s wa s not an opt1on The same percent 1nd1cated that they d1d not know 1f 1t was an opt1on Twenty-one percent (n=33) of the respondents thought that a course challenge was an opt1on whereas 42% indicated it was not an opt1on and 36% 1nd1cated they d1d not know if it was an option . The Career Preparation program had a participation rate of 25% (n =36). Dunng pregnancy, 43% of the re spondents (n=30) felt 1t was not available and 33% did not know if it was ava ilable as opposed to 23% who indica ted it was available During parenting, 21% (n=34) thought it was unavailable but 35% did not know if it was available whereas 44% indicated that it was ava ilable to them. The final True or False question asked if the respondent returned to her regular school program after the birth of her chi ld. On thi s question, 60% (n=35) indicated they had returned to their regular school program . 102 Table 8 Data from True or False Sect1on N No True % No % Don't Know % No Part-time school available dunng pregnancy n=29 11 38 8 28 10 34 2 Part-time school available dunng parenting n=30 12 40 12 40 6 20 3 Took IDS during grade 11 or 12 n=30 3 10 27 90 4 ISA option at regular h1gh school n=31 9 29 11 35 11 35 5 Course challenge option n=33 7 21 14 42 12 36 6 Participated 1n Career Preparation n= 36 9 25 27 75 7 Career Prep available during pregnan cy n=30 7 23 13 43 10 33 8 Career Prep available during parenting n=34 15 44 7 21 12 35 9 Returned to regular school after btrth n=35 21 60 14 40 Question # False - -- Sect1on (d) Rat1ng Scale Rating scale 1tems addressed adm1n1strat1ve support and program 1ssues In general the resu lts appeared to fall on the poles of the scale When data have th1s pattern , reporting of a mean is not a useful stat1st1c The most frequent or modal score prov1des more informat1on. With these data, a u-shaped btmodal pattern was often observed . Th1s overall U shaped pattern in the data is demonstrated in Figure 9 where all the Rating Scale data have been plotted on a histogram. A high standard deviation also demonstrates the bipolar nature of the data and this can be seen in Tab le 9. Tab les 9 through 11 present the Rating Scale data. Because each item offered respondents the option of selecting NA (not applicable), the total number of respondents (n value) varies for each question . Therefore, for each item , the n value will be reported as well as the mean and, more informative ly, the mode (and minor mode if it occurs) The standard deviation is also reported for each item . The reader is rem inded th at the standard deviation w ill have more mean ing when the n-value is greater than 20. As well , included for each item , is the percent of all respondents (n=39) that answered the question and the percent of respon ses to each val ue on the Rating Scale. In each case this percentage is rounded to the nearest whole num ber in the traditional manner. The range is not displayed. For all items it is seven with the exception of numbers 27 and 28 where the range is one. 103 120 100 (f) ...... c 0,) 1.J c 80 0 D. (f) ll) IL '+- 0 60 .- Q) 0'1 ro ...... c 40 ll) u ~ 0,) o_ 20 +- 0 ~-- 1 Strongly Disagree 2 3 4 Neutral Ratings Figure 9. Rating Scale data showing bipolar nature of findings . 5 6 7 Strongly Agree Table 9 Rating Scale Results for Admin istrative Issues # 0Lestion %" tl M SD Mode Mrnor mode Percent of responses on Rating Scale _ Strongy asagee Strongy .Agree b 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 11 4 7 15 11 44 33 17 0 0 11 11 28 50 11 11 0 6 6 17 61 0 0 6 0 0 Duing mJ preg~ancy , it was easy to obtain P'lrmission to te excused from class to attend medical a~ 27 69 5 22 2 10 2 Pregoancy-indLX::ed nausea caused me to miss ochJol more frequ:Jntly trnn usual. 18 46 3 83 2 66 3 Missed dasses d.Je to nausea disrt.4Jied my schooflng. 18 46 2 83 2 41 4 Missed dasses d..re to nausea interrupled mJ schooflng and caused me to drop one or more COU"93S 18 46 3 17 2 87 5 Mssed dasses d..re to nausea intem.rpled mJ schooling and caused me to fail one or more courses 17 44 2 06 2.36 82 0 0 0 0 0 18 6 Missed dasses eire to nausea intem.rpled my schoolirg and caused me to drop out of sct-ool 18 46 2 33 2 57 78 0 0 0 0 0 22 8 I was al::le to qlickly reb...m to my regular sct-ool program after tre brrth of mJ chrid 29 74 4 72 2 68 28 3 3 7 3 3 52 9 Tre birth and post-ol 25 64 1 96 2 07 80 0 0 0 4 4 12 - 2 16 2 7 ,........,-1 ,J \...._. -\.. -_J \ \ - -- -- '-- ~ - .-.J ~ \___, -- Note Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number Question numbers reflect numbers from the questionnarre bu1 rn some cases they have been reordered so that common toprcs may be grouped for analysrs • Represents the percentage who responded to the item relative to all respondents (n=39) b Minor mode is reported only If applrcable 105 Table 10 Rating Scale Results for Support Issues # Question -N %" M so Mode Percent of responses on Rabn M1nor Strong~ Dsag-ee Strong~ .Agree mode b 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 V\lhen 1 missed classes due to nausea or medical appointments, I received support to make up missed work. 18 46 4 83 2.23 7 17 13 After the birth of my child , when I missed school for medical reasons, I received support to make up the work 31 79 4 35 2 29 7 23 1 received helpful services from the hospital-homebound support tea cher dunng m y prenatal and post-natal period 25 64 2 04 215 1 24 It would have been helpful to receive the serv1ces of a teacher dunng my pre-natal through post-natal period when I wasn 't attending school. 29 74 4 07 2 74 7 27 At Marion Hilliard pre-natal house , the environment was supportive of cont1nu1ng my h1gh school education . 2 5 7 00 000 7 28 At Elda Marshall Post-natal house , the environment was supportive of cont1nu1ng my h1gh school education . 4 0 6 22 11 6 39 23 3 6 16 13 13 26 80 0 0 0 4 4 12 ' ' J -../ - -. 10 7 00 000 7 1 34 10 0 7 3 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 100 - 100 Note. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Question numbers reflect numbers from the quest1onna1re but 1n some cases they have been reordered so that common topics may be grouped for analysis . a Represents the percentage who responded to the item relative to all respondents (n=39) b Mmor mode IS reported only 1f applicable 106 Table 11 Rating Scale Resu lts for Program Issues # 30 Queston Part-time school attendance would have been helpful for me when I was pregnant o;o • t! 74 29 so M 3 83 2 67 Mode M1nor mode b 1 Percent of responses on Rating Scale S1!1:;ng:z: Dsaqee Sirol g :z: .AQree 1 - 2 41 3 3 3 4 5 6 7 0 14 10 28 , -- 31 Part-time school attendance would have been helpful for me when I wa s parenting 34 32 It was difficult to attend school full time during my pregnancy 32 33 It was difficult to attend school full tJme when I was parentmg 35 87 3 68 2 52 1 4 47 82 3 6 12 18 18 2 57 22 31 11 23 7 1 28 9 0 0 9 1 7 26 9 11 9 11 -90 3 97 2 36 - - -- 5 64 I felt involved 1n planning my high school program . 36 25 I felt my school counsellor was knowledgeable about the transitions I made betwe en programs dunng my pregnancy and parenting periods. 22 56 4 73 2 55 7 26 I found the transitions between programs difficult 25 64 3 04 2 26 1 29 I changed schools after the b1rth of my child but I would have preferred to remam at my regu lar school if appropriate programs were available 18 46 3 72 2 76 1 Had they been available , I would have taken Independent D1 rected Studi es courses whe n I was pregnant 29 92 2 13 14 7 -- 0 3 3 11 11 58 23 5 5 14 0 9 45 44 8 8 12 8 8 12 39 0 5 17 0 6 33 - -- - .- - - 7 - ·-- 74 - 36 Had they been available , I would ha ve taken Independent D1rected Studies course s when I was parenting . 37 Had they been ava ilable , I would have taken In-school alternate courses dunng my pregnancy 27 38 Had they been ava ilable , I would have taken 1n-schoo l altemate courses when I was parenting 31 Had they been available , I w ould have taken co urse challe nges for co urses such as Fa m1ly Manage ment 11 and/or 12. 33 39 3 -- - 34 35 41 __ 32 3 59 2 58 1 7 41 - - 3 82 3 50 2 76 1 7 47 69 7 - -- 4 00 272 1 7 41 6 -0 10 7 3 6 3 3 87 280 1 7 42 6 -- 85 5.36 2.19 7 9 9 0 34 0 J ,_._ - I\ ' ' \ -4 I 28 - - ·- -1 \ 4 11 - 79 3 - -- -· ~ 3 10 7 0 33 39 \..- .. ... .) \ ___., ... J 3 12 3 9 55 - ......-- Note Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Question numbers refle ct numbers from the quest1onna1re but m some cases they have been reordered so that common topics may be grouped for analysis . a Represents the percentage who responded to the item relative to all respondents (n=39) b Minor mode is reported only if applicable 107 108 Sectton (e) Support Charts Respondents were asked to tdentify the percentage of persons 1n each category that they felt were supporttve , neutral , and non-supporttve These results are presented in Table 12. Non professional staff 1ncluded all other school staff members 1nclud1ng secretanes , custod1ans , ha llway superv1sors and school support workers If a respondent d1d not attend schoo l dunng pregnancy or parenting they d1d not complete the chart Therefore the n value d1ffers for each table Table 12 Support Whtle Attend1ng School Dunng Pregnancy Grou12 Teach ers Cou nsell ors Adm inistrators Non-professional Su ort1ve Neutral M so M so 52.73 44 55 24 77 36.36 43 17 50 12 35 71 43 81 33 18 46 14 54 32 56 82 41 30 50 43 44.33 46 25 Non-Su ortive M so 14.09 9 32 20 91 6.82 27 .84 29 37 33 37 21 .63 Note N=22 . Numbers in the M column represent the mean percent for each option . Table 13 Support Whil e Attending School During Parenting Grou12 Teachers Counsellors Adm inistrators Non-12rofessional Neu tral Su!212ort ive M so M so 71.63 72.29 55 .57 63.29 38.12 43.41 44.34 45.71 20.86 24.86 30.86 29.00 35.86 41.95 42.80 43.37 Non-SU!2!20rtive M 7.51 20.16 2.86 14 .41 13.57 29.79 7.71 24.29 so Note. N=35 . Numbers in the M co lumn represent the mean perce nt for each option . Only 35 of th e total of 39 re spondents completed this chart because 2 respondents chose adoption and 1 respondent had not yet given birth . A final respondent who did not co mpl ete th is chart indicated els ewh ere on her qu estionnaire that she had graduated shortly after the birth of her child . 109 Unstructured Responses The data from the Unstructured Response sect1on of the questionnaire were organ1zed 1nto the categories of administrative 1ssues, support 1ssues, and program issues A number of the subtopiCS w1th1n each category were predetermined and l1sted on the Unstructured Response sect1on Other top1cs w1th1n each of the three categones were brought up spontaneously. As well, entirely new top1cs where brought up spontaneously by the respondents Where these top1cs rece1ved attent1on from 25% or more of the respondents , they are 1ncluded 1n the results section A summary of all of the major categones 1s found 1n Append1x 8 Where new toptcs rece 1ved attention from less than 25% of the respondents , they are 1ncluded in Appendix B. Tables 14 through 17 summanze the major results from the Unstructured Response sect1on of the survey Numbers that are represented as a percent have been rounded to the nearest whole number 1n the traditional manner Table 14 Administrative Issues No. of Responses % of Responses No. of Respondents % of Respondents %of All Respondents c Attendance a 42 44% 23 77% 59% Childcare -30 31% 21 70% 54% - Transportation 24 25% 23 77% 59% Total 96 100% 30b 100% b 77%b Note aTh is cate gory re presents responses classi fi ed under the su b-topics of attendance and illness (see Appendix B) . is not equival ent to th e su m of th e catego ries . cN=39 . b Some participants respon ded in more tha n one ca tegory , therefore this number reflects overall respondents and 110 Table 15 Support Issues UnsupportJve Staff Supportive Staff HospitalHomebound Self-relian ce a No . of Responses 2£) 53 9 % of Responses 23% 41 % No . of Respondents 19 29 % of Respondents 51 % % of All Respondentsd ) Q) ;:! a· '+-- 15 ~ 10 0 5 0 1 Strongly 2 3 4 D1sagree 5 6 7 Strongly Agree Rating Scale Figure 12. Preferences fo r schoo l program options However, further ana lysis of the data indicate that the respondents do not fall into such tidy categories. Vv'hen the data are analyzed on a case-by-case basis , only 13 respondents (33%) were consistent in the manner in which they responded to these three topics . Data were grouped as disagree or agree for Rating Scale items 30, 35 , and 37 (during pregnancy) and items 31, 36 , and 38 (during parenting) . Six respondents indicated consistent disagreement across the topics for pregnancy , parenting or both and seven respondents indicated consistent agreement across these topics. There appears to be no systematic recommendation for programming with respect to these items. The best approach would be to educate the student about the options as the first part of a support program . The last Rating Scale item addressed the issue of course challenge. The majority of the respondents indicated that they would have taken a course challenge in an area such as Fam ily Studies 11 or 12 (also known as Family Management) had 1t been available. However, only 127 seven respondents indicated that they had the opt1on of taking advantage of the course challenge procedure (see Table 8) . The remainder who answered this quest1on indicated that they did not have th1s opt1on or were unaware of the option The concepts of challenge , equivalency, and external credit still cause confus1on among professionals Only recently are studen ts, parents and community members start1ng to become familiar w1th the external cred1t concept as it applies to such structured programs as dnver's educat1on programs The concepts of equivalency and course challenge appear to be less fami11ar to professionals and commun1ty members. Many counsellors report the use of these opt1ons solely 1n the area of second languages. Both Elda Marshall house and Manon Hilliard house run programs that offer extens1ve curriculum 1n child development and childcare plus curnculum devoted to !Jfe-skills such as foods and home management, budget1ng , and self-suff1c1ency The complete coverage of this curnculum is mandatory for anyone who lives at Elda Marshall house Challenge or equivalency credit for Family Studies 11 and/or 12 and/or Career and Personal Plann1ng 11 (CAPP 11) might be an option. For some students th1s could have a Slgn1f1cant 1mpact on their life as exemplified by one respond ent who stated , "A course challenge for Fam1ly Management 11 would potentially have saved me half a year as I was one course short and I did go to Elda Marshall house." Some district high schools currently do this on a case-by-case bas is when planning a graduation prog ram for returning young women , although others clearly do not since another respondent stated , "I did try to get credit for the parenting work done at Elda Marshall but (school name] refused ." At a recent Ministry presentation for counsellors and administrators it w as indicated that the notions of challenge and equivalency in Provincial secondary education had some of their roots in teen mother programs (P. Harknett, persona l communication , October 29, 1999) . The nature of the curriculum for some of these courses is quite obviously repetitive for some mothers. One mother stated "for Fam ily Managem ent I carried the egg around" and another said , I failed because I wouldn't participate in some of the studies such as carrying the egg around to show us how much care one needs to take so th e egg doesn't break, almost the same care a baby needs. I refused to do this because I was actually living the situation with my baby. I think tha t some changes should be made when the student is living in th e rea l-life situation . 128 A standard opportunity to prov1de mothers who attend these programs w1th cred1t 1n SO #73 would appear to be a feas1ble step F1nally, Career Preparation (CP) programs appear to be an underutilized option for young mothers. A CP teacher observed that the percept1on of young mothers might be that th1s program involves more work and slows progress toward graduation Th1s belief could restnct these students' Willingness to pursue th1s type of program considenng some of the sentiments expressed by young mothers about the need to eff1c1ently obta1n graduat1on cred1ts With over a th1rd of question respondents 1nd1cat1ng that they d1d not know about the availability of Career Prepamt1on , 1t appears that knowledge IS 1ncons1stent about the opt1ons th1s program can provide In some cases, a student may take up to four courses for related work expenence , job shadow1ng , and career explorat1on (0 Franc1s , personal communication, January 22, 2000) Generally , 1n work expenence courses , cred1t IS granted for work done and little extra homework is expected As well , work could be completed outs1de regular school hours. The creditable work experience courses can all count toward graduat1on on the regular program Th1s might fit into a young mother's hectic schedule and might accommodate mothers who have alternative childcare arrangements. As well , the concept of an efficient or telescopic path to employment and selfsufficiency is handled neatly through career programming. This 1s a worthy goal cons idering the obstacles faced by young mothers as they try to secure employment (Polit, 1987). In the Unstru ctured Response sect1on of the survey there was a high rate of response overal l to various program specifics w ith 59% of all survey participants offering a response to this topic. These items were listed with in the category of Progra m Issues. Concrete re sponses to the issues generated by these comm ents are tang ible and reflect an exciting array of opportunities to increase the flexibility of the graduation program for young mothers. Other Program Issues A number of issues were brought up by th e respondents that were clearly related to programming yet which did not fit neatly into the pre-designated categories. These statements did not warrant categories of their own but were still relevant reflections of the concerns of the respondents. The varied nature of these types of com ments is best exemplified by a sampling of 129 the actual statements . Some mothers commented on spec1al F1rst Steps programming: "I enjoyed the special programm1ng . for example the mum 's luncheon's" and "[at] Mum's luncheon's, we talked about parent1ng" and "at [the GED program] I got to do a practicum! I was interested at the t1me to get my E C E " Other respondents made suggest1ons for curricular areas that m1ght be useful "young mothers should be taught 1nfant first-aid " and "I believe there shou ld be more free programs for fathers who want to learn more about parenting , and develop programs l1ke th is for single dads There are no opt1ons for them out there " Taken as a group, what these comments reflect 1s the thoughtfulness that young mothers have about their own programming . These students demonstrated the ab1l1ty to cnt1que the1r own program and the enthus1asm to look at program alternatives Other A number of additional top1cs were brought up spontaneously in the Unstructured Response sect1on of the survey These items were not specifically addressed in the structured parts of the survey but were noted on the "other" section of the Unstructured Response section In all, 12 new themes were identified including : hard school , future plans, nursing issues , hosp1tal experience/public health , experiences with financial a1d workers, social stigma , secrecy and shame, early maturation , older mothers, other cities and programs , adoption, and financial worries . It w as decided that a novel theme that genera ted responses from at least 25% of the respondents would be included as a major finding . Two themes qualified in this regard : "hard school" and "future plans". The remai ning ten themes have been summarized 1n AppendiX B (see Table 8 1). Hard school A third of all participants vo lunteered some information on the questionnaire about how "hard" it was to attend school during pregnancy or wh ile parenting . A direct quotation from a young mother as written on her survey illustrates som e of the difficu lties. Although this statement is somewhat difficult to read, it tran smits the hectic nature of this young mother's life: "The academics in hi gh school was [sic] too much. I can 't do homework when I soon bus [sic] 1 get 130 home my daughter wants to play and the house needs to be clean (s1c] dinner needs to be cooked laundry etc. [sic] ." These comments are likely t1ed to the notions of perseverance and self-reliance expressed elsewhere because desp1te the activity be1ng so diff1cult, these young women persevered w1th school attendance Th1s 1tem was part1ally addressed in the Rat1ng Scale w1th items 32 and 33, which focussed on the difficulty of full -t1me school attendance (see Table 11) To compare the 1ssues of d1ff1cult school and persevenng on a full-t1me program , a detailed 1tem analysis was conducted and 1ncons1stent responses were discarded. For example 1f a respondent 1nd1cated "Not Appl icable" for 1tem 30 but gave a rat1ng on item 32 then both these responses were discarded for the current companson so that the 1tems would have equal n values For th1s companson , 1tems 30 and 32 were grouped (pregnancy) and an n value of 28 was determined Items 31 and 33 were also grouped (parent1ng) and ann value of 34 was determined. Plott1ng the cases produced F1gures 13 and 14. The data were sorted so that cases where there was agreement are placed on the nghthand side of the figures . During pregnancy, fifteen or 54% of the 28 respondents had a perfectly consistent response . For example , if they strongly agreed that part-time school would have been helpful then they also strongly agreed that full-time school was difficult. Dunng parenting , the rate of perfect consistency drops to 29%. Understandably there will be some inconsistency on these items but of interest are those cases where the responses appear completely inconsistent. If only cases where respondents indicated inconsistency by responding to items on diverse sides of a neutral rating are included then during pregnancy 29% of the compared cases were inconsistent and during parenting 35% of the compared cases were inconsistent. If these paired responses are examined further, it can be seen that during pregnancy18% of these respondents indicated that though full-time school was difficult, they did not feel part-time attendance would have been helpful. On the parenting dimension 21% felt that though full-time attendance was difficult, they did not feel that part-time attendance would have been helpful. Incidentally, on these last comparisons, onl y one 131 respondent showed an 1ncons1stency dunng both pregnancy and parent1ng It would be 1nadv1sable to read too much 1nto these results but they do address the assumpt1on that because something 1s d1ff1cult, these cl1ents feel unable to do 1t A s1zable number of young mothers choose to persevere with full-t1me school1ng desp1te find1ng 1t very hard Vl/'ny 1t 1s that some young women pers1st 1n the face of a very hard school expenence 1s open for 1nterpretat1on and a good top1c for further research We1sner ( 1984) addressed th1s 1ssue w1th her study of re-entry women Her research exam1ned attnbut1on theory and she suggested hat a student who IS "g1ven to attributing outcomes to effort could conceivably try harder-and harder and harder thereby blumng the d1St1nct1on between that wh1ch 1s 1mposs1ble from that wh1ch may be JUS d1ff1cult" (p 313) Unravel1ng th1s mystery could go a long way toward 1ncreas1ng school complet1on of th 1s populat1on 7 4J ::6 §. s Q.l tt:: ~ c PT Helpful Pregnancy 4- ------- • FT D1ff1cult Pre gna ncy ~ 3 r--...-1.--!---~ 2 +-tl~- ~1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Cases - - - - - - - -- - - Ftgure 13. Part-time school helpful and full-time school difficult case comparison during pregnancy ~PT Helpful Parentlng i- 7 ~--------.r.r4J ::: 6 +--- H-K<:t--~.{':11-+M- • -- FT Difficu lt Parenting §. 5 +-1- ---,- --..- ----!-.-------_,.,.,..---.,,...--.,,..--, Ql tt:: . 4 + - - --lll-tll-tll-tll-tll-tlt-1 ~ I ~ 3 ~ -+--...--...--...-.,__ : o ~L 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Cases Ftgure 14 Part-time school helpful and full -time school diffi cu lt case comparison during parenting l 132 Future Plans A respondent's future plan was not a topic covered by the questionnaire yet 28% of all respondents voluntarily wrote about th1s (see Table 17) Dunng 1nformal discuss1on, a record w as made of 15 add1t1onal part1c1pants who d1scussed the1r future plans . Th1s brings the total to 67% of all participants choos1ng to comment on the top1c of future plans Though not specifical ly an obstacle to high school graduation , the concept of career plann1ng for this population is a topic that is not well addressed 1n the literature (Farber, 1989, lmel & Kerka , 1990) A pervas1ve soc1etal v1ew 1s of teenaged mothers be1ng dependent on welfare and forever be1ng a drain on social assistance funds Th1s 1dea rece1ves few challenges in the literature or media, which often seems to focus on the negat1ve s1de of the s1tuat1on The seminal work of Furstenberg , BrooksGunn and Morgan (1987) brought to l1ght the pos1t1ve l1fe outcomes expenenced by many teenaged mothers Few stud1es take a long1tud1nal approach and so outcomes for teenaged mothers are largely unknown Many agenc1es and resources are devoted to support1ng young mothers in the pre-natal and early post-natal period and the focus IS often cris1s management and life-skills (Scam bier et al. , 1980). Few agencies have the resources necessary to track and support you ng women throughout their career development. As an addendum to the results, through informal discussion it was determined that nine of the study pa rticipants were cu rrently regis tered 1n a post secondary institution or had a reg istration confirm ation for the upcoming Fa ll. Additionally, one young woman was part way through the docu mentation process of setting up her own home-based daycare and had clients already confirm ed for the foll owing Septem ber Another had just completed a post-secondary program at the college an d was in the process of seek1ng work in her area of training. Considering that not all the young wom en were in a position to be making concrete postsecondary plans yet (that is, their high school program had another year or more to go) , 28% of all respondents with specific, concrete plans underway is encouraging. 133 Path So far the focus has been on the tnstttuttonal components of a young mother's educational path It was tnformally hypothestzed that though there were likely many different paths , a few paths would appear to be favored or more traversed routes The results obtained from the Path sectton of the questtonnaire appeared to defy organtzation. The specific path taken by each respondent was traced on a template of opttons to determine whether specific routes were more often chosen The res ulttng ftgure was more stmli ar to an tntricate web than a path (see Ftgure 15) From the confustng array some order was extracted Rather than a particular path, wh ich mtght be fol lowed from beg tnn tng to end, a more accurate metaphor ts of a journey Thts journey includes multtple ltnks between hubs or landtngs Some young women were highly directed and had ample prov tstons (support) and the tr JOurneys were characterized by clear dtrect progress toward a goal The route taken by others was less direct A map of the dtfferent routes to the desttnat ton of htgh school graduation ts the outcome of the section that dealt w ith paths The inttial web was reorgan ized and the links ordered . Figure 16 shows a diagram of the major paths chosen. This figure shows the maJor institutions accessed during the periods of pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and parenting. Each of the hubs are linked and bold arrows demonstrate some of the major paths. Some respondents visited more than one hub during pregnancy and some visited more than one hub during parenting . The path chosen was rarely a straight line wtth one hub for each of the three periods . The hub that represents the respondent being out of school for a time clearly had a great deal of action during both the pregnancy and parenting periods . 134 PRE - PREGNANCY~ ~ Rural Alternate PREGNANCY ~ ~ Rural Alternate PARENTING Rural Alternate Pathfinder Lab Cotton-wood K.A.S.P Correspondence Correspondence .---'-...J Other district Out of school school program ' Non-district program Figure 15 W eb of paths trave led by young mothers . program 135 Pre-Pregnancy Rural ·_. Pregnancy .•. ·:. .•. "h: Urban Alternate .. ~ ~ Rural Alternate Urban _. ........ ' / "L/JL:/ /, ')<. / '////~ ~ Urban ~ Urban Alternate ~ ....... z Rural Alternate ~ ........ ........ / / . 1m :T'T:y Correspon dence / ........ / -'<"' Other : ...., • " ·~ A ~ Rural I ~ :·:: ' Urban Alternate : ~· / := GED Program : ~ / ' ~ ' •~ / Correspondence ~ ~ / Other ...... ~ ~ / ~ ~ / ~ ~ ~ ~ lA1:. ... ,.,~ .. -· l"f.l ~~ r'- ~ ~,'~ ~r·~ r~ ~~;~~ / ...... l~ ... fli. r~ -~~ Out "J ~ : ' ' .• .i /" ~ t:=l-" / ~ ~ ~ ; ~ ~ ~fl : ~ ... '!'" ....... r-....r-.. Out ~ J. Urban ~r .... ..,. "\J Rural Alternate v ~~ ~ Out ....... ' GED Program GED Program Correspondence Rural Parenting Other ~I•""" ~· ~2 Figure 16 Diagram of educational paths chosen by young mothers . Note All links represented by a narrow black line signify a path taken by one respondent Bold arrows indicate paths taken by more than one respondent. Grey lines indicate a path taken by no respondents. ~ 136 When the data obtamed from the path chart was separated into dist1nct units, tallied , and summarized, four maJor components surfaced These Included the components of being out of school (dropout), attendance at another educational inStitution (not a SO #73 program) , attendance at an urban school , and attendance at the Kamloops alternate school. Each of these components was selected by more than half of the respondents (see Table 5) F1gure 17 displays these four components 1 l 80 - ra Out of School o Other lnst1tut1on .¥l 70 _, mUrban School ra Kamloops Alternate c oJ.I "0 60 ......._:=-- c 0 Q. 1/t <1.1 a: 0 30 <1.1 C'(l ra 1-c 11} 12oJ.I L1... 20 10 0 5' c 5' c ra c ra c 0> C'(l ill .._ 0... CL 0) •lJ .._ ' ' 0) <1.1 .._ c c OJ t]) .._ · (.) OJ c c +-' ....ld '' wJI!e an Ihe ,'!;l'"mh '-"' 0 I 5 3 6 7 Strongly Agree wltett fl-'.-'l#i!IJ-J/{11/ wa-J ,,1(;:.11 r!.ut 1/oi d.{<.U:Uj'J./ r!t//tcul/1.-, ,,/c/cuN .~z ,.flu! I /.{(1 tu:.! · ·· lr' ' • c-dv.Xllj.d) ewJij- I<~ ,JI/am NA 1 Ounng my pregnancy it was easy for me to obta1n perm iss 1on to be excused from my classes to attend medical appointments . Strongly D1sagree _NA_ 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree Pregnancy- 1nduced nausea ca used me to miss school more frequ ently tha n usual . Strongly D1sagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stron gly Agree 198 NA 3. Missed classes due to nausea disrupted my schooling . Strongly Disagree NA 4 5 6 7 8 9. 10. 12. 13. 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree After the birth of my child , when I missed school for medical reasons, I received support to make up the work. Strongly Disagree NA_ 2 Missed classes due to my infant's illness(es) caused me to drop out of school. Strongly Disagree NA 1 11 . After the birth of my child , I missed a significant amount of school in a single term due to my child's illness. Strongly Disagree NA Strongly Agree After the birth of my child , I missed a significant amount of school in a single term due to medical appointments Strongly Disagree NA 7 The btrth and post-delivery recovery period interrupted my schooling . Strongly Disagree NA 6 l was able to quickly return to my regular school program after the birth of my chtld Strongly Disagree NA 5 When I mtssed classes due to nausea or medical appointments , I received support to make up mtssed work Strongly Disagree NA 4 Mtssed classes due to nausea interrupted my schooling and caused me to drop out of school . Strongly Dtsagree NA 3 Mtssed classes due to nausea interrupted my schooling and caused me to fail one or more courses Strongly Disagree NA 2 Missed classes due to nausea Interrupted my schooling and caused me to drop one or more courses Strongly Disagree NA 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 7 Strongly Agree 1 was able to access a daycare convenient to my school. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 199 NA 15 It was easy to find suitable child care while I attended school. Strongly D1sagree NA 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 . 23. Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree If 1 d1d not need to transport my ch1ld to ch1ld care , I would take a school bus to school Strongly D1sagree NA 7 Pnor to my del1very I relied on a school bus to attend school Strongly Disagree NA 6 I usually rel1ed on publ1c trans1t to transport my ch1ld to ch1ld care so I could attend school Strongly D1sagree NA 5 I usually walked to transport my child to ch1ld-care so I could attend school. Strongly D1sagree NA 4 I had d1ff1culty transporting my child to ch1ld care so I could attend school Strongly D1sagree NA 3 My school's administrators were understanding when I missed school due to my child 's Illness ("Adm1n1strators" refer to the Pnnc1pa l and V1ce Pnnc1pal) Strongly D1sagree NA 2 When my ch1ld was 111 , I had help to care for h1m/her Strongly D1sagree NA 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 rece1ved helpful serv1ces from the hospital-homebound support teacher dunng my pre-natal and post-natal period . Strongly Disagree NA 24. 25. 26 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 felt my school counsellor was knowledgeable about the trans1t1ons I made between programs during my pregnancy and parent1ng per1ods Strongly Disagree NA 2 It would have been helpful to receive the services of a teacher dunng my prenatal through post-natal period when I was not attending school. Strongly Disagree NA 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 found the trans1t1ons between programs d1ff1cult Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 200 NA 27 . At Marion Hilliard pre-natal house, the environment was supportive of continuing my high school education . Strongly D1sagree NA 28 29 30 31 . 32 . 33. 34 . 35 . 36. 37 . 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree Had they been available, I would have taken Independent Directed Studies courses when I was parenting . Strongly Disagree NA 1 Had they been available, I would have taken Independent Directed Studies courses when I was pregnant. Strongly Disagree NA Strongly Agree I felt involved in planning my high school program . Strongly Disagree NA 7 It was difficult to attend school full time when I was parenting . Strongly Disagree NA 6 It was difficult to attend school full time during my pregnancy. Strongly Disagree NA 5 Part-time school attendance would have been helpful for me when I was parent1ng . Strongly Disagree NA 4 Part-time school attendance would have been helpful for me when I was pregnant Strongly Disagree NA 3 I changed schools after the birth of my chtld but I would have preferred to remain at my regular school if appropriate programs were available. Strongly D1sagree NA 2 At Elda Marshall Post-natal house , the env1ronment was supportive of continuing my h1gh school education . Strongly D1sagree NA 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree Had they been available, I would have taken in-school alternate courses during my pregnancy. Strongly Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 201 NA 38. Had they been available, I would have taken in-school alternate courses when I was parenting Strongly Disagree NA 39. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree Had they been available, I would have taken course challenges for courses such as Fam1ly Management 11 and/or 12. Strongly D1sagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strongly Agree 202 Part E: Chart In the follow1ng charts please ident1fy the percentage of persons 1n each category that you feel were support1ve, neutral and non-support1ve A support1ve person m1ght demonstrate their support by be1ng non-Judgmental about the pregnancy , being encourag1ng about you cont1nuing your educat1on and/or offenng emot1onal support A non-support1ve person might have acted JUdgmental or have been d1scourag1ng about your cont1nued educat1on or somehow made you feel uncomfortable about be1ng pregnant or parent1ng and attend1ng school. Complete these charts 1n terms of those persons you had contact w1th rather than 1n terms of all the staff at your school For each category of persons, the percentages should add up to 100% Note: Nonprofessional 1ncludes all other school staff members such secretanes, custodians, hall-way superv1sors , and teacher-a1des If you d1d not attend school dunng your pregnancy, write NA (not applicable) across the boxes 1n Chart A Examples: t~~~~~~~~~~~~--~----~--~--~~~~--~--~ Neutral Teachers Non~Su /5 ortive ortive 5 Non Teachers Counsellors trators hart A: While attending school during your pregnancy Supportive Neutral Non-Supportive Neutral Non-Supportive Teachers Counsellors Administrators Non-professional Chart B: While attending school while parenting Supportive Teachers Counsellors Administrators Non-professional 203 Part F: Unstructured Responses This sect1on of the questionnaire invites you to reflect on areas of your schooling that were especially successful or helpful and areas that you feel were not helpful. To help you organize your thoughts, a variety of top1cs has been outlined. Feel free to put your comments in point form . Please take the time to think about each of the top1cs and comment upon those that you think were most important for your success . Your point of view on these topics is highly valued . Administrative Issues Attendance (lates and absentee1sm ) Child care concerns Transportation 1ssues Support Issues Staff support Hospital-homebound support Program continuity 204 Program Issues Part-time study 1ssues Career guidance and program plann1ng Independent Directed Studies options Alternate course opt1ons Course challenge Career Preparation availability Other Issues 205 AppendiX I Letters of Approval SCHOOL DISTRICT 1383 SCHOOL DISTRICT NO 7l No. 73 ( AMlOOPS/ HOMPSON) inth Av nu , Kamloop, B.. V2 3X7 • ~ lephone: (250) 37 4-0679 • Fax: (250) 372- 11 83 KAMLOOPSffHOMPSON 1998-12-09 Margaret Waterous , R.R. #1 Pritchard , B.C. VOE 2PO Dear Margaret: RE: REQUEST TO CONDU CT RESEARCH I have reviewed your proposal and hereby grant permission for you to conduct research , as described in your letter received December 8, 1998. Permission is subject to your providing this office with a summary report of your findings , agreement to share your findings with the teacher counsellors of this district, and consent of all persons involved . If we can be of any assistance to you please do not hesitate to enquire. Your subject of research is of great interest. I wish you much success. Yours truly , ,...// ' / f I ( T.D. Grieve , ·~~~;II. . .ILCI •~~.....Je Schooi-IU I·l"'l "'f U I ;:;:, . S .UiJc' TDG/nr cc: D. Paravantes W RK I N T TH E R F R Qu L I TY P UBL I - EDUCt\TION THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9 D. Max Blouw, Ph .D. Associate Vice President (Research) & Dean of Graduate Studies Professor, biology I Fisheries Tel: (250) 960-5821 Fax: (250) 960-5746 E-mail: blouw@unbc .ca UNBC Ethics Committee Ma rch 9, 1999 Ms . Margaret Waterous RR 1 Pntchard , BC VOE 2PO Proposal : 19990201 .22 Dear Ms . Waterous : The UNBC Ethics Committee met on March 5, 1999 to review your resubmission for the ethics proposal entitled "The Different Paths to High School Graduation for Young Mothers ". The Committee has approved your proposal and you may proceed with your research . Sincerely, n t,/, r.__-· ; v.--.y '"[;-/ Max Blouw 208 AppendiX J Summary of Conclus1ons and Recommendations Summ ary of Study Conclusions Positive Features Areas of Concern School personnel indicated flexible approach to attendance Majority of mothers mdicated they coped well with attendance concerns . Roughly 1/4 of respondents expressed concern about attendance affectina their schoolina . General Administration Attendance Childcare Most mothers accessed the First Steps programs an d fu lly subsidized daycare . Satisfaction with childcare arrangements expressed by majority of mothers Transportation - - Support Staff Support Students recalled many experiences where staff were supportive and unsupportive . Hospita l/home bound This service does have the mandate to serve this population Mothers felt an mcrease In maturity , directedness , responsibility Self- reliance Other Support Proqram Full-t ime vs. Part-time Generally , school staff reported as supportive Mothers who do not access F1rst Steps program have very lim1ted options due to daycare surcharQe issues . There 1s confusion and lack of awareness of the tran~ortation subs1dy . Transportation poses many problems and may _ c~ ntribute to school drooout. ·Transportation is a problem , particularly m wmter , even for those mothers who live withm on e bus nde of their prooram . Admm1strators bemg reported as the least support1ve staff group during both pregnancy and parenthood Lack of administrative support constituted obstacles to h1gh school graduation for some younQ mothers Mamtainmg the balance between accountability and accommodation IS difficult. Option currently receiving little use despite perceived desirability on part of vouna mothers . Support received from others crucial in helping mothers cope with dual roles . Preferences appeared split Data complicated and difficult to draw conclusions . Mothers who prefer full -time feel more stronl=)ly . Preference for part-time or full -time school attendance was unrelated to the perception of difficulty in school attendance . Many mothers prefer full -time and cope with the demands of full -time . Some mothers were able to attend part-time at their choice 209 Confusion about whether a part-time program was available durinQ preanancv or oarenthood I ! Areas of Concern Positive Features General Many young mothers would have preferred to remain at their home school versus transferring to a First Steps program but the availability of th1s option is entwmed w1th 1ssues of childcare, program-delivery , attendance and support Little tracking goes on between programs and some young mothers appeared to need more support 1n this area The prenatal and postnatal houses were both perceived as being supportive of school contmuation Program Choice/ Transitions Virtual school is an , as-yet unaccessed , option for young mothers that holds promise for increasinq flexibility of programs Counsellors were viewed as knowledgeable about transitions and the transitions posed few problems . Program Specifics: IDS, ISA, Challenge I Equivalency, Career Prep Confus1on around issues of IDS and course challenge and equivalency by staff and students ------ ISA course use IS mcons1stent across schools . Career Prep is little used w1th th1s population and may be seen by mothers to slow down progress -- toward graduatiOn . - . -- Other Program Issues Young mothers keen to look at alternatives to help them graduate efficiently -- Hard School Many mothers described school attendance wh1le pregnant and parent1ng as very difficult yet still chose to persevere . Other Future Plans Majority of mothers spontaneously discussed future career plans . More than a quarter of the respondents reported specific post-secondary plans underway Paths taken were intricate and varied . Many respondents returned to school after an extended absence . Most common components included attendance at an urban high school , attendance at the alternate school , being out of school for a period and attendance at another institution (transiency) _ Many mothers had the1r first births after age 18 , yet were still able to access a SO #73 program Few resources in place to track and support young mothers m the1r post-secondary and career aspirations . Path ---- - - - - ----- -- 210 - - -- 211 Sum mary of Study Recommendations It is recommended that the following topics be pursued Administration Attendance Continue flexible approach to attendance Continue supportive counselling and advocacy to help young mothers cope w1th attendance 1ssues Childcare Increase counsellor awareness of childcare 1ssues and daycare subs1dy 1ssues wh1ch Wlll a1de in development of flex1ble , accommodating programs Transportation Increase awareness of transportation subsidy among staff and young mothers Investigate the viability of a transportation subsidy for all young moth ers who are attend1ng school regardless of the 1r distance from the inst1tut1on Support Staff Support Increase awareness of the importance of staff support for th1s population Hospita l/homebound Support Increase awareness of/use of the hospital/homebound support serv1 ce Educate students and staff about when and how to Implement this serv1ce Self-reliance Focus on the pos1tive aspects of adolescent ch1ldbeanng with th1s population to help young mothers reframe their situation and look to the future for themselves and the1r children Other Support Increase staff awareness of the Importance of support from others Develop programs with an eye to the level of personal support expenenced by the young mother Program Full-time and Part-time Studies Promote awareness that part-time studies are not necessarily the best choice for all young mothers who are finding sch ool difficult. • Work with young mothers who prefer full -time to find other ways to maintain balance Increase awareness on the part of young mothers about the availability of a part-time program during pregnancy and parenth ood. Program Choice and Transitions Work with young mothers to help th em fi nd ways to stay at their home school if this is the1r choice . Con ti nue to refer to the First Steps program for mothers who choose this option . Inve sti gate Virtu al Sch ool as an option that might all ow flexibility for program design. Develop a joint campu s for th ose moth ers desiring a greater breadth of courses . Program Specifics : IDS, Alternate, Cha llenge and Career Prep Promote profession al discussion to in crease awareness of the options of IDS , challenge and equivalency . Increase the use of th ese option s to help young moth ers enroll in a fl exible , manageable program . Investigate a standard distri ct equival ency for th e programs ru n at th e prenatal and/or postnatal homes. Develop consisten cy across the district with respect to ISA cou rse offerings . • Promote Career Preparation as a via bl e, efficie nt wa y to graduate and get career planning and experience . • • Create an inter-ministerial positio n for the purp oses of case-managin g adolescent mothers in SO # 73 In addition to or in lieu of a case-manager, develop a com prehensive ca talogue of options to help ex1sting service pro viders guide young moth ers through th e process of obtaining their high school educations . Fo cus (by publi c health) on young mothers at vari ous stages of thei r infants' development to encourage a return to school. Research progr ams offered in oth er distri cts in ord er to enhance SO #73 programs .