Factors Affecting Teachers Adoption of Youth at Work Talking Safety Curriculum

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bowling M ; Bush D ; Casteel C ; Rauscher KJ
• Description:
  The major objective of this study was to identify the individual- and organizational-level factors that affect high school teacher adoption, sustainability, and fidelity to the evidence-based OSH curriculum, Youth@Work:Talking Safety (TSC). The goal is to increase the effectiveness of efforts to integrate OSH curricula into high schools. Data were collected via telephone interview with a sample of 104 high school teachers across the US who have been trained in the TSC between 2004 and 2012. "Adoption" was measured as whether a teacher had ever used the TSC. "Usage Levels" were measured two ways: 1) mean number of lessons delivered (range: 1-6) and; 2) mean number of activities used (range: 1-26). "Sustainability" was measured two ways: 1) whether a teacher taught the TSC more than once and, 2) a score derived from the frequency with which each lesson was delivered across all the times s/he taught the TSC (range: 0-18). "Fidelity" was measured as a score representing the number of lessons taught which were not modified in any way (range: 0-6). Independent variables consisted of six individual-level factors (teacher's acceptance, teachers' enthusiasm, perceived complexity, perceived benefit, self-efficacy, teaching methods fit) and six organizational factors (classroom resources, equipment resources, administrator support, supportive organizational climate, priority for non-academic coursework, priority for OSH coursework) largely measured using validated scales from prior studies. Linear regression was used to examine bivariate associations between the individual-level and organizational-level factors and the continuous outcomes of interest, and Cox regression was used with our dichotomous outcomes due to their high prevalence. Sixty-nine percent of teachers adopted the TSC; among them, nearly 81% taught it more than once. The mean number of lessons delivered was 5.1 (SD=1.3) and the mean number of activities used was 14.9 (SD=6.6). The mean sustainability score was 10.1 (SD=6.6) and the mean fidelity score was 2.1 (SD=2.2). With regard to individual-level factors, teacher's acceptance, teacher's enthusiasm, and self-efficacy were all positively associated with curriculum adoption. Perceived complexity was negatively associated with adoption and with the number of lessons delivered. Teaching methods fit was positively associated with the number of activities used. Among the organizational-level factors, supportive organizational climate was negatively associated with the number of lessons delivered. Among the individual-level factors, teachers' acceptance and teaching methods fit were each positively associated with sustainability as measured by the sustainability score. For the organizational-level factors, priority for non-academic courses was negatively associated with sustainability as measured by the sustainability score. Teacher's enthusiasm was positively associated with fidelity. The key finding is that individual-level factors appear to have the greatest influence on teacher adoption, and to a lesser extent on usage levels, sustainability, and fidelity to the Youth@Work:Talking Safety curriculum and should be considered in future attempts to institutionalize and promote this curriculum in high schools. Due to the small sample size, our ability to generalize these findings to a larger population of teachers is limited; therefore, the findings should be interpreted with caution. The modest evidence found suggests that further study, with a larger sample, is warranted. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Education Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Curriculum Development Occupational Safety And Health Teaching Work Organization Young Workers
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Iowa ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 9 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-23
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055342
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2019-100832
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R03-OH-009736, 2014 Nov; :1-23
• Contact Point Address:
  Kimberly Rauscher, WVU Injury Control Research Center, P.O. Box 9151, Morgantown, WV 26506
• Email:
  krauscher@hsc.wvu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Performing Organization:
  West Virginia University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20110901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20140831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a1fff6b56150501c823a029317e3e8ceca528c05b272b61739d7d9a5c8b203d43702ddf4ef2aec521dd289517dbd60546fb76d7b744868900144ba31dfbb8c19
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/218843/cdc_218843_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.17 MB ]