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A Goal-Setting Sexual Health Promotion Program

About the Curriculum

El Camino is a sexual health promotion curriculum designed—using positive youth development principles—for Latino young people. The program consists of eleven 45-minute lessons divided into three arcs, or sections, to encourage young people to (1) set goals, (2) make informed sexual and reproductive health choices, and (3) have healthy relationships.

Participating young people are asked to set a long-term goal and then consider steps to accomplish this goal. Young people learn about contraceptive methods and about how these methods could align with their goals. They also participate in interactive activities that encourage them to identify their viewpoints and discuss why they feel the way they do, practice assertive communication, learn about consent, and identify healthy relationships.

Throughout the program, participating teens read and discuss a series of novelas (stories) about other teens in relatable situations. These activities help them think through issues around goal setting, reproductive health, and healthy relationships. El Camino’s focus on the needs and cultural norms of Latino youth and their families helps participants set academic and career goals. Throughout, the activities in El Camino strive to engage parents to obtain their support for further education and delayed family formation.

The El Camino curriculum is developmentally appropriate, active, engaging, and youth-focused. It incorporates several unique features that distinguish it from other evidence-based/evidence-informed curricula designed to prevent teen pregnancy and STIs. In particular, El Camino’s lessons and activities:

  • Are anchored in sexual health promotion and goal setting;
  • Incorporate a goal achievement model throughout the curriculum;
  • Are designed with a focus on the needs of Latino youth; and
  • Introduce contraceptive methods and empower youth to choose the method that aligns with their goals.

Learn more about El Camino with the fact sheet, El Camino: Helping Teens Set Life Goals and Promote Sexual Health, available in English and Spanish. This fact sheet describes the El Camino curriculum and preliminary results from a pilot test of the program in seven schools and community-based organizations across six cities.

Goal & Behaviors

woman walking and balancing on street curb or curbstone during sunset
Arc 3
Arc 1
light bulb icon Arc 2

Arc 3: Healthy Relationships

Arc 3, Healthy Relationships, aims to help young people develop assertive communication skills to protect their progress toward their goals, understand what constitutes consent, accurately and effectively communicate their limits with partners, and enjoy healthy relationships.

Arc 1: Goal Setting

Arc 1, Goal Setting, uses the imagery of a road (El Camino) to connect adolescents’ long-term goals with specific steps they can take to achieve those goals. Students themselves—without input from adults in their lives—set their goals and determine the steps they need to take to achieve those goals using the El Camino map as a tool.

In addition to the El Camino map, Arc 1 introduces the STAR model: State your goal, Think about the steps, Assert your camino, and Reach your goal. The map and STAR model guide young people through planning the steps needed to reach a goal by the time they are 25 years old, while simultaneously recognizing potential “road trips” that could help or hinder them from reaching their goal.

Arc 2: Sexual and Reproductive Health

Arc 2, Sexual and Reproductive Health, works to change young people’s knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviors regarding reproductive biology, and to teach them effective methods of contraception—all necessary steps for young people to make informed decisions on ways to protect and reach their goals. Students also learn how using contraception fits in with their El Camino map as they work to achieve their goals by age 25.

The Lessons: Three Arcs

Arc 3
Arc 1
light bulb icon Arc 2

Arc 3: Healthy Relationships

Arc 3, Healthy Relationships, aims to help young people develop assertive communication skills to protect their progress toward their goals, understand what constitutes consent, accurately and effectively communicate their limits with partners, and enjoy healthy relationships.

Arc 1: Goal Setting

Arc 1, Goal Setting, uses the imagery of a road (El Camino) to connect adolescents’ long-term goals with specific steps they can take to achieve those goals. Students themselves—without input from adults in their lives—set their goals and determine the steps they need to take to achieve those goals using the El Camino map as a tool.

In addition to the El Camino map, Arc 1 introduces the STAR model: State your goal, Think about the steps, Assert your camino, and Reach your goal. The map and STAR model guide young people through planning the steps needed to reach a goal by the time they are 25 years old, while simultaneously recognizing potential “road trips” that could help or hinder them from reaching their goal.

Arc 2: Sexual and Reproductive Health

Arc 2, Sexual and Reproductive Health, works to change young people’s knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviors regarding reproductive biology, and to teach them effective methods of contraception—all necessary steps for young people to make informed decisions on ways to protect and reach their goals. Students also learn how using contraception fits in with their El Camino map as they work to achieve their goals by age 25.

The Lessons: Three Arcs

Arc 3
Arc 1
light bulb icon Arc 2

Arc 3: Healthy Relationships

Arc 3, Healthy Relationships, aims to help young people develop assertive communication skills to protect their progress toward their goals, understand what constitutes consent, accurately and effectively communicate their limits with partners, and enjoy healthy relationships.

Arc 1: Goal Setting

Arc 1 uses the imagery of a road (El Camino) to connect adolescents’ long-term goals with specific steps they can take to achieve those goals. Students themselves—without input from adults in their lives—set their goals and determine the steps they need to take to achieve those goals using the El Camino map as a tool.

Arc 1 also introduces the STAR model: State your goal, Think about the steps, Assert your camino, and Reach your goal. The map and STAR model guide young people through planning the steps needed to reach a goal by the time they are 25 years old, while simultaneously recognizing potential “road trips” that could help or hinder them from reaching their goal.

Arc 2: Sexual and Reproductive Health

Arc 2, Sexual and Reproductive Health, works to change young people’s knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviors regarding reproductive biology, and to teach them effective methods of contraception—all necessary steps for young people to make informed decisions on ways to protect and reach their goals. Students also learn how using contraception fits in with their El Camino map as they work to achieve their goals by age 25.

The Lessons: Three Arcs

El Camino Activities

El Camino incorporates a variety of activities to engage students. These activities encourage students to think for themselves about important issues, such as relationships, school, and their futures. In El Camino, students engage in activities that include:

Reading Stories/Novelas

Reading stories/novelas throughout the curriculum that feature teen characters with whom they share key characteristics

Voting With Your Feet

“Voting with your feet,” meaning physically moving around a room to show agreement or disagreement with a statement or idea

megaphone icon

Role-Playing

Role-playing with other students using scenarios about similar teenagers

Group Discussions

Participating in group discussions with teachers to discuss their thoughts and get answers to their questions

Goal Mapping

Goal mapping, where students identify and write their personal goal, to achieve by age 25, on a map and thinking about the steps necessary to reach that goal

Stopwatch icon

Practicing Skills

Practicing skills by implementing concepts learned (for example, practicing assertive communication with partners or proper condom use)

Sneak a Peak

What is the El Camino program?

This video provides a brief overview of the El Camino program, including descriptions of its purpose and how it was designed. The content highlights El Camino’s impact from the perspective of students who previously participated in the program.

¿Qué es el programa El Camino?

Este video ofrece una visión general del programa El Camino, incluyendo descripciones de su propósito y cómo se diseñó. El contenido destaca el impacto de El Camino desde la perspectiva de estudiantes que han participado en él.

Dive Deeper

Would you like to know more about El Camino?

This video builds on the content of the shorter version and includes more information on El Camino’s history, the development of its curriculum, and the research study on its implementation. The video highlights the importance of and need for a Positive Youth Development sexual health promotion program targeted toward Latino youth and Spanish-language speakers. Video contents include interviews of people connected to the program in multiple capacities to showcase program evaluation and preliminary research findings; among the interviewees are two students who participated in the program, the program manager, a program facilitator, and a Child Trends researcher.

¿Quiere saber más sobre El Camino?

Este video se basa en el contenido de la versión más corta e incluye más información sobre la historia de El Camino, el desarrollo de su plan de estudios y el estudio de investigación sobre su implementación. El video resalta la importancia y la necesidad de un programa de promoción de salud sexual del desarrollo juvenil positivo, dirigido a jóvenes latinos e hispanohablantes. El contenido del video incluye entrevistas con personas conectadas con el programa en múltiples capacidades para mostrar la evaluación del programa y los hallazgos preliminares de la investigación; entre los entrevistados se encuentran dos estudiantes que participaron en el programa, un director del programa, un facilitator del programa, y un investigador de Child Trends.

Video Project Credits
Direction, Writing, and Narration: Tina Plaza-Whoriskey
Video editing: Gabriella Guerra
Production: Shaniah Smith

Child Trends thanks the students, program facilitators, and staff at the partnering organization, Identity, Inc., who contributed to these videos by filming their classrooms during implementation, conducting informational interviews about program roles, reviewing and providing feedback on video drafts, and coordinating logistics for photography and videography of students at school. Child Trends specifically thanks the Identity staff who appeared in the video, Majo Lizarzaburu and Chris Gates, as well as the El Camino participants, Wilbur and Edvin.

These videos and the El Camino Rigorous Evaluation were supported by Grant Number 5 TP2AH00007-03-00 from the HHS Office of Population Affairs. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Office of Population Affairs.

Get It Now: Curriculum Materials

El Camino is available to download in English and in Spanish, at no cost. Materials include:

  • Front Matter: Key Background Information for Implementing El Camino
  • El Camino Curriculum
  • Student Workbook
  • El Camino Adaptation Guide
  • Texto Preliminar: Información clave para implementar El Camino
  • Curriculo de El Camino
  • Cuaderno de Trabajo del Estudiante
  • El Camino Guía de Adaptación

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