Medically Accurate Sexual Health Education (MASHE) is not currently required by Missouri state law. Right now in Missouri, IF a school chooses to teach sexual health education, the law says it can be medically accurate OR it can follow federally approved abstinence-only guidelines.
MASHE ensures that all information regarding sexual health is medically accurate. In contrast to MASHE, many of the federally approved abstinence-only curricula contain misinformation that is dangerous to students’ health and puts students at risk of an unintended pregnancy.
Studies show that teaching abstinence-only-unless-married curricula does not decrease teen sexual activity but does decrease the likelihood of teens using condoms or other types of contraception while engaging in sexual activity.
Teaching comprehensive medically accurate sexual health education has been shown to decrease teen pregnancy rates, delay initiation of sexual activity, and increase the use of contraception. TPPP is committed to advocating for MASHE in all Missouri schools to keep Missouri students healthy and safe!
Looking for resources and research regarding medically accurate sexual health education (MASHE)? Use the resources below to educate, motivate and engage students, teachers, parents and the community to support MASHE.
Adapted from the Working to Institutionalize Sex Ed (WISE) toolkit: http://wisetoolkit.org/resources
- Research
- Tools, Templates & Sample Documents
Sexual Risk Behaviors and Academic Achievement, CDC
Data presented from the 2009 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) show as sexual risk behavior decreases there is an increase in academic achievement, no matter what the sex, race/ethnicity, or grade level of students.
Comprehensive Sex Education Outcomes Versus Abstinence Only
Advocates for Youth reports on behavioral outcomes from different types of sexual health education.Parents as Advocates for Comprehensive Sex Education in School
This Advocates for Youth handout shares research that shows 80 to 85% of parents across the United States agree that comprehensive sex education should be taught in schools.
Use the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website to find basic information about school districts such as the number and types of schools (e.g., middle school, high school), enrollment data, and health education codes and standards.
Use any of these 3 Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services websites, or your local health department to find reproductive health data such as STI and HIV rates among adolescents.
Use the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) State School Health Policy database to explore the laws, legal codes, regulations and mandates of Missouri’s school health policies and activities. This database is searchable by state, topic and keyword.
Guttmacher Institute State Policies in Brief: Missouri
Find information on key issues affecting sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Sex and HIV Education brief summarizes state-level sex and HIV education policies.
Fact Sheets on Comprehensive Sexual Health Education (Federal Level)
These fact sheets, created by Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), provides specific talking points on comprehensive sexual health education policies.
The CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.
Find information and data regarding health-risk behaviors among teens.
The CDC’s School Health Profiles
This is a system of surveys that look at school health policies and practices. These profiles are conducted every two years by education and health agencies.
The CDC’s School Health Policies and Practices Study
This is a national survey conducted to evaluate school health policies and practices at the state, district, school and classroom levels.
The State School Healthy Policy Database
This database has state laws and policies from all 50 states on more than 40 school health topics (including HIV, STD, and Pregnancy Prevention Education). It is compiled by the National Association of State Boards of Education.
Federal Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
This program, administered by the Office of Adolescent Health, is preventing teen pregnancy by replicating evidence-based programs and developing new models and innovative strategies. Over forty programs are now included in their evidence-based program list.School District Stakeholder Message Development
This simple tool was developed to learn the various needs of key stakeholder groups. This sample shows the different school district stakeholders and how the designers of this tool, The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential (G-CAPP), matched their messages to each stakeholder’s needs. G-CAPP staff looked over this document before talking with key stakeholders to make sure their efforts were meeting the needs of each stakeholder during every interaction.
Common Core Capacity Assessment and Planning Tool (CAPT)
This tool can be used to determine how ready a school district is to engage in efforts to adopt comprehensive sexual health education. This tool was developed by Cardea Services.
School Health Advisory Council Presentation
The Oregon Department of Education has provided a sample presentation that discusses the role and function of School Health Advisory Councils, including tips for finding and keeping members.
Measuring Community Mobilization: A Toolkit for Advocates and Practitioners
This toolkit, developed by Sarah Wylie and Cardea Services, outlines how to keep a record of and support efforts to raise awareness and community support for comprehensive sex education.
Advocating for Comprehensive Sexual Health Education in CA Public Schools: A Complete Guide for Parents, Guardians and Community Members
This guide, created by the Bay Area Communities for Health Education, outlines the steps needed to understand comprehensive sex education, foster community support for it and motivate school districts to implement it. NOTE: Some of this information is based on California policy, but much of the guide can be applied outside of California.
APPCNC 2009 Parent Opinion Survey
This parent survey is a good example of how to find out what parents want their students to learn regarding sexual health education. It was created by The Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina. Someone at School has AIDS: Sample Policy Developed by the National Association of State Boards of Education, this is a sample policy for schools to use when developing policies about HIV/AIDS education.Fact Sheet on Preventing and Managing Controversy
This fact sheet, developed by ETR Associates, provides great tips for educators to prevent and manage controversy around sex education.Sample Policy Language for School District Adoption of Comprehensive Sex Education
Washington and California are two states with school board policies that are supportive of comprehensive sex education. These documents offer sample policies for school boards that promote comprehensive sexual health education. These policies are clear and easily replicated so as not to “reinvent the wheel”.
How School Work and How to Work With Schools: A Primer for Professionals who Serve Children and Youth
This resource, produced by the National Association of State Boards of Education, can help guide school district policy development, adoption and implementation efforts. This publication outlines key tips for engaging and partnering with schools.
Someone at School has AIDS: Sample Policy
Developed by the National Association of State Boards of Education, this is a sample policy for schools to use when developing policies about HIV/AIDS education.Sex and HIV Programs for Youth: Their Impact and Important Characteristics
This research summarizes sexual health and HIV education programs and focuses on 17 qualities of programs that lead to change.
Tool to Assess the Characteristics of Effective Sex and STD/HIV Education Programs
Based on the Sex and HIV Education Programs for Youth: Their Impact and Important Characteristics research, this tool is designed to assess, select, improve, or design a sexual health or STD/HIV education program.National Health Education Standards
The NHES provide a framework to help teachers, administrators, and policymakers promote healthy behaviors among students from Pre-K through 12. The framework consists of eight health education standards and includes performance indicators that can be applied to a variety of health topics.
National Sexuality Education Standards
The NSES provide clear, consistent and straightforward guidance on the essential, minimum content that needs to be covered in sexual health education. The NSES are organized by grade level, so teaching is developmentally and age-appropriate. The NSES mirror the format of the NHES.
The Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT)
The HECAT can help school districts, schools, and others conduct an analysis of their health education curricula that is clear, complete, and consistent, and based on the National Health Education Standards and CDC’s Characteristics of Effective Health Education Curricula.
The Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (ReCAPP)
The ReCAPP provides practical tools and information to reduce sexual risk-taking behaviors. Teachers and health educators will find up-to-date, evaluated programs and resources to help with their work with teens.Answer, Rutgers University
Answer is nonprofit organization that provides training in teaching sexuality education, offers programs where educators can develop their skills through remote workshops and webinars.
ETR Associates
ETR offers a variety of trainings to support educators in providing comprehensive sexual health education.
The Healthy Teen Network
This is a national organization which provides numerous trainings on providing sexuality education and evidence-based curricula.
Learning About Sex: Resource Guide for Sex Educators
This publication from Advocates for Youth is a resource guide containing sexual health education materials for various audiences: youth, parents, and youth serving professionals (i.e. health educators). The resources listed span different mediums including video, audio, computer-based, print, and web-based. A description of each resource is accompanied by information about the intended audience and how to obtain a copy of the resource.