The University of California at Berkeley's Labor Occupational Health Program and its partners propose to study the effect of teaching teen farm workers about agricultural health and safety through school-based ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. Using a pre/post-test quasi-experimental design, this study will evaluate whether: a) exposure to an existing school-based curriculum increases agricultural safety and health knowledge and skills among young farm workers and b) whether community-based educational activities provided in addition to the curriculum increase these outcomes further. Data from pre/post-tests collected from students in the intervention and comparison regions will be analyzed to assess differences between these two groups of students. The intervention regions will be split in two, one of which will receive only the school-based program and the other of which will also receive a community education component. Differences in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors between the two intervention groups will be compared. A follow-up survey of students in the intervention and comparison communities, administered four months following delivery of the curriculum in the intervention communities, will also determine whether there has been a change in the number of students who report work-related injury, illness, or near-misses during their summer work experience. At the end of the third year, all ESL teachers within the three study regions will be offered support and an opportunity to integrate the curricula into their ESL classes.
