From leadership research to district action: Implementation of a Whole‐School Relationship and Sexuality Education Project in Western Australian Schools: Evaluation Data From a Multiple, Embedded Case Study

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide. Proposed district actions are separate from the original authors’ findings and recommendations. Independent peer review of this guide is not asserted.

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Evidence and transfer

Education-related source: verify which participants, institutions and outcomes were actually studied before district adoption. Source publication type: research-article. License and identity checks do not establish study quality or causality.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the source license:

ABSTRACT Issue Addressed School‐based relationships and sexuality education (RSE) offers broad social, emotional and physical health benefits. However, many teachers feel unprepared to deliver comprehensive, contemporary RSE. To address this, the Curtin RSE Project supported schools in implementing whole‐school RSE using a Health Promoting Schools framework, through a supported case study intervention. Methods A multiple, embedded case study design was employed to evaluate implementation in participating case study schools. Of the four schools recruited, data were collected from one primary and one secondary school. This paper reports on student surveys (Grades 6 and 7–12) and focus group discussions and interviews with teachers, parents and students (Grades 9–12). Descriptive statistics were generated for the surveys and reflexive thematic analysis conducted for qualitative data. Results Students found RSE relevant, though some reported discomfort during sessions. The breadth of RSE topics in the primary school increased post‐intervention. Four themes were reflexively identified to understand RSE implementation: RSE is systematically not prioritised; Approaches to age‐appropriate education; Schools are appropriate environments; and A whole‐school approach for success. Conclusions Support from school leadership was essential for proper implementation of whole‐school RSE, supported by passionate and well‐supported school staff. Whole‐school approaches ensured consistent messages within the school and home environment. So What? There is a pressing need to embed RSE in pre‐service teacher education and to provide coordinated, ongoing professional learning for in‐service teachers. Provision of technical support for schools facilitates implementation. These strategies will ensure delivery of contemporary, high‐quality RSE and support sustainable whole‐school implementation. Keywords: embedded case study, health promoting schools, implementation, relationships and sexuality education, whole‐school

Study methods

A multiple, embedded case study design [41] was employed to measure the implementation of whole‐school RSE strategies; to explore the perceptions of students, teachers and parents towards RSE; and to identify barriers and enablers to comprehensive school‐based RSE [42]. A multiple case study design allows for the participation of primary (K‐Grade 6) and secondary (Grades 7–12), geographic and school size variations. An embedded case study design allows for the analysis of various strategies at different levels within the broader health‐promoting school. This allowed schools to focus on pedagogical and locally appropriate strategies relevant to their school community [30, 41].

Limitations

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A 90-day district inquiry

Days 1–15 · Appraise. Read the source methods, recruitment, comparator, outcomes and limitations. Record how the study setting differs from your district and which claim the design can support.
Days 16–30 · Design. Choose one school improvement question with teachers. Protect a short shared planning cycle, agree an instructional change and use a common rubric for examining student work. Agree participation, privacy protections, baseline and stopping rules before starting.
Days 31–60 · Observe. Collect the pre-agreed measures, keep a log of implementation changes and invite confidential voluntary feedback. Preserve existing support for staff and learners.
Days 61–90 · Decide. Review implementation fidelity, teacher time and independently scored student work against a recorded baseline. Examine access differences and competing explanations before attributing changes to leadership. Make a dated decision to stop, revise or extend the inquiry.

Board decision brief

Present the local problem, source setting, evidence limits, intervention, responsible owner, total cost, measured changes and uncertainty. Separate staff perceptions, implementation measures and student learning outcomes.

Attribution and reuse

Sharyn Burns; Roisin Glasgow‐Collins; Hanna Saltis; Jacqueline Hendriks. Implementation of a Whole‐School Relationship and Sexuality Education Project in Western Australian Schools: Evaluation Data From a Multiple, Embedded Case Study. Health Promotion Journal of Australia (2026-01-01). https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.70138

Prepared 2026-11-07. Source authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract and source passages are attributed extracts; this editorial guide is offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license.