Mia Barrett’s revelations from EdTech Week 2025
The 40-Year-Old Curriculum Problem
When I walked into EdTech Week 2025, I carried 40 years of evidence-based sex education with me—literally. I work with Making Proud Choices!, a teen pregnancy prevention curriculum first developed in the 1980s. Multiple randomized controlled trials prove it works. It’s the gold standard of evidence-based sex ed.
And it’s delivered almost exactly like it was in the 1980s.
Sure, we’ve updated it. The 2021 revision uses inclusive language (LGBTQIA2S+), current frameworks, updated statistics. But the fundamental structure? The teacher training model? Still rooted in 1980s pedagogy.
At EdTech Week, surrounded by developers using AI, adaptive learning, and immersive simulations, I had a revelation: Sex ed has the science. EdTech has the innovation. And we desperately need both.
Speaking Different Languages, Solving the Same Problem
As I listened to presentations about student engagement and learning outcomes, I kept thinking: We’re talking about the same thing.
EdTech developers say: “How do we measure learning outcomes and drive student engagement?”
Sex educators say: “How do we change behavior and build self-efficacy?”
Same goal. Different vocabulary.
The Translation Guide: – Behavior change = Learning outcomes
– Self-efficacy = Student confidence – Fidelity of implementation = Teacher adoption – Protective factors = 21st century skills – RCT = Efficacy study
We’re all trying to change what people do, not just what they know. We’re all trying to measure real impact. We’re all struggling with implementation at scale.
What Sex Ed Brings: Decades of Behavior Change Science
Health education doesn’t just measure engagement metrics. We measure behavior change—the hardest outcome to achieve and prove.
The Sex Ed toolkit includes: – Rigorous evaluation methodology: RCTs with pre/post measures, control groups, effect sizes, validated instruments – Behavior change theory: Social Cognitive Theory, Theory of Planned Behavior, stages of change – Equity frameworks: Trauma-informed practice, cultural responsiveness, LGBTQ+ inclusion – Harm reduction approaches: Meeting learners where they are, not where we wish they were – 40+ years of proving what works in the messy reality of classrooms and communities
My research on condom use errors, withdrawal prevalence, and inclusive video production wasn’t just academic—it was about understanding real behavior in real contexts. That’s what health education does.
The Innovation Deficit: Fighting for Survival, Not Progress
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: Sex ed hasn’t had the luxury of innovation.
While STEM educators pilot VR labs and literacy specialists implement AI reading coaches, sex educators are fighting for the right to exist.
Our reality: – Constant legislative threats to curriculum – Resources spent defending programs, not advancing them – Every few years: new terminology, new frameworks, new battles – Just staying medically accurate and culturally relevant is a full-time job
The disconnect is stunning: – Math gets Fantasy Sports Math League with adaptive algorithms – Literacy gets AI-powered personalized learning paths – Sex ed gets anonymous question boxes and videos that look like 2005
The same teens using ChatGPT for homework are learning about STIs from PowerPoint presentations their parents would recognize.
And it matters. Modern pedagogy exists for a reason. Engagement strategies work. Digital delivery matches how students actually live. We can’t keep using 1980s methods and expect 2025 students to stay engaged.
The Making Proud Choices Paradox
Making Proud Choices is everything an evidence-based curriculum should be: – Proven effective through multiple RCTs – Theory-driven (Social Cognitive Theory, Theory of Planned Behavior) – Continuously updated (most recent revision 2021) – Widely implemented across the country
But teacher training hasn’t fundamentally changed since the 1980s: – Multi-day in-person workshops – Facilitator modeling, small group practice – Paper resources and fidelity checklists – Inconsistent follow-up support – No just-in-time access when teachers need help – Hard to scale, expensive to deliver
These same teachers are expected to use digital gradebooks, LMS platforms, and data dashboards. But their professional development for teaching sensitive, skills-based content? Pre-digital.
The result: Evidence-based curriculum, outdated delivery, inconsistent implementation.
The Two-Way Street
This isn’t one-sided. EdTech needs sex ed just as much.
I watched session after session where developers discussed engagement, retention, and user experience. But impact measurement? Often limited to clicks, time-on-task, completion rates.
Sex ed asks the harder questions: – Did behavior actually change? – Did knowledge translate to action? – Did skills persist over time? – How do you measure real-world application?
When EdTech developers partner with health educators, they get: – Rigorous evaluation design – Validated measurement instruments – Behavior change expertise – Equity and trauma-informed frameworks – Decades of implementation learning
The best innovations happen at the intersection of disciplines.
What the Exchange Looks Like
Making Proud Choices meets the 21st century:
What We’re Keeping (Sex Ed Expertise): – Social Cognitive Theory framework – Skills-based approach (not just information) – Harm reduction philosophy – Evidence from decades of RCTs – Adolescent development understanding – Cultural competence and trauma-informed content
What We’re Adding (EdTech Innovation): – Video-based microskills training (patented technology) – Adaptive learning pathways – Just-in-time professional development – Measurable skill assessment – Scalable delivery model – Modern pedagogical frameworks – Integration with school technology infrastructure
The Result: Teachers implementing Making Proud Choices with higher fidelity, more confidence, better support, measured growth, and modern pedagogy.
And ultimately: Students get both evidence-based content AND engaging, skillful delivery.
The Equity Imperative
The students who need sex ed most—those in under-resourced schools, LGBTQ+ youth, students with disabilities—are also most likely to: – Lack access to updated materials – Have teachers without adequate training – Miss out on EdTech innovations
When we keep sex ed and EdTech siloed, we perpetuate inequity twice over.
Our SkillFlix research on sex education teacher training showed educators more than doubled LGBTQ+ inclusivity skills and tripled their ability to answer sensitive questions after using the platform. That’s equity through innovation—making proven practices accessible at scale through technology like MPC:VISTA.
The Future We’re Building
Making Proud Choices spent 40 years proving what works. Now it’s time to innovate how we deliver it.
Sex ed has the science. We know what changes behavior. We can run RCTs in our sleep. We understand harm reduction, self-efficacy, and skill development.
But we’re exhausted. We’re spending energy fighting for survival, not innovating delivery.
EdTech has the innovation. They know how to engage modern learners, scale solutions, iterate quickly. They understand contemporary pedagogy.
But they often lack the evaluation rigor and behavior change expertise to ensure innovations actually work.
We need each other.
Sex ed needs EdTech’s innovation to bring proven methods into the 21st century.
EdTech needs sex ed’s rigor to ensure innovations drive real behavior change, not just engagement metrics.
Breaking Down the Silos
At EdTech Week 2025, I wasn’t just the sex educator in the room. I was a bridge between two worlds that desperately need each other.
Imagine if we applied this model across all of health education. Imagine if EdTech developers routinely partnered with public health experts. Imagine if every evidence-based curriculum got the modern delivery it deserves.
The barriers aren’t technical—they’re siloed thinking.
Health educators: Attend EdTech or other education conferences. Learn the language. Share your evaluation expertise. Stop working in isolation.
EdTech developers: Partner with health educators. Adopt behavior change frameworks. Commit to rigorous evaluation. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Funders: Value cross-sector expertise. Fund collaborations. Recognize that innovation without evidence and evidence without innovation both fail students.
Our students can’t wait another 40 years for sex ed to catch up to how they actually learn. And EdTech can’t keep creating engaging experiences that don’t change behavior.
It’s time to break down the silos.
Mia Barrett is an AASECT sex educator, curriculum developer, and evaluation specialist working at the intersection of health education and EdTech innovation. At dfusion, she leads MPC:VISTA (Making Proud Choices: Virtual Interactive Simulation Training Academy), modernizing professional development for the evidence-based curriculum.. She has published peer-reviewed research on condom education, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and adolescent sexual health.
Learn more about MPC:VISTA: dfusion’s MPC:VISTA, a comprehensive learning ecosystem that builds educator confidence and competency through realistic skill practice, combining the effectiveness of interactive training with the convenience and comfort of self-paced professional development.
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