Education
The most unexpected conclusion in the study of correlations between AIDS and HIV/AIDS and Cleveland neighborhoods is the lack of interconnectedness between education levels and AIDS and HIV/AIDS rates. The percent of people with less than a 9th grade education, percent of high school dropouts, and percent of idle youth (those not in school and not working) have insignificant correlation coefficients with both the AIDS and HIV/AIDS rates. The percent of people with less than a 9th grade education has a correlation coefficient with the AIDS rate of .0752 and the HIV/AIDS rate of .1103, while the percent of high school dropouts when compared to AIDS and HIV/AIDS rates have correlation coefficients of .09429 and .1185, respectively(4). The percent of idle youth has a correlation coefficient of .1242 when compared to the HIV/AIDS rate and a correlation coefficient of .1267 when compared to the AIDS rate (4)
An unanticipated correlation occurs when examining the percent of students enrolled in public school versus private school. Although neither rate of private school attendance or public school attendance correlates with the AIDS or HIV/AIDS rates with 95% confidence both correlate with over 90%. Percent attendance to public school negatively correlates with both AIDS and HIV/AIDS rates while percent attendance to private school positively correlates with both rates.
The correlation coefficients for percent attendance to public school are -.2762 for HIV/AIDS rate and -.2877 for the AIDS rate.
The correlation coefficients for percent attendance to private school are .2762 for HIV/AIDS rate and .2877 for the AIDS rate. Of the thirty private schools in the Cleveland area, twenty are Catholic (5). In order to graduate from high school, state law requires all students to take a half semester of health class (6); however, a defined curriculum does not exist. Catholic schools are identified for teaching methods of abstinence and avoiding topics such as safe sex. Public schools in Ohio however, normally teach a generalized health class which covers a variety of materials with no religious affiliation and are required to teach a HIV prevention course (1). Students from private Catholic schools are often less informed about the risks of unprotected sex because of the nature of their health curriculum. Cleveland public schools are required to teach HIV prevention and are now currently implementing a new sex education curriculum financed by an $800,000 block grant from Cuyahoga County, demonstrating that public schools have a more outlined health program and their students have the potential to be more informed (1). The information about health curriculum supports the theory that AIDS and HIV/AIDS rates are higher in areas where attendance to private school is high because the students are less informed about sexual risks.