Hispanic Teenagers Top Black, White Birthrate

By Jessica Portner

A federal study showing that Hispanic teenagers for the first time are giving birth at a higher rate than either black or white girls has school health professionals questioning whether enough pregnancy-prevention services are targeting Hispanic females.

While thousands of schools run teenage-pregnancy-prevention programs, many may not be geared to addressing the needs of Hispanics, the country's fastest-growing minority group, said Carlos Vega-Matos, the director of school health programs at the National Association of State Boards of Education.

Hiring school staff members who can build community partnerships and work with families whose English proficiency is limited is critical to reaching students from different ethnic groups, Mr. Vega-Matos said. "When we do teenage-pregnancy prevention, we need to address the needs...