Search

Many dropout prevention programs have been developed and validated in the past decades. Yet, little is known about the contextual factors influencing the implementation of these programs. Implementation processes, such as school principal leadership and governmental funding, have been identified for their influence on program implementation, but the mutual or dynamic influence of these processes is yet to be understood. This study examines the processes involved in the implementation of Check & Connect (C&C), a well-established targeted dropout prevention program validated in several countries that aims at promoting the development of a significant relationship between at-risk students and a mentor as a way to prevent school dropout. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 mentors and coordinators directly involved in C&C implementation. Analyses were conducted in two subsequent steps: thematic analyses first helped identify implementation processes described by respondents, and then synthetic case studies allowed us to build the implementation stories of distinct sites. This last step was conducted using the Planned Change Framework. This framework helped us to understand the complex dynamics of implementation processes in each site, which were associated with previously identified program outcomes, beyond implementation fidelity. Implications for future implementations of evidence-based programs in the school setting are discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

There are numerous school dropout prevention programs. However, few of them have undergone a rigorous implementation evaluation to understand their effects. This research presents two studies that evaluated the intervention fidelity and differential effects of Check & Connect (C&C), a targeted school dropout prevention program aimed at promoting student engagement and achievement. A total of 145 elementary school students (Study 1) and 200 secondary school students (Study 2) from two French-Canadian school boards (regional districts grouping elementary and secondary schools) received the C&C intervention for two years. In both studies, a clinical monitoring form was used to compare the intervention fidelity of each program component and active ingredient with what was initially planned. The relation between intervention fidelity and the effects of C&C on student engagement and achievement was analyzed using multiple linear regressions. Overall, the results show that intervention fidelity varies across elementary and secondary schools from one component to another and from one site to another. Furthermore, the association between the fidelity of each component and positive outcomes varies, depending on the implementation site. This evaluation supports the relevance of every component of C&C to favor engagement and academic achievement among at-risk elementary and secondary school students, while suggesting that the importance of certain program components may vary, depending on contextual influences on implementation and outcomes., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Increasing evidence suggests the existence of heterogeneity in the development of depressive symptoms during adolescence, but little remains known regarding the implications of this heterogeneity for the development of commonly co-occurring problems. In this study, we derived trajectories of depressive symptoms in adolescents and examined the codevelopment of multiple behavioral and academic problems in these trajectories., Methods: Participants were 6,910 students from secondary schools primarily located in disadvantaged areas of Quebec (Canada) who were assessed annually from the age 12 to 16 years. Trajectories were identified using growth mixture modeling. The course of behavioral (delinquency, substance use) and academic adjustment (school liking, academic achievement) in trajectories was examined by deriving latent growth curves for each covariate conditional on trajectory membership., Results: We identified five trajectories of stable-low (68.1%), increasing (12.1%), decreasing (8.7%), transient (8.7%), and stable-high (2.4%) depressive symptoms. Examination of conditional latent growth curves revealed that the course of behavioral and academic problems closely mirrored the course of depressive symptoms in each trajectory., Conclusions: This pattern of results suggests that the course of depressive symptoms and other adjustment problems over time is likely to involve an important contribution of shared underlying developmental process(es)., (Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Questions remain regarding the consequences of illicit drug use on adolescent adjustment and the nature of mechanisms that may explain these consequences. In this study, we examined whether early-onset illicit drug use predicts subsequent academic and psychosocial adjustment and whether associations are socially-mediated by decreased school engagement and increased peer deviancy., Method: 4885 adolescents were followed throughout secondary school. We used regressions to determine whether illicit drug use in grade 7 predicted academic achievement, school dropout, depressive symptoms, and conduct problems in grades 10-11, adjusting for potential confounders. We used path analysis to test whether significant associations were mediated by school engagement and peer deviancy in grade 8., Results: Illicit drug use predicted conduct problems and school dropout, but not academic achievement and depressive symptoms. The association between illicit drug use and conduct problems was fully mediated by increased peer deviancy. The association between illicit drug use and school dropout was partially mediated by increased peer deviancy, but remained mostly direct. No indirect association via decreased school engagement was found. Examination of reverse pathways revealed that conduct problems and academic achievement in grade 7 predicted drug use in grades 10-11. These associations were mediated by peer deviancy and school engagement (conduct problems only)., Conclusion: Adolescent illicit drug use influences the risk of school dropout and conduct problems in part by contributing to deviant peer affiliation. Reciprocal social mediation characterizes the association between drug use and conduct problems. A reverse mechanism best explains the association with academic achievement., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Although the concept of school engagement figures prominently in most school dropout theories, there has been little empirical research conducted on its nature and course and, more importantly, the association with dropout. Information on the natural development of school engagement would greatly benefit those interested in preventing student alienation during adolescence. Using a longitudinal sample of 11,827 French-Canadian high school students, we tested behavioral, affective, cognitive indices of engagement both separately and as a global construct. We then assessed their contribution as prospective predictors of school dropout using factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Global engagement reliably predicted school dropout. Among its three specific dimensions, only behavioral engagement made a significant contribution in the prediction equation. Our findings confirm the robustness of the overall multidimensional construct of school engagement, which reflects both cognitive and psychosocial characteristics, and underscore the importance attributed to basic participation and compliance issues in reliably estimating risk of not completing basic schooling during adolescence.

Purpose: We prospectively tested the extent to which witnessing school violence predicts psychosocial and school adjustment in students while accounting for their prior psychosocial characteristics and peer victimization. We also explored the role of feelings of insecurity in explaining this relationship., Methods: Questionnaires were administered to 1104 students (52% boys) from five high schools from the Montreal area (Quebec, Canada) at the beginning, middle, and end of seventh grade. Self report measures included sociodemographic characteristics, victimization, witnessing violence, feelings of insecurity, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, and measures of engagement, achievement, and truancy as indicators of school adjustment., Results: Witnessing school violence was a comparatively better predictor of subsequent externalizing problems and school adjustment than actual victimization. Conversely, relative to having experienced violence as a witness, actual victimization more reliably estimated later internalizing problems. Feelings of insecurity partially explained the development of school engagement and truancy., Conclusions: Our findings underscore the implications of school violence as a public health and safety issue, the consideration of witnessing as important in estimating its impact, and a comprehensive approach when developing and implementing strategies that aim to prevent this form of community violence.