Student Research 2009-A
2009 Research Grant Results
Name: Christina Pankow
Title: Transporting an Evidence-Based School Engagement Intervention to Practice: Outcomes and Barriers to Implementation
Research Proposal: There are many variables, apart from an intervention itself, that contribute the success or failure of practices in a school setting. This study examines one of these issues, transportability. The goal of transportability research is to examine the ability of an intervention to effectively generalize to practice settings. Equally important for transportability research is the study of all variables that may impact implementation. Understanding how these variables influence the implementation of an intervention can play a critical role in how researchers and practitioners can more effectively transport evidence-based practices for use in schools.
This study investigates the contextual factors that influence the implementation of a school based intervention, Check & Connect.
Hypothesis or Questions:
- Does the use of Check & Connect result in student improvement on school engagement factors?
- Prediction: The study predicts that the use of Check and Connect will result in student improvement on school engagement factors.
- What modifications will school personnel make to Check & Connect?
- Prediction: If any modifications are made, they will be to reduce the amount of contact that student services personnel have with the students to accommodate busy schedules.
- Do school personnel who implement Check & Connect consider it to be an acceptable program for increasing student engagement?
- Prediction: School personnel will consider it an acceptable program for increasing engagement.
- Do students who receive Check & Connect consider it to be an acceptable program?
- Prediction: Students will consider it an acceptable program for increasing engagement.
Definition:
Check & Connect A model of sustained intervention for promoting students' engagement with school and learning. Demonstrated outcomes include:
- decrease in truancy,
- decrease in dropout rates,
- increase in accrual of credits,
- increase in school completion, and
- impact on literacy.
Check & Connect is one of 27 dropout prevention interventions reviewed by the U.S. Department of Education's What Works Clearinghouse to date, and the only one found to have positive effects for staying in school.