See It Be It: Interactive Technology to Increase School Engagement and Prevent Dropout

描述(由申请人提供)：辍学每年给美国造成高达3500亿美元的工资损失、失业、监禁费用、福利依赖和医疗保健费用。此外，辍学会导致个人健康和幸福感变差。尽管最近辍学的总人数有所减少，但少数族裔学生辍学的可能性仍然是白人学生的两倍。因为过渡到高中是一个特别危险的问题 辍学的时间到了，需要在高中之前进行干预，重点是培养学业成功和韧性。提高学生的学业可能自我和提高复原力策略是促进少数民族学生学业成功的既定方法。拟议的第二阶段SBIR项目将最终完成See It，Be It，这是一个面向中学生的在线辍学预防计划，使用叙事生成软件来开发个性化的成功故事。该计划以积极青年发展为宗旨，增强对“学术上可能的自我”的认同感，并教授旨在促进少数族裔青年参与学校活动和培养自我效能的复原力战略。对See It的大力支持，无论它的产品在第一阶段的可行性和可用性测试中都得到了验证，关键的利益相关者(教师、管理员、家长和中学生)都参与了测试。对于第二阶段，我们将实现以下三个具体目标：1)全面开发See It，Be It产品，包括四个主题模块(同伴压力、师生关系、积极自我形象和学业未来导向)的内容和配套材料，包括与少数族裔中学生(n=30)的迭代测试，以建立可用性；2)对完整的See It产品进行两次试点测试，收集少数民族中学生(n=180)和他们的老师，以及参与有辍学风险的学生(学生U)的课外计划(n=120)的少数民族中学生和辅导员的DAA，以确定该计划对学生自我形象、学习动机和学校参与度的影响；以及3)最终确定该计划的商业化，与参与计划的学生和家长(n=40)和教师/顾问(n=9)进行焦点小组，为实施指南和补充支持工具提供信息，以最大限度地提高计划的有效性。据我们所知，没有其他专门针对少数族裔学生的挑战和优势并利用创新的在线技术促进学校成功的辍学预防计划。这一第二阶段项目将有助于建立“看得见”的学校，使其成为学校的宝贵资源，有可能降低少数族裔学生辍学的可能性，并提高他们未来事业成功的潜力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dropping out of school costs the nation up to $350 billion annually, in lost wages, unemployment, incarceration costs, welfare dependence, and health care costs. Moreover, poorer individual health and well-being result from dropping out. Despite recent reductions in the total number of dropouts, minority students remain twice as likely to drop out as White students. Because the transition to high school is a particularly risky time for dropout, interventions that focus on building academic success and resilience before high school are needed. Enhancing students' academic possible selves and increasing resilience strategies are established methods for promoting school success for minority students. The proposed Phase II SBIR project will finalize the development of See It, Be It, an online dropout prevention program for middle school students that uses narrative generation software to develop individualized stories of success. Building on tenets of Positive Youth Development, this program enhances identification with "academic possible selves" and teaches resilience strategies designed to promote school engagement and foster self-efficacy for minority youth. Strong support for the See It, Be It product was demonstrated in Phase I feasibility and usability testing with key stakeholders (teachers, administrators, parents, and middle schoolers). For Phase II we will accomplish the following three specific aims: 1) fully develop the See It, Be It product, including content for four topic modules (peer pressure, student-teacher relationships, positive self-image, and academic future orientation) and accompanying materials, including iterative testing with minority middle school students (n=30) to establish usability; 2) conduct two pilot tests of the full See It, Be It product, collecting daa from minority middle school students (n=180) and their teachers, as well as from minority middle school students and counselors involved in an after-school program (n=120) for students at risk for dropping out (Student U), to determine program impacts on student self-image, academic motivation, and school engagement; and 3) finalize the program for commercialization, conducting focus groups with participating students and parents (n=40) and teachers/counselors (n=9) to inform implementation guidelines and supplemental support tools needed for maximizing the effectiveness of the program. To our knowledge, no other dropout prevention program exists that focuses specifically on the challenges and strengths of minority students and promotes school success using innovative online technology. This Phase II project will be instrumental in establishing See It, Be It as a valuable resource for schools with the potential to reduce the likelihood of dropout for minority students as well as boosting their potential for future career success.