Rigorous evaluation of the impact of a middle school transition and cross-age peer mentoring model on adolescent health outcomes - the center for supportive schools (CSS) is applying for a teen…

Rigorous evaluation of the impact of a middle school transition and cross-age peer mentoring model on adolescent health outcomes - the center for supportive schools (CSS) is applying for a teen pregnancy prevention tier 2 rigorous evaluation cooperative agreement. We propose to rigorously evaluate the efficacy of a middle school-based, positive youth development (PYD), and peer leadership model known as peer group connection - middle school (PGC-MS) on improving protective factors and reducing risk behaviors associated with teen pregnancy and adolescent health and wellbeing. PGC-MS is a school-based PYD program for students entering middle school (6TH or 7TH graders). PGC-MS is designed to improve school attachment and social and emotional learning (SEL) skills that support adolescent health and educational outcomes by immersing younger students in safe, supportive groups led by older peer leaders (8TH, 9TH, or 10TH graders depending on grades served by each school). PGC-MS is a major adaptation of peer group connection - high school (PGC-HS), which is another CSS program that has been identified as effective by the teen pregnancy prevention evidence review (tpper). Changes to core components include changes to the setting (middle schools VS. High schools), the target population (6TH or 7TH graders VS. 9TH graders, specifically targeting the transition into middle school instead of the transition into high school), and the curriculum (PGC-MS has a distinctly separate curriculum that is aligned with the developmental needs of 6TH and 7TH graders). The targeted outreach population for PGC-MS is middle school students, with a goal of reaching students with effective programming before they become sexually active. Since PGC-MS is a universal program, all students entering middle school (6TH or 7TH graders depending on grade levels served) are eligible to participate. PGC-MS is a unique and innovative school-based PYD model with distinctive features, including that IT capitalizes on existing resources such as staff, students, and time in the school day. PGC-MS also addresses GAP s in the adolescent sexual and reproductive health (asrh)/teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) fields because IT is unique from other PYD programs for this age group identified by tpper as having evidence of effectiveness. Over 5 years, the proposed study will enroll a total of 1,400 6TH and 7TH graders in 22 middle schools that serve large populations of students at disproportionate risk for teen pregnancy and birth, including low-income, black, latinx, and rural students in communities with high teen pregnancy and/or teen birth rates in 5 states (MD, MA, NJ, NC, SC) + DC. CSS and the policy & research group (PRG) will partner to conduct an experimental study of PGC-MS program impacts on outcomes related to asrh. PRG will examine program impacts on asrh outcomes (delayed sexual touching, delayed sexual initiation) and will explore impacts on more proximal protective factors hypothesized to lead to these outcomes, such as peer/school connection, belief in the future, self-determination, and SEL skills. In each of 22 schools, incoming 6TH or 7TH grade students will be randomly assigned to either a treatment (PGC-MS) or control group. Approximately 64 students in each school will be assigned to these 2 groups, with a total sample of approximately 1,400 students. Cohort 1 will include 10 schools from 3 states (MA, NJ, NC) + DC that will implement PGC-MS and participate in the study during the 2024-25 school year.