XY-Zone Program Evaluation: A School-Based Dropout Prevention Program for At-Risk Youth

The objective of this study is to build upon preliminary research and conduct a pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial on a promising culturally-grounded and gender-specific treatment program, the XY-Zone. The central hypothesis underlying this study purports that through receiving the XY-Zone treatment, adolescents will decrease their risk for dropping out of school. This hypothesis is supported by two years of preliminary data investigating the effectiveness of the XY-Zone. To test the central hypothesis, the following specific aims will be pursued: 1. Identify school dropout risk and protective factors (protective factors defined as: adult support and peer support; risk factors defined as: low school attendance, inability to achieve grade promotion, substance use, delinquency, school disconnectedness, misbehavior, disconnection from healthy peers) directly changed as a result of XY-Zone intervention. 2. Determine the extent to which moderating variables (affective strength, duration in the program, family functioning, interpersonal strength, intrapersonal strength, level achieved in the program, and resiliency) effect change in outcome variables (risk and protective factors). 3. Identify participants' beliefs about the impact of the mechanisms of change (respect, responsibility, relationship, role modeling, and reaching out) on outcome variables (risk and protective factors ) to enrich understanding of quantitative data.