collaboration: Motivate lab and albemarle high school

 Overview of the Project

Motivate Lab has been working closely with Albemarle High School (AHS) administration to better understand and improve students’ transition from middle school into high school. Over the last two and a half years, we have developed a video intervention with AHS students, delivered it to two cohorts of incoming ninth graders during academic years 2016-17 and 2017-18 at the Patriot Academy summer orientation program, and experimentally evaluated its impact on student psychological and academic outcomes. 

Our Process

The seven-minute intervention video features filmed testimonials from real AHS students describing how difficulties in the transition to high school are A) shared among nearly all students, and B) temporary. Study participants also completed a brief reflection activity immediately after watching the video. In all, implementation required less than twenty minutes. 

Early Results

Overall, students who received the intervention performed better academically, attended class more often, received fewer disciplinary referrals, and reported gaining more friends than did those in the control condition. Specifically:

• Underrepresented minority students in the treatment group earned, on average, a higher end-of-year grade point average compared to URM students in the control condition. This boost in achievement brought URM students up to similar averages as the racial majority students, reducing the achievement gap by 85%.

• URM treatment students also failed fewer and passed more classes than did the URM control students, all but eliminating entirely the achievement gap in these domains. 

• Students in the treatment condition reported, on average, fewer unexcused absences and tardies per class on the academic year. These trends were particularly strong for URM students.

• Treatment students, particularly those from minority backgrounds, received substantially fewer disciplinary infractions than did control students. 

• From August 2017 to January 2018, students in the treatment condition reported, on average, a greater increase in number of friends at AHS compared to those in the control condition. 
  
  
  

Interested in learning more?

Contact Lee Williams for more information on the Social Belonging Project