Improving Academic Self-Efficacy, School Connectedness, and Identity in Truant Pittsburgh Students: A Preliminary Study of the All About Me Program

Adolescent truancy is a significant public health issue in the United States and is associated with adverse behavioral and health outcomes including school dropout, crime, violence, pregnancy, and substance abuse. These outcomes result due to the interaction of students’ community and home environments; social relationships; school variables; and individual characteristics such as students’ level of engagement with learning, academic performance, risk behaviors, and mental health problems. Inspite of emerging evidence suggesting the interdependence between education and health, few studies have examined truancy from a public health perspective. This presentation extends the public health literature and describes a longitudinal, quasi-experimental, mixed-methods pilot study of Youth Enrichment Services’ All About Me (AAM), an early intervention program designed to address chronic absenteeism, truancy, and underachievement and associated risk factors. Forty public housing students identified as experiencing academic failure, school behavior problems, and truancy participated in AAM’s year-long programming, in which they attended academic success mapping sessions, engaged in peer mentoring via Facebook, and participated in social and cultural enrichment opportunities. Preliminary findings suggest that AAM is contributing to positive increases in students’ grades, academic self-efficacy, school connectedness, personal empowerment, mental health, locus of control, and identity development. Our results also indicate that student, teacher, and parent focus group interviews confirm the quantitative findings supporting the efficacy of AAM as a truancy prevention program.