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Washington State Institute for Public Policy
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Reconnecting Youth

Public Health & Prevention: School-based
  Literature review updated March 2020.

Reconnecting Youth, a school-based program for high school students, is designed to address a variety of behaviors, such as attendance, academic achievement, disruptive behavior, and substance use. Reconnecting Youth targets youth at-risk for school dropout and who exhibit other problem behavior such as drug-use or depression, as identified by school records or personnel. Once identified, students are placed into classes of 10 to 12 students and participate in social support and life-skills training during a daily, semester-long class using a 75-lesson curriculum. By building life skills, fostering a bond to the school and family, and encouraging self-esteem, the program aims to build positive resistance skills and decrease risk factors.
 
ALL
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Grade point average
Non-standardized measure of student performance calculated across subjects.
15 1 55 0.416 0.193 15 0.416 0.031
Alcohol use before end of high school
Any use of alcohol by the end of high school, typically between ages 14 and 18.
15 1 615 0.019 0.071 15 0.019 0.784
Smoking before end of high school
Any smoking of tobacco by the end of high school, typically between ages 14 and 18.
 15 1 615 0.182 0.071 15 0.182 0.010
Delinquent behavior
Criminal or delinquent behavior that occurs outside of formal involvement with the justice system (i.e., behavior that does not result in arrests, charges, convictions, incarcerations) for young people.  
15 1 615 -0.099 0.071 15 -0.099 0.160

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Cho, H., Hallfors, D.D., & Sanchez, V. (2005). Evaluation of a high school peer group intervention for at-risk youth. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33(3), 363-374.