Grade Book Game Evaluation Among 6th Grade Students

NCT03039894 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IRB#16-001059
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

School engagement is associated with children's long-term health and success. Students who are engaged in school have better academic outcomes and lower rates of risky health behaviors. The investigators partnered with Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 12 (Alliance 12), a charter school in Los Angeles, to develop the "gradebook game", an intervention that aims to improve academic achievement, peer support, and school engagement. The game involves frequent feedback on students' school performance, team-based competition aligned with the school mission, and peer mentorship by team captains. For the 2016-2017 academic year, the investigators will assist Alliance 12 in implementing the gradebook game in two of its five 6th grade homerooms. The investigators plan to evaluate whether the game, as hypothesized, is effective in increasing school engagement, including academic performance and positive behavior. In order to conduct this evaluation, the investigators plan to enroll 6th grade students by obtaining parental consent and student assent at the beginning of the school year. Students will be enrolled for the entire 2016-2017 academic year. All study procedures except for parental recruitment will occur during the school day. Participation in the study involves completing 2 student surveys and permitting the collection and analysis of student data from the online gradebook and behavior system. The investigators plan to use an interrupted time series design that will analyze student gradebook and behavior data at multiple time points before and after the game starts. The surveys will be completed at the beginning and end of the study period. Surveys will include measures of self-reported school engagement, age, gender, race/ethnicity, primary language at home, social and emotional well-being, social status, and peer support. Surveys will be administered via iPad. If the pilot study demonstrates that the gradebook game is effective in promoting school engagement and academic achievement, it is anticipated that it could be widely adopted and more rigorously evaluated in a larger study. Because the gradebook game is a low-resource intervention, it could easily and sustainably be replicated, providing a much-needed tool for schools with low engagement.

Conditions

Adolescent Behaviors

Keywords

school-based, evaluation, interrupted time series

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Academic and Behavior Information

  collect school grade book and behavior information weekly for 8 to 10 time points before and after the intervention is implemented.

  up to 20 times during 6 month period

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Social Emotional well being, social status and peer support

  baseline and at 6 months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

The middle school selected 2 advisory classrooms to participate in the Gradebook game during 6th grade. Students in these 2 classrooms were block randomized to teams by baseline grade book and student engagement scores. These small student teams stay together for an entire year and meet once or twice a week. Teams are led by 8th grade student team captains, picked by school staff for their positive leadership skills. Every 2 weeks throughout the year, teams are randomly matched in head-to-head competition. In each 2-week-long game (i.e. Gradebook Game), individual team members accrue points from teachers and administrators for academic performance, effort, and school behavior. Team wins are announced and public scoreboards are updated frequently. The investigators will collect student survey data at baseline and after the intervention, approximately 5-6 months apart.

Other: Gradebook Game

Control

The middle school has chosen three 6th grade classrooms that will not play the Gradebook game. The investigators will collect school gradebook and behavior information weekly for 8 to 10 time points before and after the intervention is implemented. Students will complete a survey at baseline and after the intervention, approximately 5-6 months apart.

Interventions

Gradebook Game OTHER

Students in the intervention group will spend time meeting as teams to review their scorecards, and do team-building activities, all of which will occur during non-content periods at school (Advisory and Enrichment).

Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 17 Years
• Sex: all
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants must be 6th grade students at Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy. They need to assent and have signed parental consent to participate.

You may qualify if:

• Student must be attending 6th grade at Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy.
• Must assent and have signed parental consent to participate.

You may not qualify if:

• \- Students whose parents are not able to provide informed consent in English or Spanish.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Los Angeles: lead

Study Sites (1)

UCLA

Los Angeles, California, 90095, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Adolescent Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Mitchell D Wong, MD, PhD

  University of California, Los Angeles

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Medicine; Faculty Mentor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 30, 2017
• First Posted: February 1, 2017
• Study Start: October 1, 2016
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2017
• Study Completion: June 30, 2017
• Last Updated: October 30, 2017

Record last verified: 2017-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)