Évaluation de l’implantation, des processus et des effets différentiels de Check & Connect : un programme de prévention de l’abandon scolaire

The present thesis aimed to evaluate the implementation, differential effects and processes of Check & Connect (C&C), a dropout prevention program. This targeted intervention promotes the development of a significant relationship with a mentor in addition to the use of systematic monitoring of disengagement indicators, differential and adapted interventions and positive school-family communication in order to help students at risk of dropping out of school. Developed in the 1990s in the United States, this program was evaluated many times in American school settings. This evaluation focuses on a French-Canadian adaptation of C&C, implemented in elementary and secondary schools of two school boards in the Montreal area. The evaluation of the implementation, implementation processes, and differential effects is part of a larger ecological and experimental validation of the program in which students of the control group received the usual interventions typically offered to at-risk students in their schools. Implementation and differential effects evaluations were conducted after the two-year implementation of C&C among a sample of 345 elementary and secondary-level students and their 54 mentors. Implementation fidelity and its relations to program effects were evaluated using frequency analyses and linear regressions. Process evaluation was also completed post-intervention: semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 actors directly involved in the implementation. Qualitative thematic analyses and case studies were then completed in order to explore implementation processes.  The first empirical chapter of this thesis presents the evaluations of C&C’s implementation and differential effects. This evaluation revealed high variability in implementation fidelity rates from one program component to another, and across implementation sites. Further, results suggest that implementation fidelity is associated to C&C’s effects on student engagement and achievement. Nevertheless, that relation varies from one program component to another and based on implementation context. The second empirical chapter of the thesis presents the evaluation of C&C’s process in four distinct cases. This evaluation reveals that many processes influenced the implementation experience of interviewed actors. Results also show the dynamic influences of implementation processes. These dynamics are illustrated using a theory originating from organizational psychology: the Theory of Planned Change, which presents the implementation of an intervention program as a change in practices. In conclusion, the evaluations presented in this thesis first support the importance of implementation fidelity and context to achieve the desired effects when instigating an intervention program. For professionals and organizations interested in implementing an intervention program in a school setting, results further suggest the importance of adequate preparation and optimal implementation conditions, since implementation fidelity in itself is not sufficient to ensure positive intervention results.

Keyphrases: Check & Connect, Program evaluation, Implementation, Process, School dropout, Student engagement