Putting Youth First: The impact of school-based resilience programming on wellbeing and education outcomes for youth in Rwanda

• In Event: Youth-Centered Education Through Youth Perspectives on Wellbeing and Futures

Proposal

WorldBeing’s Youth First Rwanda (YFR) program is a school-based integrated resilience and health intervention designed to improve mental well-being and education-related outcomes among Rwandan youth (ages 13-15) studying in government-supported lower secondary schools. YFR uses a training-of-trainers approach and a curriculum that translates and adapts research and best practices from the fields of emotional resilience, positive psychology, social-emotional learning, and conflict resolution into materials, activities, and skills tailored for young adolescents in Rwanda.

METHODS
In 2022, WorldBeing launched a study that aimed to (1) measure the impact of YFR on students’ wellbeing and school outcomes, and (2) understand how, for whom, and why the invention works. The overarching study was a realist evaluation, a theory-driven approach to program evaluation that aims to explain how and why programs, policies, and interventions work. Following the prescribed phases of realist evaluation inquiry, we began by developing an initial program theory for YFR based on previous studies, program documentation, and conversations with program design and implementation staff. In the second phase of the study, we tested the initial program theory using a mixed-methods approach. For the quantitative component, we collected baseline and endline survey data from Senior 1 (grade 7 equivalent) students in 50 schools benefiting from YFR and 50 comparable schools not benefiting YFR. For the qualitative component, we conducted focus group discussions with students and in-depth interviews with students, teachers, and school leaders from a subsample of nine YFR schools.

After reflection on the findings from baseline-endline surveys and focus group discussions, we then launched an additional round of theory testing in the form of a follow-up study in 2023-2024. This study also used a mixed-methods approach and began with student focus group discussions in the nine YFR schools included in the earlier qualitative research and nine comparable schools not benefiting from YFR. Following the focus group discussions, we conducted another round of surveys with the same cohort of students in the same 100 schools (50 YFR and 50 comparable schools) as the earlier quantitative research. We also conducted teacher surveys with teachers in these schools.

RESULTS
Several key findings emerged from the study. First, YFR had a statistically significant positive impact at follow-up on students’ wellbeing and school outcomes, including students’ emotional resilience (p < 0.01), coping skills (p < 0.001), psychosocial wellbeing (p < 0.001), peer relationships (p < 0.001), gender attitudes (p < 0.001), sense of belonging at school (p < 0.001), time spent doing homework (p < 0.05), relationships with teachers (p < 0.001), and progression from one grade to the next (p < 0.001). YFR also had a statistically significant positive impact at post-test (all p’s < 0.05) on students’ knowledge, ability, and confidence in key inter- and intra-personal assets and skills, including planning, self-awareness, emotional competence, communication skills, ability to navigate challenges, and problem solving.

Together, these findings suggest that not only was the program successful in achieving its long term outcomes but also that the causal pathway described in the initial program theory is accurate: development of students’ inter- and intra-personal assets and skills is a key mechanism leading to future impacts related to wellbeing and school outcomes.

In terms of teachers, teacher survey data showed that YFR had a statistically significant positive impact on teachers’ knowledge of inter- and intra-personal assets and skills (p < 0.05), confidence in these skills (p < 0.001), emotional resilience (p < 0.001), and knowledge of facilitation skills (p < 0.001). Examination of session observation data also revealed that, on average, teachers delivered YFR sessions with a high degree of quality and fidelity.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
In combination, these findings indicate that the program is successful in achieving its desired outcomes for teachers, which, as evidenced by the student survey results, is translating to success among students. Overall, this study provided important insights into whether, how, and why YFR works. This information will help guide program scale-up and institutionalization of YFR in Rwanda and elsewhere.

Authors

• Peter Cooper, Independent Consultant

• Katherine Sachs Leventhal, WorldBeing