ESCALA (Escuela y Carrera Latina/Latino School and Career)

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant The proposed project will develop ESCALA Escuela y Carrera Latina Latino School and Career a mobile web app designed to increase the college and lowest educational attainment in the United States Because educational attainment is a major social determinant of health it is not surprising that Latinos also experience poor health outcomes compared to whites especially in the areas of obesity depression diabetes and teen pregnancy Although Latino parents recognize education as vital to their childrenandapos s future Latino adolescents perceive postsecondary education as largely unattainable due to a lack of viable role models for students parentsandapos unfamiliarity with college preparation processes limited English skills cultural differences between students and teachers and having to financially support their family especially in the case of Latina teenage mothers In response to these identified barriers ESCALA proposes to impact Latino studentsandapos college and career preparedness by intervening with students parents and school staff The ESCALA app will include a dual language Spanish English culturally relevant training videos that clarify the college prep process b action plans for accomplishing concrete goals and c decision making tools with which to facilitate informed choices about studentsandapos post secondary education aims To ensure that Latino families have ready access to these materials we will make the intervention available through mobile i e smartphone technology which has rapidly established itself as an important communication tool among Latinos Phase I will focus on development of a scaled down prototype of ESCALA that can be andquot scaled outandquot in Phase II Development will occur with focus groups consultant input and usability testing We will conduct an initial evaluation with a sample of Latino students and their parents to determine the social validity perceived efficacy behavioral intention to use the learned strategies and satisfaction with the programandapos s tone and content In Phase II we will complete the parent and student components of ESCALA and add the module for school personnel We will then evaluate the entire programandapos s efficacy in a large randomized controlled trial The projectandapos s Principal Investigators and development and research personnel are fluent Spanish speakers with familial ties to Mexican Central American and Caribbean cultures Project team members have years of experience in translational research involving media and Internet technologies The project benefits from partnership with Dr Charles Martinez from the Center for Equity Promotion at the University of Oregon and Dr Matt Coleman from the Educational Policy Improvement Center and Springfield Public Schools serving a large Latino student population The necessary institutional support equipment and physical resources are available to develop and disseminate the program IRIS Ed has a history of completing Phase I and Phase II SBIR projects and prides itself on its commitment to successfully commercializing training interventions PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE To improve Latino studentsandapos college readiness we propose to develop ESCALA a program that provides students parents and school staff with training in how to meet specific milestones along the path towards college readiness To maximize accessibility ESCALA will be an app available through mobile i e smartphone technology Latinos currently have the lowest educational attainment in the United States and relatedly poor health outcomes as compared to whites Although Latino parents recognize education as vital to their childrenandapos s future Latino adolescents perceive postsecondary education as largely unattainable