Treffer: Alongside ESSA Level II Study (2024-25)

Purpose: Alongside is a comprehensive online well-being platform that helps students build life skills and access personalized support through clinician-created, AI-powered chat conversations and interactive features. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Alongside on students' mental health, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes using a quasi-experimental design aligned with Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Level II (Moderate Evidence) standards. Methods: This ESSA Level II quasi-experimental study took place in Texas across three schools and examined implementation from November 2024 to May 2025. The sample included 474 students in grades 5-12: 416 students who used Alongside (treatment) and 59 students who did not (comparison). Implementation was measured using platform usage data, with primary emphasis on chat sessions created and descriptive metrics for feature engagement (e.g., goal setting/completion, journaling, video watching, mood tracking, and related activities). Student outcomes included validated mental health screeners (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ] subscales: emotional problems, conduct problems, peer problems, prosocial behavior; and Panorama SEL composites: self-efficacy, emotion regulation/self-management, and sense of belonging), district attendance rates, and disciplinary referral data. Impacts were estimated using linear regression models with student-level covariates (gender, baseline outcome measures) and propensity score weighting to account for potential pre-existing differences. Baseline equivalence testing indicated no statistically significant pre-intervention differences across outcomes (Hedges' g range: -0.21 to 0.14). Results: Implementation data showed that students used the platform primarily through chats, creating an average of 5.0 chat sessions (SD = 7.10; range 0-58) and sending an average of 47.37 messages (SD = 91.60; range 0-812). Students also engaged with other features, including mood tracking, journaling, goal setting, and video watching. In outcome analyses, Alongside users had significantly higher adjusted attendance compared to non-users (94% vs. 92%; p = 0.03; Hedges' g = 0.22). Over the 86 expected school days in the study period, this corresponded to fewer average absent days for Alongside users (5.2) than non-users (6.5). No statistically significant differences were found between users and non-users on mental health measures (SDQ and Panorama subscales/composites) or disciplinary referrals (all p > 0.05). Implications: Under an ESSA-aligned Level II quasi-experimental design meeting WWC baseline equivalence standards, Alongside use was associated with a statistically significant improvement in student attendance, supporting ESSA Level II (Moderate Evidence) for attendance outcomes. Findings suggest Alongside may help promote school engagement even when measurable differences in mental health screeners and discipline were not detected during the study window. Future research can strengthen the evidence base by examining dosage-response relationships (e.g., chats/messages and outcomes), extending follow-up periods, and testing effects in additional contexts and sites. [This report was prepared for Alongside by the Edtech Collective, Instructures Partner Ecosystem.]

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