Mobilizing Established School Partnerships to Reach Underserved Children During a Global Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to drastic public health measures, including school closures to slow the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. Reopening educational settings by using diagnostic testing approaches in schools can help accelerate the safe return of students and staff to on-site learning by quickly and accurately identifying cases, limiting the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and ultimately preventing unnecessary school and work absenteeism. Although the National Institutes of Health has identified community partnerships as the foundation for reducing health disparities, we found limited application of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach in school engagement. Guided by the CBPR conceptual model, we provide case studies of 2 established and long-standing school-academic partnerships built on CBPR processes and practices that have served as a research infrastructure to reach underserved children and families during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The process described in this article can serve as an initial platform to continue to build capacity toward increasing health equity.

Entrepreneurial, Economic, and Social Well-Being Outcomes from an RCT of a Youth Entrepreneurship Education Intervention among Native American Adolescents.

Background: Entrepreneurship education has demonstrated positive impacts in low-resource contexts. However, there is limited evidence of such programs evaluated among Native American (NA) youth in a rural reservation. Methods: A 2:1 randomized controlled trial evaluated the impact of the Arrowhead Business Group (ABG) entrepreneurship education program on entrepreneurship knowledge, economic empowerment, and social well-being among 394 NA youth. An intent to treat analysis using mixed effects regression models examined within and between study group differences from baseline to 24 months. An interaction term measured change in the intervention relative to change in the control. ABG participants were purposively sampled to conduct focus groups and in-depth interviews. Results: Significant intervention vs. control group improvements were sustained at 12 months for entrepreneurship knowledge and economic confidence/security. Significant within-group improvements were sustained for ABG participants at 24 months for connectedness to parents, school, and awareness of connectedness. Qualitative data endorses positive impacts on social well-being among ABG participants. Conclusion: Observed effects on entrepreneurship knowledge, economic empowerment, and connectedness, supplemented by the experiences and changes as described by the youth themselves, demonstrates how a strength-based youth entrepreneurship intervention focused on developing assets and resources may be an innovative approach to dually address health and economic disparities endured in Native American communities.