Development and Effectiveness of Positive Psycho-educational Intervention Program in Enhancement of Student Engagement, Motivation and Alleviation of Depressive Symptoms of Selected School Dropouts

India with more than a billion residents has the second largest education system in the world. But it is alarming that the dropout problem is very pervasive in the Indian educational contexts. Many children who enter school are unable to complete their education and multiple factors are responsible for children dropping out of school. Therefore, this study is aimed to develop and assess the effectiveness of the positive psycho-educational intervention (PPEI) in enhancing student engagement, motivation and alleviation of depressive symptoms among the dropouts in West Bengal, India. The study was conducted in two phases: Phase 1 focused on the development of the intervention program: The positive psycho-educational intervention (PPEI) based on the positive psychology and Broaden and Build theory, utilizing the descriptive research method. Phase II involved the assessment of the effectiveness of the newly developed intervention program (PPEI) in enhancing student engagement, motivation and alleviation of depressive symptoms of dropouts employing the true experimental research design particularly Between-Subjects: Two Independent Group Design. Three psychological tests (motivation and engagement scale (MES-HS), student engagement instrument (SEI) and Beck depression inventory (BDI) were administered to the participants before and after the program implementation. A total of 68 dropout boys from urban areas were randomly assigned both in control and experimental groups. The data analysis was done utilizing mean scores, paired samples statistics, t-test for independent samples and Cohen's d. The null hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The statistical analysis between the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group showed significant difference (p=.000) and its post-test scores indicated significant increase in student engagement and motivation and significant decrease in the depressive symptoms. It indicates that the Psycho-education focused positive intervention Program (PPEI) was effective for the participants.