Flourishing immigrant youth, families, and educators: a multi-methods pilot study of a school-based program for immigrant rights

This multi-method pilot study assessed three versions of a school-based program that reflects advocacy in service-learning pedagogy by centering on education for immigrant rights in three states. A total of 137 participants were surveyed post-program about their empowerment with legal rights information, psychological well-being, and open-ended prompts regarding their program experiences. Associations and the moderation effects of program groups were probed in SPSS Process Macro. Consensual Qualitative Research Modified was used to analyze qualitative data. Results indicated high levels of empowerment and well-being. The moderation model explained 23.5% of the variance, with a moderately strong overall association (.13) between empowerment and well-being.Interaction and conditional effects revealed a direct link between empowerment and well-being for youth. CQR-M yielded six core ideas suggesting that all groups benefited from receiving empowering information and learning in an environment of gratitude for immigrants. Findings are relevant for interventions and practices for immigrant communities to flourish.