Running head: ACADEMIC SUCCESS SKILLS GROUP 1

Running head: ACADEMIC SUCCESS SKILLS GROUP

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Group Counseling Proposal: Academic Success Skills for At Risk High School Sophomores Sara Brame, Michael Muse, Jessie Roney, Sarah Oertel The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Group Counseling Proposal: Academic Success Skills for At Risk High School Sophomores This group, focused on promoting academic success, will consist of 8-10 diverse

sophomores who failed at least two core classes during their freshman year. This group will focus on topics related to academic success, including individual learning styles, time management, study strategies, and coping with test taking anxiety. Rationale for Group/ Literature Review

There is a growing amount of research that shows that academic achievement during ninth grade can be used as a predictor for potential dropouts. According to the work of Hickman, Bartholomew, Mathwig, and Heinrich (2008) "the first-semester GPA of ninth-grade students who dropped out was significantly lower than the first-semester GPA of ninth-grade students who graduated" (p. 12). They also found that "dropouts took significantly more core courses than did graduates during their ninth-grade year" (p. 12). Hickman et al. (2008) suggests the reason students who eventually drop out take more core courses their ninth-grade year could be due to the fact that they are trying to recover from previously missed credit, which puts them further behind their classmates and more at risk of dropping out (p. 12). While the Hickman et al. study was not exhaustive and only sampled 119 students in northwestern Arizona, there is support for their findings from other studies that involve cities on the East Coast. Neild, Balfanz, and Herzog (2007) found that "among students who sent their first serious distress signal in 9th grade, those who earned fewer than two credits or attended school less than 70 percent of the time had at least a 75 percent chance of dropping out of school" (p. 30). Neild, Balfanz, and Herzog (2007) used data from studies they conducted in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Boston to come to their conclusions. Using both of these studies provides a much larger sample size and underscores the

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importance of academic success during a student's ninth-grade year in predicting whether a student will drop out of school.

Ninth-grade academic success has been shown to be a predictor for which students could potentially drop out of school. Research also shows that students do not drop out immediately after ninth grade. Neild, Balfanz, and Herzog (2007) also found that "Most of these students did not drop out immediately but attempted 9th grade courses for another one or two years before finally giving up on school altogether" (p. 30). Hickman et al. (2008) were more specific stating "59 students who dropped out of school did so between their sophomore and junior year" (p. 6). These findings suggest that there is a window between a student's ninth-grade year and the time the student drops out of school. During this window, there is an opportunity for school counselors to implement strategies to remediate students and prevent dropouts. Based on this information a student's sophomore year is the ideal time to target potential dropouts and implement a remediation program.

By targeting students during the sophomore year to implement a group counseling based remediation program, students will have the opportunity to get back on track before their junior year of high school. Bemak, Chung, and Siroskey-Sabdo (2005) initiated a school counseling group called Empowerment Groups for Academic Success (EGAS) in a midwest inner-city high school. This group intervention was more successful than remediation programs previously implemented for the students in the intervention program, as demonstrated by student feedback, school performance, and attendance rates. Additionally, the self-reported impact of the implementation of EGAS was more impactful for students than previous interventions. For example, one student reported that the most important thing learned in group was the ability to

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communicate, whereas another reported that her grades improved after the group had concluded. Previous failed interventions included detention, suspension, disciplinary warnings, counseling targeted to specific behaviors, linking to families, and behavior modification programs (p. 383). The EGAS approach was more successful due to its emphasis on interpersonal dynamics that allowed group members to engage in discussions about ways to succeed academically (Bemak et al., 2005).

Using the EGAS approach allowed group members to establish their goals for school performance and academic success, as well as supporting group members throughout the group process. Group counseling is often beneficial for academic success groups, especially in schools with a high academic achievement gap. Bruce, Getch, and Ziomek-Daigle (2009) supported group counseling as a method for academic success interventions. Their study utilized a group counseling intervention approach designed to minimize the academic achievement gap in the English and math sections of the high school graduation test for African-American students at a rural high school in Georgia. Twelve out of fifteen eleventh-grade participants in the study received passing scores on all four sections of the end-of-year examination following the intervention. After the group counseling sessions concluded, 100% of participants received passing scores on the English and math sections of the test. The group counseling approach additionally allowed participants to provide feedback and data about school climate and teacher expectations, and led to the discovery that these participants seemed to have positive interactions with their school counselors, however "their general perception of teachers and administrators seemed slightly negative in regard to fairness and expectation" (p. 454).

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By working with students on academic skills, school counselors are able to use groups to increase academic achievement. Berger (2013) found that after a group on self efficacy and academic skills student achievement outcome goals moved in the positive direction. The results of the pre-and post- assessments showed that grade point average increased, behavior referrals decreased, and unexcused absences decreased for the students who participated in the group. The study revealed that by working with a diverse population of underachieving students during their early high school years, they were able to quickly show improvement. In a study assessing factors influencing high school dropout, Nield, Stoner-Eby, and Furstenberg (2008) found that failing a class during the ninth grade year was the largest predictor for a student leaving high school (p. 558). Through working with students during the early high school years, school counselors are able to increase student performance and prevent future dropout. For students that have participated in small group interventions, this increased academic performance can be long-term and sustain throughout high school (Kayler & Sherman, 2009).

A student's potential for success can also be affected by personal belief systems and other external factors. Counselors must help students build education as part of their value system. This can be accomplished through group counseling that focuses on students' individual academic attributes and beliefs (Lemon & Watson, 2011). School counselors also have an integral role in establishing an inclusive school climate. An inviting school climate can help promote the value of education. In this case, school climate encompasses the way in which students perceive their ability to be accepted by teachers, staff members, and peers (Bruce et al., 2009). Small group counseling can help these students develop a sense of inclusiveness and a connection to the larger school community. This improved attitude towards school climate and

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