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Bring Out the Brilliance: a Counseling Intervention for Underachieving Students

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... Additionally, school counseling meta-analyses have revealed small group counseling interventions can have larger effects on student achievement and behavior than individual counseling (Whiston & Quinby, 2009;Whiston et al., 2011). Other scholars have suggested group work is an effective approach for meeting at-risk students needs especially given the high student to school counselor ratios (Bemak et al., 2005), and provided support for the effective of small group work to promoting academic and social skills development (Berger, 2013;Bruce et al., 2009;Kayler & Sherman, 2009;Rose & Steen, 2014). This study evaluates the effectiveness of the school counselor-led, Student Success Skills group counseling (SSSGC) intervention as a method to reduce the high school dropout rate among a sample of first-year high school students. ...
... Small group counseling is an effective way to promote student academic and social skills (Bemak et al., 2005;Berger, 2013;Bruce et al., 2009;Kayler & Sherman, 2009;Rose & Steen, 2014;Whiston & Quinby, 2009;Whiston et al., 2011). This study addressed the need for more evidence-based school counseling interventions related to improving academic and behavioral performance (Dimmitt et al., 2005;Villares et al., 2017;Zyromski et al., 2018). ...
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The focus of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Student Success Skills group counseling (SSSGC) intervention with grade 9 students identified as at risk to dropout. This study analyzed two years of non-identifiable student data (N = 167) collected by school counselors at one high school in south Florida. An analysis of covariance was used to determine differences in academic grades, standardized test scores, and absences between the students who participated in the SSSGC program those who did not. Statistically significant differences were found for all dependent variables. Implications and future research recommendations are provided.
... For example, high school counselors may see that groups of students are struggling academically and are less engaged in the classroom (as indicated by needs assessment and school-level data). As such, the school counselor may choose to implement the evidence-based group counseling program such as Bring out the Brilliance (Berger, 2013), which addresses and improves skills for students identified as underachievers. This particular intervention is an eight-session group counseling curriculum guided by the literature regarding underachievement and achievement models, which has been shown to improve organization, motivation, and time management for students (Berger, 2013). ...
... As such, the school counselor may choose to implement the evidence-based group counseling program such as Bring out the Brilliance (Berger, 2013), which addresses and improves skills for students identified as underachievers. This particular intervention is an eight-session group counseling curriculum guided by the literature regarding underachievement and achievement models, which has been shown to improve organization, motivation, and time management for students (Berger, 2013). ...
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Much attention has been paid to administrators and teachers in turnaround schools; however, little focus, if any, is given to school counselors and the vital role that they play in improving student outcomes. In turnaround schools, it is critical that all school personnel are involved in improving school outcomes, such as academic achievement and graduation rates, in the lowest performing high schools in the United States. The authors highlight the critical role that school counselors play in turnaround schools and offer specific recommendations on how they may collaborate with other stakeholders to improve student achievement in such school settings.
... Achieving satisfactory outcomes depends on skill development, effective time management and stress management. A group of 1,300 students from three schools in Florida participated in a study aimed at assessing their learning strategies, after which they reported that the School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI) had helped them realize the importance of setting goals and thinking about their future career orientation [58]. ...
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Introduction: Specialized studies mention that extracurricular activities (including dance) contribute to the stimulation of multiple intelligences, on whose development the educational process and academic success depend. The aims of the study were to investigate the benefits of dancesport for the development of institutionalized children's learning strategies, and to examine gender-dependent differences in learning strategies, as well as to formulate possible recommendations regarding the practice of dance at the age of preadolescence, from the perspective of school success vectors. Methods: Through the School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI), we could observe the changes produced in children from the initial phase to the final assessment at the end of a dancesport program. The intervention took place over a period of six months with a frequency of two lessons per week, with each lesson lasting 60 min, and aimed to increase school motivation and performance, considering the learning strategies used by institutionalized children. Thirty institutionalized children, aged 11-12 years old, participated in the research, during which they did not engage in other extracurricular physical activities. The preadolescents were assessed using the School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI). This self-report rating scale measures nine areas associated with learning strategies, six of which focus on student strengths (study strategies, note-taking/listening skills, reading/comprehension strategies, writing/research skills, test-taking strategies, and time management/organization techniques), and three are aimed at student liabilities (low academic motivation, test anxiety, and concentration/attention difficulties). Results: The results show that the biggest improvements in the case of institutionalized children were recorded for study strategies, effectiveness of test-taking strategies, and concentration difficulties. Girls registered significantly better results than boys only in the case of study strategies and for writing/research skills (Mann-Whitney test was used). Discussion: The study demonstrates the benefits of dancesport practice for the development of institutionalized children's learning strategies, creating a foundation for the improvement of their academic performance and school integration. Conclusions: At the end of the dance program, significant improvements in academic interest were observed due to the testing strategies used. Better results were also obtained for the scales of anxiety and difficulty concentrating during tests, where average scores decreased significantly.
... There is a dearth of empirical evidence regarding growth mindset benefits and school counselors. Interventions conducted by school counselors have been shown to positively impact time management skills, organization skills, and motivation (Berger, 2013); improve study behaviors (Kayler & Sherman, 2009); and reduce the achievement gap between Black and White students (Bruce, Getch, & Ziomek-Daigle, 2009). But none show the impact of a GMI. ...
Article
Developing a growth mindset has been shown to improve academic performance. The goal of this practitioner research study was to help urban high school students (N = 69) challenged by poor grades, poor attendance, and poor graduation rates change their beliefs about their own potential. Results indicated that the intervention increased growth mindset scores of students in the treatment group but did not improve core grade point average. The authors discuss implications for school counseling practice and recommendations for future research.
... The majority of the interviews averaged approximately 20 minutes, in which participants were given the opportunity to exhaust their description of school counselorteacher consultation. With regard to interview length, thematic analysis is a flexible approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006) that has been used in a range of school counseling-related studies, including with brief interviews of 10-20 minutes in length (Davis, Pereira, & Dixon, 2015), for open-ended survey questions (Berger, 2013), and for high school seniors' essays (Ohrt, Limberg, Bordonada, Griffith, & Sherrell, 2016). Similarly, according to Kvale (2007), qualitative interview length depends on the topic and purpose of the interview, and there is no appropriate or ideal interview form: "if one knows what to ask for, why one is asking, and how to ask, one can conduct short interviews that are rich in meaning" (p. ...
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School counselor–teacher consultation is an efficient strategy for school counselors to indirectly serve students on their caseload. Teachers' perceptions are crucial in examining this consultation process. This qualitative study examined elementary school teachers' perceptions and experiences of school counselor–teacher consultation. The researchers identified three themes: (a) school counselors prioritizing relationships, (b) school counselors taking initiative, and (c) school counselors' specialization. The researchers discuss implications for school counseling practice, including strategies for facilitating consultation with teachers.
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This is the second in a series of two studies examining the impact of the True Goals (TG) school counseling curriculum on important constructs related to school success for students in elementary, middle, and high school. In this study, TG was implemented as a small-group intervention with 47 students in grades 9–12 across two schools and two school districts in the Southwest region of the United States. We used a waitlist control design with randomized assignment to intervention and control groups to assess the impact of the TG small-group intervention on students’ (a) academic self-efficacy and (b) social self-efficacy. Results showed a significant difference between the intervention and control groups on post-intervention scores regarding social self-efficacy, with moderate effect size. We offer implications for high school counselors' use of the TG curriculum to increase social self-efficacy of students. Please refer to the first study for information on the impact of TG within a sample of elementary and middle school students.
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[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 103(2) of Journal of Educational Psychology (see record 2011-10421-007). In Figure 5, the eight curves, corresponding to the 8 different subsamples, are represented with the same symbol (i.e., empty squares). The original figure, as included in the accepted manuscript, represents each subsample with a different symbol. The correct figure is presented in the correction.] Early identification of risk can support interventions to prevent academic failure. This study investigated patterns of evolution in achievement trajectories for 1,522 high school students in relation to initial achievement, student motivation, and key demographic characteristics. Growth mixture modeling identified 2 classes of longitudinal achievement patterns representing different trajectories toward leaving school either with or without qualifications. Negative motivation patterns on the factors Doing My Best and Doing Just Enough combined with initial student achievement were predictive of underachievement across the final 3 years of senior secondary school. These findings provide empirical support for the use of a simple motivation measure that can enhance identification of risk for school failure and inform interventions for different risk patterns. Boys who were not from the majority culture and who attended large schools in middle socioeconomic status communities were more likely to be on a trajectory for school failure than were girls, majority culture students, and boys in either low- or high-income school communities. Future research is needed to investigate the possibility of increased student risk in large, middle-income schools that may lack the kinds of resources and student supports available in high- and low-income schools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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