A.C.E.Achieve-Courage-Enrich

Mimi Vo and Christina Miller

Middle School ● SL, CA

● Population: 87,965 (United States Census Bureau, 2013)

● 921 Students at Middle School

● Demographics

○ 453 Hispanic or Latino of Any Race (49.2%)

○ 1 American Indian or Alaska Native (0.1%)

○ 76 Asian (8.3%)

○ 13 Pacific Islander (1.4%)

○ 36 Filipino (3.9%)

○ 195 African American (21.2%)

○ 118 White (12.8%)

○ 28 Two or More Races, Not Hispanic (3%)

○ 1 Not Reported (0.1%)

* 162 English Learners (17.6%)

* 638 Economically Disadvantaged (69.3%)(California Department of Education, 2013)

Ecological Context

High School● F, CA

● Population: 220,000

● 1,989 Students at High School

● Demographics:

o 229 Hispanic or Latino of Any Race (11.7%)

o 6 American Indian or Alaska Native (0.3%)

o 1,002 Asian (51.1%)

o 18 Pacific Islander (0.9%)

o 216 Filipino (11%)

o 114 African American (5.8%)

o 351 White (17.9%)

o 25 Two or More Races, Not Hispanic (1.3%)

* 157 English Learners (8.0%)

* 433 Economically Disadvantaged (22.1%)(California Department of Education, 2013)

Ecological Context

● Evidence links self-efficacy to counseling goals.

● Bandura (1997) found that self-efficacy has been shown to play

significant roles in:

○ Health-related processes and outcomes (e.g., autonomic activity and

pain regulation)

○ Behavioral effects (e.g., changes in diet and exercise and reductions

to substance abuse)

○ Self-regulation and other psychological factors (as cited in Harris, Thoresen, &

Lopez, 2007).

○ Overall life satisfaction (Danielsen, Samdal, Hetland, & Wold, 2010)

Literature

● A person with higher self-efficacy for a task will:

○ Exert more energy

○ Persist longer at the task

○ Acquire more knowledge and skills related to the task

(Harris, Thoresen, &Lopez, 2007).

● Individuals who develop a resilient sense of self-efficacy during

adolescence are better able to withstand the normal challenges of

development and are well positioned for learning into adulthood. (Meece &

Schunk, 2006, p. 90).

● Possibility that the growth and maintenance of positive characteristics and

behaviors may attribute to the absence of negative characteristics and

behaviors (Harris, Thoresen, &Lopez, 2007, p. 4).

Literature (cont.)

● Administrators (e.g., Vice Principal, RC facilitators) helped identify challenges

○ High office referral rate for male students

○ Conversations with students with referrals suggested low perceptions of self-

efficacy

● Self-Efficacy: An individual’s perception that they are able to solve current

problems and similar problems they encounter in the future

● Students with referrals not receiving necessary supports

● Vice Principal at Middle School ran boys’ after-school club in the past and

appeared to help build interpersonal relationships, increase confidence and

motivation for goal achievement, and reduce disruptive behaviors

● High School Counseling Department expressed the desire for a boys group. There

had not been one in the past two years, so they felt that it would be beneficial for

their male students.

Initiating Conversations and Identifying

Challenges

● Identified willing, engaged, and passionate male co-facilitator

● Discussed goals for the intervention

● Researchers collaborated with administrators, co-facilitators, and each

other to identify session topics and possible strategies for intervention

● Researchers solidified curriculum to be used for intervention

Engaged Inquiry

● Identified students with high referral rates

● With help from administration, narrowed down selected students to those

who might work well/participate in groups

● High School A.C.E. participants:

o 9 participants

2 Juniors

6 Freshmen

● Middle School A.C.E. participants:

o 4 participants

2 Eighth graders

2 Seventh graders

Participants

● Pre- and post-test to assess their perceptions of self-efficacy.

● Both groups were given the same questionnaire, however, the title was

modified for the high school participants.

○ “Self-Efficacy Questionnaire” instead of “Self-Efficacy Questionnaire

for Children (SEQ-C)”

○ Total self-efficacy score obtained by summing academic, social, and

emotional self-efficacy scores

● Sample Questions:○ How well can you express your opinions when other classmates disagree with

you?

○ How well can you control your feelings?

○ How well do you succeed in not worrying about things that might happen?

(Muris, 2001)

Self-Efficacy Survey

● Week 1: Introduction/ Pre-Intervention Self-Efficacy Survey

● Week 2: Visualizing Goals

● Week 3: Building a Sense-of-Self

● Week 4: S.M.A.R.T. Goals (Simply Outrageous Youth)

● Week 5: Long-Term and Short-Term Goals (Work Sheet Place)

● Week 6: Goal Planning

● Week 7: Recognizing Emotions

● Week 8: Expressing Emotions

● Week 9: Appropriate Problem-Solving

● Week 10: Goal Revisit and Self-Reflection

● Week 11: “Graduation” and Party

Intervention

● Help male students increase confidence, self-efficacy, and perceptions of

competence

● Provide male students with a safe place/group

● Improve students’ sense of belonging

● Assess the impact of psycho-educational groups activities on reducing

behavioral referrals for male students in grades 6-11

Our Goals

• Significant increase in overall self-efficacy scores at the 0.05 level for the

high school group- No significant findings for the middle school group

• Significant decrease in referral rates at the 0.05 level for the high school group

- No significant findings for the middle school group

● What’s next?:o Continue implementing the intervention to male students in middle

and high school and collecting data

o Compare the group data (SEQ-C pre- and post- measures and referral

rates) to a control group to assess whether the increases in self-

efficacy and decreases in referral rates are due to the intervention

Results?

California Department of Education. (2013). DataQuest [Data file]. Retrieved from

http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/SearchName.asp?rbTimeFrame=oneyear&rYear=2013-

14&cName=bancroft+middle&Topic=Enrollment&Level=School&submit1=Submit

Danielsen, A.G., Samdal, O., Hetland, J., and Wold, B. (2010). School-related social support and students’ perceived life

satisfaction. The Journal of Educational Research, 102(4), 303-320. Retrieved from

http://www.tandfonline.com.proxylib.csueastbay.edu/doi/pdf/10.3200/JOER.102.4.303-320

Harris, A. H. S., Thoresen, C. E., and Lopez, S. J. (2007). Integrating positive psychology into counseling: Why and (when

appropriate) how. Journal of Counseling & Development, 85(1), 3-13. Retrieved from

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxylib.csueastbay.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=129d33c5-91b3-4ef9-92fa-

c9def6c50a14%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=123

Muris, P. (2001). A brief questionnaire for measuring self-efficacy in youths. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral

Assessment, 23, 145-149

Schunk, D. H. and Meece, J.L.(2006) Self-efficacy development in adolescences. Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Adolescents. Greenwich,

CT: IAP - Information Age Pub., 71-96. Print.

Simply Outrageous Youth. S.M.A.R.T. Goals [PDF Document]. Retrieved from Simply Outrageous Youth Online Web site:

http://www.simplyoutrageousyouth.net/sitebuilder/files/GoalsActivity.pdf

United States Census Bureau. (2013). San leandro (city), california [Data file]. Retrieved from

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/0668084.html

Work Sheet Place. Short and Long Term Goals [PDF Document]. Retrieved from

http://worksheetplace.com/mf/Short-and-Long-Term-Goals.pdf

References