6 research outputs found
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How do Career Interventions Impact the Educational Choices of Eighth Grade Students?
McGannon and Lee present a brief overview and analysis of the article, The effect of three career interventions on the educational choices of eighth grade students, originally published in Professional School Counseilng. The authors present a summary of the key components of the article including the introduction, method and results of the study. They offer an additional analysis of implications for future practice, including a discussion of the impact school counselors can have on student achievement and college/career access as determined by information offered on course selection and consequence
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What Are the Expected Benefits Associated with Implementing a Comprehensive Guidance Program?
Carey, Bowers, and McGannon present a brief overview and analysis of the article, The impact of more fully implemented guidance programs on the school experiences of High School students: A statewide evaluation study, originally published in the Journal of Counseling and Development. The authors present a summary of the key components of the article including the introduction, method and results of the study. They offer an additional analysis of implications for future practice, including the positive outcomes that result from the implementation of a comprehensive school guidance curriculum
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The Current Status of School Counseling Outcome Research
Wendy McGannon has taken the lead in developing a review and analysis of The Current Status of School Counseling Outcome Research. Some basic information related to the NCLB mandates are reviewed in terms of how they impact the school counseling profession and counselor accountability. Types of research are described and a distinction is made between research and evaluation. Additionally, this paper includes a discussion of evidence-based practice and an explanation of how all of these topics are relevant to school counselors and school counseling programs at this time. This includes a brief history of the school counseling movement from the mental health model to Comprehensive Developmental Guidance, and then to the American School Counseling Association’s (ASCA) National Model and data-driven decision-making
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A Validity Study of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model Readiness Self-Assessment Instrument
School counseling has great potential to help students achieve to high standards in the academic, career, and personal/social aspects of their lives (House & Martin, 1998). With the advent of No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) the role of the school counselor is beginning to change. In response to the challenges and pressures to implement standards-based educational programs, the American School Counselor Association released “The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs” (ASCA, 2003). The ASCA National Model was designed with an increased focus on both accountability and the use of data to make decisions and to increase student achievement. It is intended to ensure that all students are served by the school counseling program by using student data to advocate for equity, to facilitate student improvement, and to provide strategies for closing the achievement gap. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to assess school districts\u27 readiness to implement the ASCA National Model. Data were gathered from 693 respondents of a web-based version of the ASCA National Model Readiness Self-Assessment Instrument. Confirmatory factor analysis did not support the structure of the 7-factor model. Exploratory factor analysis produced a 3-factor model which was supported by confirmatory factor analyses, after creating variable parcels within each of the three factors. Based on the item loadings within each factor, the factors were labeled in the following manner: factor one was labeled School Counselor Characteristics, factor two was labeled District Conditions and factor three was labeled School Counseling Program Supports. Cross-validation of this model with an independent data sample of 363 respondents to the ASCA Readiness Instrument provided additional evidence to support the three factor model. The results of these analyses will be used to give school districts more concise score report information about necessary changes to support implementation of the ASCA National Model. These results provide evidence to support the interpretation of the scores that will be obtained from the ASCA Readiness Instrument
Believability of messages about preventing breast cancer and heart disease through physical activity
Abstract Background The purpose of this research was to examine the relationships of self-reported physical activity to involvement with messages that discuss the prevention of heart disease and breast cancer through physical activity, the explicit believability of the messages, and agreement (or disagreement) with specific statements about the messages or disease beliefs in general. Methods A within subjects’ design was used. Participants (N = 96) read either a breast cancer or heart disease message first, then completed a corresponding task that measured agreement or disagreement and confidence in the agreement or disagreement that 1) physical activity ‘reduces risk/does not reduce risk’ of breast cancer or heart disease, 2) that breast cancer or heart disease is a ‘real/not real risk for me’, 3) that women who get breast cancer or heart disease are ‘like/not like me’, and 4) that women who get breast cancer or heart disease are ‘to blame/not to blame’. This task was followed by a questionnaire measuring message involvement and explicit believability. They then read the other disease messages and completed the corresponding agreement and confidence task and questionnaire measures. Lastly, participants completed a questionnaire measuring physical activity related attitudes and intentions, and demographics. Results There was no difference in message involvement or explicit believability of breast cancer compared to heart disease messages. Active participants had a higher confidence in their agreement that physical activity is preventive of heart disease compared to breast cancer. Multinomial regression models showed that, in addition to physical activity related attitudes and intentions, agreement that physical activity was preventive of heart disease and that women with heart disease are ‘like me’ were predictors of being more active compared to inactive. In the breast cancer model only attitudes and intentions predicted physical activity group. Conclusions Active women likely internalized messages about heart disease prevention through physical activity, making the prevention messages more readily available within memory, and active women may therefore process such information differently. The study of how health-related beliefs are created and are related to perceptions of prevention messages is a rich area of study that may contribute to more effective health promotion