School counseling is quickly expanding internationally. The implementation of school counseling reflects various organizational structures, depending on the country, region, and emphasis on an systemic approach versus a clinical mental health approach. No matter the systemic organization of school counseling as a profession, implementation of evidence-based interventions provides a strong foundation for positively impacting student outcomes. However, in many countries, a lack of evidence-based interventions exists. This presentation will introduce one evidence-based school counseling intervention validated in the United States, the Student Success Skills (SSS) Curriculum, and provides one example of how to evaluate the impact of the SSS intervention.

This project analyzed the connection between the success of the Student Success Skills (SSS) curriculum, currently being implemented as a normal part of the educational day of students around the United States and the meta-cognition functioning of the students (as assessed by the Junior Meta-Cognition instrument). The SSS is an evidence-based school counseling intervention currently delivered to all students in each of the schools used in this study.  However, each of the schools implemented SSS with various levels of fidelity.  The success and impact of the SSS on student achievement is well documented, however, the relationship between the curriculum and meta-cognition of student is less clear.  This study, using the Junior Meta-Cognition Awareness Inventory (Jr. MAI; Sperling, Howard, Miller, & Murphy, 2002) and the Student Engagement in School Success Skills instrument (SESSS; 2014), assessed correlations between student success and scores on the two instruments. 

The intervention (the Student Success Skills Curriculum) has been in use in the region for over two years in various school districts as part of the normal educational experience and will continue to be used after the conclusion of this study.  In other regions of the United States, SSS has been used for a decade.  The evaluation instruments, the Jr. MAI and the SESSS, have been used in Colorado and Florida to assess the impact of the SSS intervention.  The total number of participants in the study was 4,862, with some enrollment fluctuations affecting the final number of completed instruments.  The participants were students between the ages of 11 and 19 years old, enrolled in Middle School, Junior High, or High School in five schools in the Midwest region of the United States.  The study used a double-camouflaged system to protect the identities of participants. 

This study both looks at:

(a) The impact of an existing intervention delivered in each of these schools normal educational setting – the Student Success Skills (SSS) curriculum – impacts academic achievement.  Demographic factors normally collected by each school district and reported to the public will be analyzed in the study as well.  These factors are non-identifiable to specific students. 

(b) The correlation between student scores on the Junior Meta-Cognition Awareness Inventory (Jr. MAI) and scores on the Student Engagement in School Success Skills Instrument (SESSS) will be analyzed and the relationship between the scores and student achievement will be explored. 

Outcomes from this study may help school counselors and other educational leaders learn strategies for monitoring student progress, strategies for identifying barriers to learning, and strategies to increase their understanding of factors affecting student behavior.  An analysis of the outcome data can inform future decisions regarding goals of the school counseling program and the school improvement plan.  How students’ meta-cognitions correlate to their attitudes and knowledge about learning, their self-regulation strategies, and their support of classmates can inform future intervention designs to positively impact student academic and personal/social development related to classroom learning and achievement.

Carey, J., Brigman, G., Webb, L., Villares, E., & Harrington, K. (2014). Development of an instrument to measure student use of academic success skills: An exploratory factor analysis. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 47, 171-180. Sperling, R.A., Howard, B.C., Miller, L.A., & Murphy, C. (2002). Measures of children's knowledge and regulation of cognition. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27, 51-79.