A.C.E. Club intervention aimed to improve male adolescent students' perceptions of self-efficacy and decrease rates of office referrals.

1. A.C.E.
Achieve-Courage-Enrich
Mimi Vo and Christina Miller

2. 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

3. 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

4. ● 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

5. ● 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.)

6. ● 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

7. ● 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

8. ● 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

9. ● 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

11. ● 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

12. ● 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

13. • 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?

14. 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