Small-Group Investigation of the True Goals Curriculum with Elementary and Middle School Students: A Randomized Control Study
Martin, Ian; Choi, Jihyeon; Zyromski, Brett; Campos, Larissa; Mansheim, Selaina; Cunningham, Patrick D.; Callahan, Wendell (2022). Professional School Counseling, v26 n1 2022. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1360036
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examining43Students, grades4-8
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: October 2024
- Single Study Review (findings for True Goals (TG) Curriculum)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A) |
True Goals (TG) Curriculum vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
1.53 |
1.41 |
No |
-- | |
|
Researcher-developed Perceived Competence Scale - modified |
True Goals (TG) Curriculum vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
2.24 |
2.23 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Protective Factors Index (PFI) |
True Goals (TG) Curriculum vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
3.13 |
2.52 |
Yes |
|
|
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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5% English language learners -
Female: 28%
Male: 72% -
Race Black 2% Other or unknown 58% Two or more races 2% White 37% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 28% Not Hispanic or Latino 72% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in one elementary school and one middle school located within a school district in the southwestern United States.
Study sample
Forty-six students were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or comparison group. The analytic sample size included 43 students. Approximately 28% of the students were female, 5% were English learners, and 7% received special education supports. Two percent of the students were Black, 37% were White, 28% were Middle Eastern, and 2% were multiracial. Lastly, 28% were Hispanic or Latino.
Intervention Group
The True Goals intervention is a school counseling curriculum that covers 10 principles that focus on goal setting and helping students achieve their identified goals. In this study, individuals undergoing training to become school counselors provided the intervention to small groups of students. The lessons begin with asking students to identify their own goals, then asking students to write down their goals, assess their own goals, and revise and improve their goals over time. From there, the intervention focuses on helping students identify strategies to achieve their goals and teaching students about how internal motivation and external factors can influence whether they achieve their goals. Students also identify patterns in their goals. The intervention concludes with a celebration of what students have learned through the prior lessons. In this study, the counselors delivered the intervention through weekly sessions for 10 weeks, covering one principle per week. They combined principles 7 and 8 into one lesson, so the intervention in this study had 9 lessons. Each elementary school group session was typically 30 minutes, and each middle school session was typically 45 minutes.
Comparison Group
Students in the comparison group received business-as-usual classes during the fall semester, and after the study concluded, they received the True Goals curriculum in the spring semester.
Support for implementation
Two individuals undergoing training to become school counselors provided the intervention. Both people completed a 6-hour training on the curriculum and then met with the lead author for weekly debriefs throughout the study. Onsite school counselors also provided supervision to the two individuals delivering the intervention.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).