Since the 1960s, business leaders and educators used the idea of "goal setting theory" as a guide to success. Teachers who implemented goal setting strategies contributed to student success and achievement. During my study, I found little existing literature focused on academic goal setting implementation for students in Tennessee rural…

This study used the standard setting to establish cutscores for the fidelity of implementation of an evidence-based intervention, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) designed to enhance goal-directed actions in secondary students with and without disabilities. Cutscores were then applied to fidelity data from a large,…

This study used standards setting to establish cutscores for the fidelity of implementation of an evidence-based intervention, the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction, designed to enhance goal-directed actions in secondary students with and without disabilities. Cutscores were then applied to a fidelity data from a large, randomized…

We describe the conceptual framework and practitioner-based study outcomes of a school-based substance use prevention intervention focused on strengthening student commitment to their personal vision. This study found increases related to goal clarity and identification of a mentor following the intervention. We suggest implications for future…

People with disabilities consistently advocate for their right to be self-determined. Decades of research highlight the positive impacts of self-determination intervention on in-school and post-school outcomes of secondary students with disabilities. Increasingly, self-determination interventions are being implemented in inclusive contexts for…

Purpose: School improvement planning has been a central part of school improvement initiatives for decades. Evidence suggests, however, that traditional planning processes are regularly superficial. In the USA, some principals have begun developing short-cycle planning designed to encourage school leadership teams and staff to develop, monitor and…

COVID-19 disrupted schools across the country. Students and teachers were asked to work together virtually. During this virtual experience the students at Frederick County Middle School struggled to complete learning activities independently. An improvement science approach was used to investigate this problem. Through the improvement science…

Supporting college and career readiness among youth who encounter significant academic and life challenges requires innovative strategies to help them envision their futures, leverage their strengths and develop dispositions that promote positive trajectories. For youth development professionals who develop and implement novel programmatic…

The purpose of this study was to understand a school-based mentoring model that uses school staff as adult mentors. This study presents existing literature on school-based mentoring models along with a case study of one teen parent high school. The report also includes step-by-step guidance for implementation. At the case study school, all school…

This report focuses on a competency-based grading initiative at Carroll Middle School. The initiative was implemented from 2018-19 to 2020-21 to address the lack of alignment between report card grades and End-of-Grade (EOG) test results and was designed to ensure consistent delivery of standards-based instruction, formative assessment, and…

Using data for decision-making is critical for schoolwide leadership teams and has been shown to enhance both social and academic outcomes for students (Faria et al., 2017). Using data effectively, however, requires that teams have a clear vision about the type of data, format of data presentation, and process for using data. To avoid expending…

Extension youth development professionals benefit from having theoretically based, easy-to-use tools for promoting goal-setting behaviors in youths. The Youth Goal-Setting Map provides practitioners with a mechanism for helping youth develop attributes that place them on a pathway to thriving. This article provides the Youth Goal-Setting Map tool,…

Studies have documented widespread academic disengagement in middle and high school students. This disengagement has been tied to a myriad of negative outcomes, including failure to graduate from high school and transition into college and meaningful vocations. Supporting adolescents in cultivating a sense of beyond-the-self purpose is one factor…

College education is fundamental to students' upward mobility, states' economic growth, and the country's economic competitiveness. Researchers have forecast that 63 percent of future jobs will require a college degree, yet in the coming years the United States will likely produce 3 million fewer college graduates than are needed to fill workforce…

Ramp-Up to Readiness™ (Ramp-Up) is a program for middle and high school students that aims to provide greater depth and breadth of support for college readiness than do current supports. This study examined whether students' ACT Engage goal setting and commitment to college scale scores as well as the likelihood of key enrollment actions such as…