Volume_4_Issue_5_Digest

TPC D igest 93 Elizabeth Villares is an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University. Kimberly Colvin is an assistant professor at the University at Albany, SUNY. John Carey is a professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Linda Webb is a senior research associate at Florida State University. Greg Brigman, NCC, is a professor at Florida Atlantic University. Karen Harrington is assistant director at the Ronald H. Fredrickson Center for School Counseling Research and Evaluation at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Correspondence can be addressed to Elizabeth Villares, 5353 Parkside Drive, EC 202H, Jupiter, FL 33458, evillare@fau.edu. F or more than a decade, researches have placed increased emphasis on evidence- based practice and a programmatic approach to school counseling. National initiatives and legislation have emerged to address the need for more school counselor- led interventions that contribute to increased student achievement as part of a comprehensive school counseling program. However, school counseling outcome studies continue to report school counseling research limitations. Among the limitations are the conclusions that were drawn from studies based on nonstandardized outcome assessments as well as the lack of valid and reliable instruments to measure the skills, strategies and personal attributes associated with academic and social/relationship success. These limitations continue to hinder the school counseling profession, given the goal of establishing evidence-based interventions that link school counselor intervention to improved student outcomes. The Student Engagement in School Suc- cess Skills (SESSS) is a 33-item self-report instrument and takes fewer than 15 minutes to complete. The survey was developed to measure student use of the skills and strategies identi- fied as most critical for long-term school suc- cess. These critical skills and strategies include (a) cognitive and metacognitive, (b) social and (c) self-management skills. The importance of The Convergent and Divergent Validity of the Student Engagement in School Success Skills Survey – DIGEST Elizabeth Villares Kimberly Colvin John Carey Linda Webb Greg Brigman Karen Harrington