TPC-Journal-V4-Issue5

541 The Professional Counselor Volume 4, Issue 5, Pages 541–552 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2014 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi:10.15241/ev.4.5.541 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. Elizabeth Villares Kimberly Colvin John Carey Linda Webb Greg Brigman Karen Harrington Convergent and Divergent Validity of the Student Engagement in School Success Skills Survey This study examines the convergent validity and divergent validity of the Student Engagement in School Success Skills (SESSS) survey. The SESSS is easy to administer (it takes fewer than 15 minutes to complete) and is used in schools to provide educators with useful information about students’ use of skills and strategies related to school success. A total of 4,342 fifth graders completed the SESSS; the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) Cognitive Strategy Use, Self-Regulation, Self-Efficacy and Test Anxiety subscales; and the Self-Efficacy for Self-Regulated Learning (SESRL). The three subscales of the SESSS (Self-Direction of Learning, Support of Classmates’ Learning and Self-Regulation of Arousal) correlated highly with the MSLQ Cognitive Strategy Use and Self-Regulation subscales, moderately correlated with the Self-Efficacy subscale and the SESRL, and did not correlate with the MSLQ Test Anxiety subscale . Future research is needed to use the SESSS subscales as discriminable dimensions. Keywords : school success, convergent validity, divergent validity, Student Engagement in School Success Skills survey, educators For more than a decade, researchers have placed increased emphasis on evidence-based practice and a programmatic approach to school counseling (Carey, 2004; Green & Keys, 2001; Gysbers, 2004; Lapan, 2005; Myrick, 2003; Paisley & Hayes, 2003; Whiston, 2002, 2011). This emphasis from the school counseling profession reflects national initiatives. In 2001, the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, was established to determine, through rigorous and relevant research, what interventions are effective and ineffective for improving student achievement and education outcomes. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), an initiative of the Institute of Education Sciences, was created in 2002 to identify studies that provide credible and reliable evidence of the effectiveness of education interventions. The purpose of WWC is to inform researchers, educators and policymakers of interventions designed to improve student outcomes. The American School Counselor Association’s (ASCA, 2005) response to emerging national policy and initiatives included a call for school counselor-led interventions that contribute to increased student achievement as part of a comprehensive school counseling program. The need for more research to identify evidence-based