TPC Journal V7, Issue 2 - FULL ISSUE

172 The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 2 The theoretical foundation for this research was an ecosystemic approach. This approach was chosen because it is important to look at all of the systems that support the youth, such as the school community, social community, family community and local community. The ecosystemic approach offers perspective on emotional and behavioral difficulties in schools by offering a particular analysis of the interactional patterns observable in social systems (Cooper & Upton, 1990; Wolf & Wolf, 2008). Ecosystemic theory takes into consideration all parts of the students’ systems and how these systems can assist students to have a successful transition to a traditional educational setting and high school experience. A smoother transition also may be promoted by empowering students. Empowerment Empowerment is a way people gain control over their lives through actively participating and focusing on their strengths and not their weaknesses, while embracing diversity and using the language that reflects empowerment ideals (Chinman & Linney, 1998). Empowerment is a cyclical process in which adolescents develop their identity variables, including self-efficacy, self-confidence, self-esteem and self-acceptance (Berger, 2011; Chinman & Linney, 1998). Students are given a sense of control through this process. Empowerment shapes how youth interact with their entire environment, including their school environment, while facilitating attitudes and motivation. The empowerment component of our intervention was based on the intervention program Empowerment Groups for Academic Success (EGAS; Bemak, Chung, & Siroskey-Sabdo, 2005). The EGAS intervention was initially used with African American female students who were referred because of extremely poor academic performance, behavior issues and a lack of desire to finish high school (Bemak, Chung, & Siroskey-Sabdo, 2005). The authors only retrieved qualitative data through taped interviews with students 6 months post-intervention and follow-up surveys at 1 year (Bemak et al., 2005; Berger, 2011). Empirical evaluations of the study were planned and approved, but because of administrative changes, researchers were prohibited from collecting empirical data. EGAS was initially designed for use with African American females (Bemak et al., 2005) and later adapted for use with African American middle school females (Hilton-Pitre, 2007). Weekly group sessions provided support throughout the school year in a format in which group members chose the discussion agenda and facilitators guided the discussion, while the overarching goal was academic success. Bemak and colleagues (2005) proposed to empower group participants by acknowledging their ability to evaluate their own needs and implement topics for discussion. EGAS was designed to encourage empowerment through the group process and move away from the psychoeducational format, with the goal of facilitating self-efficacy and empowerment (Bemak et al., 2005; Berger, 2011). The group was also aimed at improving attendance and academic performance. During the weekly EGAS group meetings, care was taken to make sure that the group session was not held within the same class period from the previous week. A university professor facilitated the group and the co-facilitator was a school counselor. The facilitator worked closely with the school counselor to implement the group process. The program used five graduate student interns to co-lead during the semester. Participants acknowledged improved school attendance, behavior and grades. They discussed that they were better able to communicate and had improved relationships at home. Prior to participating in EGAS, students believed they would not graduate from high school. Upon completion of the program, students expressed the desire to attend college. The intervention was conducted with a population demographically similar to the target population in this study with the exception that there were no male students. The intervention’s primary objective was to enhance student empowerment with the expected antecedent that empowered youth would self-correct academic and behavioral barriers to high school graduation