TPC Journal V8, Issue 2 - FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 8, Issue 2 163 Procedure Customized interventions framework. The independent variables were the customized interventions for each participant. The customized intervention framework was entitled Students That Are Achieving Success (S.T.A.R.S). Explicating the foundations of the customized intervention process is necessary for establishing the fidelity of the treatment (Hott et al., 2015). All three customized interventions were embedded in a single conceptual framework. The conceptual framework was based on an integration of tenets of social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994), cognitive information processing (CIP; Peterson, Sampson, Lenz & Reardon, 2002), and the American School Counselor Association’s National Model (ASCA; 2012). The SCCT (Lent et al., 1994) is a useful instrument for researchers wishing to stress the importance of addressing external factors that influence career self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations. Therefore, the interventions were designed to identify external barriers for each participant and attempt to introduce ways to overcome them. The CIP (Peterson et al., 2002) was designed to help individuals understand the content and process of career decision-making and problem solving. The ILP component of the CIP framework was used during the initial meeting with each participant to identify at least three goals and establish mutually agreed-upon action steps. A focus on helping participants establish personal academic, career, and social goals; develop future plans; and monitor their learning aligned with the individual student planning component of the ASCA National Model. Specific customizing strategies for each participant. Activities listed on the ILPs reflected the participants’ postsecondary education and career-related needs based on CCRSI (Baker & Parikh Foxx, 2012) scores acquired a week prior to the initial meetings. The counselor and each participant identified the desired activities and related outcomes, estimated time needed to complete activities, matched activities and goals, and prioritized the activities. CCRSI (Baker & Parikh Foxx, 2012) pre- treatment factor scores for each participant were used in the customizing process. Rose’s customized goals. The pre-treatment CCRSI scores for Rose indicated that she needed assistance in believing in her academic competence and potential to achieve future goals. She already knew she would attend a community college; however, she had difficulty meeting academic expectations while in high school. Consequently, she wanted to explore strategies to help her improve academically and be eligible for admission to the community college. Not knowing what her major would be or how she would pay for college seemed to be interfering with her future goals. Her customized goals were exploring: (a) ways to improve her academic performance, (b) potential academic majors, and (c) ways to pay for college. Janelle’s customized goals. The pre-treatment CCRSI scores for Janelle indicated that she needed assistance with believing in her academic competence and potential to achieve future goals. As a high school sophomore with no family focus on higher education, Janelle was uninformed about postsecondary education. She indicated that her time-management skills related to academic work were deficient. Consequently, her customized goals were: (a) understanding the college application and admission process, ways to receive financial aid, requirements for academic success in college, and cultural differences between high school and college; (b) exploring college majors and career choices; (c) learning to set short- and long-term goals; and (d) improving her time-management skills. Kara’s customized goals. The pre-treatment CCRSI scores for Kara indicated that she needed assistance with believing in her academic competence and potential to achieve future goals. Although planning to attend college after graduation, Kara was struggling to maintain academic motivation while balancing academic and extracurricular activities. She also experienced doubts about future