Proven Results with Success Highways

Success Highways has been utilized in numerous educational settings both nationally and internationally. ScholarCentric researchers are consistently involved with efficacy studies with a number of rigorous research institutions including Johns Hopkins University as part of its Talent Development Model, Howard University, and Mathematica as part of an AT&T Foundation Drop Out Initiative. The Success Highways line was awarded the highest rating from the National Drop Out Prevention Center and has been selected as an educational partner of America’s Promise Alliance.

In order to gauge program efficacy in the drop out prevention arena, researchers usually look at a program’s impact on graduation indicators including class performance (G.P.A.), percentage of classes passed or failed (especially in transition years), behavior, and attendance.

Below are summaries of completed studies linking the Success Highways intervention to improvements in graduation indicators. And, please reference Empirical Research and Underlying Research Framework for Success Highways for a more detailed report.

Milwaukee Public Schools (Conducted by University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee): A research team at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee was established to create a curriculum and assessment through applied resiliency methodology. Using a quasi-experimental, peer-reviewed research technique, the team was able to establish a correlation between students who learned resiliency skills using the Success Highways pedagogy with higher grades, higher attendance, and an increased rate of passed classes. First piloted in Milwaukee Public Schools, these results were then replicated in other schools with large free and reduced lunch populations (Solberg, 2002).

The pilot site, South Division High School in Milwaukee, was chosen because of their high Title I population, low attendance rates, retention, and achievement. The school used the program with a total of 215 students (grades 9-10). Results show that when students reported high levels of resilience, they also experienced higher GPAs, credits earned, and better attendance records. Additionally, since the introduction of the Success Highways program, South Division has experienced fewer discipline referrals and higher graduation rates (unpublished raw data).

Through their evaluations, the researchers found that students exposed to the Success Highways resiliency curriculum demonstrated better attendance, earned higher grades, earned more credits, and were more likely to graduate. Moreover, the more units students participated in, the higher their outcomes were; students exposed to two lessons had higher GPAs after two years than the average student. Students exposed to three or more lessons achieved even higher GPAs after two years (Solberg, 2000; Solberg, 2005, Solberg, Carlstrom, & Kowalchuk 2001).

Denver Public Schools (Conducted Internally With Continued Research from the University of Colorado at Denver):
A veteran user of Success Highways, Denver Public Schools (DPS) has included the program as a main component of its Ninth Grade Academy since 2006. To date, 6,000 students have used the program in 16 schools within the district. Denver’s Ninth Grade Academy aims to help ease the transitioning process for students entering high school in part by developing resiliency skills as a means of targeting achievement, engagement, and graduation.

In the 2007-08 school year, DPS collected academic data for approximately 900 participants of the Ninth Grade Academy as well as a comparison group comprised of approximately 700 students who were of similar academic proficiency, grade level, gender, race/ethnicity, and free and reduced lunch status.

The study found that students who participated in the Ninth Grade Academy outperformed the comparison group in overall grade point averages; additionally they were more likely to be passing all courses, held higher attendance records and lower tardy rates, and were less likely to be suspended or expelled. Furthermore, the Ninth Grade Academy students were significantly more likely to be both continuing enrollment and on track to graduate (Denver Public Schools, 2009).

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Scientific Foundation of Success Highways Resiliency Curriculum

Success Highways was developed by educational scientists in the University of Wisconsin Systems. Numerous past and current theoretical and empirical studies conducted in and out of the university setting support its efficacy.

What is the Link Between Resiliency Skills Addressed in Success Highways and Academic Growth/Failure?
“Resiliency” refers to the range of skills and cognitive templates that students must possess to effectively navigate school and life challenges (Masten, 2001; Masten, Best, & Garmezy, 1990). Although many risk factors lie outside a school’s scope of influence, Success Highways assists educators in helping their students develop the resiliency, or developmental assets, they need to ensure that these risk factors do not result in school failure. Success Highways focuses on helping students build the resiliency most consistently related to academic success and failure which include:

Goal Setting
Much has been written about the importance of goals. Most recently, Paul Baltes and his colleagues have conducted longitudinal research on this topic and have found that healthier life outcomes were related to individuals who engaged in three goal-setting strategies. These strategies form the title of the researchers’ SOC (selection, optimization, compensation) model. Individuals who had higher SOC ratings selected a few goals, optimized their opportunities to achieve those goals, and compensated by switching or modifying goals when faced with adversity. Individuals using these SOC strategies had better health and well-being at later phases of life (Baltes, 1997; Lerner, Freund, & De Stefanis, 2001). Success Highways helps students to begin selecting a future life course and then to break down long-term goals into specific short-term activities that must be performed. In this way, Success Highways looks at goal-setting as a resiliency characteristic because realizing one’s aspirations occurs when one is able to create a plan for achieving one’s goals and understand the importance of education in establishing the foundations for life success.

Confidence
In the science world, academic confidence (referred to as “self-efficacy”) is defined as the degree to which a student feels capable of successfully performing school-related tasks. Albert Bandura and his colleagues found that individuals who possess higher academic self-efficacy beliefs are more likely to persist when challenged with difficult academic material, perform better during tests, and perceive negative performance evaluations as challenges to overcome rather than threats to avoid. In part, Dr. Bandura created this construct of self-efficacy after studying how people were able to overcome a fear of snakes. What he found was that the more a person felt able to manage a situation, the longer they could stay in a room with a snake and the closer they could move toward the snake. Using the same concept, students who gain academic confidence are more likely to try difficult material and continue trying until they get it right (Bandura, 1997). Success Highways offers students both understanding about how increased confidence contributes to achieving success and specific methods for developing more confidence.
Connections
A tremendous amount of research links the quality of social support systems to development and health. Most notably, research has indicated that perceived availability of social support consistently provides health benefits during times of stress. One theory argues that during times of high stress, social support acts as a buffer to protect one from becoming ill. Another theory argues that social support enhances one’s overall health regardless of stress level. Although theories may differ as to why social support works, it is a fact that having quality social support is beneficial (Cohen & Wills, 1985). In Success Highways, there is an ongoing focus on the significance of support systems and on strategies for identifying and taking advantage of both formal and informal supports.

Stress
Noted psychology professor Stevan Hobfoll argued that stress can be understood as one’s ability to conserve emotional, psychological, and behavioral resources. For example, most of us can answer a telephone. Although we have the skills needed to answer the phone, there are times when receiving and answering one more phone call will drive us crazy. In other words, while one may possess the skills needed to perform the activity, stress is often about whether one has the emotional resources needed to perform the activity (Hobfoll, 1998). Research has consistently found a very strong correlation between academic self-efficacy–confidence – and academic stress. This means that individuals with stronger academic confidence have the resources they need to manage the pressures associated with performing academic-related tasks (Solberg, Gusavac, Hamann, Felch, et al., 1998; Torres & Solberg, 2001; Solberg & Villareal, 1997). Success Highways focuses on stress management as one of the resiliency skills students must acquire to effectively confront any academic or personal road blocks they find. As described in the previous section, Connections, the “enhancing” hypothesis argues that social support also offers resources to a person to reduce the amount of pressure that person experiences (Cohen & Wills,1985).

Well-Being
Many cumulative risk factors affect health and well-being. For youth living in lower-income communities, cumulative risk factors include access to healthcare during neonatal development, birth, and childhood; quality of housing; and level of community violence. Living in situations characterized by high cumulative risk can result in chronic stress and health concerns. Some implications of this include increased drug use, risky sexual activity, and school failure (Evans, 2004; McEwen, 1998). Success Highways helps students better understand their own well being and the importance of establishing a necessary balance between relationships, school, and health.

Motivation
The model of motivation espoused in Success Highways was drawn from Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory. In their model, motivation is divided into four types – two that are related to extrinsic motivation and two that are related to volitional, self-determined motivation. Extrinsic motivation refers to performing an activity because one feels forced to do it or because one is concerned with disappointing others; extrinsic motivation results in a person performing the activity in order to avoid sanctions or guilt. Self-determined motivation, on the other hand, involves choosing to perform the behavior because it is perceived as meaningful or enjoyable (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000).

Can a Student Learn Resiliency or Is It a Fixed Trait?

Resiliency skills can be taught and learned (Bernard, 2005). However, teaching those skills requires an approach rich in theories, human development and change. Success Highways utilizes the following theoretical approaches to build academic resiliency:

Developmental Systems Theory attempts to integrate theories of human development in a comprehensive manner and can be used as a tool in the educational setting, as it prescribes strategies for constructing academic environments geared towards promoting positive self-identity systems. Self-identity is critical; the research shows that dropping out of school can be an adaptive solution for students who feel inadequate and incapable.

Social Cognitive Theory stresses that academic outcomes are greatly affected by complex systems of interaction between people, environment, and behavior determinants. Large focus is placed on the two constructs self-efficacy and outcome expectations.

Diathesis-Stress Models address the moderating and mediating factors that can lead to the potentially debilitating role of high stress on a person’s well-being. Although school-related stress can play a motivating role, when students lack the necessary coping/management skills to deal with stress their immune systems and overall well-being can suffer.

Social Integration Theory emphasizes that when students feel connected to their teachers, peers, and learning environment, they are more likely to stay in school. “Success identities” are prevalent among students who feel as though they belong within their overall school environment (Solberg, Close, & Metz, 2002).

Download Promoting Success Pathways for Middle and High School Students for more information
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Validation of Success Highways Resiliency Assessment

Studies measuring the validity of the Success Highways resiliency skills assessment instruments were first conducted in 1998 and then revalidated in 2000 for use with urban precollege populations (Solberg, n/d). Now that the program has been used by over 25,000 students, a subsequent revalidation has been conducted at the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee in 2008 (Gillis & Sedivy, 2008).

Download the Technical Validation Study for Success Highways

A summary of the validation shows:

Measures for each of the six resiliency skills have been validated using a sample of 4,922 students from various high schools across the United States. Roughly 51% of the participants were male and 47% were female. Additionally, of the participants where race was reported, 1706 (41.7%) were White, 650 (15.9%) were African American/Black, 33 (.8%) were American Indian, 91 (2.2%) were Asian/Pacific Islander, 1224 (29.9%) were Hispanic and/or Latino/a, and 387 (9.5%) identified as Other or More than One. The free and reduced lunch percentage of students included in the study was 46.46%. 52% of students were middle school students (7-8 grade) and 48% were high school students (9-12 grade).

The results of the study found the overall reliability of the measures as follows:

Importance of Education: .915
Connections: .838
Well-Being: .941
Motivation: .815
Confidence: .884
Stress: .935

These numbers illustrate that each of the components within the assessment is accurately measuring resiliency as intended (Gillis & Sedivy, 2008).
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