Ignite Presentation - 5 minutes International Positive Psychology Association 8th IPPA World Congress 2023

A Lone (wellbeing) Ranger in an American Public School: Supporting adolescent wellbeing and resilience using frameworks to select activities and measure outcomes. (#84)

Virginia U. Millar 1 2
  1. MAPP, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
  2. Undergrad Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (APOP), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Background: Public Schools today remain in the crosshairs of post-pandemic drops in student and faculty wellbeing, coupled with the remaining pressures to achieve satisfactory levels on standardized testing. While systemic solutions lag, grassroots initiatives by caring educators can make a difference. Combining well-being and academic performance assessments, this case study examined the impact of an after-school girls club, guided by an adolescent well-being framework and resilience competencies, in a low-income public middle school. 

 Aims: This presentation details the measurement process and activities of the club, grounded within an adolescent well-being model and resilience competencies, that may provide a useful design and evaluation plan for other educators and organizations. 

 Method: Students completed the EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well-being (Kern et al., 2014), and the school provided objective language arts and math scores. Over the course of the term, girls in the club participated in various positive activities, all coded for their well-being components. Assessments were repeated post term. 

Results: Well-being increased significantly more in club members (n = 28) than in non-member 8th graders (n = 61), and perseverance, connectedness, and overall well-being correlated significantly with better academic scores.  Additionally distribution of participant growth across the domains of the well-being model matched the distribution of the domains across the club's activities, highlighting the value of employing such a framework.

Conclusion: Such outcomes within a low-income public school setting point to the fact that well-being can be purposefully and inexpensively targeted and measured within public schools, and drives both student well-being and academic performance. While school systems grapple with choosing and funding appropriate programs, individual educators can support wellbeing at the grassroots level and contribute to the building evidence of its effectiveness in both the psychological and academic realms. 

 

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  • Please select up to 3 keywords from the following list to best describe your submission content: Education, Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth, Strengths