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A CASE STUDY on ATTRIBUTION RETRAINING and SELF-EFFICACY in a HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING SETTING Heather Laurel Pickett Northern Michigan University

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A CASE STUDY on ATTRIBUTION RETRAINING and SELF-EFFICACY in a HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING SETTING Heather Laurel Pickett Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University NMU Commons All NMU Master's Theses Student Works 2008 A CASE STUDY ON ATTRIBUTION RETRAINING AND SELF-EFFICACY IN A HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING SETTING Heather Laurel Pickett Northern Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.nmu.edu/theses Recommended Citation Pickett, Heather Laurel, "A CASE STUDY ON ATTRIBUTION RETRAINING AND SELF-EFFICACY IN A HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING SETTING" (2008). All NMU Master's Theses. 486. https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/486 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at NMU Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in All NMU Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of NMU Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. A CASE STUDY ON ATTRIBUTION RETRAINING AND SELF-EFFICACY IN A HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING SETTING By Heather Laurel Pickett THESIS Submitted To Northern Michigan University In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Graduate Studies Office 2008 SIGNATURE APPROVAL FORM This thesis by Heather L. Pickett is recommended for your approval by the student’s thesis committee in the Department of Education and by the Dean of Graduate Studies. ____________________________________________________________________ Committee Chair: Judith M. Puncochar, Ph. D. Date ____________________________________________________________________ First Reader: Derek L. Anderson, Ed. D. Date ____________________________________________________________________ Second Reader: Maya G. Sen, Ph. D. Date ____________________________________________________________________ Department Head: Rodney H. Clarken Date ____________________________________________________________________ Dean of Graduate Studies: Cynthia A. Prosen, Ph. D. Date OLSON LIBRARY NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY THESIS DATA FORM In order to catalog your thesis properly and enter a record in the OCLC international bibliographic data base, Olson Library must have the following required information in order to distinguish you from others with the same or similar names and to provide appropriate subject access for other researchers. Heather Laurel Pickett, March 1, 1981 ABSTRACT A CASE STUDY ON ATTRIBUTION RETRAINING AND SELF-EFFICACY IN A HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELING SETTING By Heather Laurel Pickett This case study is an investigation of the effects of attribution retraining on perceived academic self-efficacy of a high school student. The study took place over a period of four weeks, with the first week dedicated to gathering baseline data on the student’s attributions for academic success and failure. The following three weeks consisted of attribution retraining efforts. The student’s attributions were assessed before and after attribution retraining using the cognitive domain of Connell’s (1985) Multidimensional Measure of Children’s Perceptions of Control. Interview questions regarding perceived self-efficacy were used to determine change in attributions for successes and failures. After three weeks of attribution retraining, attributions were not found to change substantially as measured by homework completion, verbal attributions, and survey results. The responses on the posttest survey revealed the student seemed to be moving in the right direction as did some homework completion rates and assessment pass rates. Results were inconclusive but encouraging. Implications for future research are discussed. i Copyright by Heather Laurel Pickett 2008 ii DEDICATION To Mark and to my parents for all their love and support. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to thank Dr. Judith Puncochar for her patience and encouragement, and Dr. Derek Anderson and Dr. Maya Sen for their support. This thesis follows the format prescribed by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables……………………………………………………………………….……vii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………...viii Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter I. Literature Review…………………………………………………………….…3 Attribution Theory.......................................................................................3 Attribution Retraining……………………………………………………..9 Self-Efficacy..............................................................................................11 Relationship of Attribution Theory and Self-Efficacy……….………….15 Research Hypotheses………………………………….…………………16 II. Methodology……………………………………………….…………………17 Research Design………………………………………….………………17 Case Study Student…………………………………….………………...18 Role of Counselor..………………………………………………………18 Materials and Procedures………………………………………………..19 Connell's Cognitive Domain Scale………………………….…...19 Baseline attributions……………………………………………..21 Case study student attributions……….……………………….…22 III. Results…………………………………………………………….………….25 Case Study Student………………………………………………………25 Baseline attributions …………………………………………….27 Student Attributions during Attribution Retraining Efforts……...27 v Homework and Assessments…………………………………….………30 Connell's Cognitive Domain Scale………….…………………………...33 IV. Discussion………..……………………………………………….…………34 V. Conclusion………….……………………………………….………………..38 Strengths of Research…………………………………………………....38 Limitations.………………………………………………………………39 Implications………………………………………………………………40 References………………………………………………………………………………..42 Appendices………………………………………………………………………….……47 Baseline Data Collections………….………………………………………….…47 Attribution Retraining Questions…………..……………………………………48 Semester Grades…….……………………………………………………………49 Pretest and Posttest………………………………………………………………57 Informed Consent…...………………………………………………...………….59 HSRRC Approval Form………………………………………………………….60 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Pretest and Posttest……………………………………………………………..20 Table 2. MEAP proficiency scores………………………………………………………26 Table 3. Homework completion rates and assessment pass rates………………………..32 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Attribution taxonomy …………………...……………..……….………………7 Figure 2: Connell’s attributions………………………..……...……...………...…………8 Figure 3: Attribution retraining timeline……………………………………...………….23 viii INTRODUCTION Following a national trend, the Michigan school system has undergone major changes in the last few years. Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) along with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) standards have made attaining a diploma a much more serious endeavor for many youth. At the same time, according to the United States Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, our nation’s relatively high dropout rate has been called “America’s Silent Epidemic”. Spelling’s speech at America’s Promise Alliance Dropout Prevention Campaign convention highlighted high dropout rates in urban areas and among minority students (U. S. Department of Education, 2008). Reportedly, some urban districts graduated a staggeringly low 25 % to 35 % of their students. Across the nation, only half of African American and Hispanic students graduate from high school. Confounding these statistics are the diverse standards by which students are considered dropouts, which lends this problem its name of “The Silent Epidemic” (U. S. Department of Education, 2008). National graduation rates for 2000/2001, 2001/2002, 2002/2003, and 2003/2004 were 71.7 %, 72.6 %, 73.9 %, and 74.3 % respectively, according to the United States Department of Education Condition of Education report (Laird, DeBell, Kienzl,& Chapman, 2006). Graduation rates for the State of Michigan for the same years were 75.4 %, 72.9 %, 74.0 %, and 72.5 % (Laird, et al.). With dropout rates already a problem early in the decade, tougher graduation requirements implemented in recent years could worsen the situation. New standards require Michigan students to complete four years of math and English, and three 1 years of science and social studies in order to graduate. Given the more stringent requirements, one might expect school dropout rates to increase. School districts must rise to the occasion by providing students who are challenged by the new college preparatory curriculum with the help they need. Districts risk loss of funding if they fail to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) according to NCLB. Educators must find new ways to bolster the confidence and motivation of students struggling to graduate. One construct that has consistently been shown to correlate with success is self-efficacy (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 1996). This concept, developed by Bandura (1977), has to do with the extent to which an individual thinks he or she is capable of success. Another important construct is that of attribution theory developed by Weiner (1985). Attribution theorists seek to answer the question “to what does this person attribute her or his successes and failures”, the answer being a person’s causal attributions. Connell's Multidimensional Measure of Children’s Perception of Control (1985) is used to assess changes in attributions. The purpose of the following discourse is to explore how attribution retraining might be a useful tool for school counselors to boost the self-efficacy and motivation of students and contribute to their continued success in high school. 2 CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW Both Attribution theory and Self-efficacy theory have played important roles in educational research on motivation. Human motivation is at the heart of Weiner’s (1979) attribution theory and has been influential in the field of psychology. Weiner’s work points to causal attributions as the root explanation of motivation and emotion. Attribution Theory Attribution
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