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ARTICLE 1:
Students' Perceptions of Factors that Contribute to Risk and Success in Accelerated High School Courses
Shaunessy-Dedrick, Elizabeth; Suldo, Shannon M; Roth, Rachel A; Fefer, Sarah A
The High School Journal
01-01-2015
In this qualitative study, we investigated 15 successful and 15 struggling high school students' perceived stressors, coping strategies, and intrapersonal and environmental factors that students perceive to influence their success in college-level courses. We found that students' primary sources of stress involved meeting numerous academic demands and seeking a balance between academic goals, social needs, and extracurricular activities. The most frequently described and commonly used coping responses viewed as effective involved time and task management, seeking temporary diversions, and cognitive reappraisal. Students perceived a strong work ethic and high achievement motivation as personal traits aligned with success, and support from a broad network of peers, parents, and teachers as environmental factors that are also related to optimal performance in rigorous accelerated high school programs.
Keywords: stress, coping, personal traits, environmental factors, International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement
Adolescence is a complex developmental period marked by hormonal changes, heightened social awareness, and a striving for independence (McNamara, 2000). The proliferation of rigorous high school coursework provided through Advanced Placement (AP) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (hereafter IBD) has prompted researchers to examine a range of issues specific to the adolescents in these curricula (i.e., Foust, Hertberg-Davis, & Callahan, 2008, 2009; Hertberg-Davis & Callahan, 2008; Shaunessy, Suldo, Hardesty, & Shaffer, 2006; Suldo & Shaunessy-Dedrick, 2013a). While completion of demanding high school courses increases the odds of college success (Adelman, 2006), students in AP and IBD classes have reported higher levels of perceived stress than their general education classmates (Suldo, Shaunessy, & Hardesty, 2008; Suldo & Shaunessy-Dedrick). Both IBD and general education students reported experiencing academic stressors; IBD students' stress pertained to academic requirements while general education students reported occasional academic struggles (Suldo, Shaunessy, Thalji, Michalowski, & Shaffer, 2009).
Although higher academic achievement often coincides with good mental health in the general population (Suldo, Gormley, DuPaul, & Anderson-Butcher, 2014), the stress incurred by AP and IBD students may offset some of the positive effects associated with high achievement. In previous studies involving AP and IBD learners, students reported deleterious social-emotional outcomes, such as sleep deprivation, cognitive withdrawal, self-isolation (Milburn, 2012), chronic fatigue (Foust et ah, 2009), and emotional distress (Suldo et al., 2009). Furthermore, Suldo et al. (2009) found an inverse correlation between IBD students' academic stressors and their life satisfaction, and positive correlations between academic stressors and mental health problems (both internalizing and externalizing symptoms). Given the established inverse relationship between stress and academic achievement among adolescents in the general population (Kaplan, Liu, & Kaplan, 2005) and among AP and IBD students (described above), rigorous academic coursework may pose "an elevated probability of an undesired outcome," also known as a risk factor (Masten, Cutuli, Herbers, & Reed, 2009, p. 119) to some students. The personal qualities and environmental features that explain why some students thrive can be conceptualized as assets or resources; protective factors may be similarly facilitative in general, but are particularly beneficial when in the presence of higher risk (Masten et al., 2009). As suggested in previous IBD research (Suldo, Shaunessy, Michalowski, & Shaffer, 2008), strategies IBD students use to cope with academic stressors may serve as protective factors. Additional information is needed to guide educators and researchers in understanding which factors beyond student coping may hinder or facilitate AP and IBD students' success.
In the current study, we explored the assets that students perceive as contributory in determining which AP/IBD students thrive academically and emotionally despite the stress encountered in their demanding academic context as well as the factors that place themselves and their peers at elevated risk for struggling in AP or IBD. Prior research with a related population-gifted students- indicated that numerous personal traits as well as environmental resources pertinent to home, school, and peer groups were associated with positive academic outcomes (Reis, Colbert, & Hébert, 2005). To set the stage for the factors likely to emerge in students' sentiments, the following literature review includes a description of the context for the population of the current study and more detail about possible assets, as informed by prior research on predictors of success among other youth populations.
Shaunessy-Dedrick, E., Suldo, S. M., Roth, R. A., & Fefer, S. A. (2015, January 01). Students' Perceptions of Factors that Contribute to Risk and Success in Accelerated High School Courses. High School Journal, (2), 109, Retrieved from http://elibrary.bigchalk.com
ARTICLE 2 :
Less Stress
Mullen, Laura
Leadership for Student Activities
05-01-2013
Advisers and student leaders can help others minimize stress.
You can see it in your classroom- one student bites his fingernails to the quick, another twirls her hair around her fingers, and another draws the same words or pictures on a notebook- obvious signs of stress. Middle school creates anxiety, and students feel stress about tests, social situations, competition, expectations, public speaking, and hormones. How can advisers and student organizations help students with stress?
I talked to several therapists working in adolescent practices and asked them to weigh in on the issue.
Help Them Relax
According to Jennifer Stevens, a licensed professional counselor in private practice in Allen, TX, "Some teenagers become overloaded with stress and they cant turn it off. When it becomes too much, it can lead to anxiety disorders, sleeping problems, eating disorders, depression, and alcohol and drug abuse." Humans are prewired to deal with a certain amount of stress. It keeps us alive, and can give us advantages like a competitive edge. You've heard of the fight or flight responseincreased heart rate, more blood to muscles, heightened senses, and a rush of adrenaline all in response to a perceived threat or danger. "If you are not in danger and are constantly dealing with these responses," Stevens said, "you will have physiological effects."
An adviser can do simple things to help students who are dealing with stress. (Bear in mind that students who suffer from anxiety and more severe symptoms need to seek professional help.)
Listen
"Sometimes a student just needs someone to listen to their problems," said Stevens, "and the act of talking out what is bothering them can be cathartic and can help them realize that the problem isn't as bad as it seems." Active listening requires that the listener make eye contact and stay optimistic. "You do not want to dismiss their worries as they are very real to the student," said Stevens. Ask questions that prompt the student to think about possible alternatives to his or her problem, and repeat the student's words so that he or she can hear how it sounds. Ensure that the conversation will be kept confidential to a certain degree. Stevens added, "It is important that the student know that you, as their adviser or teacher, will have the established ground rule that if the student is a danger to himself or others, you will have to break confidentiality"
Model Stress Management Skills
You can work with students as a whole to teach them ways to be more comfortable dealing with the stress in their lives as part of leadership training with your student organization.
Use square breathing. "One way to calm the panic is to teach students the simple technique of square breathing," said Stevens. Using this method as a guide to control their breathing and relaxing, a student would start in the bottom left hand corner of a square and breathe in as their eye travels up the side counting slowly to four. Then as their eye travels the top of the square from left to right, they hold their breath counting slowly to four. As they follow the square down from the upper right hand corner to the lower right hand corner they exhale slowly counting to four. The final step is to relax as your eye travels along the bottom from right to left doing the same one-to-four count. The process is repeated until the student feels calmer and more relaxed.
Rank your stress. "Another way to look at the stress you are feeling is to rank the fear or stressful situation, to quantify it," said Stevens. Students can write down typical concerns on scratch paper and then you can list them on the board. Have students take a scratch sheet of paper and number it from 1 to 10. Then they think of the stressful situation they are currently worrying about and rank it on the number line in their head. As a group, brainstorm ways to handle these stressful situations and make them less of a problem. At the end, have students look back at the number line and rank their situation in their head again. Hopefully, they will have seen ways to look at it less severely. "Do not make this a confessional time where students specifically share their problems in a group," said Stevens, "You want a safe environment where students aren't uncomfortable."
Create positive lists. "As humans, our tendency is to concentrate on the negative things in our lives. It is part of our nature," said Stevens. One way to help students is to have them focus on the positive things in their lives and the things for which they are grateful. "If you focus on what is going right in your life, it makes it easier to cope with the things that don't seem to be," said Stevens. Have students write down 10 things that are great about them- their strengths, their talents and their abilities. Then tell them to list 10 people, places, or situations that bring them joy or make them feel better. Also have them list other favorites, such as their favorite foods, music, movies, television shows, or childhood toys. In essence, you are showing them how to focus on what makes them happy. You can also help them turn their negative thinking into positive thinking. Have students practice taking a negative phrase and rewording it in a positive way. For example, take the phrase "I can't do this" and make it "I'll do the best that I can" or "I really screwed this up" and make it "I'm human. We all make mistakes." The more you practice being positive, the better you get at it, as with any other skill.
Support Their Activities
"Advisers, parents, administrators should support student involvement in sports and social activities," said John Schlosser, a licensed professional counselor at Schimelpfenig Middle School in Piano, TX, "while reinforcing to students that they need to keep things in perspective and have balance in their lives. Extracurricular activities at school and in the community are perfect for students in middle school as a way to divert attention from grades and tests."
In fact, some of the best cocurricular activities are NJHS and student council because they can help students in myriad ways. "Doing something for others is a great way to get your mind off of yourself and your own problems," said Schlosser. Research has shown that people who volunteer receive health benefits in addition to the emotional boost of helping someone else. Volunteering leads to greater life satisfaction, lowers depression, and lessens stress. In April 2007, the Corporation for National and Community Service stated that the research implications showed a significant link between volunteering and good health. "You should encourage your students who are feeling stressed and anxious to actively volunteer to help children or older people in the community," said Schlosser. Bringing a can of food to a canned food drive is not going to have the same effect as actually sitting down with young children and coloring in a coloring book or playing a game of Bingo with residents of a nursing home.
According to Schlosser, "Often the stress comes from the adults in a student's life, and we need to be aware of how much pressure to succeed that we are pushing onto a student." We live in an era of standardized testing, and scores can directly influence teachers' finances and careers. As advisers, you can talk to your students about grades and tests and try to diffuse the pressure. Student organizations can have group study sessions or peer tutoring so that students can help each other. Some students respond more positively to peer intervention than to adult intervention. "We have seen remarkable benefits from the Tuesday/Thursday library tutoring at our school," says Mark Letterer, assistant principal at Schimelpfenig, "Kids who normally would skip tutoring and just fail the test or homework show up in the library to get help from their peers."
Another way for students to help out students is by writing encouraging notes to each other. Receiving a sticky note with a positive quote, a happy face, or a simple message can lift a stressed-out students mood. Have your student organization cover lockers with notes of encouragement once a month or during state testing times. You'll be surprised how effective it is on students' morale.
Look at Their Relationships
"Dealing with stress is a normal part of being human, but adults need to monitor if stress is affecting teens health, behavior, thoughts or feelings," said Jane Doe, a licensed professional counselor (name changed because of her work with abused teenagers and women). Teenagers worry about the demands of school, the changes in their bodies, and the problems they are having with friends and family members. Sometimes the most successful students are under the greatest pressure and stress because they have such high expectations placed on them by themselves and by their family members, teachers, coaches, and peers. "For example, let's say that a young woman excels at her chosen sport, but if she misses a shot or doesn't execute the skill perfectly, she feels like a failure," said Doe. "She worries about what everyone thinks about every second of the game and her performance in it. She has such a deep desire to maintain approval and acceptance that she worries constantly. Instead of enjoying her moments in the spotlight, she is succumbing to fear and shame."
Build a network of support. Students need to have a good network of friends who support them. When students are too stressed about their lives and what is happening in them, they tend to isolate themselves. A good, close circle of friends can help keep that from happening. Encourage your students to make good, quality friends. "It wouldn't hurt to hold discussions in your student organization meetings about the characteristics of true friends," said Doe.
Teach students coping skills. "You can give students a menu of activities that will help alleviate stress," said Doe. Students can do art projects, craft projects, find a new hobby, read a favorite book, listen to positive music, watch a good movie, or play cards. They need to find things that make them happy and laugh. Playing a children's game or building with Legos as a group sounds like a childish activity, but with a group of middle school students, the result will be laughter and laughing can help lift anyone's spirits. Students also need to learn how to look at a problem and come with ideas of how they can solve it. "Feeling helpless only exasperates a problem," said Doe.
Students need to learn positive wording and decrease negative self -talk Instead of worrying about being perfect, they need to feel good about being good enough.
There are times, though, when an adviser or a friend cannot offer enough support. Some students need intervention and trained medical personnel and therapists to be able to work through their anxiety. "Be aware of signs of unhealthy, exaggerated responses to stress," said Doe. Look for students whose anxiety becomes chronic and interferes with cocurricular activities and friendships; students who suffer from such physical symptoms as stomachaches and headaches or who flush, sweat, tremble, or startle easily; students who have panic attacks; and students who are harming themselves or potentially harming themselves through risky behaviors.
Laura, M. (2013, May 01). Less Stress. Leadership for Student Activities, (9), 26, Retrieved from http://elibrary.bigchalk.com
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