Research Studies on the WhyTry Program

• South Los Angeles Resiliency (SOLAR) Project, April 2008
• Piedmont, Missouri Study, Winter 2007
• Yakima School District Learning Center Results, March 2007
• Alpine School District Longitudinal Study December, 2003
• Los Angeles County Office of Education October, 2003
• Granite School District September, 2003

WhyTry Inc. is committed to on-going research into the efficacy of the WhyTry Program, and to applying that research to the development and enhancement of the Program. WhyTry encourages all professionals using the Program to track their outcomes and share their results here and in professional publications. For more information about any of these studies please email info@whytry.org.

Assessment Tools and Resources - RTI

The BASC-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) WhyTry Endorses the BESS as an excellent resource for teachers and counselors to assess student's progress. The BESS offers a reliable, quick, and systematic way to determine behavioral and emotional strengths and weaknesses of children and adolescents in preschool through high school. This comprehensive screening system consists of brief forms that can be completed by teachers, parents, or students, providing one of the most comprehensive and efficient tools available today.

RTI - Combining the BESS with the WhyTry Curriculum.
Within an RTI service delivery model, curriculum-based measurement and psychoeducational testing are complementary, not competing, approaches. Used at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way, these approaches help you pinpoint student strengths and weaknesses, monitor progress, and identify specific learning disabilities (SLD) - all integral components of the RTI service delivery model.

For more information or to order the BESS click here:

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Conners’ Rating Scales-Revised (CRS-R)
Measure of AD/HD and Externalizing Behaviors
Author: C. Keith Conners, PhD

This is an instrument that uses teacher (ages 3-17), caregiver (ages 3-17), and self-report (ages 12 – 17) ratings to aid in the assessment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder(AD/HD) and evaluate problem behavior in children and adolescents. For more information on the (CRS-R) click here

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Children’s Hope Scale (CHS) Measure of Hope and Positive thinking.
Author(s): Snyder, C. R., Hoza, B., Pelham, W. E., Rapoff, J., Ware, L., Danovsky, M., Highberger, L., Rubinstein, H., & Stahl, K.

This is a 6 item self-report questionnaire assessing children’s (ages 8 – 19) dispositional hope. The CHS assesses two components of hope: agency and pathways. Agency is defined as the ability to initiate and sustain action towards goals and pathways is defined as the capacity to find a means to carry out goals. Also assessed are problem solving and decision-making abilities, as well as self-attributions. Hopeful thinking has shown benefits in terms of obtaining desired outcomes and pursuit of goals.

There is no cost for this measure and it is not necessary to have the authors permission to use it. To see more details and download a copy click here.

Results for the South Los Angeles Resiliency (SOLAR) Project, April 2008

The South Los Angeles Resiliency (SOLAR) Project is an elementary counseling demonstration grant funded for three years by the US Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. A Resilience Scale was formed combining the survey items. A paired t-test was used to compare pre-post test scores. A significant difference was found between the scores indicating that student resiliency increased for participants of “Why Try?” Specifically, a significant positive change was found in the students’ willingness to “keep trying to succeed;” a significant decrease in the desire to be “mean to others” when provoked; and a slight improvement in the areas of “asking for help” was noted. Results presented at the SSWAA Conference, April 5, 2008, by Alejandra Acuña,, LCSW, Lorena Vega, LCSW, Joyce Meza, MSW, Martha Marquez, LCSW, and Deyanira Vera, LCSW.

Piedmont, Missouri Study, Winter 2007

“The WhyTry Tutoring has proven to be a vehicle for working toward student success. By coupling Christian Moore’s multi-sensory, strength-based program with tutoring, we have seen more students take positive steps toward academic success than we have experienced through tutoring alone.” Wymore, Sherie, “WhyTry? A report of an After-School Tutoring Program,” (Winter 2007) The Counseling Interviewer, Vol. 39, No. 2, Pp. 9-13.

Yakima School District Learning Center Results, March 2007

Norm Walker, an instructor at the Yakima School District Learning Center, tracked the results of his WhyTry class from October, 2006 through March 2007. He documented a 33% increase in the cumulative GPA of students participating in the WhyTry Program. The alternative education students he was working with rated the WhyTry class experience 7.96 out of 10.

Alpine School District Longitudinal Study December, 2003

The data summarized is based on 114 students who completed WhyTry Program at Pleasant Grove High School starting with the first WhyTry class in August, 2000. The control group consists of 88 students selected with the same academic and attendance profile as the WhyTry students at the start of each class. Both groups have been tracked since the WhyTry class was completed, for up to 12 terms.

	Students who completed the WhyTry Program showed a significant improvement in GPA, completing their high school careers with GPA’s 0.62 points higher than the control group.
	Students who completed the WhyTry Program had fewer absences than the control group, both cumulatively, and on average.
	Students who completed the WhyTry Program exhibited a significant reduction in failed courses as compared to the control group.
	The WhyTry students and the control group were drawn from the same pool of at-risk students. At the end of their high school careers, the WhyTry participants were 3 times more likely to graduate than the control group.
Summary The WhyTry Program appears to have a positive effect on academic performance, attendance and graduation. This is consistent with other research projects studying the effects of the WhyTry Program. The effects of the WhyTry Program also appear to increase over time. More longitudinal data will be forthcoming as these students continue their high school careers.
Los Angeles County Office of Education October, 2003 This study was conducted by Glade D. Eggett, a doctoral candidate at Nova Southeastern University, working for the Division of Alternative Education of the Los Angeles Office of Education. Glade studied the effects of the WhyTry on the behavior of students in an alternative high school. The study consisted of a class of primarily African American and Latin American students, with a control group with the same demographics in the same school. Students were taught the WhyTry Program for two hours in each academic day for one term. Behavior was tracked weekly and compared to the control group. After one semester, Glade concluded: “Using a program called WhyTry…Students who participated in the program were more likely to have less attendance problems, lower negative attitude toward teachers and school, and a higher locus of control indicating they…were more personally responsible for their behavior. Teachers rated a significant improvement in motivational attributes.”
Granite School District September, 2003 A study was conducted by Spectrum Consulting for the Granite School District in Utah. Dr. Eric J. Gee, Director of Research and Evaluation, reported the results to the school district. Rather than studying behaviors, this study focused on students understanding and insight into their behaviors. Dr. Gee concluded that students participating in the WhyTry Program reported significantly improved understanding of key social and emotional principles, including self-motivation, consequences, peer pressure, and obeying laws and rules. “Analysis of the responses found statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups for all questions. This would suggest that students in the control group did indeed feel they had gained more knowledge regarding some of the information presented in the WhyTry Program. Given the control group comparisons, we can attribute this change in knowledge to the WhyTry Program,” wrote Dr. Gee.