THE EFFECT OF THE GROUP GUIDANCE PROGRAM PREPARED TO PREVENT SCHOOL DROPOUT ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to examine the effect of the group guidance program designed to reduce school dropout on the school dropout level of secondary school students. The question of the research was to what extent the concept of school dropout, which occurs when a student ends his/her school life due to individual, family, school or social reasons before obtaining a diploma, will have an impact on 8th grade secondary school students. The working model of the research is based on an experimental model that includes pre-test and post-test measurements and aims to compare the control group with the experimental group. The prepared Group Guidance Program to Reduce School Dropout is the independent variable of the research, and the school dropout levels of the participants are the dependent variable. “Perceived School Experience Scale” was used to measure the school dropout levels of adolescents. It is a measurement tool consisting of 14 items in total. The study group consisted of 16 volunteer students attending a secondary school in Yeşilyurt district of Malatya province in the 2024/2025 academic year. Within the scope of the research, a 6-session Group Guidance Program to Reduce School Dropout was applied to the experimental group. During the research process, a pre-test was made to the experimental and control groups before the experimental intervention and a post-test was measured after the experimental procedure. During the data analysis phase, "Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test" statistical methods were used to evaluate the difference between the pre-test and post-test measurements of the experimental and control groups; The results obtained were analyzed in the SPSS 21 program. According to the results of the research, it was seen that the implementation of the Group Guidance Program Prepared to Reduce School Dropout provided a significant decrease in the school dropout levels of the students in the experimental group. At the same time, a significant difference was detected between the post-test scores of the students in the experimental group and the post-test scores of the students in the control group, in favor of the experimental group. In addition, it can be said that the Group Guidance Program Prepared to Reduce School Dropout is an effective program in reducing students' school dropout levels. The results of the research were discussed within the framework of the literature and recommendations were made for practitioners and researchers in line with the findings.