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Girls Leading Outward (GLO): A School-Based Leadership Intervention to Promote Resilience for At-Risk Middle School Girls

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Resilience Interventions for Youth in Diverse Populations

Part of the book series: The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality ((SSHE))

Abstract

Girls Leading Outward (GLO) is a positive youth development program for at-risk middle school girls that not only seeks to prevent future problems but also aims to foster resilience. GLO focuses predominately on urban, African-American, and Latina students from low-income communities, with a goal of reaching them prior to their transition to high school. It provides a safe space for girls to express their opinions, voice their concerns, and develop positive relationships with their peers. Through the program, girls are equipped with the skills necessary to effectively problem-solve, overcome obstacles, and manage conflicts with others. Key skills learned include emotion regulation, effective communication and assertiveness, active listening, goal setting, and problem solving. These skills are developed through weekly lunch and after-school groups beginning in the seventh grade and continuing in the eighth grade. These skills are then applied in the context of a community service project that further serves to promote engagement in community action and leadership. Building students’ skills in a context that provides them with a new perspective on themselves and their future, while fostering a sense of community with a group of like-minded peers, may be sufficiently powerful to create a positive trajectory for middle school girls. This intervention draws on ecological systems theory (The ecology of human development, Cambridge, MA, 1979; Community psychology: Linking individuals and communities, Belmont, CA, 2007), a model in which an individual is embedded within multiple systems (e.g., school, family, neighborhood contexts) that each impacts the individual’s mental health and behaviors. GLO differs from typical after-school programs in that involves a weekly in-school component and asks participants to conduct a school-based community service project. Through positive in-school visibility, the role that these students play in the school setting can shift from “at-risk girls” to “student leaders,” which will also positively impact the overall school environment. In order to evaluate program impact, the GLO participants are assessed at baseline and at the end of the school year using self- and teacher report. The assessment includes measures of self-efficacy, perseverance, and overall social–emotional competence. Qualitative data are also collected from the participants and the group facilitators in order to better understand how the intervention influences social–emotional and leadership development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Cesalie T. Stepney Ed.M., Gwyne W. White M.S., Kristin Far B.A. & Maurice J. Elias Ph.D.

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  1. Cesalie T. Stepney Ed.M.
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  2. Gwyne W. White M.S.
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  4. Maurice J. Elias Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Cesalie T. Stepney Ed.M. .

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  1. Resiliency Institute of Allenhurst, LLC., W. Allenhurst, New Jersey, USA

    Sandra Prince-Embury

  2. Dept. Psychology, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

    Donald H. Saklofske

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Stepney, C.T., White, G.W., Far, K., Elias, M.J. (2014). Girls Leading Outward (GLO): A School-Based Leadership Intervention to Promote Resilience for At-Risk Middle School Girls. In: Prince-Embury, S., Saklofske, D. (eds) Resilience Interventions for Youth in Diverse Populations. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0542-3_6

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