THE EFFECT OF DROPOUT PREVENTION PROGRAM OF 9th GRADE RETENTIONS STUDENTS ON DROPOUT RISK, SELF-EFFICACY BELIEF AND LEARNING MOTIVATION STRATEGIES

High school dropout is a common problem in many countries and governments are trying to solve this problem for years. School counsellors can play an important role in dropout prevention by implementing school-based interventions. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the Social-Cognitive Learning theory-based dropout prevention program which is applied to 9th grade retention students of the Anatolian and vocational high school students who were at risk for dropout. The dropout prevention program was aimed at reducing dropout risk, enhancing self-efficacy belief, and learning motivation strategies of students. The program was implemented in 11 sessions for the experimental students. For the data analysis, ‘ANOVA’ for the repeated measures and ‘Bonferroni test were used to evaluate the effect of the program on students. The result of the study showed that the dropout prevention program is effective in reducing participants’ dropout risk, enhancing learning motivation strategies, and moderating self-efficacy beliefs. In conclusion, it can be said that Social-Cognitive Learning theory-based psychoeducation program is effective to reduce the dropout risk at high schools. Article visualizations