Goals and hope in adolescent at-risk high school students.

This study utilizes Snyder et al.'s (1991) hope theory as a tool in cooperation with Feldman, Rand, Kahle-Wrobleski (2009) goal-specific hope scale to look at how hope theory, as defined by Snyder, can play a role in improving and supporting students to achieve their goals. Twenty-two students in a senior Alternative Education program in northern British Columbia participated in the study from September 2012 to January 2013. Students participated in a three month study where they completed Snyder's Adult Hope Scale (AHS) and Feldman's Goal Specific Hope Scale (GSHS), which required them to set a specific academic goal at the beginning of the process. They participate in five structured goal and motivation individual sessions during the study. They were monitored and completed the AHS after each session. At the end of the study, each student also returned to the GSHS and measured their level of hope specific to the goal they had set at the beginning of the study. Although there were no statistically significant changes in individuals' overall hope scale, there were significant changes in hope as it related to the specific goal students had set for themselves.