Applying solution-focused learning mentoring to reverse academic underachievement of young adolescents

Academic underperformance is a common problem within various educational contexts and mainly affects young adolescents during the transition from primary to secondary education. In Greek schools, there is still poor research regarding underperforming and also a lack of specific methods for identifying and supporting young underachievers efficiently. In this respect, this study attempted to design and apply a solution-focused learning mentoring intervention for reversing underachievement of 18 low secondary school students (13 boys, 6 girls) compared to an equivalent control group. Results demonstrated that, though all participants tended to improve their academic performance over time, the intervention group displayed greater improvement after the intervention. The findings could contribute to the design of holistic interventions to support underachieving students at risk of dropout.