Understanding the ASCA National Model for School

Counseling: Increasing Student Achievement and Counselor

Accountability

Presented By:

Linda Kopec

Elizabeth Younce

OVERVIEW

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) collaborated to create a National Model for School Counseling Programs to connect school counseling with the current educational reform movements that emphasize student achievement and success.

RATIONALE

By aligning a school counseling program with the school/district mission and school improvement plan, school counselors:

….Partner as leaders in systemic change ….Ensure equity and access ….Promote academic, personal/social and

career development for every student.

Goals of School Counseling Program

The ultimate goal of the school counseling program is to support the school’s academic mission.

Ensuring academic achievement for every student includes counselor initiated activities designed to meet the needs of under-served, under-performing and under-represented populations.

People have wondered….

WHAT DO SCHOOL COUNSELORS DO?

Historical Problems in School Counseling Programs

Lack of consistent identity Limited or no involvement in reform

movements Variation in roles from state to state and

site to site Non-school counselor responsibilities

The ASCA National Model

What is a school counseling program?• Prevention education

• Developmental in nature

• A collaborative effort

• Driven by data

• Integrated into the Total Educational Program • Academics, Career, Personal/Social Development

Data Driven

What are some of your current data sources?

The old question was…

What do counselors do?

The new question is….

“HOW ARE STUDENTS DIFFERENT AS A RESULT OF THE SCHOOL COUNSELING PROGRAM?”

From Entitlement…To Performance

From a Program that: Focuses generally on the number of

activities Measures the amount of effort Attends to the process of doing work Works to maintain the existing system

From Entitlement…To Performance

To A Program That: Focuses on outcomes and improved

results Measures impact related to goals Attends to goals, objectives, and

outcomes Changes and adapts to be more

responsive

From Entitlement…To Performance

From counselors who: Focus on good intentions Talk about how hard they work Generally feel little need to change their

behavior or approach

From Entitlement…To Performance

To Counselors Who: Focus on accomplishments Talk about effectiveness Know their future rests on

accomplishments Communicate goals and objectives

Implications

What is the purpose of the school counseling program?

What are the desired outcomes or results? What is being done to achieve those results? What evidence is there that the objectives

have been met? Is the program making a difference?

School Counseling Programs Are About: Counseling Leadership Assessment Technology Managing Resources Teaming Collaboration Data-Driven Decisions Advocacy

School Counseling Programs Are About:

RESULTS!

HOW ARE STUDENTS DIFFERENT AS A RESULT OF THE SCHOOL COUNSELING PROGRAM?

Comprehensive School Counseling

A Comprehensive School Counseling program includes:• Program Planning

• Individual and Group Counseling

• Consulting (students, parents, teachers, agencies)

• Coordinating Services

• Student Appraisal

• Professional Development

ASCA National Model (p. 20)

The ASCA National Model

Addresses the Comprehensive School Program:• FOUNDATION

• DELIVERY SYSTEM

• MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM

• IMPLEMENTATION

Themes Throughout the Model

ADVOCACY LEADERSHIP COLLABORATION SYSTEMIC CHANGE

FOUNDATION

Beliefs and Philosophy Mission ASCA National Standards and Competencies Domains:

Academic Development

Career Development

Personal/Social Development

Beliefs and Philosophy

We “agree statements• Guide the program development,

implementation and evaluation

• Require consensus from all personnel involved in the program

Mission Statement

Describes the program’s purpose Provides a vision of what every student

should achieve Aligned with the school and district

mission statements

Standards from the National Model

Standard 1: Program organization Standard 2: School guidance curriculum

delivered to all students Standard 3: Individual student planning Standard 4: Responsive Services Standard 5: Systems support Standard 6: School counselor and

administrator agreement

Standards from the National Model, continued

Standard 7: Advisory Council Standard 8: Use of data Standard 9: Student monitoring Standard 10: Use of time and calendar Standard 11: Results evaluation Standard 12: Program Audit Standard 13: Be a student advocate, leader,

collaborator and systems change agent

Delivery System

School Guidance Curriculum Individual Student Planning Responsive Services System Support

Guidance Curriculum

Structured lessons delivered to all students Related to standards and competencies Integrated with academic curriculum Use data to develop lessons

• Environmental issues

• Discipline records

• Student records

• Standardized test scores

Individual Student Planning

Ongoing systemic activities Designed to assist students in

establishing personal goals Designed to assist students in

developing future plans Helps students get from point A to point

B

Counselor Planned and Directed

Test score review, interpretation and analysis

Promotion and retention information Career decision making Yearly course selection Test taking strategies

Responsive Services

Designed to meet students’ immediate needs

Individual, group and crisis counseling Consultation, referral, mediation and

information Available to all students and parents

System Support

Program management activities that establish, maintain, and enhance the program

Professional development activities Consultation, collaboration and teaming

Management System Agreements Advisory Council Use of Time Calendars Action Plans

• Guidance Curriculum• Closing the Gap

Use of Data• Monitoring Student Progress• Closing the Gap

Agreements

To ensure effective implementation of the program

Based on delivery systems and needs Negotiated every year

Advisory Council

Group appointed to review the guidance program

Counselor, administrator, teachers, parents, students, community members

Use of Time

Elementary

Guidance Curriculum – 35 – 45%

Individual Planning – 5 – 10%

Responsive Services – 30 – 40%

System Support – 10 – 15%

Use of Time

Middle School

Guidance Curriculum – 25 – 35%

Individual Planning – 15 – 25%

Responsive Services – 30 – 40%

System Support – 10 -15%

Use of Time

High School:

Guidance Curriculum – 15 -25%

Individual Planning – 25 – 35%

Responsive Services – 25 – 35%

System Support – 15 – 20%

Calendars

Master Calendar Weekly Calendar Published Ensures planned activities are completed PR Tool

Action Plans

Domain, standard and competency Description of activity Curriculum and materials to be used Time Allotment Person(s) responsible Evaluation of student success Expected result

Action Plan Reflections

Are your objectives measurable? Can you use data elements that are

already being collected? Will the plan lead to results data? How will you measure?

• Pre/post tests

• Comparison to baseline data

Use of Data

Student Monitoring – collection, analysis and interpretation of data to ensure all students achieve academic success

Closing the Gap – Use of disaggregated data which discerns the discrepancies between the desired results and the results currently being achieved

How do Counselors Fit IntoNO CHILD LEFT BEHIND?

What can school counselors do to promote AYP, Closing the Gap, School Safety, etc.?• Study skills and test-taking skills groups for low-

performing students

• Conflict Resolution Training

• Counseling students with suspension and absenteeism issues

• Staff training on behavior management and school climate

Academic Results Interventions (Grades 6 – 8)

After Academic Counseling Groups: 37% of 6th Graders (64) 24% of 7th Graders (47) 72% of 8th Graders (46) Demonstrated GPA Improvement

Freshmen Promotion

Incoming 9th grade students who had one or more D or F in the 8th grade were placed in a mentoring program with upperclassmen. 95% of participating students were promoted to the 10th grade, versus 80% of those outside of the program

Academic Goal Setting

After classroom guidance lessons pre-post tests indicated…

Student knowledge of goal setting increased from 10% to 90%

90% achieved their identified goal

ACCOUNTABILITY

Results Reports School counselor performance

evaluations Program Audit

Results Reports

Data:

Process

Perception

Results

Over Time: Immediate, Intermediate, Long Range

Results Reports – Impact over Time

Personal/Social ResultsConflict Resolution ( K – 5)

Number of students who could peacefully resolve a conflict INCREASED from 55% to 88%

Following implementation of a Conflict Manager program the number of suspended students was REDUCED from 13% in 97/98 to 3% in 01/02

Career Development (over 3 years)

Scholarship dollars for students increased from $750,000 to $825,000

Parent attendance increased from 150 – 500 at guidance sponsored events

Number of students visiting the career center increased from 30 to 200 daily

Graduation rates increased from 84 – 89%

What does an Audit tell us?

Major strengths of the program Areas that need to be strengthened Categorizes the rate of progress of each

criteria Helps to determine short and long range

goals for improvement

IMPLEMENTATION

Administrator Support Planned Steps On-going Program Evaluation

Steps to Implementation

What if my school doesn’t want to change?

Ask yourself…• What are my students’ needs?

• What do I want to change?

• What do I have the power to change?

• What am I already doing that can be measured?

• START SMALL and use that data to support further expansion and change

Steps to Implementation

1. Planning the Program

2. Building Your Foundation

3. Designing the Delivery System

4. Implementing the Program

5. Making the Program Accountable

Next Steps

Review action plans Learn from experience Look at ways to implement new pieces of

the National Model each year for 3 -5 years

National Model Best Practices

Start with what you can manage Align with school and district goals Define “at-risk” Data! Data! Data! Write measurable goals and objectives

that are reasonable Write plans early, review them regularly

Best Practices

Understand the trends, work with the details

Collaborate with others at your school

Collaborate with other schools

In Closing…..

All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first thousand days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet.

BUT LET US BEGIN.• John F. Kennedy

And Finally….

“WE NEED TO BE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE HAPPEN.

WE ARE THE LEADERS WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.”

• Gandhi

Questions?