Leadership and Achievement Advocacy for Every Student Chapter Seven Leadership and Achievement Advocacy for Every Student

“At Promise” instead of “At Risk” School counseling programs that use a strengths-based, “nondeficient” leadership and advocacy model are educational leaders providing measurable equity, achievement results, and success for all students. Professional school counselors who develop and implement transformative school counseling programs based on the ASCA National Model strive to empower and advocate for historically oppressed populations. The transformed professional school counselor leads and advocates in removing barriers to student performance and overcoming social injustice.

Achievement and Access Gaps Achievement gaps are the disparity in academic performance found among different groups of students based on ethnicity/race, gender, ability/disability, social class, and language status. Access (opportunity) gaps are the disparity in who receives school counseling programs, services, high-level college preparatory curriculum, honors courses, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate coursework, college counseling, and the best teachers, and who does not.

Achievement and Access Gaps (cont.) Achievement, access, attainment (who graduates from college with a diploma and who does not by cultural and economic group), and funding gaps (who gets the most money from schools based on tax levels and who gets the least) exist between students of color and white students as well as between students from low-income families and students from middle- and upper-income families. Professional school counselors must work to try to close these gaps to help all students succeed.

Research Shows…. Students from low-income families can match the achievement of high-income families “stride for stride” and in some school districts actually outperform students from affluent families.

Common Characteristics Successful high-poverty schools demonstrate the following characteristics: Extensive use of state/local standards to design curriculum and instruction, assess student work, and evaluate teachers. Increased instruction time for math and reading. Substantial investment in professional development for teachers. Comprehensive systems to help students before they fail. Parental involvement. Accountability systems with consequences.

The Professional School Counselor’s Role Counselors should be involved with the use of state and local standards to design curriculum and instruction and assess student learning. Counselors can contribute to student learning by integrating their knowledge about student learning styles and modalities. Counselors can also become involved by designing and implementing professional development workshops for teachers, administrators, and parents. Also, counselors should monitor student performance to assist struggling students.

Professional School Counselors as Leaders Leadership is one of the four overarching themes of the ASCA National Model and is inextricably tied to advocacy. A leader is someone who has a “vision” for change, can communicate that vision effectively to others, and help direct supporters in working toward creating the desired change.

Professional School Counselors as Leaders (cont.) Bolman and Deal (1997) posited four kinds of leadership: Structural leadership involves creating an organized plan for change, as well as determining how to best put that plan into action. Human resources leadership requires school counselors to empower and motivate others to enact change. Political leadership directly involves changing unfair organizational or systemic structures that are in place. Symbolic leadership involves creating and communicating a vision of change to others to gain supporters and allies.

Professional School Counselors as Leaders (cont.) Rather than waiting for complaints or obvious acts of discrimination, a leader will maintain an ongoing awareness of the school climate so that problems can be identified and remedied proactively using specific data points and intervening with developmental counseling lessons and group and individual counseling strategies. To be a successful leader, school counselors must also build strong alliances and work cooperatively with important stakeholders.

Professional School Counselors as Leaders (cont.) Leadership strategies for new school counselors: Set reasonable and realistic leadership goals Approach tasks with determination Resolve to work through resistance Build a strong support system and seek supervision and support from supervisors and colleagues Be clear about your role as a school counselor

What are Advocacy and Achievement Advocacy? Advocacy is: The intentional effort to change existing or proposed policies, practices, and learning environments on behalf of all students and families. Achievement advocacy is: Ensuring that high levels of academic, career, college, and personal-social skills are delivered to every K-12 student in a school counseling program with specific results.

History of Advocacy In the early 1970s, Dworkin and Dworkin (1971) issued a call to action for counselors to become leaders in social change rather than sideline cheerleaders. Scholars have indicated that professional school counselors should take a more active role in advocating for all students. Too often, however, professional school counselors become overwhelmed with administrative concerns and therefore only have time to support and maintain an inequitable system.

History of Advocacy (cont.) House and Martin (1998, p. 284) suggest that professional school counselors instead become “catalysts and leaders focused on removing the institutional barriers that continue to result in an achievement gap between poor and minority youth and their more advantaged peers.”

The Importance of Advocacy: Challenging the Barriers Society is changing. Integration of various cultures into the school system. Student populations in many public schools across the country have changed. The percentage of students of color, students from low income families, and students who speak English as a second or third language has increased. Becoming sensitive to cross-cultural issues in counseling is an important step for a counselor who hopes to be an advocate for all students.

The Importance of Advocacy: Challenging the Barriers (cont.) A socially responsive professional school counselor recognizes external oppressive forces built into the social, economic, and political framework of the school and community as potential sources of intervention. Professional school counselors need to advocate for and encourage change within the school community so that all students feel safe and are well-served academically and socially with full access to career and college development information and curricula throughout their K-12 experience.

Advocacy Counseling in Schools Advocacy counseling involves efforts by professional school counselors to advocate for and with clients on both the microlevel and the macrolevel. On the microlevel, school counselors might advocate on behalf of students within the school systems or teach them self-advocacy skills. On the macrolevel, school counselors might intervene in some larger context (e.g., community) to effect more broad-based change.

ACA Advocacy Competencies To assist counselors in advocating for and with clients on both the microlevel and macrolevel, four members of the American Counseling Association (ACA) developed the ACA Advocacy Competencies, a document that describes the skills important for counselors to possess to advocate for their clients and students.

ACA Advocacy Competencies (cont.) There are three domains where counselors can advocate for change: Client/student advocacy School/community advocacy Public arena advocacy There are two levels within each domain, one level involves advocating with a stakeholder or system and another level involves advocating on behalf of a person or system.

ACA Advocacy Competencies (cont.) Client/Student Advocacy Client/student empowerment involves: Teaching clients self-advocacy skills Helping clients develop a strategy or plan for self-advocacy Assisting clients in becoming knowledgeable and aware of their situations Identifying the skills and assets clients can use in the advocacy process. Client/student advocacy involves direct school counselor endeavors to enact change or secure certain resources for students.

ACA Advocacy Competencies (cont.) School/Community Advocacy Community collaboration involves teaming up with community organizations to aid them in their advocacy efforts. Systems advocacy involves a more direct effort by counselors to change a system; they will spearhead the effort themselves.

ACA Advocacy Competencies (cont.) Public Arena Advocacy The public information level involves creating and distributing materials about important topics to the community. Social/political advocacy involves contacting local and state representatives and policy makers to raise awareness about issues and work to create change on a much larger level.

School Counselor Advocacy Competencies Trusty and Brown (2005) developed advocacy competencies for professional school counselors that include the dispositions, knowledge, and skills necessary to effectively operate as advocates for students, schools, and communities.

School Counselor Advocacy Competencies (cont.) Four essential school counselor dispositions: Advocacy disposition - welcome the opportunity to be an advocate; willing to work through resistance. Family support/empowerment disposition - recognize the family as a key stakeholder and teach them how to advocate for their children. Social advocacy disposition - advocate on behalf of others when they recognize unfair situations. Ethical disposition - behave in accordance with applicable codes of ethics at all times.

School Counselor Advocacy Competencies (cont.) School counselors should have knowledge of: How systems work How to resolve conflicts Various advocacy models School counselors should have skills in: Effective communication Collaboration and teaming Problem solving Organization Coping mechanisms

Advocacy Counseling Advocacy may be an arduous process and particularly draining for school counselors who want to be liked by everyone, a phenomenon known as the nice counselor syndrome (NCS). NCS often results in school counselors supporting the current system’s status quo, even when inequities are evident. School counselors must find ways to move beyond the NCS to ensure that all students have access to quality education and opportunities for career and college access K-16.

Advocacy Counseling (cont.) Strategies to help school counselors become more comfortable advocating: Use data to make a case Connect change efforts to the school’s mission Do not take resistance personally Find supporters Develop a realistic plan based on data and research Act ethically at all times Trust the process

Empowering Students with Achievement Advocacy Skills Students need an advocate who will recognize when student needs are not being heard or met and when they are being squashed emotionally and intellectually. Professional school counselors should also advocate on behalf of all students, parents and guardians, teachers, and communities. Professional school counselors can help students recognize external barriers that impact their well-being and academic achievement and then assist students in formulating plans to confront these barriers.

Empowering Students with Achievement Advocacy Skills (cont.) The professional school counselor can assist students in recognizing inequities that exist and by taking action to change practices that are unfair. For example, if a student is placed in a lower level academic class, the professional school counselor can step in and advocate on the student’s behalf and/or advocate alongside the student. Teaching students how to use conflict resolution skills and peer mediation, and assisting students with organizational skills, study skills, and test-taking skills helps them to become advocates.

Empowering Students with Achievement Advocacy Skills (cont.) Students need to be empowered to become leaders for life in their elementary, middle, and high school communities. Professional school counselors develop leadership academies, peer tutoring and peer counseling programs and encourage and expect all students to participate in extracurricular activities to increase their leadership skills, which, in turn, can provide students with a basis to learn advocacy skills.

Empowering Parents and Guardians with Achievement Advocacy Skills Parents often take information from school personnel as fact. Professional school counselors assist parents and guardians to maneuver through unfamiliar territories to access services. Professional school counselors can help identify resources and discuss existing services with parents. They can assist parents in understanding and interpreting the information received from the school and their rights. Parents may also need assistance in determining how and when to use the information. Counselors can help parents gain access to needed services.

Empowering Educators With Achievement Advocacy Skills Assist teachers in recognizing inequities. For example, differential treatment of poor and affluent students, students of color and White students, gifted and average students, and students with and without disabilities. Challenge teachers to examine their biases. Offer annual formal in-service training and frequent informal sessions to increase teacher knowledge and effectiveness.

Empowering Educators With Achievement Advocacy Skills (cont.) Counselors can assist teachers in developing management, facilitation, and advocacy skills. Provide in-service training on management skills. Help teachers create a safe, equitable, and learner-friendly environment for all students. Help teachers to communicate more effectively with parents and administrators.

Empowering School Systems for Achievement Advocacy Professional school counselors are in a position to work with all school personnel. Professional school counselors should ensure that administrators are supporting their efforts. When working collaboratively with all school personnel, counselors must use their skills in interpersonal communication, group process, and counseling. Professional school counselors are visible in the school, and provide staff development training and research data to promote systemic change. Administrators are welcomed as a key part of the school counseling programs’ advisory council.

Empowering Community Stakeholders with Achievement Advocacy Counselors should have community networks in place that allow them to connect parents and children with resources that will help children succeed.

Publicizing how the School Counseling Program Serves as Achievement Advocate for Every Student If professional school counselors do not perform the role of advocate, it is likely that no one else will. It is rare that professional school counselors receive media reports discussing the proactive roles they play daily in school. Professional school counselors must publicize to internal and external publics their roles as academic leaders, advocates, team members and collaborators, users of data for assessment of academic success, counselors and coordinators, and vital members of the school possessing multicultural, diversity and technology competencies.

Publicizing how the School Counseling Program Serves as Achievement Advocate for Every Student (cont.) A strong internal and external public relations effort is essential to ensure that school counseling programs are seen by others as central to the school’s mission of educating all students effectively. In the past, school counselors and school counseling programs have been criticized for helping to maintain the status quo. School counselors must challenge past practices and demonstrate how programs have changed to include academic success for all students and achievement advocacy as the top priority.

Publicizing how the School Counseling Program Serves as Achievement Advocate for Every Student (cont.) The best school reform promotes equity for all students through access to learning that is: 1. Antiracist and antibias. 2. Reflective of the talents and strengths that can enhance education. 3. Based on the notion that those most intimately connected with students need to be meaningfully involved in their education. 4. Based on high expectations and rigorous standards for all learners. 5. Empowering and just.

Public Awareness Must have a mission/vision statement for the school that is focused on academic success for all students. Ways to publicize the professional school counselor’s role: A column in the school or local newspaper Brochures Use of web sites Speaking engagements at local events Classroom presentations

Specific Suggestions Call or write TV, radio, cable, and newspapers in your area to promote the latest activities or awards for the school counseling staff and students. Interview current and former students, parents, administrators, and teachers related to how professional school counselors made a difference in their lives. Create a school counseling program Internet Web page to promote the school counseling program on the Internet.

Specific Suggestions (cont.) Create a school counseling program Listserv and encourage local media to have access to it for story ideas and questions related to referrals. Sponsor specific community or school events of a developmental nature and ask local media to cover it. Request that professional school counselor license plates be offered by your state to promote the profession’s visibility. Advocate with local and state legislators to better fund and support school counseling programs.

Summary/Conclusion Research substantiates that particular groups of children and adolescents in the United States are consistently provided fewer resources and substandard teachers and attend school where administrators, teachers, and some politicians do not believe they can achieve at high levels, all resulting in achievement, access, attainment, and funding gaps. School counselors must become exemplary role models for leadership and achievement advocacy.