Counselor’s Role in the Age of High School Reform March 3-4, 2005 Judy Bowers, TUSD Guidance Coordinator President, American School Counselor Association

Education Trust “For the first time in history, schools are being held accountable for the achievement of all groups of students. School counselors are ideally positioned to serve as advocates for students and create opportunities for all students to reach these new high academic goals.” Kati Haycock, Director of the Education Trust

The old question was… “ What do counselors do?” The new question is… “How are students different because of the school counseling program?

School Counselors’ Efforts Can : Increase numbers of students in rigorous courses Help ALL students have access to the entire curriculum Lower dropout rates Raise attendance rates Reduce retention rates, and Help Schools Get to Proficiency

Equity?

New Vision of School Counseling Connecting to the Mission of Schools Leadership Advocacy for All Students Teaming and Collaboration Using Data to Spur Systemic Change Providing developmental guidance lessons for All Students

ASCA National Model

Student Achievement

Why Kids Drop Out “Students mainly consider dropping out because they are not engaged by the school.” Students are most likely to cite the following reasons for considering dropping out: School was boring (76%); and They were not learning enough (42%). Source: Metropolitan Life, Survey of the American Teacher 2002: Student Life: School, Home and Community, p. 9.

Designing a Data Driven School Counseling Program Connecting to school academic achievement goals Using data to determine directions Measuring results Sharing successes

Using Data to Spur Systemic Change School Counselors must be proficient in: –Accessing data –Analyzing data –Interpreting data –Presenting data School Counselors must use data to: –Recognize barriers to learning –Point out the system inequities –Advocate for system change –Create urgency for change

Examples of Data to Examine Test Scores  Achievement  State  National Enrollment  Honors/AP Classes  College Track  Special Education Graduation Rate  By Gender  By Ethnicity  By SES Attendance  Absences  Tardies  By Grade Level Discipline  By Classroom  Types of Problems  Gender GPA/Class Rank  By Gender  By Ethnicity  By SES Retention Rates  By Subject Area  By Grade Level  By Gender, Ethnicity Special Education  By Gender  By Ethnicity  By SES Dropout Rate  Grade Levels  Gender, Ethnicity…  Reasons Why

Data Interpretation Look for: Pictures Patterns Gaps Questions: What problems or needs surface? What achievement gaps exist? What opportunity gaps do the data suggest?

Achievement Data What do you want to know? Achievement: What does achievement look like at different levels and with different groups of students? Overall Achievement –Grade point average –Standardized test scores, SAT, ACT, State tests –Passing all subjects Periodic assessment –Semester grades –End of course tests

Opportunity Gaps: Are some students provided more opportunities than others? Access to rigorous curriculum Access to quality teachers Special Education Screening and Placement Participation in Support Services –Tutoring, Mentoring Opportunity Gap Data What do you want to know?

GAPS What are the Opportunity Gaps Behind the Achievement Gaps?

Uncovering the Opportunity Gaps Access to challenging courses Access to support services Access to resources Percentage of high quality teachers in school Distribution of teacher talent

Your part: How can school counselors use data to improve equity?

Jefferson County, KY Advanced Placement Enrollment: Race and Gender

Attainment Data What do you want to know? Attainment: How many make it to - and beyond key points in the system? Advance to next grade Transition from middle school to high school Graduation rate Matriculation to an institution of higher education Persistence beyond freshman year Earning a college diploma

Counseling Priorities Designing post-secondary education planning as the counseling department’s top priority was associated with an increase of between 4 and 11 percent more students moving on to four-year colleges and universities after high school. National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC), 2004.

Spending 10 percent more time on postsecondary planning is associated with a 4 percent increase of students moving on to four-year college education after high school. Correspondingly, each additional ten percent of counselor time spent scheduling courses is associated with a 4 percent decrease of students moving on to four-year college education. National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC), 2004.

Each additional 10 percent of counselor time spent proctoring tests is associated with a 6 percent decrease of students moving on to four-year college education. National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC), 2004.

Research Supports Classroom Guidance Work Academic Achievement  Brigman & Campbell (2003) implemented a research-based school counseling curriculum to assess the impact of academic achievement on students in grades 5,6,8,9 Findings: School counseling interventions that focus on the development of cognitive, social, and self-management skills can result in sizable gains in students’ academic achievement.

Research Shows That School Counselors Are Effective In: Decreasing inappropriate behaviors Improving academic achievement –Preventing school violence –Reducing bullying –Classroom disturbances Increasing productive on-task behaviors Preventing student suicides Preventing students from dropping out

Research Shows That School Counselors Are Effective In: Teaching conflict management Having better relationships with teachers Enhancing career development Increasing positive attitudes toward school Believing education is important to their future

School administrators, parents with special interests, teachers or others may feel their agenda ought to be the school counseling program’s priority. The results often lead to confusion and criticisms when they are disappointed. (Carolyn Maddy Bernstein, 1995) When schools fail to clearly define the counselor’s role...

How Should The School Counselor’s Role Change to Support Academic Achievement? Take counselors out of the clerical role Less computer/scheduling responsibilities Full time secretary for the counseling department Adequate career center with a full time career counselor Allow more time for counselors to teach lessons in the classrooms

Counselor’s Role cont. Develop minimum standards of service for each grade related to competencies in the academic, career, and personal social domains. Develop aggressive parent programs to support academic achievement. Support consistency across the district.

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. – John F. Kennedy But let us begin.

Success Have a passion for what you do. Do what you are passionate about. Success comes from expectations and hard work. Surround yourself with positive people.