1. Building a Comprehensive School Counseling Program Through Data
Erika Gardner and Pedro Caro,
North Mountain Middle School
San Jacinto Unified School District

2. Our Story NMMS 1100 students Shared caseload 3 years together
Demographics
86% Socially Disadvantaged
22% English Language Learners
68% Latino
14% White
10% African-American
4% Native American
Our Story

3. School Counseling is Changing…
Before
New Way
Reactive
Random Acts of Counseling
Use of Referrals
Measure Impact with Number Served
Proactive
Intentional Acts
of Counseling
Use of Data
Measure Impact with Behavior Change Data
Erika

4. Our Foundation
NMMS Counseling Vision Statement The North Mountain Middle School Counseling program, through collaboration with faculty, parents and community stakeholders, will provide all students with the tools and resources to succeed. We believe that students will explore their own talents, take pride in themselves, their school, and their community in order to leave North Mountain college and career ready. NMMS Counseling Mission Statement The mission of North Mountain Middle School Counseling program is to ensure that all of our students receive equitable access to the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to achieve academic excellence, college/career readiness, personal growth and social responsibility to become contributing members of their community.
Pedro

5. Three-Tier Model Aligns with Response to Intervention (RtI)
Few
Students
INDIVIDUAL
/REFERRAL
Some Students
Intentional Interventions
GROUP COUNSELING
All Students
GUIDANCE CURRICULUM
IN CLASSROOMS
Pedro

6. School Counseling Referral Process
For Teachers
I am concerned about a student, how can I get him/her some help?
Fill out a “school counseling referral” form (located in school counselor mailbox/ )
School counselor will screen student and follow up with you/parent(s) for next steps
Suicide Assessment—let us know ASAP
Crying student is not an emergency
Self-Injury: or locate
Erika

7. Counselor Appointment Form
New Additions:
Online Counselor Appointment Form
Instagram:
nmms_school_counselors
For use exclusively by students and parents
Located in school main office
Students/parents are seen in order of priority and as reasonably as possible
Erika
Counselor Appointment Form

9. Goal #1—Decrease in the % of 6th grade suspensions as compared to last year Goal #2—Decrease in the # of 6th grade boys with 3 or more Fs between Q1 and Q2 Goal #3—Increase in % of ALL students who can calculate GPAs
Erika
Program SMART Goals

10. Core Curriculum at-a-Glance
6th grade
7th grade
8th grade
Fall (Sept-Oct)
Academic
Making Wise Choices
MS transition
HS transition, A-G
Winter (Nov-Dec)
Personal/Social
Bullying Prevention
Bullying/
Cyberbullying Prevention
Cyberbullying/Safe School Culture/
Early Warning Signs
Spring (Jan-Mar)
College/Career
Using Naviance: Career Tools
Using Naviance:
Career Tools
A-G Tools
Pedro—so far this year, 41 different classroom lessons were done…over 1,000 students were taught about calculating GPA, evaluating transcripts and being college ready now.
Core Curriculum at-a-Glance

11. Sample Core Curriculum Activity “GPA Team Race”
You will be divided into a team of 4
Each team will be given 6 cards
Each card has a letter grade on it (ex: “A”, “C”, etc.)
Your team task is to Calculate the total GPA
Winning team gets to present

12. Skill: # of Students who Could Calculate a GPA from a Scenario
Question: “Calculate a student’s GPA”
pedro
Skill: # of Students who Could Calculate a GPA from a Scenario

13. Attitude: % of students Who Believed they Could help to Make NMMS Safer
Question: “I believe I can take a part in helping to make NMMS a safer place to be.”
PRE-TEST 42 % of students chose Agree or Strongly Agree POST-TEST 78% of students chose Agree or Strongly Agree This is an 86% INCREASE!! SHIFTING ATTITUDES!!
pedro

14. Knowledge: # of Students who Knew A-G Requirements
pedro

15. Collecting Data by Need
Academics
pedro

16. Collecting Data Where does your data live? What data can you access?
Academic Data
Grades
Failure Rates
G.P.A.s
Discipline Data
Suspension Rates
Office Referrals
Demerits
Attendance Data
Truancy Rates
SARB reports
Where does your data live?
What data can you access?
Collecting Data

17. Intentional Guidance: Data-driven Small Group Counseling
Husky Heart to Heart
Criteria
Students with 3 or more F’s during Q1 report card
Students met with school counselors and examine grades, study skills and developed goals to improve
33 6th graders
4 7th graders
15 8th graders
Intentional Guidance: Data-driven Small Group Counseling
erika

18. Using Academic Data: Husky Heart-to-Heart
Students with 3 or more F’s in Q1 met with school counselors to create an improvement action plan.
erika

19. Quarter 3 Progress Reports identified 12 6th graders with 4 or more Fs.
9 students participated
Each student was paired with a 7/8th grade mentor
Focused on organization, study skills, examining grades
Every Monday for 30 minutes for 7 weeks
pedro
Husky Hand-in-Hand

20. “Academic Success” Parent Workshop
17 Families Attended an intentional workshop in January 2015
Information was shared in English and Spanish
Parents/students given resources, tools for success and school-based strategies to improve student achievement!
Next Step:
Monitor progress for the 17 students in attendance
“Academic Success” Parent Workshop

21. Using Discipline Data-- Girls’ Empowerment Group
Criteria
Female students who had 10 or more discipline incidents through Q1
Mrs. Gardner and Ms. Ruiz (security) met with the group for 8 weeks and discussed: leadership, peer pressure, and making safe choices
A total of 8 students began and finished the group
All but two students reduced discipline incidents during the group!
Using Discipline Data-- Girls’ Empowerment Group
erika

22. Making an Impact through Positive Activities
Safe School Culture
Collaboration
College and Career Readiness
Crisis Intervention
Intramural sports leagues
Middle School counselor collaboration meetings
5th grade AVID college fairs
Non-Suicidal Self-Injury
(NSSI) and Suicide-Risk (SARF) assessments
Dance Party Fridays and Karaoke Thursdays
tK-12 district counselor meetings
College field trips
CASA boys and girls empowerment groups
Student focus groups
CASC conferences
AVID site team
CASA self-injury groups
California Healthy Kids Survey
First Contact
5th grade transition workshops
College Kickoff and College Week
Hemet Hospice bereavement groups
PBIS Site Team

23. Increase in the # of College and Career Readiness Programs at NMMS
#College Questions
On Husky News
College Staff Map
Naviance College Lessons
College Planning Parent
Workshops
AVID College Fairs
Over 150 students successfully completed the A-G Scavenger Hunt!
erika
College and Career Week
College of the Month
“Be College Ready” Lesson
6/7th gr.

24. Principal-School Counselor Relationship
Received training in the ASCA framework
Principal-SC Annual Agreement
Counselor duties vs. non-counselor duties
Bi-monthly SC-Admin meetings
Supports professional development
Observes and evaluates lessons
Pedro
Principal-School Counselor Relationship

25. CASC Administrator of the Year

26. Counseling vs. Non-Counseling Duties
Inappropriate Activities for School Counselors
coordinating paperwork and data entry of all new students
coordinating cognitive, aptitude and achievement testing programs
signing excuses for students who are tardy or absent
performing disciplinary actions or assigning discipline consequences
sending students home who are not appropriately dressed
teaching classes when teachers are absent
maintaining student records supervising classrooms or common areas
keeping clerical records
assisting with duties in the principal’s office
providing therapy or long-term counseling in schools to address psychological disorders
serving as a data entry clerk
Appropriate Activities for School Counselors
individual student academic program planning
interpreting cognitive, aptitude and achievement tests
providing counseling to students who are tardy or absent
providing counseling to students who have disciplinary problems
providing counseling to students as to appropriate school dress
helping the school principal identify and resolve student issues, needs and problems
providing individual and small- group counseling services to students
advocating for students at individual education plan meetings, student study teams and school attendance review boards
analyzing disaggregated data
Counseling vs. Non-Counseling Duties

27. Limitations & Barriers
New School Counseling Referral System
Teacher Urgency
Lesson Time
Administrative Changes and Mindsets
Lack of baseline data to compare effectiveness
Limited outside counseling services available
pedro
Limitations & Barriers

28. Continue to share data with administration, staff, parents and other key stakeholders
Conduct school-wide student-led focus groups
Introduce Naviance College Software to ALL students via classroom core lessons early
Examine existing core curriculum to add lesson follow-up teacher activities to reinforce content
erika
Next Steps

29. The School Counseling Program is contributing in a meaningful and positive way to the academic and social/emotional development of students.
EVERY STUDENT
WILL BE COLLEGE & CAREER READY!
Thank you for your dedication to students and support of the North Mountain School Counseling Program!
Contact Us
Erika (951) ext. 6975
Pedro ext. 6214
both
Thank You