School Counseling Accountability Grace Haglund Wednesday, November 2o, 2013

The ASCA National Model The American School Counselor Association created a framework for comprehensive school counseling programs School counselors should strive to align his or her program with this model This framework consists of four components that are equally important and interdependent ▫1. Foundation  mission and vision statements ▫2. Program Management  annual agreements, advisory council ▫3. Delivery  implementing programs, interventions, and groups ▫4. Accountability  data tracking, closing-the-gap reports, evaluation (ASCA, 2012)

A little history School counselors have been around for years, even though some may not have known what a school counselor actually did until recently Expectations and roles of school counselors are becoming concrete and well-defined, but there is still progress to be made Since many did not understand the role of a school counselor, accountability was not seen as an important task it was simply done to “validate” their position in the school Due to the No Child Left Behind Act, accountability activities are required for most faculty to complete throughout the school year- including school counselors! Because of this move towards keeping accountable, researchers are finding effective ways for school counselors to stay accountable for his or her program (Sink, 2009)

Why is accountability important? The ASCA National Model (2012), states that accountability is used to “monitor student achievement, continually evaluate and improve school counseling programs, and to demonstrate the impact a program is having on students” (p. 99). Each of these three target points correlates directly to school counselors’ responsibility to improve equity and success for all students By attaching the word ‘responsibility’ to accountability, the appropriate level of importance is given to the act of school counselors remaining liable for their actions

Equality does not equal equity Equity and equality are NOT the same thing Equality is “the quality or state of being equal: having the same rights, social status, etc.” (Merriam-Webster, 2013) Equity is providing services and interventions that are specific to individual students’ needs- not based on the needs of other students ▫Equity is helping individual students meet their individual needs and achieve their individual goals whether they are academic, personal, or career goals Although an equity-focused school counseling program provides services specific to students as individuals, group interventions are still a vital part of school counseling

Let’s put it this way…

What does accountability do? Make sure school counselors are staying true to the school’s mission/vision statements Make sure school counselors are staying true to his or her own vision/mission statements Make sure school counselors are achieving the goals set out for each academic year Evaluate whether or not a school counselor is delivering adequate and necessary services that enhance students’ social/personal, academic, and career development Show stakeholders the value of programs and activities Plus: Accountability is becoming increasingly more important in the eyes of administrators! (Brott, 2006)

How accountability is done The ASCA National Model defines accountability as completing activities such as: ▫data analysis ▫reviewing program results ▫completing a program evaluation Each of these can be used as a tool to increase the effectiveness of school counseling programs (ASCA, 2012) Researchers have even found that school counselors who keep a record of interventions and the impact rates of the interventions are more likely to find ways to increase effectiveness and close achievement gaps (Dimmitt, Carey, & Hatch 2007) Some basic accountability actions every school counselor should do to improve programs include: ▫keeping track of time spent doing various school counselor tasks ▫implementing pre and post tests ▫closing-the-gap activity reports (Stone & Dahir, 2011).

What other data can be used? School counselors can also measure the effectiveness of their implemented programs by considering school data elements including but not limited to: ▫attendance rates ▫grades ▫discipline reports ▫retention rates ▫bullying reports ▫number of students taking advanced/more rigorous courses ▫standardized test scores ▫GPAs (Holcomb-McCoy, 2007)

Models of accountability A school counselor can further the level of evaluation by using different models of accountability Numerous methods exist to aid school counselors through the process of evaluating each activity that he or she completes MEASURE, SOARING, and RAMP are three excellent models of accountability that are evidence-based and widely used in school counseling throughout the US

MEASURE for accountability MEASURE is a six-step process that can evaluate a school counseling program’s effectiveness M-Mission: a counselor creates a mission for the program that connects to the school’s mission and improvement plan E-Elements: a counselor identifies what areas need the most improvement-creates a goal with a deadline A-Analyze: a counselor analyzes the data elements by disaggregating them into various terms i.e. race/ethnicity, SES SU-Stakeholders-Unite: a counselor decides which stakeholders should be included in the process i.e. principals, community members etc., then a meeting is held to plan strategies, assign responsibilities R-Results: a counselor evaluates the results of the intervention and may add or change strategies to increase program effectiveness E-Educate: a counselor must educate others by providing a report card that shows the efforts done and results from the intervention (Stone & Dahir, 2011).

SOARING for accountability SOARING is a seven-step accountability process S-Standards: counselors determine which ASCA standard(s) the activity addresses (personal/social, career, academic) O-Objectives: counselors develop objectives that target the goal of the activity and also connect with the school’s mission A-Assessment: counselors assess how the objective is going to be measured using different types of data R-Results: counselors gather results from data and put them into concrete terms such as percentages I-Impact: counselors develop an impact statement that describes the results and how students were affected in various ways from the program implemented N-Network: counselors network by sharing the information with various stakeholders G-Guide: counselors review results and make decisions about future action plans, how effectiveness can be increased (Holcomb-McCoy, 2007)

RAMP for accountability RAMP=Recognized ASCA Model Program A school counselor can submit his or her school to ASCA and can receive RAMP Designation When a school counselor completes the RAMP application, he or she must show how his or her comprehensive school counseling program is aligning with the ASCA National Model The program is evaluated in 12 areas and takes approximately one year to gather the necessary information and data to submit (ASCA, 2008)

RAMP School Designation ▫vision and mission statements ▫annual agreements ▫school counseling program goals ▫advisory councils ▫school counseling calendars ▫core curriculum lesson and action plans ▫results reports ▫small-group responsive services ▫closing the gap results reports ▫program evaluation reflection In order to qualify as a RAMP school, a school counseling program must show they have strong: Each of these areas is evaluated by a board of ASCA leaders who then report back to school counselors what areas need improvement The goal of completing RAMP is for school counselors to show how their programs are effective in helping students and find ways to improve services (ASCA, 2008)

Accountability in other schools Curry and Lambie (2007) provided services to their school through monthly classroom guidance lessons They provided a folder labeled as “My School Counseling Portfolio” for every student After each guidance lesson was completed, students would keep artifacts from the lesson that captured what they had learned or discussed Some of the lessons done included diversity, career readiness, and goal setting-wanted to target all 3 ASCA student standards in every grade at their elementary school

Accountability in other schools cont. After having students keep a folder of guidance lesson artifacts, counselors noticed an increase in teacher involvement in the guidance curriculum Students were more involved in the lessons, would remember things discussed in previous lessons Students were proud to show off their artifacts to teachers, friends, and parents School counselors had hard evidence of what students were learning and discussing Faculty and parents reported “finally understanding what school counselors do” (Curry & Lambie, 2007)

What are the next steps? Completing a needs assessment will decipher what the most pressing needs for the student body are; we can then develop goals for our academic year After deciding on those goals, and considering our long- term goals for the school, we can brain-storm specific interventions and programs to be implemented Then we discuss and decide which model of accountability would be best to measure effectiveness of the new programs And finally, the school counselors begin the programs to initiate change!

In summary… Accountability does not have to be a difficult, daunting task By setting up goals, utilizing stakeholders and other resources, and collecting data, keeping accountable is a manageable task This is not to say that it is not frustrating or tedious at times, but that it can be done by any school counselor Using models of accountability such as MEASURE, SOARING, and RAMP are helpful and easy Using models of accountability that have been researched by other school counselors is helpful, i.e. “My School Counseling Portfolio” Ultimately, a school counselor’s task is to provide equity for all students through programs and interventions, and accountability is the best way to make sure these programs are doing just that!

References American School Counselor Association (2008). The ASCA national model: Learn more about ramp. Retrieved from American School Counselor Association (2012). The ASCA National Model: A framework for school counseling programs, 3 rd. ed. Alexandria, VA: Author. Brott, P. E. (2006). Counselor Education Accountability: Training the effective professional school counselor. Professional School Counseling, 10(2), Curry, J., & Lambie, G. W. (2007). Enhancing school counselor accountability: The large group guidance portfolio. Professional School Counseling, 11(2), doi: /PSC.n Dimmitt, C., Carey, J., & Hatch, T. (2007). Evidence-Based school counseling: Making a difference with data-driven practices. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Equality. (2013). In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved November 16, 2013, from Holcomb-McCoy, C. (2007). School counseling to close the achievement gap: A social justice framework for success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Sink, C. A. (2009). School counselors as accountability leaders: Another call for action. Professional School Counseling, 13(2), doi: /PSC.n Stone, C.B., & Dahir, C.A. (2011). School Counselor Accountability: A MEASURE of Student Success, 3 rd. ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson.