A Continuous Improvement Document for School Counseling Programs Sponsored by the Texas School Counselor Association Lynda Shuttlesworth – TSCA President – Sylvia Lopez – TSCA Director - Charles Crews – Texas Tech University –

CREST Counselors Reinforcing Excellence for Students in Texas

CREST Recognition of outstanding school counseling programs in Texas Sponsored by Texas School Counselor Association TSCA

CREST Revision Committee Members  Dr. Charles Crews Lubbock  Linda HughesAustin  Michael KraprelianIrving  Dr. Sylvia LopezDallas  Dr. Michael MoyerSan Antonio  Lynda Shuttlesworth Plano Chair: Pat Freberg Houston

History  The original CREST was modeled after the California Support Personnel Accountability Report Card (SPARC) award to show the impact of the school counseling program.  TSCA Board members designed and promoted the original CREST application in  The authors were Betty White and Vicki Ikeler.  In 2009, a TSCA committee was formed to critically review and make the necessary revisions for our Texas award.  Committee analyzed the state and national model to align the CREST document to these models.

CREST Winners 2005 ~ 5 schools 2006 ~ 11 schools 2007 ~ 15 schools 2008 ~ 22 schools 2009 ~ 28 schools 2010 ~ 37 schools 2012 ~ 40 schools

Why CREST?  Advocate for your school counseling program  Document your school counseling program’s role in supporting student success  Show continuous improvement data for your campus  Highlight program successes for all stakeholders  Strengthen the campus counseling program by aligning it with the campus improvement plan  Reinforce the school counselor’s role in the academic, personal/social, and career development of students  Link campus program to state, national, and legislative standards  Provide a tool for accountability

Revisions by Categories OriginalRevised CREST Document RequirementsIntroduction/CREST Document Requirements 1. Principal’s Comments 2. Student Support Team2. School Counseling Advisory Council 3. School Climate and Safety 4. Student Results 5. Major Achievements 6. Measurements6. Community Partnerships/Resources 7. Community Partnerships/Resources7. Parent Collaboration 8. Volunteer Involvement8. Technical Details 9. Focus for Improvement 10. Keeping You Informed

 Category  Preparing this Section  National Model Application  State Model Application  Required Components – Yes/No

Category 1: Principal’s Comments Ask Yourself: “How does your school counseling program impact student success?” Preparing this Section: The principal must show support for a well-balanced counseling program. (Please limit text to one or two short paragraphs.)  Statement of support  Emphasis on the vital role of the school counseling program  Statement explaining how the school counseling program supports the campus improvement plan and its’ initiatives

Category 1: Principal’s Comments Rubric :  1a. A statement of the vital role of the school counseling program in student success and school safety.  1b. An example of how the school counseling program contributes to student success and school safety.  1c. A statement of support for implementation of the ASCA National Model and/or Texas State Model of the Comprehensive Counseling Program.  1d. A statement explaining how the school counseling program supports the campus improvement plan and initiatives.

Category 2: School Counseling Advisory Council Ask yourself: “Who are you as a team? How does this team guide the school counseling program?” Preparing this Section: School counselors may form a School Counseling Advisory Council or be a member of the school improvement team. A School Counseling Advisory Council is a representative group of stakeholders such as faculty, staff, parents, students, and/or community members from your school campus. Their focus is to advise and guide the school counseling program in order to promote student success. This council must meet a minimum of twice a year.

Category 2: School Counseling Advisory Council Include:  A list/chart of the members of the advisory council along with their stakeholder positions (i.e. faculty, parent, community members, etc)  An explanation of how members are selected  An explanation of how feedback and input from the advisory council guides the school counseling program  An explanation of the number of times the council meets  An example of an agenda item

Category 2: School Counseling Advisory Council/School Improvement Team (SIT) Rubric:  2a. A statement on the purpose of the School Counseling Advisory Council or School Improvement Team  2b. A list/chart providing information on the School Counseling Advisory Council or School Improvement Team to include name and positions  2c. A representative group of stakeholders are part of the School Counseling Advisory Council or School Improvement Team

Category 2: School Counseling Advisory Council/School Improvement Team (SIT) Rubric:  2d. A statement on the process for selecting committee members  2e. The number of times the council meets (must meet at least twice a year)  2f. Provide an example of an agenda item discussed  2g Include how School Counseling Advisory Council’s feedback/input guides the school counseling program

Category 3: School Climate and Safety Ask yourself: “How does my school counseling program respond to issues of school climate and safety?” Preparing this Section: This section requires at least a minimum of one graph and/or chart regardless of how many interventions provided. Presenting your results in graph form (pie chart/graph, bar graph, chart etc.) and their relationship to the Texas and ASCA National Standards for School Counseling Programs are essential components for this section. You can use Microsoft Excel to plug your data into a variety of graphs or charts.

Category 3: School Climate and Safety Examples:  Programs/activities which increase student "connectedness" to school campus/district and improve school climate  Programs/activities which teach students' conflict resolution, empathy, and mediation techniques for solving conflicts.  Programs/activities that reduce incidents of violence at the campus with an emphasis on prevention and early detection.  Programs/activities that provide age- appropriate/developmental instruction on violence prevention, bullying, dating violence, and interpersonal violence prevention. Many of these are legal mandates that can be found in: District Legal Policy, Title IX, Family Code (see Texas Council on Family Violence)  Prevention and response to acts of hate violence, bias-related incidents and discriminatory attitudes

Category 3: School Climate and Safety Rubric:  3a. A statement(s) regarding the relationship of the school counseling team to school climate and safety  3b. A minimum of two activities/programs/interventions implemented by school counselors that impacted school climate and safety  3c. A graph or chart depicting how school counselor activities directly relate to improvement of school climate Written explanation of each graph and or chart representation  3d. Written explanation of each graph and or chart representation  3e. An explanation of the school counselor’s role in the School Safety Plan and/or District Crisis Plan

Category 4: Student Results Ask Yourself: “How does your school counseling program impact student success?” Preparing this Section: Implementation of a comprehensive developmental school counseling program requires that school counselors use data to evaluate and improve school counseling programs. The results of these data are based on the outcomes of students, not on what school counselors do. Results are not the number of students seen, the number of meetings, conferences, or classes held or attended, or the number of referrals to other agencies or programs. Only student outcome results that your school counseling program has positively impacted will be considered for a CREST Award.

Category 4: Student Results Examples  Our counseling team will decrease the number of bullying incidents in grades K-5 th by 20% from the 1 st through 4 th nine weeks for the school year xyz.  Our counseling team will reduce self-reported test anxiety of Juniors who did not pass the exit level TAKS by 25% from the 1 st administration to the next administration.  Our counseling team will assist in reducing by 20% the number of 8 th grade students that failed two or more core classes from the first nine week grading period to the fourth nine week grading period.

Category 4: Student Results Rubric:  4a. A statement explaining the importance and utilization of student results and their relationship to the Texas and/or National Standards.  4b. First of two measurable goal statements that include: data point(s) population time frame Second of two measurable goal statements that include: data points population time frame  4c. A rationale for each goal selected  4d. A list and explanation of school counselor interventions

Category 4: Student Results Rubric: Rubric: 4e. First of two (2) graphs: -explanation for each graph connecting the School Counseling Team activity to the results shown. -graphs must be titled and labeled Second of two (2) graphs: -explanation for each graph connecting the School Counseling Team activity to the results shown -graphs must be titled and labeled

Category 5: Major Achievements Ask Yourself: “What are the major achievements of your school counseling program?” Preparing this section: In this section include your school counseling team’s major achievements by delivery system. In addition include overall percentage of time spent in each delivery system annually.

Delivery SystemOverall Percentage of Time Major Achievements Guidance Curriculum Responsive Services Individual Student Planning System Support

Category 5: Major Achievements Examples:  Guidance Curriculum- Guidance lessons attributed to an increase in the number of students taking the SAT/ACT by 20%.  Responsive Services- We now offer six student support groups that meet a total of 8 sessions.  Individual Student Planning- 100% of the 8th grade students completed their Four Year Plan.  System Support-The counseling staff provided staff development to teachers on the following topics: School Counseling Program, Child Abuse, and Financial Aid and Postsecondary Options. Following the table format, include other major achievements your school counseling team has received.

Category 5: Major Achievements Rubric:  5a. A minimum of one or more major achievements was cited and explained in Guidance Curriculum  5b. A minimum of one or more major achievements was cited and explained in Responsive Services  5c. A minimum of one or more major achievements was cited and explained in Individual Student Planning  5d. A minimum of one or more major achievements was cited and explained in System Support

Category 5: Major Achievements Rubric:  5e. The percentage of time is provided for each delivery system (there is no penalty if the percentage of time is not aligned to the state recommendation).  5f. A minimum of two other achievements are provided and the relationship between the school counseling program and the achievement is clearly described.  5g. The required chart for delivery system, percent of time, and major achievement is included.

Category 6: Community Partnerships/Resources Ask Yourself: “How do your Community Partnerships and/or Resources impact student success?” Preparing This Section: A school counseling program coordinates a variety of resources and collaborates with a significant number of community partners and/or resources. This section asks you to explain how you involve business, industry, civic, social service organizations and/or community partners to enhance your counseling program.

Category 6: Community Partnerships/Resources Examples:  Academic: Partners in Education-companies serve as mentors and/or tutors for students  Career: XYZ Organization serves as speakers for Career Day.  Personal/Social: ABC Church donates coats for students.

Category 6: Community Partnerships/Resources Rubric:  6a. A lead paragraph on the importance of partnerships  6b. A minimum of two (2) community partnerships and/or resources listed for the Academic Domain  6c. A minimum of two (2) community partnerships and/or resources listed for the Career Domain  6d. A minimum of two (2) community partnerships and/or resources listed for the Personal/Social Domain

Category 6: Community Partnerships/Resources Rubric:  6e. Provide examples of how these community partners and or resources enhance the quality and effectiveness of the school counseling program for the Academic Domain  6f. Provide examples of how these community partners and or resources enhance the quality and effectiveness of the school counseling program for the Career Domain  6g. Provide examples of how these community partners and or resources enhance the quality and effectiveness of the school counseling program for the Personal/Social Domain

Category 7: Parent Collaboration Ask Yourself: “How do you collaborate with parents so that students can be successful?” Preparing This Section As a counselor, part of your role is to support, coordinate, consult, inform, mediate and collaborate with parents so that students can be successful. In this section describe how you engage parents in guidance curriculum, responsive services, individual planning, and system support.

Category 7: Parent Collaboration Examples: Guidance Curriculum:  How do you encourage your parents to provide input to the curriculum and reinforce skills taught through your guidance lessons?  Example: Needs assessment sent to parents to determine topics of guidance lessons that will be presented during the school year. Responsive Services:  How do you work with parents regarding their children’s issues to include one-on-one counseling, group counseling, and referrals?  Example: Parents are contacted regarding an emotional issue and resources provided through a required parent conference.

Category 7: Parent Collaboration Examples: Individual Planning:  How do you provide parents information regarding their child’s academic and career planning?  Example: Parents are provided with an interpretation of test scores. System Support:  How do you provide parents information?  Example: Parents are provided with monthly workshops addressing parenting skills/ information.

Category 7: Parent Collaboration Rubric:  7a. A statement and examples of how your school counseling program engages parents in guidance curriculum  7b. A statement and examples of how your school counseling program engages parents in responsive services  7c. A statement and examples of how your school counseling program engages parents in individual planning

Category 7: Parent Collaboration Rubric:  7d. A statement and examples of how your school counseling program engages parents in system support  7e. An explanation of how the school counselor communicates to parents throughout the year about your school counseling program  7f. A statement of how you provide parents an opportunity to view counseling materials as mandated in Texas Education Code (TEC) (b )

Category 8: Technical Details Ask Yourself: “How does the CREST document read? Is the document ready for submission?” Final Section  The details help polish the document in a professional manner making it ready for publication.  In this section, the final submission of the CREST document is scored for the technical details throughout the document.  Application packet requirements are included.

Category 8: Technical Details DOCUMENT HEADER  8a. Include this statement, "A continuous improvement document sponsored by the Texas School Counselor Association" in the header of the CREST document  8b. Include names of all the counselors and their contact information in the header  8c. Include "CREST (current school year)" in the document header  8d. Include the school's name, address, and school logo in the document header

Category 8: Technical Details FORMAT OF THE OVERALL CREST DOCUMENT  8e. Categories 1-7 are placed in sequential order  8f. Content has a clear and consistent voice throughout the document  8g. Format is consistent and flows throughout the document  8h. There are no more than (two) typographical, grammatical, or punctuation errors  8i. Acronyms are spelled out the first time used in the document  8j. Font used for text and graphs must be: 10 or 12 points for text 8-points or higher for graphs Arial or Times New Roman font

Category 8: Technical Details FORMAT OF THE OVERALL CREST DOCUMENT  8k. Graphs are clear, significant, labeled, and aligned with the written text  8l. Document fits on one page and is front and back on paper size - 17 X 11 (folds like a magazine format) APPLICATION PACKET REQUIREMENTS  8m. Twelve (12) color copies of the CREST award document are submitted  8n. Two (2) copies of the application form are submitted (one original/one copy)  8o. One (1) CD of the CREST award document in PDF format is submitted

 Send an to the individual whose name appears on the application acknowledging receipt of the CREST application.  Notification will be sent by January 15 th as to the status of your CREST application. No questions will be answered with regard to the status of your application prior to this date.

In order to receive an award, a CREST application may only receive a total of two “No’s” in the eight categories. Each CREST document will be judged by a team of three professionals in the school counseling field throughout Texas. The scoring continuum is as follows: First Review  If the document receives NO MORE than a total of two “No’s” in the eight categories, it has achieved CREST distinction.  If the application receives MORE than a total of two “No’s” in the eight categories, it is sent to a second team of reviewers (Second Review).

Second Review  If the document receives MORE than a total of two or more “No’s” in the eight categories, the application does NOT receive CREST distinction.  If the application receives NO MORE than a total of two “No’s” in the eight categories, the application goes to a third review team (Third Review). Third Review  If the application receives MORE than a total of two “No’s”, the application does NOT receive CREST distinction.  If the application receives NO MORE than a total of two “No’s”, it has achieved CREST distinction.

 Awards will be presented at the Spring Counselors Professional Growth Conference Luncheon.  Winners will be awarded: - a CREST banner/decal - two free luncheon tickets per school All CREST applicants will receive a recognition certificate.

Sample CREST Documents:  TCA website:  TSCA website: To enhance your CREST document review:  The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs  A Model Comprehensive, Developmental Guidance & Counseling Program for Texas Public Schools, Pre-K-12 th Grade Program Development Guide

Chair: Pat Freberg, Houston Telephone: , extension  Dr. Charles Crews, Lubbock Telephone : x313  Linda Hughes, Austin Telephone : Dr. Sylvia Lopez, Dallas Telephone #:  Lynda Shuttlesworth, Plano  Telephone: 