Monroe Clark Middle School School Counseling Program Classroom Guidance

ASCA National Standard Academic Standard A Students will acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span.

Student Competencies A1 Improve Academic Self-Concept A2 Acquire Skills for Improving Learning A3 Achieve School Success

Guidance Curriculum Lesson Attendance: Accountability & Time Management Grade: 7 November 2007 Science Classes Lesson Content: Importance of being punctual and present Belief school will help them achieve future goals Problem-solve reasons for being late & absent Ability to budget their time to be punctual Knowledge being present will maximize learning Relationship between attendance and GPA

What do they KNOW? SARB Process Pre = 30% Post = 42% 40% Increase Connection between attendance & school success Pre = 58% Post = 75% 29% Increase

What do they BELIEVE? Strongly Agree: It is important to be on- time to all classes Pre = 35% Post = 58% 69% Increase It is important to be at school everyday Pre = 43% Post = 62% 44% Increase

What SKILL did they learn? Students who can demonstrate accountability for their attendance Pre = 39% Post = 45% 58% Increase

Attendance & Achievement The attendance and accountability guidance lesson plan is designed to support: Monroe Clark’s Character Education Program Decrease in absences and tardies Increase in student GPA

Results From Semester 1 to Semester 2 Achievement-Related Data: Absences Tardies Achievement Data: GPA

Achievement-Related Data

Achievement Data GPA Growth TBD

Attendance & Achievement Research shows that “students who attend school perform better than those who do not.” 1 Guidance lessons target 7th grade students because absenteeism increases with each grade level starting in the 8th grade. 2 Poor attendance is linked to student alienation and disengagement, which may contribute to students dropping out of school. 3 1 (e.g., Easton & Engelhard, 1982 as cited by Dimmitt, Carey, & Hatch, 2007, p. 30). 2 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2002) 3 (Lan & Lanthier, 2003; Schargel & Smink, 2001; Schwartz, 1995 as cited by Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2004).

Limitations & Implications More effort needs to be spent on attendance Some of the pre/post test questions were: confusing not focused on the take-away message Improvement overall with pre/post, but not as much as we had anticipated Guidance presentation needs to be more focused on the attitude, knowledge, & skills that will more directly change students’ beliefs and behavior

Next Steps Finish presentations in Houses C-E Collect results data for all 7th graders Evaluate effectiveness of guidance presentations and make adjustments accordingly Present results data to faculty and staff Evaluate attendance policies

The Mission of Monroe Clark Middle School’s Counseling Program is to provide all students with the opportunity to acquire the attitude, knowledge, and skills for academic, career, and personal/social development in a safe and supportive environment. The comprehensive school counseling program will educate and empower a collaborative community of learners to achieve academic success and develop life skills to become life-long learners, creative thinkers, and responsible community members in a diverse, changing world. Thank you for supporting your school counseling program.

Thank You!