Data Mondays: ACRP 2014 Virtual Conference A District-wide Initiative to Train School Counselors to Use Data Carol Kaffenberger Ph.D. Faculty Associate, Johns Hopkins University ASCA Consultant and Trainer

Goals of Webinar Review the challenges of encouraging and training school counselors to use data to drive program development, implementation and evaluation. Describe a district-wide initiative to provide professional development aimed at increasing school counselors’ use of data.

Training School Counselors to Use Data: The Issues School counselors’ training to use of data District expectations Evidence-based evaluation Professional development training

Current Expectations of all School Counseling Programs Focus on student achievement Emphasize use of data to drive program development, implementation and evaluation Counseling programs are comprehensive in scope, results-oriented in design, and developmental in nature Align with the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) Model for School Counseling Programs (3rd ed.)

The ASCA National Model 3rd Edition

The ASCA National Model for School Counseling Programs (3rd ed.)

Making DATA Work, 3rd ed.

School District Overview Fairfax County Public Schools located in Northern Virginia is the 11th largest school district (640 school counselors serving191 school sites) School counselors are seen as key players in the districts’ goal of achieving academic excellence for all students Training school counselors to use data to develop comprehensive school counseling programs is a focus of professional development

Training Team Four School Counseling Services team School Counselor educator trainer and ASCA consultant School counselor pyramid leaders

Designing the Training School Counseling Services team developed the training model District wide professional development calendar Four designated Monday sessions identified Assessment of training needs Resource support

Overview of Data Monday Sessions Room arrangement Session focus Presentation and work-time Training team support Training resources

Overview of the Four Training Sessions Session 1: Goal Setting Session 2: Planning to Collect Data Session 3: Data Analysis Session 4: Creating Data Sharing Documents

Introductory Session Held in August of the training year Review ASCA National Model (3rd ed.) Importance of using data Types of data Goal setting process & evaluation process

The ASCA National Model Framework

What are the purposes of using data? To identify program goals To monitor student progress & close gaps To evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and activities To develop, implement, and evaluate a school counseling program To demonstrate counseling program effectiveness

And What Type of Data do School Counselors Collect and Report? Process Perception Outcomes

Example of School Improvement Plan Goals

Session 1: Goal Setting Review of types of outcome data Review school data and school improvement plan (SIP) goals Identify one program goal that aligned with the SIP goal Write a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound) goal

Outcome Data Achievement 92% of students passed the Mathematics SOL Attendance Attendance increased from 91 to 95% Behavioral Discipline referrals decreased by 30% 21

Identifying a Program Goal Review the school data profile to identify academic gaps by categories such as race/ethnicity, gender, age or grade level. Review current academic, career and personal/social domain activities and interventions provided to all students. Engage in a reflective process to consider what is working and not working for students. Review the school improvement plan (SIP) goal to consider the school counseling program activities that align with the school’s instructional accountability goals.  

Goal Alignment School District Goals 1 School District Goals 2 School Goals/Improvement Plan Goals 3 School Counseling Program Goals

SMARTR Goal Example SIP Goal By June 2014, all 6th grade students will be promoted to the 7th grade. School Counseling To increase the progress report mastery level by 1 level by end of second quarter for 6th grade students who received one or more 1 or 2 mastery level in a core class in the first quarter. Strategies Small groups (focused on study skills, time management, test taking strategies, asking for help) Individual Counseling Parent/Teacher Conferences

SMART Goals Specific Issue What is the specific issue based on our school’s data? Measurable How will we measure the effectiveness of our interventions? Attainable What outcome would stretch us but is still attainable? Results-Oriented Is the goal reported in results-oriented data (process, perception and outcome)? Time Bound When will our goal be accomplished?

Session 2: Planning to Collect Data Review SMART goals Develop action plans for achieving the goals Create data collection surveys

How will you accomplish your goal? What information or data will be needed to accomplish your goal? What data will you need to measure your outcomes? What procedures will you follow? Do data collection instruments need to be created? What steps do you need to consider before collecting data? What is your timeline?

School Counseling Program Goal Action Plan

Surveys inform the school counseling program Pre-Post Given before and after an intervention to determine knowledge gained or to measure a change in perspective Needs Assessment Given to students or stakeholders to gather their perception of student or program needs Program/Activity Evaluation Given after an intervention or activity to gather participants’ opinions about the value of the intervention or activity Opinion Survey Given to students or stakeholders to understand their perceptions of the school counseling program or activities

Session 3: Data Analysis Practice analyzing data Aggregating and analyzing collected data Creating graphs

Calculating Data Type of Data How to Calculate Process Perception Count number of participants Perception Conduct pre-post, needs assessments or evaluation survey and aggregate results Outcome Compare pre and post intervention data: attendance, grades, SOLs, progress reports and/or discipline data

A Study Skills Survey - Your Turn 25 students (10-never; 7-not usually; 5-sometimes; 3- always) Never = 1 Not Usually = 2 Sometimes = 3 Always = 4 I ask questions (10)X1=___ + (7)X2=___ + (5)X3=___ + (3)X4=___ ____ + ____ + ____ + ____ = ____ ___ / 25 = _____ So the average score for “I ask questions” was ________. Which means? _______________________.

Session 4: Creating Data Sharing Documents Summarizing the SMART goal intervention Producing a one-page data report Assessment of school counselor data skills Reflection on the process

Middle School Goal Goal: To increase the GPA of identified students by 50% between first and second quarter. Identify 7th grade students with one or more D+/D/F in first quarter. Plan and conduct for group counseling sessions. Develop a questionnaire for students. Compare GPAs and the # of D+/D/F grades in 1st and 2nd quarter

TRACK: Middle School Results Data

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Sharing with Stakeholders Who are your stakeholders? Principal Parents Superintendent School Board What do you want them to know? What you have done What others know How this makes a difference How to communicate the information? Charts, tables, and stories Newsletters

On going Evaluation Each school counselor submitted their school counseling program goal in October and the results of their data collection and analysis in June School counseling team met between each session to process and plan Each session was followed up by an online session evaluation

Lessons Learned… What Worked Expectations Stage 1 of the process to train all school counselors has begun School Counseling Services team focus What Didn’t Work Logistic: Space and weather Issues Buy-in: Levels of readiness for this training Large group

Carol Kaffenberger, Ph.D. CONTACT INFORMATION Carol Kaffenberger, Ph.D. ckaffenb@gmail.com

Next Steps What are your questions?

Carol Kaffenberger ckaffenb@gmail.com CONTACT INFORMATION Carol Kaffenberger ckaffenb@gmail.com