Professional Development for School Counselors: Current and Proposed ACA Initiatives Lynn E. Linde, Ed.D. Senior Director The ACA Center for Counseling Practice, Policy and Research

Session Outcomes By the end of this session, participants will: – Understand the structure and function of the ACA Center for Counseling Practice, Policy and Research – Gain knowledge of ACA’s partnership with HRC and the new professional development initiative – Gain knowledge of ACA’s current initiatives for school counseling and research – Provide input for future ACA initiatives for school counseling

The Center for Counseling Practice, Policy and Research Established Spring 2015 Senior Director began 8/15 Includes the “content” of the association - professional affairs

Organization of the Center Includes: Ethics Professional learning Career services Library Services Research grants Scholars-in-Residence Consultations

Organization, continued Includes: College and Career Readiness School counseling initiatives, including participation in the Reach Higher Initiative Partner member of the National Council of School Counseling and College Access Organizations Partnership with the Human Rights Campaign

ACA-Human Rights Campaign Partnership The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the largest LGBT advocacy organization in the country ACA partners with HRC on the Time to Thrive Conference New initiative: PepsiCo-funded grant was written to include ACA, focused on increasing college and career readiness/attendance by LGBTQ students

Grant Activities - Highlights Survey ACA members who work in schools and with adolescents/college students Offer learning modules; content determined by survey results Include pre-post tests CE credit for each module comp Certificate of completion if all modules completed Follow-up in 6 months

Survey A survey was sent to ACA members who have previously indicated that they are school counselors, college counselors or work with adolescents Responses were analyzed by demographic information, practice setting, and LGBTQ issues – 29% school counselors – 26% college counselors – 21% private practice – Other settings

Involvement with college and career readiness

More survey results

Survey results, continued

Why counselors do not talk to students about SOGIE Student doesn’t bring it up Not relevant to college and career readiness Not sure how to help Lack of knowledge (terms, concepts, etc.) Inappropriate Prohibited by policy Not enough time Personal beliefs

Reasons for discussing SOGIE General support Student brought it up Family issues Harassment Affects performance Affects attendance Discrimination College and career issues

Other results Experience as a counselor matters Most counselors’ information was wrong about legal protections Most felt they could find resources for someone coming out Most not sure about information regarding postsecondary choices for LGBTQ student

Next steps Developing 3-5 modules for training Each module will include a pre and post test Successful completion leads to CE credit, certificate of completion 6 month follow-up

Additional resources ACA develop additional webinars, learning modules, podcasts and resource materials to support this initiative using our members Will use the results of the post-initiative survey to develop additional resources

Other school counseling initiatives First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher initiative The National Council for School Counseling and College Access Organizations Webpage School counseling specialist

Research Grants New project – 1 st time ACA has done this Will be letting an RPF for research grants Must be empirical research which demonstrates the efficacy of counseling Grants between $6,000 - $10,000 – number awarded depends on applications/requests ($21,000 total) Grants supporting school counseling welcomed

Future Plans More professional development around school counseling issues/college and career readiness More sessions at conference for school counselors ?????

Dr. Lynn E. Linde Senior Director The Center for ACA Counseling Practice, Policy and Research x324