1. 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

2. 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.

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

4. 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.)

5. The ASCA National Model 3rd Edition

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

9. Making DATA Work, 3rd ed.

10. 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

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

12. 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

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

14. 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

15. 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

16. The ASCA National Model Framework

17. 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

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

19. Example of School Improvement Plan Goals

20. 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

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

22. 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.

23. Goal Alignment School District Goals1
School District Goals 2
School Goals/Improvement Plan Goals 3
School Counseling Program Goals

24. 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

25. 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?

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

27. 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?

29. School Counseling Program Goal Action Plan

30. 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

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

32. 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

33. 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=___
____ + ____ + ____ + ____ = ____
___ / = _____
So the average score for “I ask questions” was ________. Which means? _______________________.

34. 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

35. 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

36. TRACK: Middle School Results Data

37. .

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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

41. Carol Kaffenberger, Ph.D.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Carol Kaffenberger, Ph.D.

42. Next Steps
What are your questions?

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