creating effective school counseling smart goals · creating effective school counseling smart...

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CREATING EFFECTIVE

SCHOOL COUNSELING

SMART GOALS

Valerie K. Hardy

Secondary School Counseling Specialist

Fairfax County Public Schools

../www.schoolcounselor,org


Goals for today’s session

• Participants will learn how to create SMART goals based

on student and school data.

• Participants will learn how well written SMART goals

guide the delivery of services to students.

• Participants will learn how to assess the effectiveness of

SMART goals.



Using Data to Drive Goals



Examples of Existing Data to Examine

Test Scores

Achievement

State

National

Enrollment

Honors/AP Classes

College Track

Special Education

LEP

Graduation Rate

By Gender

By Ethnicity

By SES

Attendance

Absences

Tardies

By Grade Level

Discipline

By Classroom

Types of Problems

Gender

GPA/Class Rank

By Gender

By Ethnicity

By SES

Retention Rates

By Subject Area

By Grade Level

By Gender, Ethnicity

Post Secondary

Plans

Special Education

By Gender

By Ethnicity

By SES

Dropout Rate

Grade Levels

Gender, Ethnicity…

Reasons Why



Process Perception Outcome

Types of Data



Process Data - What you did for whom?

• Evidence that event occurred

• How activity was conducted

• Did the program follow the prescribed practice?



Process Data - What you did for whom?

• Eight fourth-grade students participated in a study skills

group that met six times for 45 minutes

• 450 ninth-graders completed an individual learning plan

• 38 parents attended the middle school orientation meeting



Perception Data - What do people think they

know, believe or can do?

• Attainment of competencies

• Changes in attitudes and beliefs

• Perceived gains in knowledge



Perception Data - What do people think they

know, believe or can do?

• 100 percent of sixth-graders can identify three career

interests

• 89% of students demonstrate knowledge of promotion/

retention criteria

• 92% can identify early warning signs of violence

• 93 % of fourth-graders believe fighting is not an

appropriate method of solving problems

• 69 % of all students report feeling safe at school

• 90 % of the parents report benefiting from a presentation

on college entrance requirements



Surveys

Pre-Post

Knowledge gained Change in perspective

Needs Assessment Perception of student or program needs

Program/Activity Evaluation

Value of intervention or activity

Opinion Survey Perceptions of SC program or activities



Outcome Data - ULTIMATE GOAL

So what? • Hard data

• Application data

• Impacted on students ability to utilize the knowledge, attitudes and skills

1. Attendance

2. Behavior

3. Academic achievement



Outcome Data - ULTIMATE GOAL

So what?

Achievement Promotion rate increased

from 88 to 94%

Attendance Attendance increased from 91

to 95%

Behavioral Discipline referrals decreased

by 30%



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.

This activity can help school counselors review their

comprehensive services and consider gaps in their program

delivery.

• Engage in a reflective process – consider what is working

and not working for students.

• Review the school improvement plan (SIP) goal and

consider the school counseling program activities that align

with the school’s instructional accountability goals.



School Data Profile Template – Pg. 66



School Data Profile

• You do not need to create a school data profile;

the data exists on state and district websites for

most schools (school report card).

• What demographic changes have occurred over

time?

• Has the safety record changed?

• What trends do you see with attendance?



School Counseling Program Goals – Pg. 27



Goal Setting Activity (looking at your

program)

• Box 1: What is working at your school for students? For

your program?

• Box 2: What are the barriers or challenges for students?

Where are the gaps?

• Box 3: What school counseling programs or interventions

are in place to address the barriers or challenges? Do you

know whether they are working?

• Box 4: What else needs to be done to address this issue?

Do you need more information?




program) What is working at your school for

students? For your program?

What are the barriers or challenges

for students? Where are the gaps?

What school counseling programs

or interventions are in place to

address the barriers or challenges?

Do you know whether they are

working?

What else needs to be done to

address this issue? Do you need

more information?






•88% of students attend school

regularly.






88% of students attend school

regularly.



A significant number of Hispanic

students do not attend school

regularly.







regularly.





regularly.





working?

Small Groups

Parent Programming







regularly.





regularly.





working?

Small Groups

Parent Programming

What else needs to be done to

address this issue? Do you need

more information?

Why are students not attending

school

Impact of attendance and grades



Goal Alignment

1 • School District Goals

2

• School Goals/Improvement Plan Goals

3 • School Counseling Program Goals



Guiding Questions…

What do you want to know or understand?

What is to be evaluated and why?

Does your statement/question align with the

school’s goal or school improvement plan?



Effective Program Goals

• Promote achievement, attendance, behavior

and/or school safety.

• Are based on school data.

• Address school wide data, policies and practices

to address closing-the-gap issues.

• Address academic, career and/or personal/social

development.

• Are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable,

Results-Oriented, Time-bound.



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?



Is Your Goal SMART?



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?



SMART Goal Sample

SIP

Goal

• By June 2013, at least 50% of the Hispanic, seventh-grade students enrolled in Math7 will pass the SOL at an advanced level.

School

Counseling

Goal

• By the end of the fourth quarter, all students on the math 7 watch list will pass the math 7 SOL.

Strategies

• Small groups (focused on study skills, time management, test taking strategies)

• Individual Counseling

• Parent/Teacher Conferences



Next Steps

What are your questions?

What do you need to move

forward?



Contact Information

Valerie K. Hardy

Secondary School Counseling Specialist

Fairfax County Public Schools

[email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

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