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AMERICAN SCHOOL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATION JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2014 VOLUME 51 | NUMBER 3

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AMERICAN SCHOOL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATION JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2014 VOLUME 51 | NUMBER 3

10

USING RESULTS TO GET RESULTSMaking a presentation to your school board requires solid data, solid presentation skills and the knowledge of what’s important to the school board.

By Katy O’Grady

16

DESIGNATED DATA MONDAYSSchool counseling leaders in Fairfax County Public Schools are embarking on a yearlong, districtwide data training program for their elementary school counselors. Learn how you can implement a similar program in your district.

By Carol Kaffenberger, Ph.D.

22

FROM POSITION TO PROGRAM What once was a position in the schools, with wide-ranging duties, often clerical and administrative in nature, has moved to a comprehensive program approach, allowing school counselors to better meet students’ academic, career and personal/social needs.

By Norman C. Gysbers, Ph.D., and Bragg Stanley, Ed.D.

COLUMNS04 Inside | Insight06 Legal | Ethical

DEPARTMENTS26 New | Noteworthy29 Ad Index31 Calendar32 What Works

DATA

Get the scoop on the

surprise assembly announcing

the 2014 School Counselor of

the Year, p. 30

2 ASCA SCHOOL COUNSELOR | JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2014

THIS M ONTH ON W W W. S C H OOLCOUN SELO R .O RG

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014Volume 51 | Number 3

PUBLISHERAmerican School Counselor Association1101 King St., Suite 625, Alexandria, VA 22314(703) 683-ASCA(703) 683-1619, [email protected]

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORKwok-Sze Richard Wong, Ed.D.

EDITORKathleen M. [email protected]

ART DIRECTION & DESIGNBussolati Associates, Inc.

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVEKen [email protected](877) 965-7492(877) 562-9189, fax

EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEEDiana AguirreSocorro Independent School DistrictEl Paso, Texas

Linda C. EbyGordon Russell Middle SchoolGresham, Ore.

Mark McGrathRetired School CounselorMoorestown, N.J.

Lori NguyenSan Marcos High SchoolSan Marcos, Calif.

EDITORIAL POLICYASCA School Counselor welcomes unsolicited articles and letters deemed to be of interest to the members. Sub missions will not be returned and may be edited for purposes of clarity and space. Use e-mail if pos-sible. Always include your name, address, daytime phone number, fax number and e-mail address with your submission. Opinions expressed in this publica-tion do not necessarily reflect the views of the asso-ciation’s members or the staff.

ADVERTISING POLICYASCA reserves the right to edit copy and to refuse advertisements it deems objectionable. The publica-tion of an advertisement in ASCA School Counselor is not an endorsement of the advertiser or of the adver-tised product or service. ASCA is not responsible for any claims made in advertisements. To determine the accreditation status of educational institutions, consult the state and regional accrediting directories or the state department of education.

MEMBERSHIPASCA membership dues are $129/year, of which $10 is for a subscription to ASCA School Counselor.

ASCA School Counselor (ISSN 1537-6249) is pub-lished bimonthly (September, November, January, March, May and July) by the American School Counselor Association, 1101 King St., Suite 625, Alexandria, VA 22314, a division of the American Counseling Association. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, Va., and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to ASCA School Counselor, 1101 King St., Suite 625, Alexandria, VA 22314. Volume 51, Number 3.

January/February Web Exclusives Check out the enhanced online magazine site and the following Web Exclusives to complement this issue of ASCA School Counselor magazine.

• See a sample board presentation, developed in Prezi and including student testimonials, by the Settles Bridge elementary school counselors.

• View a variety of free webinars on data, such as Data 101, Creating Compelling Charts, Using Google Docs to Collect and Analyze Data and more.

Access from—> www.ASCASchoolCounselor.org

2014 Webinar SeriesGet your professional development for free and from the comfort of your own home or office. Check out the lineup of webinars for January–June 2014.

Access from—> www.schoolcounselor.org/webinars

New Database/Member PortalCheck out ASCA’s new database. Visit www.schoolcounselor.org, log in and click on “My ASCA.” Update your profile if needed, set up your main member page with shortcut links to the sections of the website you visit most often and more.

Access from—> home page

National School Counseling WeekDon’t wait until the last minute to make your plans for National School Counseling Week, Feb. 3–7, 2014. Download certificates, press release sample, morning announcements and more.

Access from—> home page

Build Magical FuturesSummer will be here before you know it, and with summer comes our favorite activity of the year – the ASCA Annual Conference. Check out the full lineup of sessions, keynote speakers, networking events and more. Be sure to register by March 1, 2014, for best rates.

Access from—> www.schoolcounselor.org/magic

Opening the Doors to OpportunityCollege Board assessments help you open the doors of opportunity for your students. PSAT/NMSQT® results demonstrate college readiness and reveal AP® potential. The SAT® and SAT Subject Tests™ then provide important connections to colleges, scholarships, and more.

Visit the SAT Counselor Resource CenterHelp students register, practice, and get on the road to college.

sat.org/ASCA2014

© 2014 The College Board. PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

13b_8631_ASCA_Ad_JanFeb_p1.indd 1 12/9/13 11:33 AM


I N S I D E I N S I G H T

Kwok-Sze Richard Wong, Ed.D.asca Executive Director

ASCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIRSharon Sevier, Ph.D.School CounselorLafayette High School (Mo.)(636) [email protected]

ASSISTANT CHAIRDoug HausermanSchool CounselorWestside Middle School (Neb.)(402) 408-8577 [email protected]

DIRECTORSPatrick Akos, Ph.D.ProfessorUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill(919) [email protected]

Sylinda Banks, Ed.D.Secondary School Counseling SpecialistFairfax County Schools (Va.)(571) [email protected]

Bob BardwellDirector of School CounselingMonson Innovation High School (Mass.)(413) 267-4589, ext. [email protected]

Julie BaumgartSchool Counselor/Department ChairWestern Boone Jr./Sr. High School (Ind.)(765) [email protected]

Edward A. Mainzer, Ed.D., LMHCSchool CounselorArts and Technology High School (N.Y.)(212) [email protected]

Barbara MicucciSchool CounselorCaley Elementary School (Pa.)(601) [email protected]

Kristian MoeSchool Counselor,Park High School (Minn.)(651) [email protected]

Gail SmithSchool Counseling SupervisorCobb County School District (Ga.)(770) [email protected]

Jan UpdegraffRetired School CounselorSalem, Ore.(503) [email protected]

ANOTHER ADVENTURE

We were astonished by the reactions when our daughter, Tori, told people she was moving to Darwin, a small city with a large Aboriginal population in the Northern Territory of Australia. One woman cautioned Tori that the indig-enous people were cannibals. Another wondered whether they wore clothes. We didn’t worry about the Aboriginal people, but we were alarmed that Darwin is also home to salt-water crocodiles.

Last fall, Tori helped her friend Matt drive from Darwin, where he grew up, to Wollongong in New South Wales, where he’s starting graduate school. The most obvious, and probably direct, route would have been down the east coast, which houses most of Australia’s population.

After Tori rowed in the 180-mile La Ruta Maya canoe race across Belize and lived in a tent for a year on an organic cof-fee farm in Kona, we should have known that route would be too tame for her. Sure enough, Tori informed us they were driving 4,787 km (2,974 miles) directly south from Darwin through the heart of the Australian outback to Adelaide, along the south coast through Melbourne, then up the east coast to Wollongong. It didn’t help when we learned that the Outback has the largest variety of poisonous insects and reptiles in the world.

Knowing that every kilometer would bring a new worry to her parents, Tori sent us a meticulous itinerary of their trip, detailing their travels day by day and sometimes hour by hour. She noted how far and how long they planned to drive each day, where they would stop to eat, and because the Outback is so sparsely populated, she took care to highlight where they could get gas and water. She even listed where they planned to

go hiking and swimming, to sample grapes and mango wine and to visit the world’s largest outdoor classroom in Alice Springs, Matt’s childhood home.

Tori sent text messages whenever she had cellular service. Although it eased some anxiety to hear from her, it also reminded us that they were so isolated they could drive for days without cell service. Sometimes, they only passed one gas station each day, and if they didn’t buy gas or water, they wouldn’t have another opportunity for 1,000 km. We were relieved when they reached Adelaide and civilization.

We knew we couldn’t tell her not to drive through the Outback. Although Tori knew she didn’t need our permis-sion, she also knew that giving us as much information as possible would put our minds at ease and possibly result in fewer frantic e-mails from home. And it worked. We followed her trip on the map she sent us, thought about the things they were doing that day and, when we heard from her, felt comforted that they had made it through another day. We truly felt as if we were sharing the trip with her.

Sometimes, having a little information is dangerous, such as thinking Australia is full of naked cannibals or obsessing over salt-water crocodiles and poisonous snakes. But the right information in the right amount, presented in the right way, can make all the difference. For us, hav-ing more information helps us sleep at night. At least until Tori’s next adventure.

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L E G A L E T H I C A L

HELPING HOMELESS STUDENTSBY CAROLYN STONE, ED.D.

Scenario: The liaison officer for homeless students attended the most recent districtwide meeting for school counselors to issue the directive that all school counselors are to report to her office when they learn a child is living in a homeless situation. The officer explained that some of the school counselors were refusing to provide her office with the information on the grounds that homelessness does not meet the ethical imperative of breaching to prevent a “clear imminent danger.” The homeless liaison officer has explained that the information is needed for children and their families to receive transportation, free meals, health care and other essential services. You tend to agree that her office should be notified to help homeless children, but you also appreciate that homelessness is sensitive information for some students, and they may not want this shared beyond their school counselor. The ethical imperative of establishing and maintaining a trusting relationship with students is, in your opinion, a serious matter, but you also understand if there are legal imperatives they supersede ethical ones. Is this one of the times in which the law trumps ethics?

opportunity. According to NAEHCY, homeless children and youth face unique barriers to education, including:• Being unable to meet enrollment

requirements (including requirements to provide proof of residency and legal guardianship, and school and health records)

• High mobility resulting in lack of school stability and educational continuity

• Lack of transportation• Lack of school supplies and clothing• Poor health, fatigue and hunger• Emotional crisis/mental health issues• Lack of a parent or guardian in the case

of unaccompanied homeless youthWhen working with these vulnerable

youth who’ve turned to you in trust, how can you respect the student’s confidential-ity while also reaching out to the homeless liaison to enable the liaison to support the student and family? In this instance, there is a legal imperative for reporting homeless youth to the liaison officer. The McKinney-Vento Act is federal legislation helping homeless children to receive an equal, free, appropriate public education and all that this entails. The act states:

“Each local educational agency liaison for homeless children and youths, des-ignated under paragraph (1)(J)(ii), shall ensure homeless children and youths are identified by school personnel and through coordination activities with other entities and agencies.”

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act specifically allows the sharing of information with other school officials within the district or school who have legiti-mate educational interests (LEI). The home-less liaison officers have LEI, and to do their jobs as directed by the federal govern-ment, they have to know who the homeless children are in their district. Additionally, school districts are legally required by the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) to gather and report data on the number of homeless students in the district. To avoid duplication, the information collected must be personally identifiable, and the nighttime residence provided if known. The McKinney-Vento Act requires that school districts provide transportation so children have the option of staying in their school of origin regardless of how many times they move to different school zones. Complying

The federal government defines homeless children as those lacking a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence to include those living in shelters, transitional hous-ing, cars, campgrounds, motels or sharing temporary housing with others. During the 2011–2012 academic year, more than 1.1 million children, accompanied by an adult, were homeless. Even this disturbing number is likely a significant underestimate because the data collected represent only those children school officials were able to identify and report and does not include all preschool-age children. Fifteen percent of

homeless children were living in shelters; 75 percent were doubled up with others; 5 per-cent were living in motels, with the balance in unsheltered locations. It is estimated that the number of homeless youth unaccompa-nied by an adult is an additional 1.6 to 1.7 million per year, representing runaways or those forced out of the home by parents.

According to the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY), homeless situa-tions are often precarious, crowded and unsafe. For these children school can be a lifeline, a place of safety, structure and

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L E G A L E T H I C A L

negotiate with the help of our partners in education. At the end of the day, personally identifiable information must be provided to the homeless liaison officer, but prior to doing so the skilled school counselor will work with homeless students to help them understand why the breach is necessary. Relay to the student what you need to tell the liaison, and considering the student’s developmental level, it might be appropriate to ask the student if he/she would like to be present at the meeting or provide the infor-mation. The test is to advantage the student by collaborating with other educators in the school while keeping a trusting relationship.

Carolyn Stone, Ed.D., is a professor

at the University of North Florida

and ASCA’s ethics chair. She can be

reached at [email protected]. Contact the

author for references to this article.

To submit your questions for a future

column, e-mail them to ethics@

schoolcounselor.org.

with McKinney-Vento can be costly to dis-tricts. The required information collected for the USDOE also allows many schools and districts to apply for grant money to provide additional programs and services, such as transportation aimed at meeting the needs of homeless children and youth.

Yet, despite the legal support require-ments for reporting homeless children, the question of breaching the trust placed in us by students who request confidentiality still leaves many school counselors uncomfort-able. Students might be deeply embarrassed by their plight, afraid they will be separated from their parents by social services, etc. There are many reasons why a child might appreciate or even plead for confidentiality. The profession acutely recognizes children’s need for privacy and a trusting adult to whom they can share their confidences. The law supersedes ethics; yet, this real scenario tests our skills to obey the legal imperative, while aspiring to also remain ethical.

This topic for this column is a result of a national organization turning to ASCA

for help as a group of school counselors in a particular state were refusing to provide information to the homeless liaison offi-cers because they said homelessness does not meet the criteria of clear, imminent danger. The Revised 2010 ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors replaced “clear imminent danger” with “serious and foreseeable harm.” Is clear imminent danger a 7 year old living in a car with four other people? If you substitute the concept of clear imminent danger for seri-ous and foreseeable harm, does this help with the decision to involve the homeless liaison officer?

Trust is a crucial hallmark of the school counseling profession. The ASCA Ethical Standards emphasize the balance that must happen between loyalty to students and consideration that must be given to other educators and the need-to-know informa-tion to advantage a student. School coun-selors practice in a unique setting dictating responsibility beyond the student. It is a tug of war that school counselors must skillfully

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USING RESULTS TO GET RESULTSMaking a presentation to your school board requires solid data, excellent presentation skills and the knowledge of what’s important to the school board. BY KATY O’GRADY

WWW.SCHOOLCOUNSELOR.ORG 11

Do your school board members know how many students raised their state test scores thanks in part to the mentoring program you started? Have they heard how many fewer days of school your students missed last year? Do they know how many more of your students are currently taking AP courses vs. two years ago? Or how much more time your students are spending in class these days with fewer behavior referrals?

If not, you have a great oppor-tunity to use the power of results data. Sharing these numbers demonstrates the measurable dif-ference school counselors can make on students’ education and on a school’s success. Results data give impressive substance both


district leaders and with one another. Valerie Johnson, then an elementary school counselor and now with Mary G. Montgomery High School, worked with her school counselor colleagues in feeder pattern teams to present “what we could do in being a piece of the puzzle to help struggling students.” Although there was no immediate danger of staffing cuts, “this was an opportunity to tell people how impor-tant we are, so people understand that school counselors are essential to schools.” Of particular interest to the attending board members was the achievement data, which in Johnson’s case related to bringing up state test scores among low-performing fourth- and fifth-grade students. The data celebration, now an annual event in Mobile, lets school counselors show specifically how they’re helping stu-dents to learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to be successful, Johnson said.

It was the interruptions and inquisi-tiveness that surprised Shelly Morton when she and Deana Brown presented to Forsythe County (Ga.) School District’s Board of Education. Morton is the school counselor for grades three through five at Settles Bridge Elementary School, and Brown works with the school’s kindergarten through second-grade students. As a require-ment of their successful re-RAMP application, they presented in October 2012 to address the question, “How are students different as a result of school counselors?” With abundant results data from their school counsel-ing curriculum lessons, a small-group program and attendance improvement goal (not to mention great videos of student testimonials), staying within the board’s 10-minute time limit was a challenge. And despite the school coun-selors’ preparation, they went over-time, “because the board interrupted

to presentations supporting a specific objective, such as an increase in school counseling staff, and to those that sim-ply reinforce the value of school coun-seling for administrators and school board members.

Timothy Conway undertook a year-long effort to add a staff member to the school counseling department at Lakeland Regional High School in Wanaque, N.J. The first school in the state to achieve Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) status, Lakeland was facing the budget impacts of the 2009 recession. But Conway believed the best way to alleviate the recession’s impact on students, families and the community was to increase school counseling services, not cut them. His culminating presentation to his Board of Education resulted in the addition of a fifth full-time school coun-selor halfway through the school year.

To make sure his message resonated with board members, Conway presented his data with a powerful cost/benefit analysis approach. “You have to quan-tify for them how things have changed, where we want to go and be able to show how you’re making a difference with what you’re doing,” he said. And his impression on the board has been a lasting one. At his budget presentation last year, one board member assured Conway he wasn’t worried about the school counseling budget. “I can see the value for my dollar,” the school board member said.

In Utah in 2010, school counselors across the state were tasked with closing achievement gaps and improving and measuring the impact of their school counseling curriculums. The school counselors in Jordan District’s five high schools and nine middle schools aimed to expand participation of ethnic minor-ity students in early college programs and increase students’ use of Utah Futures, the state’s career information

portal. Nancy Karpowitz, the district’s current secondary guidance specialist, and Chris Richards-Kong, who held that title at the time, were invited to present the results of both efforts to their school board.

The numbers were striking. Use of Utah Futures had increased exponen-tially, from fewer than 4,000 student enrollments to nearly 40,000 in one year, thanks largely to direct school

counselor interventions. And instead of the hoped-for 10 percent increase in minority students taking pre-college courses, 86 percent of the students identified and invited by school coun-selors enrolled in concurrent enrollment or Advanced Placement classes. With the powerful impact of school counsel-ors before them, Jordan District took action to significantly reduce its high student-to-school-counselor ratios. “We had hoped to have maybe five or six school counselors added, and the dis-trict added 14 new school counselors,” Karpowitz said.

School counselors in Mobile, Ala., identified and addressed opportunity gaps for their students. In 2011, they held their first data celebration to share the results of their efforts with

“You have to quantify for them how things have changed, where

we want to go and be able to show how

you’re making a difference with what

you’re doing,”


understand their school’s and district’s vision and goals and demonstrate how their school counseling program con-tributes to reaching those goals. She recommends reviewing the school coun-selor/principal relationship documents ASCA developed in conjunction with the College Board’s National Office for School Counselor Advocacy, available at www.schoolcounselor.org/relationship.

This ongoing communication – with results data – is vital for the relation-ships with school board members that can lead to desired changes. Woodward supports regular communication from school counselors to administrators and board members. In her district, many school counselors copy the board on their regular e-mailed newsletters and invite board members to scholarship briefing events, workshops about bul-lying prevention or college preparation opportunities. Conway has a seat on his board’s education subcommittee, which puts him at meetings in person and gives him regular communication with the subcommittee. Every commu-nication opportunity is another chance for school counselors to advocate for their own work and the overall value of school counseling. “You’ve got to regularly be the cheerleader for your program,” Conway said.

Harness the DataA powerful presentation starts with the data itself. Morton and her colleague set benchmarks and a timeline as they collected data for their Re-RAMP application and the accompanying presentation. “You can’t wait until the end of the year, and then look back and say, ‘Oh, I want to see how our results data added up,’” she said. The pair used their closing-the-gap action plan and curriculum action plans as a road map on how to gather that data. Conway and his department track data for every type of intervention they are using,

us so many times asking questions about the particular things we were sharing with them,” Morton said. Most compelling, eliciting an audible “wow” from board members, was attendance data shown not in percentages but by giving the actual number of days stu-dents’ attendance had improved from one year to the next.

In all of these situations, presenting results data reinforced board awareness of school counselors’ value. “When you can quantify the impact the school counseling department has on the students, this will have an impact on a board of education,” Conway said. Karen Woodward, superintendent of Lexington County School District One, in Lexington, S.C., agrees. With 11 RAMP schools in her district, Woodward and her board are absolute-ly committed to school counseling, she said. As part of regular instructional updates at board meetings, school counselors provide an overview of their program, addressing the current major issues and accomplishments.

Communication Starts at HomeTo achieve an outcome that affects bud-gets, like Coway’s or Karpowitz’s, pre-senting to the school board is definitely not the first step, and adding staff posi-tions won’t happen overnight. Making sure the administrators in your own building understand the value of school counseling for students is a critical starting point. “All too often, admin-istrators even within the schools don’t understand what a school counselor does or can do that impacts the bottom line,” Conway said. He delivers a sup-port personnel accountability report card (SPARC), twice a year to provide updates showing “the impact that is happening in the school in kind of real time, with text and charts to show them year-over-year impact.”

Karpowitz also encourages school counselors to “communicate regularly with your administration about what your school counseling department is doing and how you are helping students overcome roadblocks to success.” She notes that school counselors need to

School Counselors and Steve Jobs

The following tips taken from “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience,” by Carmine Gallo, can help school counselors make effective presentations.• Identify the one big idea you want to leave

with your audience. It should be short, memorable and in subject-verb-object sequence.

• Write out the three messages you want the audience to receive, and develop meta-phors and analogies in support of them.

• Invite stakeholders to participate.• Include video clips if helpful, but keep

them short.• Answer the “Why should I care?” that’s in

the audience’s mind. Have a passion for creating a better future.

• Simplify your presentation.• Make numbers meaningful. Morton’s pre-

sentation included, “Those who improved attendance were in school an average of 10.4 days more than in the previous year.” Conway pointed out the “19.68 percent increase in the number of students taking the PSAT from 2008–2009.”

• Don’t use bullet-point style visuals; instead, use short phrases that accompany your talk or pictures.

• Practice, practice, practice, and ask for feedback.


vein, Morton’s presentation included short videos of students about how the conflict resolution program had helped them, and her board members “were just captivated,” she said.

Prepared to PresentAs the only school counselors present-ing to their board that year, Morton and Brown felt pressure to represent their profession, advocate for school counselors and impress their school board audience. Morton learned to use a newer tool for their presentation visu-als, a program called Prezi (see www.prezi.com). Free accounts are avail-able to educators, and Morton calls the format “more dynamic” than the traditional PowerPoint. PowerPoint presentations also can be imported into Prezi. The program has a bit of a learn-ing curve, according to Morton, and she recommends school counselors become familiar with it and try a presentation before using it for an important event like a board presentation.

Not only does Morton suggest get-ting comfortable with the presentation format being used, she urges school counselors to practice out loud so they feel prepared and confident, especially if presenting with a partner. “We prac-ticed so much before we went in front of the board, just so we looked like a professional, cohesive team,” Morton said. To help herself and Brown prepare, Morton used guidelines from the book “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs” (see p. 13). And the pair did not neglect their own visual impression, wearing their official Settles Bridge Elementary button-down shirts. “We just looked like a very unified team to the board, and I know that was commented on afterward,” Morton said.

Finally, know your time limit and be prepared for interaction. Karpowitz and Richards-Kong provided school board members with an advance study

“whether it’s an assessment to gauge the amount students have learned or just administering the PSAT,” providing year-by-year numbers of students tak-ing the exam.

Johnson knows the importance of dedicating enough time and effort to data gathering when showing others the importance of your work. “When you can prove that your small-group and large-group counseling sessions are effective, that’s huge. When you can share data showing a mentoring program you started helps kids improve their grades, that’s how you make prog-ress,” she said.

Conway’s data direction starts with an annual community needs assessment survey, which tells him what the commu-nity really wants for their students. “Do they want more college planning, more financial planning, more study skills and organizational techniques?” he said. Having the survey data lets him take the message to his board that the school is focusing on the community’s directly expressed needs. Conway’s frequent SPARC reports also help by making sure administrators and board members have current figures on a regular basis.

Get Their AttentionWhat attracts the most attention from a school board audience? The results data itself was the star in these presen-tations. Year-by-year comparisons, such as the growing use of Utah Futures or increases to proficiency rates on state tests, proved to be extremely powerful. Both Morton and Conway considered a new perspective to make their numbers even more compelling. Wherever pos-sible, Morton presented information not as percentages but in values such as the number of days students were in school over the previous year and the number of behavior referrals before and after students participated in her conflict resolution program. Conway’s approach

of focusing on the bottom line value of school counselors highlighted figures such as the increase in graduation rates and decrease in dropouts.

Understanding what is important to board members is essential for a suc-cessful presentation. Morton’s school board had been pressuring adminis-trators to improve attendance, so her results data on success in that area was very welcome. With the assignment in Karpowitz’s state to identify an achieve-ment gap and address it, the board was impressed by her district’s successful program of identifying qualified minor-ity students and inviting them to partici-pate in pre-college programs. Karpowitz and Richards-Kong went on to deliver

data in the following years about the continued success of the identification program and the excellent academic outcomes of the participating students. Johnson and her colleagues also had a mandate to address opportunity gaps for students. Their presentation addressed how they identified students who were having difficulty and the school counselors’ results in meeting the needs of these struggling students.

Woodward’s school board was interested in how school counselors personalize their support to students and help them plan for their future and encouraged school counselors to share stories illustrating this support. In this

“When you can share data showing a mentoring program

you started helps kids improve their grades, that’s how you make

progress.”


packet including background informa-tion. They had prepared the requested 15-minute PowerPoint, to be followed by five minutes of questions. “We wound up going over half an hour because the board kept asking ques-tions. They were very interested in what we had to say and in our data,” Karpowitz said. Morton had a similar experience, “They were really inquisi-tive; I hadn’t expected them to be inter-rupting us and asking us questions, so that caught me a little off guard, but it was very encouraging how interested they were.”

This high interest level is a reminder that school board members serve because they care about the success of students. Woodward said board mem-bers value providing good advice and support and guidance to students about their future direction, and they appreci-ate helping students navigate personal and emotional challenges. Still, Conway said, “You absolutely have to have the data and be able to prove the impact your school counseling department is having and can have.”

Katy O’Grady is a freelance writer based

in Fairfax, Va., who last wrote for ASCA

School Counselor about 2012 School

Counselor of the Year Nicole Pfleger.

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School counseling leaders in Fairfax County Public Schools (Va.) are embarking on a yearlong, districtwide data training program for their elementary school counselors. Learn how you can implement a similar program in your district.BY CAROL KAFFENBERGER, PH.D.

DESIGNATED DATA MONDAYS

How does a school district train its school counselors to systematically use data to drive program decision-making in order to serve all students? The accountability movement, which began more than a decade ago, has changed the way school counselors approach their work. School counselors are now expected to use data to develop, implement and evaluate their interventions and services. Not all school counselors received, as part of their school counselor preparation, the training necessary to empower them to extract, analyze and then use data effectively. Often not all school counselors receive reinforce-ment once in the field to continue to refine their data collection and analytical skills. This training gap has resulted in the need for school districts across the country to create their own data training. Let’s take a look at how one large school district developed training for its school counselors, an approach that may offer a template to school district leaders and spur confidence in tackling this daunting task.

Located in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington D.C., Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is the 11th largest school system in the country. FCPS employs 640 school counselors and 52 student service directors, serving 191 school sites. “FCPS is committed to the development of data-driven comprehensive school counseling programs that support all students,” said Marcy Miller Kneale, FCPS coordinator for school counseling services and college success.

“School counselors play a critical role in identifying the challenges our students face and using evidence-based practices to close achievement gaps. Critical to the success of comprehensive school counseling programs is the ability to set goals based on identified needs. This requires school counselors to use data to identify achievement gaps, develop goals and work plans addressing needs, and effectively monitor and evaluate the impact of their programs and interventions.”

With these goals in mind, Kneale and her team have designed a yearlong data training program to help school counselors develop a “laser-like focus on the challenges in their building to maximize their efforts and see the greatest results.”


conducted an additional survey of elementary school counselors at the beginning of the 2013–2014 school year to further identify the specific needs of the training.

Training team: The training team consisted of a smaller group of the school counseling services district lead-ership team and a local counselor educa-tor. All five training team members were scheduled to be available to the elemen-tary school counselors during the half-day trainings and planning sessions and to provide individual support as needed throughout the training year. In addi-tion, school counselors who had already demonstrated their interest and com-petence in using data were recruited to share successes and support colleagues during the training sessions and in their pyramid meetings.

Sessions: Training began with an introduction to the data training in August during the annual districtwide in-service for elementary school coun-selors. Additionally, the leadership team scheduled four half-day trainings (September, January, February and March), which all elementary school counselors were expected to attend. The half-day trainings are scheduled for Mondays, a districtwide professional development day for all elementary school staff, from 1:30–4:30 p.m. Plans involved participants sitting at round tables with other school counselors from their pyramid. Each training ses-sion includes an identified focus for that month, led by the school counseling training team, as well as time for small-group work.

Meeting by MeetingSeptember – Setting goals: In prepa-ration for the first session, the school counselors were asked to look at their school data and review their school improvement plan goals. The first ses-sion focuses on writing a program goal that aligns with one of their school improvement goals. School coun-selors learn about writing specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound (SMART) goals and work through various examples. The session

FCPS’ school counseling services department leadership has a long his-tory of embracing the ASCA National Model beginning in 2003 with district-wide training. Since 2006 all school counseling programs have been working toward the development of the essential elements of a comprehensive school counseling program based on the ASCA National Model. For the last two years, school counseling teams have been expected to submit annual program goals and results data. The school coun-seling services department reviews these essential elements and provides feedback to the schools, to help improve practice over time.

An emphasis on using data has been in place in FCPS for several years. At the middle and high school levels, school counselors can rely on other school counselors in the building as well as a director of student services for support in using data. Since the 2009–2010 school year, middle and high school counseling collaborative team leaders have met on an almost monthly basis to gain information, knowledge and skills to help transform their pro-grams into data-driven comprehensive models,” said Darrell Sampson, FCPS resource counselor.

Despite these efforts it became clear in 2012 that a more systematic training for all school counselors was going to be necessary. School counselors and their supervisors were asking for more support as the district moved to an evidenced-based evaluation system. With the school counselors’ needs in mind, and a realization that some of the built-in sup-port available to middle and high school counselors does not exist at the elemen-tary level where many buildings only have one school counselor, FCPS’ school counseling services department began developing a yearlong training program in data gathering and usage for the dis-trict’s 255 elementary school counselors.

“If our business is really to support the academic achievement of all stu-dents, then we need to be able to both quantify our work and share it with stakeholders in an easily understood format,” Sampson said. “This training

really allows us to do several things. First, we are helping our elementary school counselors identify different types of data sources that are open to them in schools, whether it is student grades or scores on standardized read-ing tests. Next, we are helping them to write strong goals that are realistic, rig-orous and steeped in outcome data. The training moves on to help our elementa-ry school counselors design strong inter-vention programs to support their goal. Finally, the focus will be on sharing the impact of their work through a DATA report, a format that is simple and easily shared, with teachers, administrators and other stakeholders.”

Designing the TrainingFCPS school counseling services district leadership met in spring and summer 2013 to brainstorm a variety of train-ing models, including train-the-trainer, training only for identified school counselors and coaching among groups of feeder schools, known as pyramids. Ultimately the team decided all 255 ele-mentary school counselors should receive the training. The team knew from pro-fessional development best practices that “sit and get” training is rarely enough to evoke change in practice. Professional development training needs to be based on an identified need and supported through reinforcement, coaching and practice. Additionally, there needs to be the expectation that evidence of the training, a product, will be developed and used to inform practice.

Assessment of training needs: A needs assessment survey administered at the end of the school year identified the need for training in the use of data. In addition, over the summer before the training occurred, an evaluation of previously submitted school counselor program goals and results data helped the school counseling district leadership understand the challenges elementary school counselors were experiencing and also identified those elementary school counselors who were effectively using data and could be called upon to support others in the training process. District school counseling leadership


includes time for the school counselors to work on their individual goal and get individual assistance and feedback from colleagues and the training team. School counselors are required to sub-mit their program goal along with how the goal supported the school improve-ment plan by Nov. 1.

January – Planning: Session two gives the elementary school counselors time to review submitted goals and to develop action plans for achieving their goal. The session begins with time to share their goals with other school counselors in their pyramid, followed by a short presentation providing guid-ance around identifying the action plans and data collection. The school counselors also learn about survey development and then create a survey for their own data-collection purposes. A considerable amount of time at this session is devoted to giving the school counselors individual help from the training team and allowing time to col-laborate with colleagues.

February – Analyzing data: The third session focuses on aggregating data in a way that helps the school counselors assess whether their intervention has had an impact on students and how to represent the data to stakehold-ers. School counselors are expected to bring collected data to the session to aggregate, analyze and create graphs to represent the results. Again, the session includes time to work with others in their pyramid, share their data and get any necessary individual help from the training team.

March – Sharing data: The final session focuses on summarizing the SMART goal intervention and shar-ing the process, the results data, the implications and the recommendations. School counselors produce a one-page data report using the DATA format. The reports identify the SMART goal, the action plan for implementing the inter-vention and collecting data, the results data, and the implications and recom-mendations that can be made based on the data. The session includes time for additional training and feedback on sharing results data.


parallel plan to engage school admin-istrators in professional development that shares the role and impact of school counselors within a building.

Develop a strategic long-range plan: Make sure your plan for the develop-ment and implementation of compre-hensive school counseling programs across all levels, K–12, uses a systematic approach with checkpoints, timelines and assessments.

Identify training needs: Collect data from the school counselors to identify specific training needs, and evalu-ate their training needs based on an assessment of where they are in their efforts to use data to develop a com-prehensive program.

Identify training procedures: Consider how you can support school counselors throughout the year as they translate training to practice. Examine existing professional develop-ment structures in your system, and look for opportunities for your school counselors.

Articulate the message: Continue to drive home your message of the impor-tance of data-driven programs every chance you get and in multiple ways (websites, publications, professional development). Everyone needs to hear the message more than once and in more than one way. Whenever possible, link the work to existing expectations, such as school improvement plans. “The leadership role is to help school counselors see that using data is the work; it’s not more work,” Kneale said.

Not only are we hoping to solidify the data collection and intervention skills of all of our elementary school counsel-ing professionals, but we are hoping that this will allow them to advocate for school counseling, both within their schools as well as at the district level and beyond,” Sampson said.

Carol Kaffenberger, Ph.D., is a professor

emerita, George Mason University, and

an adjunct professor, Johns Hopkins

University. She is the co-author of

“Making DATA Work” and can be

reached at [email protected].

Three ProngsAlthough the training program is still in its first year, the school counsel-ing services leadership team has come to realize the importance of three tools: support, resources and ongoing evaluation.

Support: Since all elementary school counselors are organized into pyramids, the pyramid leaders provide opportuni-ties at their monthly meetings for school counselors to share their progress and receive support concerning their efforts to achieve their program goal. The school counseling services leadership team is also available to support the pyramids and help individual school counselors as needed.

Resources: All Designated Data Monday handouts, PowerPoint pre-sentations and document examples are posted on the K-12 School Counseling Blackboard site. All team members are available during the in-person train-ing and by e-mail to answer questions and provide additional support and coaching.

Ongoing evaluation: Key to success-ful professional development is ongoing evaluation. To establish goals you need to know where you are and where you are headed. The FCPS school counseling services team leans heavily on ongoing evaluation of the training program via the bi-annual needs assessment, a review of submitted results reports and an evaluation of each training session using Survey Monkey. Additionally, the train-ing team meets before and after each Designated Data Monday to discuss the plans, examine data conducted and

ensure a common message is infused into the training and training materials. At the end of the school year all school counselors will submit a product, a DATA report, evidence that the train-ing goals were met. And finally, a final online evaluation of the training, using Survey Monkey, from the perspective of the school counselors will be conducted at the end of the school year.

Advice to Other DistrictsAlthough this training is still a work-in-progress, the Fairfax County team offers the following lessons learned to other districts looking to develop simi-lar training.

“Being able to provide a common message and format to these trainings that reaches all of our professionals, whether they are experienced with data or just beginning to understand the concepts is one of the biggest chal-lenges,” Sampson said. “Space and time are issues because of the number of school counselors and the geograph-ical size of the school district,” said Ellissia Price, FCPS elementary school counseling specialist.

Additionally, the training team offers these points:

Realize systematic change takes time: Identify early adopters and sup-port them with their work so they can become leaders in their efforts moving forward.

Make connections: It’s important for school counselors and other stakehold-ers (administrators, teachers, parents, other school personnel and the com-munity) to understand how school counseling is an integral part of the instructional program. Principal buy-in is critical in moving the work forward. If school counselors are still engaged in a high volume of non-school-counsel-ing-related responsibilities, significant change will be challenging.

Know what you’re trying to accom-plish: Be clear about what you are try-ing to accomplish so everyone is on the same page. Set goals and a work plan and determine metrics you will use to measure success. Engage district leader-ship and school counseling stakehold-ers in the process. Consider having a

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What once was a position in the schools, with wide-ranging duties, often clerical and administrative in nature, has moved to a comprehensive program approach, allowing school counselors to better meet students’ academic, career and social/emotional needs. BY NORMAN C. GYSBERS, PH.D., AND BRAGG STANLEY, ED.D.

FROM POSITION TO PROGRAM


Over the past 40 years a major shift has been taking place in how school counseling is conceptualized and practiced. One hundred years ago, school counseling was organized as a position (a place occupied) in the schools, with a list of duties to be performed. Teachers and administrators initially held the position, and as the years unfolded, more and more part-time and then full-time school counselors occupied the position. Later, the position was placed in a group of services including information, assessment, counseling, placement and follow-up. In turn these services became a part of a larger entity called pupil personnel services, now sometimes called student services.


the time requirements to complete them varies considerably. Some duties may be substantial and require a great deal of time. Other duties may be of less size and require little time to complete. This makes it difficult for school counselors to organize their work and calendar their time.

Still another reason is that the duties on these lists can vary substantially among elementary, middle and high school counselors and, what is worse, among school counselors in the same building. This can result in a lack of connectedness and cohesion. This often results in school counselor isolation, not in school counselor unity.

In addition, the traditional position of school counselor with its list of scat-tered and disconnected duties makes it difficult to be an advocate for the work that should be done – fully implement-ing a comprehensive school counseling program. How do school counselors explain who they are and what they do

Today, while the position of school counselor with its list of duties is still being used as a way to structure school counseling, increasingly, under ASCA’s leadership, school counseling is being conceptualized and practiced as a full K-12 program equal and complimen-tary with other educational programs and is being delivered by full-time school counselors working closely with teachers, administrators, parents and the community.

What are the implications of the transformation taking place in school counseling, this major shift from position to program? Why is the tra-ditional position approach no longer adequate? What does the program approach offer school counselors that the traditional position approach does not? Let’s take a look at why the traditional position approach is no longer adequate and what the program approach offers that the traditional position approach does not.

The Traditional PositionOne of the reasons the traditional posi-tion approach is no longer an adequate way to structure the work of school counselors resides in the list of duties accompanying the position. Typically these lists are assembled over time and contain a mixture of school counseling, administrative and clerical duties. These lists often include such duties as coor-dinating the school testing program, testing for special education and gifted programs, being coordinator/manager of 504 files and maintaining perma-nent records. These administrative and clerical duties are a barrier to working directly with students because they sub-stantially reduce the time school coun-selors have to help all students become college- and career-ready. Unfortunately, as school districts take on or are given new initiatives, these lists tend to grow longer, not shorter.

Another reason is that the duties in these lists are often unequal in size, and

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school counselors within a comprehen-sive program framework represents a complete transformation of how school counseling is conceptualized and prac-ticed. Instead of a single list of accumu-lated duties to identify and describe the work of school counselors, the program concept contains a complete array of developmental, preventive and respon-sive activities, interventions and services all designed to enable all students to become career- and college-ready. More specifically, it means school counseling programs provide direct and indirect services to all students.

A benefit of the program concept is that the program’s delivery system of direct and indirect services provides authoritative descriptions for all of the school counselor’s duties. Duties that have accumulated over time around the position of school counselor, including administrative and clerical tasks, are replaced with duties derived directly from the program’s content and struc-ture. As a result, scattered and dis-connected lists of duties are replaced with duties that are systematically and sequentially arranged K-12 within the structure of the program’s direct and indirect services.

Another benefit of the program con-cept is its ability to unify school coun-selors K-12. Although each grade and grade-level grouping has its own unique challenges requiring differing activi-ties and interventions, the overall K-12 structure of the program remains the same and brings elementary, middle and high school counselors together with the same mission and vision. The program structure of direct and indirect services provides common language connecting school counselors K-12. At the same time it allows considerable flexibility in the selection of activities, interventions and time allocations depending on the needs of elementary, middle and high school students.

Still another benefit of the K-12 program is that it provides a way for all school counselors in a district to schedule their work and time across the direct and indirect services of the deliv-ery system. By allocating 100 percent of their time across these services they can

– their professional identity – by reciting a list of these scattered and disconnected duties? These lists often make school counselors appear as administrative assistants. As a result they are seen as office people, not program people.

The ProgramAlthough the word program has appeared in school counseling literature since the 1920s, few efforts were made to conceptualize and operationalize the concept until the 1970s. By then it had become apparent that the traditional position with its scattered, disconnected and often lengthy lists of duties was no longer adequate to characterize and organize school counselors’ work. In fact, it was causing role confusion and conflict among school counselors and causing many to view school counseling as an ancillary and marginalized service within education.

What was needed was a way to con-figure school counseling so it would be seen and understood as a mainstream program in education. The word program was chosen to identify and describe school counseling as having content, structure, organization and sequence. It was chosen to contain all of the content, activities, interventions and services designed and sequenced K-12 to meet all students’ academic, career and personal/social development needs. ASCA adopted the program concept for school counseling with the publication of the ASCA National Model in 2003, which is now in its third edition.

The placement of the position of

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One of the reasons the traditional position

approach is no longer an adequate way to structure the work

of school counselors resides in the list of

duties accompanying the position.


ways to evaluate the overall results of the program as well as the impact of the program’s activities, interventions and services on student behavior.

There is Work to DoFully implemented and accountable school counseling programs do not hap-pen overnight, and school counselors cannot do this work alone. It takes a commitment from counselor educators, state school counselor organizations and state department of education person-nel to adopt the common vision that all schools will have fully implemented and accountable school counseling programs. It also takes the support of school administrators. Unfortunately, recent studies conducted by ASCA and the National Association of Secondary School Principals suggest school admin-istrators do not yet fully understand the value of the programmatic concept of school counseling and its benefits to stu-dents, the school and the community.

display and manage their work and keep track of their time. Developing a calendar for the program allows school counselors to move from the traditional position with its scattered and disconnected duties to a unified, intentional K-12 district compre-hensive school counseling program. Calendars can also show administra-tors, teachers and parents that the pro-gram is developmental and proactive and is designed to reach all students K-12 and help them achieve their academic, career and personal/social development potential. It can also show administrators that full program implementation requires 100 percent of a school counselor’s time.

Finally, a benefit of using the pro-gram concept for school counseling is that the program’s structure provides a direct way for school counselors to collect and analyze data to evaluate the degree to which the program is in place and functioning as it should.

Also, since school counselor duties are derived directly from the program’s content and structure, they can be used to develop the necessary forms and procedures to evaluate school counselors’ work. In addition, the structure of the program provides

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Who says a class has to be a lecture?

Developing a calendar for the program allows

school counselors to move from the

traditional position with its scattered and disconnected duties to a unified,

intentional K-12 district comprehensive school counseling program.


However, by working together they can create a climate of expectation, an expec-tation that every school district will have fully implemented and accountable school counseling programs that are an integral and central part of the instructional pro-cess to ensure all students are college- and career-ready when they graduate.

Norman C. Gysbers, Ph.D., is a curator’s

distinguished professor, University of

Missouri – Columbia and the author

numerous journal articles and books,

including “School Counseling Principles:

Remembering the Past, Shaping the

Future: A History of School Counseling.”

He can be reached at gysbersn@missouri.

edu. Bragg Stanley, Ed.D., is with the

Missouri Department of Elementary

and Secondary Education. He can be

reached at [email protected].

In addition, fully implemented and accountable school counseling programs require counselor education programs to prepare school counselors in training to know school counseling program lan-guage (its content and structure) so they are able to clearly articulate the program concept. Once employed, school counsel-ors must be able and willing to use this knowledge to become advocates for full program implementation and evaluation by using data to give regular presenta-tions to their administration and local boards of education demonstrating the impact of their program on critical mark-ers of student success.

State departments of education can also contribute to achieving the goal of fully implemented and account-able school counseling programs. They can make sure fully implemented and accountable school counseling programs are part of the state’s school accredita-tion program standards in general and, more specifically, contribute to achieving

student performance expectations as defined by those standards. They can make sure the state’s school coun-selor certification standards address the knowledge and skills school counselors need to implement and evaluate school counseling programs. They can work with state counselor education programs to improve the pre-service education of administrators by ensuring administra-tors-in-training learn about the value and contributions of school counseling pro-grams and school counselors’ proper role. Finally, state departments of education can work with the state school counselor organization to provide the necessary ongoing professional development to school counselors by establishing state-wide mentoring programs.

A common vision shared among counselor educators, school counseling organizations and state departments of education does not guarantee that every school will have fully implemented and accountable school counseling programs.

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Make your plans now to attend the 2014 ASCA Annual Conference, “Build Magical Futures,” June 29–July 2, 2014, at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort, Orlando, Fla. You won’t want to miss the inspiring key-note speakers, educational breakout sessions and networking opportunities. You’ll be able to fulfill your continu-ing education needs with the chance to earn IACET-accredited CEUs, graduate credit and NBCC clock hours.

Online registration is now open. Register by March 1, 2014, for the best rates. All members will receive a registration brochure in the mail in mid-January, or download the brochure from the conference Web site, www.schoolcounselor.org/magic.

All conference events and the exhibit hall take place at the Swan & Dolphin Resort. ASCA has reserved a block of

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Start planning your conference schedule now. Download the ASCA Conferences mobile app to build your customized schedule and stay on top of all the latest conference news and infor-mation. Downloading the app is easy. Simply search on “ASCA Conferences” in your app marketplace.

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Wentworth Institute of Technology . . . . . . . . . cover 4

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ASCA thanks its conference sponsors, whose generous contributions allow us to keep the registration rates as low as possible. 2014 sponsors to date include: Committee for Children, Forrest T. Jones, Human eSources, National Federation of Opticianry Schools, National Student Clearinghouse, Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, Universal Technical Institute, University of Nebraska High School, Wentworth Institute of Technology.

For information on advertising in ASCA School Counselor or in ASCA’s electronic publications or online, contact Ad Guidance at (877) 965-7492.


ZORN NAMED 2014 SCHOOL COUNSELOR OF THE YEAR

Congratulations to the 2014 School Counselor of the Year, Robin Zorn, school coun-selor at Dr. M.H. Mason Jr. Elementary School, Duluth, Ga. “She has worked to develop a counseling program at Mason that annually exceeds expectations and serves as an example for her peers in other schools,” said David W. Jones, principal, Dr. M.H. Mason Jr. Elementary School.

In addition to the School Counselor of the Year, four finalists were selected:

Zorn and the four finalists will visit Washington, D.C., in late January 2014, where they will participate in a congressional briefing, meet with their members of Congress and be honored at an awards gala on Jan. 31. The School Counselor of the Year event officially kicks off National School Counseling Week, Feb. 3–7, 2014.

Watch for the March/April ASCA School Counselor, with expanded coverage of the 2014 School Counselor of the Year event.


Partnering With Teen Parents Helping you better ¥upport

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Curriculum focuses on:> Adolescent development

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Curriculum (on CD) includes:> More than 1,100 pages of

professional resources, parent-child activity pages and parent handouts

> Cost: $299

Counselors receive the curriculum.

To learn more, contact:Angelique Bey

Manager, Knowledge Studio314.432.4330, x256, or

angelique.bey @parentsasteachers.org

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2014 WEBINAR LINEUPLooking for some free professional development you can attend from the comfort of your own home or office? ASCA has booked an exciting schedule of webinars for winter/spring 2014. Learn more or register at www.schoolcounselor.org/webinars.

At a surprise assembly in December 2013, Robin Zorn (center) discovers she’d been selected 2014 School Counselor of the Year.

Melissa BeverlyCactus Shadows High School, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Timothy ConwayLakeland Regional High School, Wanaque, N.J.

Monica DominguezDr. Sue Shook Elementary School, El Paso, Texas

Linda MartinPalm Lake Elementary School, Orlando, Fla.

Evidence-Based, Data-Driven Comprehensive School Counseling: How it Fulfills RAMPJan. 17, 2014, 11 a.m. EasternSpeaker: Brett Zyromski, Ph.D.

Microsoft Office Tips, Tricks and ShortcutsFeb. 11, 2014, 3 p.m. EasternSpeaker: Russ Sabella, Ph.D.

Cyberbullying: The Substantial Disruption TestFeb. 21, 2014, 12 p.m. EasternSpeaker: Carolyn Stone, Ed.D.

Partnering With Teen ParentsMarch 6, 2014, 2 p.m. EasternSpeaker: Angelique Bay

A Rainbow of LGBTQIA ResourcesApril 3, 2014, 7 p.m. EasternSpeaker: Lisa Koenecke

Promoting Student Success via the Ecological Model of School CounselingApril 16, 2014, 4:30 p.m. EasternSpeakers: H. George McMahon, Ph.D., and Joseph Williams



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FebruaryAfrican American History MonthAmerican Heart MonthNational Children’s Dental Health Month

1 National Freedom Day2 Groundhog Job Shadowing

Day3–7 National School Counseling

Week14–20 Random Acts of Kindness

Week23- March 1 National Eating Disorders

Awareness Week

MarchAmerican Red Cross MonthGender Equality MonthMusic in our Schools MonthNational Middle Level Education MonthNational Nutrition MonthNational Women’s History MonthSocial Work MonthYouth Art Month

2 Read Across America Day3–7 National School Breakfast

Week8 International Women’s Day11 Johnny Appleseed Day12–18 Girl Scout Week16–22 National Poison Prevention

Week19 Kick Butts Day21 International Day for the

Elimination

CALENDAR

ASCA ANNUAL CONFERENCEJUNE 29–JULY 2, 2014ORLANDO, FLA.www.schoolcounselor.org/magic

Fostering Resilience and Strength in StudentsMay 19, 2014, 3:30 p.m. EasternSpeaker: Tammy Davis, Ed.D.

Kids Supporting Kids: Implementing a Grief Support Group for Elementary School StudentsJune 5, 2014, 1 p.m. EasternSpeaker: Kathleen Tillman, Ph.D.


Through showing program data and results we have built a stronger relationship with our administrators. This allows them to trust and value the school counseling program.– Lacey Jacobsen, Bishop O’Connell High

School, Arlington, Va.

It is not that hard. It is totally worth the time. Keep, document and track everything – those are your results. You are already doing the hard part (implementing the programs). All you have to do is collect the results.– Sarah Kirk, Monroe Elementary School,

Norman, Okla.

Sharing program results is a powerful tool for personal growth and development within your profession. Sharing ideas and results also opens the door to more objective feedback and the opportunity for colleagues to feel a part of students’ social and emotional growth.– Jill Tolen, International School of Brussels,

Brussels, Belgium

Make the data relatable. Timing is everything.– Regina Hanna, Etna High School, Etna, Calif.

Just start; don’t make it a big ordeal. Find something you can track, and go. Practice makes perfect is a cliché for a reason.– Jeff Ream, North Tahoe High School,

Tahoe City, Calif.

Start small; highlight one thing that your program did and how students are different as a result. It gets easier the more you do it.– Paula Haugle, School District of Elmwood,

Elmwood, Wis.

I can’t stress enough the benefit of being accountable. Data sounds scary but it’s really not. Start small (pre/post with one lesson). In no time you’ll be collecting data to support why you are a valuable asset in your school.– Stephanie Bruce, Morris Grove Elementary,

Chapel Hill, N.C.

It saved my job and created one. I documented everything and presented these findings to the principal, superintendent and school board. This information merited another elementary full-time school counseling position.– Aaron Munson, Break-O-Day Elementary

School, New Whiteland, Ind.

Set up a system for tracking at the beginning of the year, and spend 5-10 minutes a day entering data. It’s a minimal time commitment that has a huge payoff.– Laura Mendoza, Pentucket Lake Elementary

School, Haverhill, Mass.

W H A T W O R K S

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER SCHOOL COUNSELORS TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO SHARE PROGRAM RESULTS?

Never

Never

Don’t know how to gather data/share data

Other

Can’t get on the agenda/calendar for the school board/staff/principal meetings

Too busy running my

program to gather/share data

Don’t see the value

Other

Other

Once a year

Once a year

Once a semester

Once a semester

On an ad-hoc basis

On an ad-hoc basis

10

10

30

30

60

60

20

20

50

50

40

40

How often do you present program results to your school board?

How often do you present program results with your principal?

If you don’t share program results on a regular basis, what’s your biggest stumbling block?

60%

14%

19%

24%

9%

22%

21%

33%

16%

32%

23%

19%

46%

0%

33%

REGISTER AT WWW.SCHOOLCOUNSELOR.ORG/MAGIC BY MARCH 1 FOR BEST RATES.

JOIN ASCA IN ORLANDO FOR THE 2014 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

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Y

CM

MY

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CMY

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data talks - school counselorschoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/magazine/... · data talks...

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