Reference no: EM133501991
Homework: School Counseling Beliefs
Introduction
School counselors play important roles in affecting the academic, career, and social/emotional outcomes of the students they work with. It is important that they align their goals to the needs of their school. In this homework, you will assess what a school needs, identify goals that address academic outcomes, and propose evidence-based interventions for the stated goal.
Instructions
For this homework:
Section I: Foundation
Imagine you have just been hired as the school counselor at a school of your choice. The first step is to establish the foundation upon which the CSCP is built. For this section, identify the following elements:
A. Beliefs: Identify your belief statements regarding the ability of students to succeed, diverse ability and developmental levels of students, role in advocating for students, using data in the school counseling program, and practicing according to the ASCA Ethical Guidelines.
B. Vision Statement: The way students will be different as a result of receiving the services of a comprehensive school counseling program.
C. Mission Statement: Clear and concise statement about the intent of the school counseling program and its intended outcomes.
Section II: Accountability
Narrate the steps required to find a school data profile or equivalent document such as a state report card (an example is available at the companion site for your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text). You may select whichever grade level you believe you would like to work with as a school counselor. Describe how you would go about locating your school's data profile. Whether or not you successfully access your own school's data, you must describe the processes necessary to find the data (for example, school website or principal request). Approximate length: 1-2 paragraphs.
A. Describe the best practices for designing and maintaining CSCPs from a strengths-based approach. For examples, see page 11 of your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text. If you are unable to locate your local school's data, you may use any of the data sets provided in the Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text or any school data available publicly on the Internet. You may invent school demographics and population data, including common indicators such as enrollment, attendance, grade levels, graduation rates, socioeconomic backgrounds, racial demographics, and/or discipline referrals. Approximate length: 1-2 paragraphs.
B. Analyze the data in your schoolwide program plan (or equivalent document) and look for gaps. Your analysis should include strengths, weaknesses, and trends. The conclusions you draw from this analysis should inform your "program needs assessment."
C. Next, identify three major data-driven school improvement goals, addressing all domains of practice: academic, career, and social/emotional. See page 14 of your& Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text for an example. Follow the guidelines for SMART goals noted on page 37 of the Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text. List the three goals in numbered format, each written as a fairly lengthy sentence.
D. Determine what the students need and select one goal for your program. For the purposes of this course, the selected goal needs to be based on academic outcomes, as opposed to career, personal, or social goals. Those goals will be addressed in later courses. Refer to pages 36-37 of your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text for templates. Remember: Select only one academic goal.
Section III: Delivery System
A. Identify an intervention that you could deliver during a classroom lesson. This will be part of your school counseling core curriculum design. In your narrative, identify the grade level(s), lesson topic, and& the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors addressed. Describe the process you would use to deliver the lesson, including classroom management and differentiation strategies.
B. Propose an additional evidence-based intervention (other than the classroom guidance lesson identified as part of your school counseling core curriculum) that addresses the one academic goal you selected. Remember, you can find these resources in your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text (starting on page 58). You may use other evidence-based resources, but they must be empirically supported as effectively implemented via school counseling programs. This step will include one paragraph explaining why this goal was selected as the primary target, followed by 1-2 paragraphs, describing how the intervention was selected. Approximate total length: 1 page.