Assessing our impact: Measuring student success
At Jesse Owens School Counseling Program, we are committed to understanding the true impact of our efforts. .
Understanding program effectiveness
At the Jesse Owens school counseling program, assessment relates to how we, as school counselors, assess our school counseling program to ensure it is effective, and to determine if improvements need to be made in our design or delivery.
Jesse Owens school counselors assess our program in several ways. First, we review our annual results reports. These reports assess our program's effectiveness and advise us of possible program improvements. Next, there is our analysis of classroom and group mindsets & behaviors results reports. These reports detail the results of classroom and small group lessons. Furthermore, we take a long look at the analysis of the closing the gap action plan/results report. This report helps us see the trends in our school's academic, attendance, and disciplinary metrics, and informs our school counselors of the students who may require support. It also involves reporting program results, which demonstrates the commitment and leadership of the school counselor, and most importantly, the contributions made by the Jesse Owens school counseling program, to our stakeholders.
One of the most important parts of being a school counselor is having the ability to reflect and assess oneself. At Jesse Owens, we conduct the ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and competencies assessment. My last assessment is included below:
ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies Assessment
Mindsets: As a school counselor, my strengths align with the ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies in this domain. As an LBS-1 Special educator, I have the utmost faith and belief that all students can learn and succeed; it is my number one responsibility. I know all students deserve access to a high-quality education, and they should graduate from High school prepared for post-secondary opportunities, whether this be college, trade school, or the workforce. Regarding my professional stance, I know I am already seen as a leader at my school, and I promote everything related to student success in academics, social/emotional growth, and career development.
Professional Foundation-In this domain, I find significant weaknesses on my part. I am not fully confident yet in my ability to use human development theories to have an impact on issues affecting. Student success, utilize established and emerging evidence-based counseling theories and techniques that are effective in a school setting, or use counseling theories in a different group. and classroom settings to effectively promote academic, social/emotional, and career development. I do think I can use learning theories to support student achievement and success, including. students with diverse learning needs, which I have done over the past 5 years. I am also confident in my ability to use principles of MTSS within the context of a school counseling program, speak. to the history of school counseling and its continued importance and use of research to make informed decisions about student achievement and success. I am also certain I can act in accordance with the ethical principles of the school counseling profession as described by the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors and adhere to ethical and statutory limits of confidentiality. I also know that I will always model ethical behavior and engage in continual professional development regarding ethics and legality. My biggest strength here is that I will stay current with school counseling research and best practices, utilize reflection, consultation, and supervision to grow my practice. I also recognize the importance of using the ASCA student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for student success to guide my focus and align with the school improvement goals. I admittedly realize that a weakness I have is learning how to create learning objectives aligned with the ASCA Student standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for student success, and articulating how to promote positive mental health development. Although I do not currently communicate the dynamics of cross-cultural communications with Administrators, I am confident I will be able to do so soon after this program. I do, however, recognize my limitations, biases, and how this can affect my role as a school counselor. Regarding providing leadership through developing and implementing a school counseling program, I view this as a strength. My leadership abilities have never been questioned. I can identify the sources of power and leadership and how to create buy-in in most situations. I will utilize my experience as a former manager and Director to both facilitate positive change in the school counseling program and serve as a leader within the school and community. I also view my unwavering commitment to advocacy as a strength. I will model school counselor advocacy competencies, explain the benefits of a school counseling program for all stakeholders, describe needed activities and the discontinuing of unneeded activities, and, as I do now, participate in professional organizations related to school counseling. I do realize I must grow in my ability to use data to identify educational policies, procedures, and practices to support student success. I also need to get a better understanding of using data to address systemic barriers in areas such as enrollment, access, achievement, and information gaps.
An equally important consideration to self-assessment is developing program goals and the use of survey data to assess our school counseling program at the end of our school year.
ASCA National Model. (2019). A Framework for School Counseling Program. ( 4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.
Sharing our successes with all stakeholders
We believe in transparency and sharing our successes with everyone invested in our students' futures. This includes parents, other educators, and the wider community. We want all stakeholders to be aware of the improved academics, decreased attendance concerns, and reduced disciplinary issues that result from our dedicated counseling efforts. These improvements are a testament to the hard work of our students and the effectiveness of our program. This all begins with developing program goals and using survey data to assess our school counseling program at the end of the year.
At Jesse Owens, we develop program goals for the School Counseling program to help guide us in the selection of the ASCA Mindset & Behavior standards we can use to address the needs of our students. Then we use the classroom and group Mindsets & Behaviors action plan to select Mindsets & Behaviors for specific activities and grade levels. Next, we review the selected Mindsets & Behaviors standards when we write or revise annual student outcome goals. Along the way, we used the ASCA student standards to guide our instruction, appraisal, advisement, and counseling. Following this, we create learning objectives that are aligned with the ASCA student standards and our district standards. Next, we monitor closely the work being done using the ASCA student standards and learning outcomes through the classroom and group Mindsets & Behaviors results report to document student progress with the standards and outcomes. Finally, we assess the impact our efforts had on student success through the classroom and group Mindsets & Behaviors result report, which includes classroom lessons, small groups, and closing the gap interventions.
At Jesse Owens, our school counselors use survey data to assess our program at the end of the school year, by taking the gather infomation from students and stakeholders to try and add additional information about a problem or need found as we conduct our assessments throughout the year. This information provides our school counselors with perspective information from students and stakeholders as to what might be contributing to a need, and thus helps our school counselors respond with more targeted interventions.
Some of the other data we use to assess our school counseling program are school couseling program assessment, annual results report, classroom results, small group results report, and closing -the-gap results results report.
Finally, in an effort to promote transparency, the Jesse Owens school counseling program would like all of our stakeholders to know that we use data to inform potential improvements to our school counseling program design and delivery, and to show how students are succeeding and improving as a result of our school counseling program. Here at Jesse Owens, in our school counseling program, we analyze data by asking essential questions about the type of data collected, then collaborating with the district or our own data specialists, who can generate data reports to help us better understand the ramifications of the data. We are intentional about looking at the baseline of the data to measure future school counseling program results.
Furthermore, we analyze attendance and achievement data because we have come to realize that tracking this data over multiple years leads to our identifying trends.
ASCA National Model. (2019). A Framework for School Counseling Program. ( 4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.
Continuous improvement through data
The assessment process doesn't end with measuring results; it's a vital part of our continuous improvement cycle. We use what we learn from these assessments to make our counseling program even better for students in the future. By consistently comparing and reflecting on the data, we identify areas of strength and opportunities for growth, ensuring that the Jesse Owens School Counseling Program remains responsive, effective, and impactful.
ASCA National Model. (2019). A Framework for School Counseling Program. ( 4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.
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