Comprehensive School Counseling Program
As school counselors, we are trained to view our responsibility towards our school site as a comprehensive program that includes the four components outlined by the American School Counselor Association: delivery of services, foundation, management, and accountability.
Most people understand the delivery of services provided by schools counselors:
Many people are unfamiliar with one additional delivery of services provided by school counselors; that of system support. School counselors work with the educational team to develop, monitor and assess school wide programs to support student success.
Most people understand the delivery of services provided by schools counselors:
- counseling
- small groups
- classroom guidance
- crisis management
- school wide programming, and
- parent education
Many people are unfamiliar with one additional delivery of services provided by school counselors; that of system support. School counselors work with the educational team to develop, monitor and assess school wide programs to support student success.
Positive Behavioral SupportsThe school staff uses high quality activities, classroom management techniques, and regular assessment measures to make sure every child has the tools they need to be successful. Tier One supports and interventions are those that impact all students in three domains: academic, behavioral and social/emotional. Tier Two and Three supports and interventions are designed to fit the needs of the individual children or small groups of children identified as needing additional support.
|
InterventionsCounselors help design interventions as part of the school's Response to Intervention (RTI) Team. RTI (click image for more detail) is a multi-tiered approach to making sure every child has access to high quality academic programming. Staff is trained to encourage social, emotional, behavioral and academic standards appropriate to the child's developmental age. If a child is having behavioral or academic challenges, they will be quickly identified and receive appropriate interventions to make sure they are successful in school.
|
|
My Personal Philosophy
FOUNDATION
Mission Statement My mission, as part of a school community, is to inspire a passion for lifelong learning and to provide every child with the foundation necessary to become a responsible, productive, and engaged citizen within a global community.
My vision is that our school will be a thriving, dynamic and inspiring educational environment that produces self-directed learners. Each child is viewed as an individual with unique talents and strengths that fits into a diverse, multi-cultural community. They will be academically, socially, and emotionally encouraged and challenged to be the best version of themselves.
Students are prepared with the highest academic and ethical standards in an enthusiastic, caring, collaborative learning community that incorporates 21st century technology and academic practices, the arts, physical education, and community awareness.
Counseling VisionA comprehensive school counseling program focuses on successful outcomes for every child academically, socially and emotionally through responsive services (including individual, group and crisis counseling); guidance curriculum (collaboration and consultation with the educational community to develop and facilitate school culture and climate initiatives); systems support (mission, vision and goal formation, planning, delivery and accountability).
My personal mission is to experience deeper significance and purpose in life through my servitude to others through my unique skill set of collaboration, empathy, and organization. I am committed to a life of continual learning, open to constructive criticism, and led by the ultimate guiding principle of building others up through empathy, positivity, engagement, and empowerment.
MANAGEMENT
The Advisory Council Our school counseling advisory committee is designed to pull its members from four categories including a diverse and representative group of student’ parents, guardians and caretakers; colleagues in the school like teachers, aides and administrators; and colleagues in the community that have vested interest in the school. At our school, one example of an advisory committee is the Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) Team. It includes the Response to Intervention (RTI) teacher-coordinator, the counselor, the school psychologist, one parent, two teachers, the principal, and a representative from a community volunteer program that sends volunteers to our school to read to kids.
We also have a Site Leadership (SLT) Team which includes the principal, administrative assistant, two parents, two teachers and two students from the student council. Additionally, we stay involved in Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) meetings, the School English Learners Advisory Council (SELAC) meetings, and District Leadership Meetings so that we get a wide variety of opinions about the school and challenges that might need attention. Attending these meeting will help the counselor understand the voices of the school committee and also recruit for members on their advisory team.
Program Goals
Program goals are drafted each year based in the needs assessment conducted by the advisory council. Program goals are an important component of the CDGP. They move the school towards the vision and mission by focusing on the specific goals. Each goal will have its own action plan which addresses the activities that will occur. Next, they will list the indicators that will tell them if they are achieving the results needed to fulfill the goal. They will include student competencies that are being met. Finally, they will compare the end of program data to the baseline data to see if the indicators have improved enough to have satisfied the goal.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Needs Assessment
Once an advisory team has been established and a mission has been determined by the CDGP, the counselor will need to complete a needs assessment. A needs assessment provides school counselors and teams with the data needed to drive the program and ensure that all students are achieving and developing as articulated in the program beliefs, vision and mission statements, and program goals. The needs assessment is completed annually at the beginning of the year or is determined from evaluation forms from the prior year.
Evaluation
At our school, the counselor is responsible for adherence to the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and completing the evaluation tools associated with the program. It includes a school wide evaluation tool, team implementation checklists, self-assessment surveys, school safety surveys, implementation and planning self-assessments, tiered fidelity inventories, tier I and tier II evaluation tools (see RTI), and systematic information management for educational outcomes assessments.
Sharing Results
Results are shared with the advisory teams, and can be summarized at Parent Education Nights and in letters home form the administration.
Counselor as Change Agent
I believe in the importance for advocating for every child by understanding issues of access, equity and educational justice. This means helping students and families navigate systems of oppression; working as a cultural mediator when necessary; and developing programming that works to close achievement gaps. Students of all races, genders, sexual orientations, classes, abilities, and spiritual orientations are welcomed and appreciated for their strengths and gifts. I recognize the importance of the family’s belief systems and practice culturally sensitive counseling; continually enhancing my own cultural competence and awareness of social justice issues facing all people.