The transformed school counselor chapter 8

Accountability
and Data-Driven Decision
Making
The Transformed School Counselor
Chapter 8

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational
purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of copyright laws.


Accountability: Success,
Not Survival


Everyone in a school setting is accountable for student
success.



A challenge of school counseling is to show how the
school counseling program influences the critical data
elements, or the school’s report card.



Sharing accountability for student success with
stakeholders is a driving force for transforming and
reframing the work of school counselors.



A data-driven approach to building your program will help
support and secure the school counselor’s position as a
valued player in school improvement.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


ASCA Standards and the
National Model for
Accountability


The development of national standards for school
counseling programs was the first step in engaging
school counselors and stakeholders in a national
conversation about program effectiveness and
accountability.



The American School Counseling Association
(ASCA) National Model was written to guide the
design and implementation of school counseling
program models aligned with the mission of schools
and to demonstrate the alignment through
accountability.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.

ASCA Standards and the
National Model for
Accountability


The ASCA National Model reinforces the importance
of delivering a comprehensive, developmental, and
results-based program.



The model states the importance of having an
accountability system and an organizational
framework that answers “How are students different
as a result of the school counseling program?”



Accountability, as presented in the ASCA model,
links the work of school counselors to student success.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


Accountability Defined
Accountability requires schools to pursue the goals
established by the people and their representatives

through democratic processes, and to achieve
these goals to the extent possible by using the
most effective strategies available.


Until recently, school counselors were not viewed
in the accountability role.



School counseling was seen as a personal
relationship in which counselor effectiveness or
services could not be measured or evaluated.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


Surveys, Time-on-Tasks,
and Results Based
Time-on-task data effectively contributes to an
understanding of how school counselors spend
their time.
 How many classroom guidance lessons were
conducted?
 How many students were seen individually?
 How many small groups took place?


Time-on-task data is incomplete when used as the

only method of accountability.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


Surveys, Time-on-Tasks,
and Results Based continued…
Results-Based Data
For example: 60% of students can identify
financial resources based on 20% of the time
that counselors spent in career and academic
advising.


The school counseling program is built on the
great work that has been done in the past with
time-on-task and results-based data and moves in
the direction of impact data.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


Accountability Supports Equity


School counselors can affect two
contributors to the achievement gap:
 1. low expectations, specifically the

pervasive belief that socioeconomic
status and color determine young
people’s abilities to learn
 2. the sorting and selecting process that
acts as a filter

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


Building a Data-Driven School
Counseling Program






Critical data elements are important to legislators,
school board members, superintendents,
administrators, and parents.
The transformed school counselor uses data to support
students, remove barriers, and develop a program
around critical data elements.
Data depict:
 Achievement patterns
 Successes and failures in teaching
 Equity issues
 Effectiveness of the school to support learners

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


Critical Data Elements


Examining critical data elements that identify the
needs of your students is the first step to inform
and guide the development of an accountable
school counseling program.



By using data on the entire school population, no
students are overlooked.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


Critical Data Elements or
Report Card Data
Critical data elements include:
Direct Measures of
Indirect Measures of Achievement
Achievement
 Enrollment in honors, AP, IB,
 Test results
or college level courses

 Enrollment in general,
 Number of credits taken
remedial courses
per year
 Exceptional Student screening
 Retention rates
and placement
 Postsecondary enrollment
 Gifted screening and
 Grade point average
placement
 Alternative school enrollment
 Rank in class
©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


Critical Data Elements or
Report Card Data
Other Informative Critical Data Elements
 Demographics of the internal and external
community
 Entry and withdrawal information
 Ethnicity
 Gender
 Number and type of discipline referrals
 Attendance rate

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.

Disaggregated Data
–Data separated out by ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic
status, or teacher assignment makes it possible to
determine how policy and practices affect issues of equity
as counselors work toward closing the gap in student
opportunities and achievement.

Steps for analyzing data:





Start with simple statistics, e.g., averages or percentages
Disaggregate that piece of data into different units
Look for data as it relates to time
Cross-tabulate the data by comparing two sets of
disaggregated data

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


MEASURE: A Six-Step
Accountability Process


MEASURE stands for Mission, Elements,

Analyze, Stakeholders-Unite, Reanalyze, Educate.



MEASURE is a six-step accountability process
that helps school counselors demonstrate how
their programs impact critical data.



MEASURE is a way of using information to target
critical data elements and to develop strategies to
connect school counseling to the accountability
agenda of today’s schools.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


MEASURE: A Six-Step Accountability Process

The Six Steps of Measure
1. Mission


Connect the design, implementation, and
management of the school counseling
program to the mission of the school and
to the objectives of the annual school
improvement plan.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


MEASURE: A Six-Step Accountability Process

The Six Steps of Measure
2. Elements


Identify and examine the critical elements
of the available data that are important to
your school’s mission.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


MEASURE: A Six-Step Accountability Process

The Six Steps of Measure
3. Analyze


Analyze the critical data elements to see
what they reveal, to identify problem areas,
to establish your baselines, and to set your
goals.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


MEASURE: A Six-Step Accountability Process

The Six Steps of Measure
4. Stakeholders-Unite


Identify stakeholders to become part of a
team involved in addressing the movement
of the critical data elements.



Unite and collaborate with stakeholders and
develop and implement strategies to move
critical data elements in a positive direction.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


MEASURE: A Six-Step Accountability Process

The Six Steps of Measure
5. Results


Reanalyze and refocus to determine
whether you met your targeted results.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


MEASURE: A Six-Step Accountability Process

The Six Steps of Measure
6. Educate


Inform the internal and external
stakeholders of the changes in the targeted
data elements that show the positive impact
the school counseling program is having on
student success.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.


Systemic Changes and
Other Interim Data




In delivering a data-driven school counseling

program, you become a systemic change agent
impacting policies and procedures that widen
opportunities and empower more students to be
successful learners.
Impacting systems means:





Replicating successful programs and interventions
Identifying barriers that adversely stratify students’
opportunities to be successful learners
Maximizing the instructional program, enhance the
school climate, raise aspirations, etc.

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of
copyright laws.