accountability and data-driven decision making the transformed school counselor chapter 8 ©2012...

Accountability and Data-Driven Decision

Making

The Transformed School CounselorThe Transformed School Counselor

Chapter 8Chapter 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.


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.


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.


Accountability Defined

AccountabilityAccountability requires schools to pursue the goals requires schools to pursue the goals established by the people and their representatives established by the people and their representatives through democratic processes, and to achieve these through democratic processes, and to achieve these goals to the extent possible by using the most goals to the extent possible by using the most effective strategies available.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.


Surveys, Time-on-Tasks, and Results Based Time-on-task dataTime-on-task data effectively contributes to an effectively contributes to an

understanding of how school understanding of how school counselors spend counselors spend their time.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.


Surveys, Time-on-Tasks, and Results Based continued…

Results-Based DataFor 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.


Accountability Supports Equity

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

pervasive belief that socioeconomic pervasive belief that socioeconomic status and color determine young status and color determine young people’s abilities to learnpeople’s abilities to learn

2. the sorting and selecting process that 2. the sorting and selecting process that acts as a filter acts as a filter


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


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.


Direct Measures of Direct Measures of AchievementAchievement

Test results Number of credits taken

per year Retention rates Postsecondary enrollment Grade point average Rank in class

Indirect Measures of AchievementIndirect Measures of Achievement Enrollment in honors, AP, IB,

or college level courses Enrollment in general,

remedial courses Exceptional Student screening

and placement Gifted screening and

placement Alternative school enrollment

Critical Data Elements or Report Card DataCritical data elements include:


Other Informative Critical Data ElementsOther 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

Critical Data Elements or Report Card Data


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: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


MEASURE: A Six-Step Accountability Process MEASUREMEASURE stands for MMission, ission, EElements, lements,

AAnalyze, nalyze, SStakeholders-takeholders-UUnite, nite, RReanalyze, eanalyze, EEducate.ducate.

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

MEASUREMEASURE 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.


MEASURE: A Six-Step Accountability Process

1. Mission1. 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.

The Six Steps of Measure



2. 2. ElementsElements

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




3. 3. AnalyzeAnalyze

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




4. 4. Stakeholders-UniteStakeholders-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.




5. 5. ResultsResults

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




6. 6. EducateEducate

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.



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.


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