Murrieta Unified Valley School District
Presents:
Show me the Money
For your School Counseling Program!
Goals of the Session:
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How to obtain ESSCP grant
15 plus tips for winning grants
The importance of data and accountability
10 + Tips to maintain sustainability
How multimedia can help!
Answer your questions (if time!)
Why Did We Write a Grant?
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Had NO elementary school counselors
Principals wanted more help! Needed counselors!
Looking for way to provide support
Learned of the Federal grant: Elementary and
Secondary School Counseling Demonstration
grant
– @1.2 million dollars over 3 years for 2 GRPA
requirements
– Purpose was to increase SC
– Decrease violence referrals
If We Can Do It You Can Too!
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We wrote a winning grant with no experience!
Did well! (scores 98! & 99!)
We have learned a lot and want to share
We hope this session helps you to implement
a successful grant!
Let’s get started…
Main Points of OUR Grant
• Hire 3 Elementary School Counselors
• Create a multi-tiered process for curriculum,
referrals and intervention
• Provide all of our 4/5th graders with universal
prevention program
• Provide intervention for students needing
more
• Provide crisis response services
Tip #1 Start Early
• Its more work than you think
• Takes longer to get everything together than you
can imagine
• Stuff comes up in your day
• People you need signatures from are not around
• You really can’t close your door – people bother
you
• The woman you need budget stuff from is on
maternity leave
Tip #2 Familiarize yourself with RFA
• Allow time to familiarize self with RFA
• Get samples from other districts or all others
who have won them (their names are on line)
• Read through several times
• Familiarize yourself with each area you have
to write to
• Make sure you FOLLOW formatting
requirements
Tip #3 Don’t be afraid to call USDE
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They really will answer the phone
They will answer questions
They really do want you to get the grant
They really do want you to spend the money
They are not out to take it away – their job is
to support successful implementation
Tip #4 Assemble Team(s)
We had two teams:
• Administration team
– Principals and assistant principals, D/O etc. to discuss
site team
– Met with each principal to ENSURE they would
support if we obtained grant
• Grant writing team
– Teacher (50%)
– School counselors
– Director of Student Services
Tip #5 Involve the Community
• Involve community
• Involve parents
• Utilized anecdotal statements from them
about bully issues on campuses
Tip #6 Gather the Data you Need
• Violence and Safety Data
– Discipline Data
– CHKS (in CA) or YRBS in most states
– All states were required to collect this data if they
have accepted Title IV funds (which is over, but
they should still have data)
• Academic data (better climate better
achievement) so we looked at that too
– Language Arts and Math Scores (CST’s)
Tip #7 Be Realistic in Design
• We had NO elementary school counselors
before
• Had over 9,000 students
• Wanted to serve them all (with 3 counselors?)
• Recommend 1 per school?
• Focused energies with 4/5th graders only.
• Could have picked 3 schools with greatest
needs
Tip #8 Involve Non Profits/Agencies
• Involving non profits and community agencies
can increase communication with outside and
local providers
• Better opportunities for outside referrals
• Grants helps you create articulation for
agreements for services
• Will support you in future grant writing efforts
Tip #9 Request letters early
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Ask for more than you need
Make it easy for them
Offer to write it
Send a sample
Give an early deadline
Have a backup plan
Tip #10 Ask Local Rep. to Write a Letter
• Mary Bono Mack (Congresswoman 45th district) wrote
ours
• Once grant is submitted, get the number (post card #)
• Then call or email and ask them to write a letter of
endorsement for your grant
• They will also be involved with promoting grant in the
future
• Great for public relations
• And sometimes they all you to tell you WON!
• Went to share results with her and what we did with
the money so she’d support it again!
Tip #11 – Use One Voice
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Do not break up sections with authors
Needs consistent voice
Needs to read in a flowing way – not choppy
When done, ask someone to read that doesn’t
know the grant – see if it makes sense to them
(sometimes we don’t’ see holes)
Tip #12 Use one Operating SYSTEM!
• Switching from Mac to PC is a disaster
• Multiple versions are a formatting nightmare!
(Word 2003, Word 2007) – STICK with ONE!
• Excel to PowerPoint for charts and graphs: use
ONE mode
Tip #13 - Use District Summaries
• District must create summary reports yearls
• Ask for a copy – saves time on demographics
and district/community narratives
• May find in District accountability report cards
Tip #14: Keep Your Own Data File
• Tear out local demographical info and keep
handy
• Local newspaper a good resource
• Magazine articles
• Anything to do with district data or local
economic info
Tip #15 Failure is a Future Opportunity
• After you hear back (funded or not) remember
to ASK for the rating sheets!
• This is great feedback for the next time you
write any grant
Outcomes: We Had 8 Goals
1. Increase number of school counselors
2. Increase 4th and 5th grade Language Arts and
Math proficiency
3. Decrease number of referrals suspensions
4. Students will display positive attitudes about
school and teachers
Objectives: Goal
5. Students are supported at home – parents
actively participate
6. 5th grade students attendance rates improve
7. Homework completion and accuracy increase
– (took this one out)
8. Elementary school students who need mental
health services are identifies and connected
to services
Guidance Lesson Curriculum
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Taight guidance lessons to >>
When
What
Where
Meaures impact with prepost
Pre and Post Test Highlights
• Students were asked pre-post test questions to
determine what they gained from the lessons
based on the following:
• Attitudes: What they believed
• Knowledge: What information they learned
• Skills: How they could apply this information
What do Students Learn?
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
89
86
87
79
71
Pre
Post
2
What personal
strengths are
Difference between
anger and violence
What the "Golden
Rule" is
What did Students Learn?
100
90
80
Nice
growth
seen
here
93
94
75
Students
appear to
know this
prior to
the lesson
70
60
50
40
Pre
37
Post
30
20
10
0
Identify the STAR method
Identify one thing they could do if
bullied (tell adult)
“I believe there is an adult at school I can go to for help if I
have a problem of if I am being bullied.”
80
70
No positive change seen
here; more work needs to
be done in this area
70
64
60
50
40
Pre
30
21
Post
24
20
6
10
7
1
0
really believe
believe
not sure
1
1
0
don’t believe really don’t
believe
“I believe fighting is always wrong unless it is to protect
myself or someone else who is being hit or hurt”
60
48
50
40
36
28
30
31
Pre
21
20
Post
16
8
10
5
4
4
0
really believe
believe
not sure
don’t believe
really don’t
believe
“I believe that peacemakers value other peoples feelings by
putting themselves into someone else's shoes”
50
44
45
40
36
35
28
30
31
25
21
20
Pre
Post
16
15
8
10
5
5
4
4
0
really believe
believe
not sure
don’t believe
really don’t
believe
What Skills did Students Learn?
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
88
77
72
45
Pre
Post
Identified Aggressive Behavior
Identified Assertive Response
Our Goals…
Achievement Related Data:
– Increase in satisfactory marks on citizenship grades.
– Decrease in number of behavior-related referrals and
suspensions.
– To increase feelings of safety on campus
Achievement Data:
– The decrease in referrals will have positive impact on
students’ academic progress by allowing teachers more
time for instruction and more time for student learning.
School Safety and Academic
Achievement – Interaction
100
91
90
83
85
80
70
70
64
62
Academic scores
are higher at
school where
students report
feeling safer
60
50
50
Schools with
Lowest API
41
40
37
Schools with
Middle API
30
Schools with
Highest API
20
10
0
Safe at School
Hit or Pushed
Caring Adult
Proficiency Levels for Language Arts
90
80
70
70
75
75
79
68
62
59
60
65
Proficiency
areas
improved
in both
areas at
both
50
40
30
2007-2008
20
2009-2010
10
0
LA 4th
LA 5th
Math 4th
Math 5th
Intervention Groups
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Whoi
What
When
Curriculum
Etc
Average CST Scores Between Students Receiving Small
Group Intervention and Total Population
350
300
268
280
273
290
286 295
237 245
250
200
2007-2008
150
2008-2009
100
50
0
4th In Groups
4th Total
MVUSD
5th In Groups
5th Total
MVUSD
Average CST Scores Between Students Receiving Small
Group Intervention and Total Population
350
300
268
280
273
290
286 295
237 245
250
200
2007-2008
150
2008-2009
100
50
0
Boys In Groups
Boys Total
MVUSD
Girls In Groups
Girls Total
MVUSD
Steps to Maintaining Sustainability
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Collect and share data
Market program
NAME it
Fliers brochures
Emails regularly
Send newsletter to entire distinct
Branded the Product
Website logo
Steps to Maintaining Sustainability
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Create CHEAP logo – e-lance
Presentations to school board
Presentations to school staff
Parents meetings
Parents advisory council (share data and results)
- they become advocates
• Ongoing discussion with district administration
• Take school board president to lunch
Tips to Sustainability
• Continuing to connect the program to Students
achievement – to academics !
• (that’s what they REALLY care about
• Affiliated self with larger (important folks!)
– Adelman and Taylor UCLA/ SDSU
• Remind them this is models after ASCA Model
• Inform people of counseling standards
• Connecting work to the standards
• Ensuring that school counselors assigned to programs
are ONLY doing school counselor related activities
Tips to Sustainability
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Integrating it into the fabric of what you are doing!
Create the infrastructure so its indispensible!
Collaborating with principals and teachers
Make them say” I don’t know what I’d do it I didn’t
have the programs to refer students to!”
• Use local media (news paper articles) - get to
know reported – they need stories and if they
trust you they will put your stuff in and print what
you ask
• Crisis team
How Can Multimedia Help?
• Show multi-media
– Videotaping groups
– Testimonials
– Teachers
– Staff members
– Video clips online
– Email
– Putting a FACe on the data
How Can Multimedia Help?
• Single most important sustainability…
– The mothers report –
– Her son was slipping away
– The PERSONAL message of hope fo her and her
son
Steps to Implementation
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Assembled a team
Once we got money
Hired counselors
Met with principals to remind them what they agreed
to
met with howard and Linda Adelman
Chose evidence based curriculum (Peace makers for
classroom guidance)
Social Skills group Intervention for small groups (social
skills)
Used CHKS wbsite to find evidnced baced curriclum
Steps to Implementation
• Created PowerPoint to present to EVERY staff as to what to expect from an
ASCA Model programs
• Shared referrals process
• What IS and Is NOT appropriate referral – what IS a crisis?
• Parent nights for all the schools to roll out the program
• Scheduled guidance lessons so as to not disturb academics core
instructional time much (afternoon)
• Intervention in morning
• Created feedback loop
• Continuously revised to imporve efficiency and effectiveness
• Weekly staff meetings
• One day a week we set aside for us to collaborate, reseaqrch, email get
caught upo
Lessons Learned….
• Start sooner
• Identify evaluator and have them involved
from beginning
• Refine and reduce outcome data expectations
so you are not measuring EVERYTHING!
• Decrease number of outcomes we put in – we
had too many
• Reducing school we searched (serving 11
schools with 3 people)
In Summary….
Thanks for coming!
• To Contact us:
– Dean etc etc