George Washington High
School
2013-2014
Presented by
Tara Lavizzo,
TerriLynn Vigil,
Leigh Cassidy
& Jay McCann
Comprehensive School Counseling Program
Advisory Council
Yesterday’s Guidance Counselor
vs. Today’s School Counselor
Guidance Counselor
• Reactive
• Services to a few
• Impact measured via
feelings and perception
• Ancillary role to school
involvement process
• School counselors in
isolation
GSCA Advocacy Committee (2010)
Professional School Counselor
• Proactive/Data Driven
• Services to ALL
• Impact measured via
achievement data
• Essential role in the school
improvement process
• School counselors as school
leaders
• Develops, manages, and
evaluates a comprehensive
school counseling program
A Comprehensive School Counseling
Program
• Addresses academic, career, & personal/social
development of all students
• Delivers Guidance Curriculum to ALL students
• Provides Intentional Guidance for SOME
• Utilizes Data
• Impacts student performance (Achievement,
Behavior, Attendance,)
• For GWHS, a 3-5 year action plan that will build
capacity and remove barriers
• GWHS is one of two high school counseling
program in Denver Public Schools to pursue RAMP
(Recognized ASCA Model Program)
Julie Hartline & Gail Smith (2011)
ASCA
A Comprehensive School Counseling
Program to meet the needs of ALL students
PROGRAM FOUNDATION
DELIVERY SYSTEM
MANAGEMENT
ACCOUNTABILITY
Julie Hartline (2009)
Determines the academic, career, and
personal/social needs of the students
Addresses the students’ needs via
four delivery methods
Involves stakeholders and measures
the impact of the school counseling
program
Evaluates the program based on
outcomes and makes adjustments
School Counseling Pyramid of Intervention
Specialized Interventions
(Tier 4)
Individual
Support
(Tier 3)
Intentional
Guidance
(Tier 2)
Guidance Curriculum
(Tier 1)
School Improvement Plan
Tier 1: Guidance Curriculum
“Developmental in design, educational and preventative in nature,
and comprehensive in scope, the guidance curriculum ensures
that every student in the school will receive services from the
guidance program.”
 Lessons that are delivered to ALL students
 Lessons on transitioning to high school
 Lessons on academic planning
 Lessons on goal setting
 Lessons on career awareness
 Standards based (ASCA)
Dimmitt, Carey, & Hatch (2007)
Julie Hartline & Gail Smith (2011)
Tier 2: Intentional Guidance
Academic, career, or personal/social interventions
are provided to SOME students
 SOME students need more
 Small Group Counseling
 Group Guidance Activities




Motivation Groups
Academic Groups
Group for seniors without a future plan
Brown Bags for seniors
Julie Hartline & Gail Smith (2011)
Tier 3: Individual Support
Can Include:
 Individual student planning (appraisal or
advisement)
 Consultation with parents, teachers, and
community organizations
 Individual counseling
 Crisis Counseling/Response
 Referrals to outside agencies or SSW
 Peer Facilitation (mediation, conflict resolution,
mentors, tutors, peer support programs)
Julie Hartline & Gail Smith (2011)
Tier 4: Specialized Interventions
(Coordinated by Mental Health Team)
 Agency Referral
 Emergency Crisis treatment
 Family Preservation
 Hospitalization
 Probation/Incarceration
 Disabilities Programs
 Long-Term Therapy
Julie Hartline & Gail Smith (2011)
Counseling Program Goals for
2013-2014
 Goal #1- To decrease the achievement gap
by increasing academically-focused
interventions
 Goal #2- To increase college-readiness for all
students by offering post-secondary
preparation
 Goal #3- To increase visibility, distribution
and communication of resources to all
stakeholders in order to provide equal access
to college-readiness within the school
Goal #1- To decrease the achievement gap
by increasing academically-focused
interventions
 Create Student Intervention Team
 Decrease the number of students on the D and F list.
 Improve students’ attitudes, skills and knowledge
with regard to study skills, stress and motivation
Goal #2- To increase college-readiness for all
students by offering post-secondary
preparation
 90% of each 9th, 10th and 11th grade class will complete
Personal Educational Plans (PEPs) through Naviance.
 Increase amount of students taking the Accuplacer to
broaden remediation classes offered at high school
 Welcome to High School presentations
 Pathways to Your Future workshop
 ACT prep
 Incoming Freshmen Night
 AP Showcase Night
Goal #3- To increase visibility, distribution
and communication of resources to all
stakeholders in order to provide equal access
to college-readiness within the school
 Technological resources
 Website
 Electronic bulletin board
 Newsletter/Calendar
 Showing Data and RAMP process
 Schedule change process
 School-wide programs (during school)
 Choice of Studies presentations
 College Fair
 Electives Fair
 Evening programs
FAFSA, Financial Aid, Admissions, Back to School Night, Incoming 9th
graders, Junior meeting, ACT Prep, Essay Writing, NCAA Clearinghouse
Barriers to achieving goals
Coordination and administration duties
 Pre-collegiate scheduling, invitations, follow up, interviews, etc
 Setting up all classroom presentations/ meetings, College
Readiness Day
 access to computers, computer labs/community room and
students for PEPs/Classroom guidance,
 rescheduling PEPs when teachers don't come
 Unreasonable amounts of emails
 Getting students signed up for Accuplacer, marketing
Accuplacer, Accuplacer paperwork
 4 year course plans on PEPs
Barriers to achieving goals
Course and schedule changes
 Inputting all course requests for the following year- data entry in IC
 Student requested schedule changes for over 2 weeks, angry
parents regarding schedules,
 Administrative requested schedule changes for classes created after
school starts
 Compiling course descriptions (for due diligence regarding what
each class is)
 Building schedules for students who do not turn in Choice of Studies
Form
 Cleaning up the master schedule at the end of school year (getting
them out to students earlier)
 Enrolling new students
 Deciphering new student transcripts
 Concurrent Enrollment
 Balarat- help sign up; monitor; rescheduling; check attendance;
update grades
 RIB schedule changes
Barriers to achieving goals
Data entry and clerical
 ACT Pre-enrollment bubbling and follow up with those that
didn’t come
 Uploading every single transcript sent to colleges to Naviance
(initial, mid-year, and end of year)
 Letter of rec submissions/transcript submissions
 OTG report
 Scheduling 504 meetings
 PSAT Registration and sign ups
 Handing out papers/ schedules at Parent-Teacher Conferences
 AP test proctoring
 Accuplacer test proctoring
 Summer school registration
Needs Assessment Results
The GWHS School Counseling Department conducted a
needs assessment during the 2013-2014 school year.
Below is a brief summary of the data collected.
 I feel sad. – 4.3%- All the time
- 26.1%- Some of the time
 I feel angry. – 5.6%- All the time
-28.8%- Some of the time
 I feel comfortable talking to my teachers:
a. Strongly
agree
20.9%
(90)
b. Agree
54.4%
(234)
c. Disagree
19.3%
(83)
d. Strongly
disagree
5.3%
(23)
TOTAL
RESPONSES
100%
(430)
Needs Assessment Results
What will be the biggest
barrier to you going to
college?
Students want more help in the
following areas:
 51.5% said Cost/No
Financial Aid
•
Study Skills -
65.6%
•
ACT Prep -
50.1%
 30.2% said Grades
•
Anxiety/Stress -
40.7%
•
Involvement in School Act. 36.9%
•
Organizational Skills -
27.9%
•
Catching up on Credits -
27.6%
•
Self-esteem -
20.7%
25.4% of all students
have never visited a
college?
 87.1% of students
would be willing to
pay $10 for
transportation
Action Plan for next year
How we see students needing our help as a program
 According to ASCA’s best practices, and based
on our student need assessment data, the
school counseling department at GWHS would
like to focus their work towards:
 Intentional guidance for social/emotional concerns
 College awareness and financial planning
 Intentional guidance around building academic skills
 Improving tutoring
 ACT Preparation
 Academic support groups and/or classes
Reflection & Feedback
 How can the Advisory Council help guide the work
of School Counseling Department at GWHS?
 Are there additional areas of need/support that
have not yet been identified?
 Questions???
Thank You!!
Now our department is ready to RAMP up!