2021-22 Monthly Edition No. 9 |
|
|
Reflect and Reset
When reflecting on the 2022-23 school year, I find myself forever grateful to be in a profession where there is a beginning and an end. I cannot remember a time in education where challenges of supporting students, families, and our communities has been greater, and knowing that with the change of the season, we have time to step away from the business of our work schedules, allows us the time to reflect on our work, make adjustments as needed, and reset our personal and professional goals for the next school year. There is so much to celebrate as we think about how far we have come since the pandemic began in 2020, and yet there is still so much to learn, and so much to do as we press forward into fall.
As you plan for the upcoming school year, it's the perfect opportunity to review current programs and Tier 1, 2 and 3 supports to ensure that you are meeting the needs of students in all three domains of school counseling (i.e., academic, social/personal, college/career). Where are the gaps? Where can you improve? What data are you collecting to inform and make decisions?
In this newsletter, I will be spotlighting school counseling programs and districts in our county that are answering these questions and making significant impacts in their schools and communities. They are reflecting on their work from the past year, and creating new goals to address areas of concern, strengthen programs that are making a difference, and they are sharing what they learn with their administrators and leadership teams.
Our profession is evolving, and advocacy for the unique supports that we provide students and families is more important than ever. How are we creating equitable practices across our county to ensure that students are receiving the same supports no matter what school or district they attend? This is a question we need to answer as we step into the new school year, and whether you reach out to colleagues from other districts to share best practices, or sign up your team to participate in the next cohort for Implementing the ASCA National Model, planning for this important work begins today, and we at SDCOE are here to support you.
Counseling Coordinator
San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE)
|
|
The Importance of Advocacy for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs
By Tami Johnson, District School Counselor, Program Specialist, Cajon Valley Union School District (CVUSD), 2022 San Diego County School Counselor Advocate of the Year
How can school counselors advocate for comprehensive school counseling programs? This is sometimes the million-dollar question. Literally. Programs and people cost money. Districts, administrators, community members, families, and other concerned parties want to know how dollars are spent to support children. We know that a comprehensive school counseling program can provide the support for ALL students and support those with the most need. School counselors often don’t like to tell their own data stories, but it is an important part of the work.
1) We started by looking at our Multi-Tiered, Multi-Domain, System of Support (MTMDSS) model.
We’ve spent several years reviewing, updating, rephrasing, and coming to an agreement. This is critical to understand. You can’t do it all and you certainly can’t do it if you don’t have a target goal and system in place to help you reach that goal.
2) We made some agreements.
We agreed that every child in CVUSD would receive a comprehensive school guidance program as defined above and intentional social-emotional learning with data and outcomes. We created a curriculum, we have a priority standards map to remind us of the skills we want to teach, and we standardized help slips for kids and referrals for teachers and parents.
3) We agreed that we will review our data early and often.
We review all our crisis intervention data at the beginning of the year and check in with our most vulnerable during the first two weeks of school. We review our homeless and foster youth data and provide a wellness check on each student and family at least twice a trimester. We teach two social-emotional learning lessons a trimester and measure with ASK (Attitudes Skills Knowledge). Then, each counselor completes and reports on each element of their comprehensive program. If there are gaps, we problem-solve around how we can ensure that we are providing comprehensive services to kids. complete and turn in a data tracking sheet each trimester to keep us on track.
4) We aren’t shy about telling our story.
Counselors update staff on a regular basis in staff meetings and send out regular communications to parents. We also send a board update at the end of each year that is fun and full of data.
This year we had to tackle a serious issue related to temporary contracts. Most of our school counselors were on temporary contracts and have been there for up to seven years. Counselors got together and did a task analysis of their jobs. We wanted to ensure we were providing the reports we had to agreed to in our plan. We invited the superintendent, director of youth development, human resources, and our union president to hear our concerns and share out the good news about our work. It worked. All of our counselors are now on the pathway to permanent status.
The one thing we will not do is let fear stop us from engaging in innovative ideas, problem-solving conversations, student advocacy, the role of counselor advocacy, and things related to helping kids thrive in our district. Advocacy is key for our students and for our role as school counselors.
|
|
School Counseling Teams Set Goals and Share Their Impact With Administrators and School Boards Using End-of-Year Reports |
|
POWAY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Poway Unified School District (PUSD) partnered with Hatching Results to provide school counselors with professional learning that focused on the use of data to improve their programs. In May, they showcased their work with the first district-wide gallery walk.
School counseling teams from 40 schools highlighted student successes and learned about programs that their colleagues were implementing across the district. Associate Superintendent Greg Mizel and members of the board were invited to attend and participate in the voting and distribution of awards. PUSD school counselors plan to continue encouraging fun ways to celebrate their program and student success in collaboration with colleagues, administrators, and district leaders. View Del Norte High School's award-winning report.
|
|
SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
At the opening of the school year, the Counseling and Guidance department for San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) introduced the 2021-22 School Counselor Toolkit to all school counselors and administrators. The toolkit was created as a resource for school counselors and was designed to build the knowledge of site administrators, who may not have much experience with the current roles of an ASCA-trained school counselor.
"Our department felt we had to be clear about why we were asking school counselors to complete this work," said Sharon Rubalcava, program manager of Counseling and Guidance. "The ultimate goal was to move toward district-wide comprehensive school counseling and remove barriers that might be present. Creating ASCA goals was not a requirement but rather an expectation, and school counselors followed through."
This month, 54 of the SDUSD school counselors presented Infographics showcasing their programs and data-driven results to their area superintendents. School counselors had identified two goals of focus from different areas of their work, and were able to share their successes and reflections. This culminating event allowed school counselors to highlight ASCA goals and allowed time to showcase what is being done in schools today.
|
|
SAN MARCOS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
San Marcos Unified School District (SMUSD) school counselors have been working diligently over the last few years to develop a Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSCP) that is student centered and data informed. As part of this goal, school counselors across the district not only created flashlight presentations during National School Counseling week to share with educational partners, some have also created end-of-the-year snapshot and flashlight reports. The counseling team in SMUSD have also completed a School Counseling Handbook in collaboration with Hatching Results which captures their CSCP and will propel their district-aligned program moving forward.
Anahi Amador, school counselor at La Mirada Academy shared this message, along with her team's end-of-year report with administration before the end of the spring semester:
|
|
Hello LMA Admin Team,
The School Counseling Team reviewed our end-of-the-year data and wanted to share it with you. Access our Piktochart with the information. We used the same presentation theme that was shared during National School Counseling Week, but have updated the data and included the SMART Goals. We are very happy with the results, but we know we still have a long way to go! There are still many areas we can improve to continue to support our students' academic progress, social-emotional wellbeing, and college and career readiness. We cannot do this without continued collaboration with staff and families, and without keeping our team together. We have great plans for the upcoming school year, and we are hoping we can bring them to fruition together.
Thank you so much for your support. If you have any questions about the information in the document please do not hesitate in reaching out.
|
|
2022-23 School Counselor Professional Learning Calendar
|
|
Implementing the ASCA Model Workshop Series
Early Bird Registration Deadline: July 31
|
|
The very foundation of a school counseling program, the ASCA National Model, connects school counseling with the current educational reform movement, emphasizing student achievement and success as well as systemic change. To continue progressing and ensuring that all students have access to a comprehensive school counseling program, we are excited to announce that we will be offering a second cohort, which will start on Sept. 23. If your counseling team is interested in participating in our next San Diego County cohort, registration is now open, with availability for 40 participants. Find more information on this exciting opportunity, along with program costs, session dates, and how to register. |
|
Certificate for PPS Credential Candidate Supervisors - Online Training Course
SDCOE has built an online training to help universities and districts satisfy the most recent Pupil Personnel Services Standards in California. Completion of this course satisfies the Commission on Teaching Credentialing (CTC) requirement of training to serve as a university supervisor or site supervisor to a California Pupil Personnel Services Credential candidate during their clinical practice, internship, or fieldwork requirement, earning you a badge of certification, which will be required for the 2022-23 school year. Download the flyer or find additional program information on the SDCOE website.
|
|
Preliminary Administrative Service Credential Program
SDCOE's Preliminary Administrative Services Credential (PASC) program is designed to prepare experienced educators for the challenges of school leadership. The credential allows program graduates to serve in a variety of administrative roles, which may include principal, assistant principal, program manager, coordinator, director, and others, depending on your district. Earning the credential will expand your opportunities as an educator and leader.
|
|
Registration Open for the CASC 2022 Fall Conference: We're Back to the Future!
Early-Bird Registration Deadline: June 30
The 2022 CASC conference will take place in person on Oct. 6 and 7 at the Riverside Convention Center. CASC has invited me to chair the conference and it would be great to see school counselors from San Diego county in attendance. Register before June 30 for early access rates.
|
|
Navigating the NEW SDCOE School Counseling Webpage
The new school counseling webpage on the SDCOE website is taking shape as more programs, events and resources are being added to make this a one-stop shop for current and updated information. As a result, the monthly newsletter will be scaled down to reflect program highlights, upcoming events, and best practices around our county.
There are multiple ways to access the school counseling page;
|
|
Programs and Events
On the home page, information to SDCOE school counseling programs and events are easily accessible. Check this page often for details on costs, dates, and how to register.
|
|
More to Explore
This section provides pull-down menus to school counseling resources, professional learning opportunities, webinars, and school counseling leadership awards.
|
|
-
Professional Learning Opportunities: Features a comprehensive professional learning calendar of programs and events throughout our county and state. This list is updated regularly and is organized by the event date.
-
Webinar Recordings Library: Access webinar recordings and presenter slide decks to events such as the Spring Refresh Professional Learning Series, and the Kick Off to College and Career Readiness.
-
School Counselor Leadership Awards: View our recent award recipients who were recognized at Honoring Excellence in School Counseling Leadership.
-
Professional Organizations, Ethics, and Standards: Quick links to our professional organizations, the California Association of School Counselors (CASC) and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA).
-
College/Career Domain: Resources to support post-secondary planning, college applications, financial aid, career planning guides, summer melt.
-
Personal/Social Domain: Resources for mental health, suicide prevention, special populations, MTSS, restorative practices, lesson plans.
-
Academic Domain: Resources for roles in 504 meetings, tutoring supports, transcript evaluations.
-
Equity/Social Justice: Resources to support special populations, educator guides.
|
|
Newsletter, Website, Social Media
|
|
If you have any questions or comments on the San Diego County School Counselor Network Newsletter, please contact Tanya Bulette, counseling coordinator.
|
|
Get up-to-the-minute information about what's happening at SDCOE and in our districts across the county. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
