Transforming School Counseling In The Images of Childrens Potential

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Transforming School Counseling In The Images of
Childrens Potential

• Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, Ph.D.

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There can be huge changes in a lifetime, but
PEOPLE have to be given a chance! And the
smallest changes can contribute to that
chance! -Stephen Raudenbush
Sociologist and Educator, Univ. of
Chicago
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Given A Chance

• My personal narrative

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How Do We Provide That Chance?
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Why focus on the achievement gap?

• Achieving middle-class living standards is more
  dependent than ever on having basic reading and
  math skills. People with weak basic skills earn
  substantially less now, in real terms, than in
  the middle 1970s.
• Near the middle of this century, nonwhites will
  become the majority of the US population and
  workforce the nations economic future will
  depend fundamentally on the skills of nonwhite
  workers.

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Advanced Math Would Advance Equity

• College Access Students whose parents did not go
  to college can more than double their own chances
  of doing so by taking advanced math.
• College Success Taking advanced math has a
  greater influence on whether students graduate
  from college than other factor including race
  and family background.
• Economic Opportunity Inequities in advanced math
  courses account for one-quarter of the income gap
  between students from low-income and middle-class
  families ten years after graduation from high
  school.

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Advanced Math Big Inequities by Race and
Ethnicity
Source National Center for Education Statistics.
(2007, June). High School Coursetaking Findings
from The Condition of Education 2007.
Washington, DC U.S. Department of Education. (p.
24, Table SA-8).
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Advanced Math Even Bigger Inequities by Family
Wealth
Percent of 2004 Graduates Completing Math Beyond
Algebra II
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Some Inequities Are Getting Worse
Source National Center for Education Statistics.
(2007, August). Advanced Mathematics and Science
Coursetaking in the Spring High School Senior
Classes of 1982, 1992, and 2004. Washington, DC
U.S. Department of Education. (p. viii, Figure
D) NOTE Data represent top and bottom quartiles
of high school graduates based on parents
socioeconomic status.
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The Problem Is Lack of Opportunity, Not Lack of
Ambition

• Students-of-color express just as much interest
  in taking advanced math coursesand minority
  girls express the most.
• Yet they are far less likely to say that advanced
  math courses are available to them.
• The problem is not peer pressure, either.
  Students-of-color are less likely to say their
  friends discourage them from taking advanced math
  and twice as likely to say their TEACHERS do.

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For Minority Students, Interest in Advanced Math
Greatly Exceeds Availability
Source National Action Council for Minorities in
Engineering, Progress Toward Power A Follow-Up
Survey of Childrens and Parents Attitudes about
Math and Science, Research Letter, October 2001.
Survey conducted by Harris Interactive, 1999.
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How successful is Virginia in moving students
successfully through the education pipeline?
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Is educational attainment improving?
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Are elementary school students achieving
proficiency in math?
Median of top five states in percent proficient
or advanced. Source National Assessment of
Educational Progress. Analysis of data downloaded
from www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/
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Are elementary school students achieving
proficiency in reading?
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Are there inequities in math achievement in
Virginia?
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in reading achievement in Virginia?
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Are students taking gateway courses in
Virginia?
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Is math achievement improving?
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Is reading achievement improving?
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Are there inequities in math achievement in
Virginia? Have gaps narrowed?
African American
Native American
White
Asian
Latino
Source National Assessment of Educational
Progress. Analysis of data downloaded from
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsrep
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in reading achievement in Virginia?
African American
Native American
Asian
Latino
White
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Are students participating in AP courses?
Median of top five states. Source Analysis of
data from College Board AP Summary Reports for
2004 and NCES Common Core of Data. Includes
public school students only.
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Are there inequities in AP participation in
Virginia?
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How many high school students graduate on time?
Median of top five states. Source Manhattan
Institute, April 2006, Leaving Boys Behind
Public High School Graduation Rates.
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Are graduation rates equitable in Virginia?
Source Manhattan Institute, April 2006, Leaving
Boys Behind Public High School Graduation
Rates.
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How many graduate from college?
Median of top five states. Source Unpublished
data provided by National Center for Higher
Education Management Systems. Data are from
federal IPEDS survey.
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Are college graduation rates equitable in
Virginia?
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• Now we know more about THE PROBLEM

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School Counseling Works!We Add Value!
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Classroom Guidance Research

• Comprehensive curriculum about career, academic
  and social/personal development can positively
  impact student knowledge in each of those
  domains.
• Social skills training can increase the social
• attractiveness of gifted and special needs
• students, but did not impact student
• self-esteem or school behaviors.

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Classroom Guidance Research

• Multicultural conflict resolution education can
  provide students with more positive perspectives
  on conflict and can build related skills, but
  does not impact on cultural understanding.
• Classroom curriculum about stress reduction
  techniques can improve student self-concept,
  sense of locus of control, and appropriate coping
  strategies.

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Classroom Guidance Research

• Classroom guidance focusing on academic
  achievement can influence elementary students
  behavior and attitudes toward school, impact MS
  students school attitudes, and improve MS
  students knowledge about how to succeed in
  school. This curriculum did not have a
  significant impact on grades in any of the
  studies.

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Classroom Guidance Research

• Classroom curriculum designed to educate HS
  students about goal-setting, problem-solving,
  career exploration, and school resources
  significantly improved student behavior, attitude
  and knowledge in these areas. A prior needs
  assessment to determine content may help focus
  classroom interventions.

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Group Counseling Research

• Group counseling interventions can reduce the
  acting out behaviors of at-risk, inner city
  students, improve students behavioral
  adjustment, reduce hostility and aggression,
  improve self-esteem and coping skills of children
  of alcoholics, improve self-esteem of children
  from divorced families, and improve students
  racial attitudes.

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Peer Counseling Research

• Peer counseling training programs can provide
  many benefits to students, schools, and
  community
• peer counselors gained significant knowledge and
  skills as a result of their training
• students attendance, grades, attitudes, and
  classroom behaviors improved as a result of peer
  intervention services

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Individual Counseling Research

• A comprehensive drop out prevention program
  involving counseling and tutoring can
  significantly assist at-risk students in
  improving school achievement, self esteem, and
  classroom behavior (Edmondson White, 1998)
• Single-session brief-counseling can help high
  school students reduce their concerns about
  problems and move closer to their goals
  (Littrell, Malia, Vanderwood, 1995).

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Career Counseling Research

• Eighth grade math and science career
  interventions (implemented by school counselors)
  can help minority and female students choose
  academically challenging courses.
• While career inventories are a good choice for
  school counselors to use as part of career
  guidance programs designed to meet ASCA
  standards, school counselors should not rely too
  heavily on them.
• Because each student has unique learning
  experiences that influence their behaviors,
  career development activities and learning
  experiences should begin at an early age and
  continue into high school and beyond.
• DISCOVER can lead to more age-appropriate
  decision making in middle school students.

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School Counselors Can.

• Perform and Behave Within a Social Justice
  Framework!!!
• And
• Promote Equity

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What is Social Justice?

• Social justice refers to the idea of a just and
  equitable society
• Social justice targets marginalized groups of
  people in society, schools, etc. (whereas
  equality or equal rights are applicable to
  everyone).

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What is Social Justice?

• Social justice refers to the idea of a just and
  equitable society
• Social justice targets marginalized groups of
  people in society, schools, etc. (whereas
  equality or equal rights are applicable to
  everyone).

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What Is Social Justice Based Counseling?

• Social justice counseling represents a
  multifaceted approach to counseling in which
  practitioners strive to simultaneously promote
  human development and the common good through
  addressing challenges related to both individual
  and distributive justice.

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Social Justice recognizes that there are
situations in which the application of the same
rules to unequal groups can generate unequal
results.
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Traditional vs. Social Justice Approach to
School Counseling

• Social Justice Approach
• Major focus is on highlighting the strengths of
  students (empowerment-based counseling)
• Emphasis on socio-cultural and environmental
  factors that influence student behavior
• Major goal is to challenge oppression
• Emphasis on equality and equity
• Avoidance of labeling
• Dependence on data
• Focus on changing existing policies and
  strategies
• Focus on enrolling students in more rigorous
  courses

• Traditional SC Approach
• Dependence on counseling theories and approaches
  with little to no regard for cultural background
• Emphasis on individual student factors (e.g.,
  unmotivated, depressed)
• Emphasis on equality
• Reliance on labels
• Little to no use of data
• Focus on maintaining status quo
• Focus on enrolling students in comfortable
  courses

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Six Key Elements to Social Justice Focused School
Counseling

• Counseling and Intervention Planning
• Consultation
• Connecting Schools, Families, and Communities
• Collecting and Using Data
• Challenging Bias
• Coordinating Student Services

Holcomb-McCoy, C. (2007). School Counseling to
Close the Achievement Gap
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Each components focus is on EQUITY
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Counseling and Intervention Planning

• Counseling must be culturally responsive and
  inclusive of cultural implications
• Assess and consider environmental factors (e.g.,
  immigration laws, fear in community, distrust in
  community, poverty) that impact student and
  parent problems
• Use a strengths-based approach or
  empowerment-focused approach
• Focus on the resilience of students and their
  families rather than their deficits.

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Consultation

• Acknowledge cultural differences between the
  consultant (counselor), teacher/parent, and
  student.
• Develop a quality helping relationship with
  teachers and parents so that issues of equity can
  be discussed honestly.
• Use questions to incite new perspectives
  (Have you ever thought about how Chris feels
  when you tell him that he is not
  college-material?
• Culturally responsive and empowerment-focused
  parent consultation

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Connecting Schools, Families, and Communities

• CREATE PARTNERSHIPS with community groups,
  businesses, community leaders, places of worship,
  etc.
• CREATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH ALL PARENTS (BE
  INCLUSIVE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT PARENTS)
• Five Principles of Effective Partnerships
• Policies
• Leadership
• Communication
• The Community
• Evaluation

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Collecting and Using Data

• Data can be useful in determining inequities in
  schoolsWhat do I want to know about my schools
  ability to educate students? What questions do I
  have about my students achievement, attendance,
  etc.? My schools community?
• Types of data that can collectedachievement,
  attainment, school culture

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Challenge Bias

• Be aware of your own attitudes, stereotypes and
  expectations
• Actively listen to and learn from others
  experiences
• Acknowledge and appreciate diversity, dont just
  tolerate it!
• Be aware of your own hesitancies to intervene
• Expect tension and conflict
• Work collectively with others
• Challenge the negative language used to
  describe and talk about students
• Pay attention to the interactions between
  students and teachers/administrators (Positive
  Relationships are Key To Success!)

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Coordinate Student Services

• Implement scheduling that encourages rigorous
  course taking
• Say no to gatekeeping
• Say no to tracking
• Coordinate college preparation interventions
• Coordinate tutoring/academic/mentoring services
• Participate on special committees (IEP, G/T) to
  promote EQUITY

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Narratives Illustrating the POWER of Giving A
Student a Chance!
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A Prayer for ChildrenBy MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN
We pray for children Who sneak popsicles
before supper, Who erase holes in math
workbooks, Who can never find their shoes.And
we pray for those Who stare at photographers
from behind barbed wire, Who can't bound down
the street in a new pair of sneakers, Who never
"counted potatoes," Who are born in places we
wouldn't be caught dead, Who never go to the
circus, Who live in an X-rated world.
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We pray for children Who bring us sticky kisses
and fistfuls of dandelions, Who hug us in a
hurry and forget their lunch money. And we pray
for those Who never get dessert, Who have no
safe blanket to drag behind them, Who watch
their parents watch them die, Who can't find any
bread to steal, Who don't have any rooms to
clean up, Whose pictures aren't on anybody's
dresser, Whose monsters are real.
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We pray for children Who spend all their
allowance before Tuesday, Who throw tantrums in
the grocery store and pick at their food, Who
like ghost stories, Who shove dirty clothes
under the bed and never rinse out the tub, Who
get visits from the tooth fairy, Who don't like
to be kissed in front of the carpool, Who squirm
in church or temple and scream in the phone,
Whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose
smiles can make us cry.
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And we pray for those Whose nightmares come in
the daytime, Who will eat anything, Who have
never seen a dentist, Who aren't spoiled by
anybody, Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves
to sleep, Who live and move, but have no
being.We pray for children who want to be
carried and for those who must, For those we
never give up on and for those who don't get a
second chance. For those we smother ... and for
those who will grab the hand of anybody kind
enough to offer it.
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Thanks and Good Luck!