Best Practices in Education: What do School Counselors Need to Know

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Best Practices in Education What do School
Counselors Need to Know?

• Carey Dimmitt, Ph.D., Associate Director
• Karen Harrington, M.Ed., Research Coordinator
• Center for School Counseling Outcome Research
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• ASCA Conference
• 2009

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Whos in the room?

• Level?
• Elementary- in a school doing Responsive
  Classroom?
• Middle- in a school doing Turning Points?
• High- in a school doing High Schools That Work?
• In a school doing Professional Learning
  Communities?
• In a school doing Advisories? Career Academies?
  Understanding by Design? Teaching for
  Understanding?
• Years of experience?
• Love chocolate?

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Goals for the Session

• To gain a working knowledge of some current
  models of effective education
• Responsive Classroom (Elementary)
• Turning Points (MS)
• HS That Work (HS)
• Understanding by Design (all)
• Professional Learning Communities (all)
• Career Academies (HS)
• Teaching for Understanding (all)
• To have resources to find out more about each
  model
• To have an idea about the role of SC in
  supporting these models in your schools

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Responsive Classroom (RC)

• Created in 1981 by Northeast Foundation for
  Children
• An integrated approach to elementary education
  that emphasizes social, emotional, and academic
  growth in a strong and safe school community
• Goal is to enable optimal student learning
• Based on the premise that children learn best
  when they have both academic and social-emotional
  skills

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RC Principles

• The social curriculum is as important as the
  academic curriculum. 
• How children learn is as important as what they
  learn Process and content go hand in hand. 
• The greatest cognitive growth occurs through
  social interaction. 
• To be successful academically and socially,
  children need a set of social skills
  cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy,
  and self-control.

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RC Principles

• Knowing the children we teach-individually,
  culturally, and developmentally-is as important
  as knowing the content we teach. 
• Knowing the families of the children we teach and
  working with them as partners is essential to
  children's education. 
• How the adults at school work together is as
  important as their individual competence Lasting
  change begins with the adult community.

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RC Classroom Practices

• Morning Meeting - gathering as a whole class each
  morning to greet one another, share news, and
  warm up for the day ahead
• Rule Creation - helping students create classroom
  rules to ensure an environment that allows all
  class members to meet their learning goals
• Interactive Modeling - teaching children to
  notice and internalize expected behaviors through
  an interactive modeling technique

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RC Classroom Practices

• Positive Teacher Language - using words and tone
  as a tool to promote children's active learning,
  sense of community, and self-discipline
• Logical Consequences - responding to misbehavior
  in a way that allows children to fix and learn
  from their mistakes while preserving their
  dignity
• Guided Discovery - introducing classroom
  materials using a format that encourages
  independence, creativity, and responsibility
• Academic Choice - increasing student learning by
  allowing students teacher-structured choices in
  their work

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RC Classroom Practices

• Classroom Organization - setting up the physical
  room in ways that encourage students'
  independence, cooperation, and productivity
• Working with Families - creating avenues for
  hearing parents' insights and helping them
  understand the school's teaching approaches
• Collaborative Problem Solving - using
  conferencing, role playing, and other strategies
  to resolve problems with students

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RC School-Wide Practices

• Aligning policies and procedures with Responsive
  Classroom philosophy - making sure everything
  from the lunch routine to the discipline policy
  enhances the self-management skills that children
  are learning through the Responsive Classroom
  approach
• Allocating resources to support Responsive
  Classroom implementation - using time, money,
  space, and personnel to support staff in learning
  and using the Responsive Classroom approach

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RC School-Wide Practices

• Planning all-school activities to build a sense
  of community - giving all of the school's
  children and staff opportunities to learn about
  and from each other through activities such as
  all-school meetings, cross-age recess or lunch,
  buddy classrooms, and cross-age book clubs

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RC School-Wide Practices

• Welcoming families and the community as partners
  - involving family and community members in the
  children's education by maintaining two-way
  communication, inviting parents and others to
  visit and volunteer, and offering family
  activities
• Organizing the physical environment to set a tone
  of learning - making sure, for example, that
  school wide rules are posted prominently,
  displays emphasize student work, and all school
  spaces are welcoming, clean, and orderly

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Outcome Research

• Design quasi- experimental, 3 urban schools
  using RC compared to 3 matched schools not using
  RC, for 3 years
• RC schools showed increases in Math and Reading
  scores
• Reading more than Math
• 3 years stronger than 2 years
• Teachers felt more effective and more positive
  about teaching
• Children had better social skills
• Teachers offered more high quality instruction
• Children felt more positive about school
• Teachers collaborated with each other more

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Challenges of RC

• A lot of time is spent processing student
  behaviors and interactions- less time on direct
  instruction
• Takes a highly skilled teacher to facilitate the
  kinds of learning RC emphasizes- flexible,
  self-aware, conscious, open to learning from
  students, able to understand how each child is
  unique as a learner
• Some students struggle with the self-motivation
  to learn need more structure and direction from
  teacher

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Your Experiences?
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Turning Points

• Whole school reform model focused exclusively on
  the middle grades
• In 1989, the Carnegie Corporation of New York
  issued Turning Points Preparing American Youth
  for the 21st Century
• This landmark report recommended strengthening
  the academic core of middle schools while
  establishing caring, supportive environments
  which value adolescents

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Philosophy

• The Turning Points Report critiqued the rigid
  structure of traditional middle schools
• Identified middle school years as a distinctive
  developmental period that must be treated
  uniquely
• Advocated reforms to make middle school education
  more personalized, supportive, and active
• Emphasized academic excellence and the provision
  of developmentally appropriate, equitable
  instruction

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• Carnegie Council Turning Points Report
• The middle level school years are the last best
  chance for early adolescents to avoid a
  diminished future.

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Principles

• Teach a curriculum grounded in standards
• Use instructional methods designed to prepare all
  students
• Prepare teachers for middle grades
• Organize relationships for learning
• Govern democratically by all staff members
• Provide a safe and healthy school environment
• Involve parents and communities in supporting
  learning

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6 Key Practices

• Improving learning, teaching, and assessment for
  all students (core principle)
• Building leadership capacity and a collaborative
  culture
• Creating a school culture to support high
  achievement
• Data-based inquiry and decision making
• Networking with like-minded schools
• Developing district capacity

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Principles and Practices in Action

• Create small learning communities
• Provide students with a smaller core group of
  peers and caring adults to attend to their
  academic and social needs
• Teams of interdisciplinary teachers
• Common planning time
• Advisories
• Teach a core academic program
• Focus on integrated content and critical thinking
• Flexible grouping for successful learning
• Authentic assessments

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Principles and Practices in Action

• Hire staff who value working with middle school
  students and are specifically trained to do so
• Improve training and professional development for
  teachers
• Empower educational professionals
• Provide opportunities for teachers and
  educational professionals in the school to make
  decisions about instruction and school wide
  policy issues
• Allow teams to make instruction decisions that
  are best for their particular group of students

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Principles and Practices in Action

• Emphasis on health and safety for learners
• Health education on preventing risky behaviors
• Mental health services
• Healthy school environment
• Engage families and strengthen the connection
  between schools and communities
• Communicate with parents and community members
  about the goals of the Turning Points Model
• Schedule events that connect school, family and
  community

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Outcome Research

• Several studies have shown achievement gains in
  math, reading, language arts, science, and social
  studies in Turning Points middle schools
• More complete implementation stronger outcomes
• More years of implementation stronger outcomes
• More positive perceptions of school climate
• Students express greater satisfaction with school
• Students report feeling less stress, less boredom
  and less fear and worry

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Outcome Research

• Students report more positive self concepts and
  self esteem
• Higher commitment to class work and more positive
  reactions to teachers
• More bonded with their teachers and also with
  their schools
• Teachers also report having a more positive
  professional image, feel less stressed, and feel
  less isolated
• Teachers reported increased contact with parents
  and families

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Turning Points 2000

• Update of 1989 report Turning Points
• Strengths of initial TP model
• Good outline of the changes that needed to happen
  
• Highly catalytic in raising consciousness about
  the unique requirements of young adolescents
• Identified the need for reform in middle schools
• Weaknesses
• Overemphasis on structural and organizational
  changes
• Lack of emphasis on changes in teaching practice
• Not enough about creating and implementing more
  powerful forms of assessment, instruction, and
  curriculum

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• Transition through adolescence is not purely an
  emotional one its as much, even more, an
  intellectual journey.Youngsters really need to
  have the kind of stimulating education that will
  allow them to develop their minds, which in turn
  will have a tremendous effect on their capacity
  to negotiate the emotional and interpersonal
  aspects of their development. Emphasis on the
  developmental needs of adolescents is not
  misplaced, but it has perhaps been
  overemphasized. Now we need to bring our efforts
  back into balance with a corresponding focus on
  intellectual development.
• Anthony Jackson, Turning Points 2000

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Challenges of Turning Points

• Principal needs to be able to share power and
  decision-making
• Transition to traditional HS can be harder for
  students from TP schools (different kind of
  learning demands and context)
• Highly integrated team-based curriculum approach
  takes a lot of outside planning time
• Lots of time spent in meetings!

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Your Experiences?
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High Schools That Work (HSTW)

• Comprehensive school-reform initiative that has
  shown evidence of successful outcomes for
  students
• Initiated by the Southern Regional Education
  Board (SREB) in 1987
• There are now over 1200 high schools and 300
  middle schools in the HSTW network
• Stands out as one of the few school-improvement
  efforts to emphasis data collection and analysis
  in their programs

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HSTWs Philosophy

• All students are able to learn high-level
  academic and technical concepts
• Create an educational environment that encourages
  students to make the effort to succeed
• Faculty, parents, students, and community members
  agree to share a vision of high achievement for
  all students
• Integrates college-prep courses with quality
  career/tech studies to improve students
  preparation for work and further education

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Program of Study

• Courses are all college prep
• 4 years of English
• 3 years of social studies
• computer tech coursework

• 3 years of math
• 3 years of science
• four credits in a concentration

• Students major in either a broad technical
  field or in further academic studies
• Choice among at least four career/tech
  concentrations and two academic majors such as
  math/science or humanities

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Key Practices

• High Expectations of all students
• Career/Technical studies provide intellectually
  challenging career/tech studies that emphasize
  high-level math, science, language arts and
  problem-solving skills needed in the modern
  workplace and for further education
• Academic studies encourage students to use
  academic content and skills to address real-world
  projects and problems

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Key Practices

• Work-based learning integrating school- and
  work-based learning, planned by educators,
  employers, parents, students
• Teachers working together organized structure
  that allows academic and vocational teachers to
  deliver integrated instruction aimed at teaching
  high-level academic and technical content
• Students actively engaged teaching in ways that
  enable students to see the usefulness of what
  they have been asked to learn

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Key Practices

• Guidance involving each student and his/her
  parents in a guidance and advising system that
  ensures the completion of an accelerated program
  of study. Each student has an adult mentor
  throughout high school to assist with setting
  goals, selecting courses, and reviewing the
  students progress.

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Key Practices

• Extra help providing a structured system of
  extra help to enable students who lack adequate
  preparation to compete an accelerated program
• Using data using student assessment and program
  evaluation data to continuously improve the
  school climate and to advance student learning

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HSTW Assessment

• Every two years, HSTW schools administer an
  assessment
• Seniors take hour-long achievement tests in math,
  science, and reading
• School leaders and staff use the assessment info
  to revise instruction, curricula, and guidance
  practices

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Outcome Research

• Prior educational research has shown that the
  quality and intensity of the high school
  curriculum is the most important predictor of
  success in college
• HSTW studies found that meeting curricular goals
  was related to meeting achievement goals taking
  the HSTW curriculum was associated with gains in
  test scores

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Practices that also led to increases in student
achievement

• Using academic skills for career/tech assignments
• Good working relationships between academic and
  career/tech teachers
• Better communication among students and guidance
  counselors
• Receiving help from the school in developing a
  4-year educational plan
• Taking a math course in senior year helps to
  close the achievement gap in that subject

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SREB identified major factors that influence
student achievement

• Challenging curriculum
• Engaging instruction
• Personalized learning environments
• Strong guidance and advisement programs
• These factors provide direction and meaning to
  comprehensive school improvement

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Challenges of HSTW

• May require longer school day to accommodate both
  academic content and tech/career content
• Sites must have the faculty, parents, students
  and community members agree to share in a vision
  of high achievement for all students
• Changing the content and instructional delivery
  practices of teachers can be difficult
• The district, school board and other leaders must
  be committed to replacing the general education
  track with a more demanding academic core

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Your Experiences?
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Question

• What do you notice about whats consistent across
  the models?

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Whats Consistent Across Models?

• Focus on student learning outcomes
• High expectations and standards for all students
• Challenging curriculum
• Effective instruction and assessment of learning
• Systemic, school-wide implementation
• Family and community involvement
• Developmental appropriateness of instruction
• Impact all learners equitable access to
  resources
• Teachers working together, empowered to impact
  learning environment

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Whats Consistent Across Models?

• Focus on social/emotional and relational
  components of learning
• Safe and supportive learning environments
• Attention to the individual student
• Lots of good professional development

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In Brief Understanding by Design

• Curriculum Development model (Backwards Design)
• Start with the desired results of the unit
• What do you want students to know and be able to
  do?
• How will you know that students have achieved
  results?
• What is acceptable evidence of learning?
• Summative and formative learning assessments
• Once you know your outcomes, then you create
  learning experiences and instruction
• What needs to be taught and how
• How to make learning engaging and effective,
  given the goals and needed evidence
• Focus is on student learning

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In Brief Professional Learning Communities

• Core Principles
• 1. Ensure that students learn
• What do we want students to learn?
• How will we know when theyve learned it?
• How will we respond when there are difficulties?
• Timely- i.e. weekly/monthly progress reports
• Based on intervention rather than remediation
• Support services are required
• 2. Culture of collaboration
• Teachers work in teams to improve practice and
  outcomes
• 3. Focus on results
• Effectiveness based on student learning outcomes
• Hard work and commitment

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In Brief Advisories

• Benefits include creating a relationship with a
  caring adult, interactions with a smaller group
  of peers, foster safe and caring school
  environment, provide academic support
• However, without a curriculum, advisories are
  often not successful
• Navigation 101 exemplar of curriculum-delivered
  advisory
• Lesson plans, postsecondary planning, goal
  setting, training of staff, curriculum based on
  ASCA model and 3 domains

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In Brief Teaching for Understanding

• Effective Teachers
• Create ambitious and meaningful learning tasks
• Engage students in active learning
• Draw connections to students prior knowledge
• Scaffold the learning process
• Assess student learning continuously
• Prove clear standards and ongoing feedback
• Encourage strategic and metacognitive thinking so
  that students can learn to manage and direct
  their own learning

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In Brief Teaching for Understanding

• Active, in-depth learning
• Authentic, formative assessment
• Opportunities for collaboration
• Attention to prior knowledge, experience, and
  development
• Knowledge organized around core concepts and
  connections
• Development of metacognitive skills

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