Shivela Middle School - California Association of School Counselors

Shivela Middle School
School Counseling Program
Intentional Guidance
Presented by Mary Davis, Ginger
Hawkins, and Mary Ricks
At Shivela, we are committed to
empowering students to be life long
learners who care for themselves and
others and have a realistic goal for their
future.
(SMS Counseling Mission Statement)
To inspire every student to think, to
learn, to achieve, to care.
(MVUSD Mission Statement)
American School Counseling Association
National Standard
Academic Standard A
Students will acquire the attitudes,
knowledge, and skills that contribute to
effective learning in school and across
the life span.
Student Competency
A:A3 Achieve School Success
Target Group
¾
At the district counseling meeting, we discussed
intentional and grade level guidance lessons. The
goal was to create one intentional intervention that
all schools embraced, by grade level.
¾
6th, 7th, and 8th grade students with two or more “F”
grades at the first progress report of semester 1,
2009.
¾
63 total students were targeted (approximately 20
from each grade level).
¾
Objective: To improve academic GPA by comparing
6-week grades with semester grades.
Preparation and Logistics for
Academic Workshop
¾
First semester: November 5 – December 3, Room 201
¾
We met every Thursday for four weeks during the
student’s PE or Exploratory class.
¾
During PLC time, counselors collaborated with teachers
regarding the targeted students’ individual needs.
¾
Weekly Academic Workshop topics were emailed to
parents and teachers encouraging reinforcement at
home and in the classroom.
¾
Counselors committed to having at least two
counselors present each Thursday (periods 1-5).
Pre-Test Results
¾ 26%
of the students were aware of
teacher help times.
¾ All
of the targeted students believed
grades mattered.
¾ 33%
of students knew how to calculate
a GPA.
Pre-Test and Student Survey:
What we learned…
1.
Students were disconnected from their
grades. (percentages, GPA, on-line grade book,
transcript)
2.
Students lacked awareness of
resources on campus. (after school tutoring
and teacher help times)
3.
Students were not sure “why” grades
are important. (promotion, athletics, HS
graduation, career)
Weekly Lessons
1. “Getting to know” (activity, use of agenda, ABI
grades, established consistent routine)
2. “Why grades matter?” (teacher help times, ABI
attendance, weekly review of grades and agenda)
3. “What do all these numbers really
mean?” (GPA calculation & relevance, individual CSTs,
EOCs, retention policy, weekly review of grades and agenda)
4. “Digging Deeper” (Open discussion regarding
grades, studying for tests, promotion and graduation
requirements)
Percentage
Post-Test
Knowledge of Teacher Help Times
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Pre
Post
Prior to the workshop, 26% of the students were
aware of teacher help times. After the
workshop, 73% of students knew specific
tutoring times.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Ag
ree
Pre Test
Post Test
S.
Ag
ree
Percentage
Post-Test
Believe Grades Matter
Pre-Test results indicated that all students believed grades
mattered. Post-Test results indicated that 22% of student
beliefs changed from agree to strongly agree that grades
matter.
Post-Test
Skill in GPA Calculation
100
Percentage
80
60
Pre Test
Post Test
40
20
0
Know how to calculate
Pre-Test = 33% of students knew how to calculate a GPA
Post-Test = 85% of students knew how to calculate a GPA
Results
Reduction in “F” Grades at Semester
¾ 6th
Grade – 74% reduction of F’s (50 to 13)
¾ 7th Grade – 59% reduction of F’s (46 to 19)
¾ 8th Grade – 12% reduction of F’s (25 to 22)
GPA Improvement
¾ 6th
Grade – 33% increase of GPA
¾ 7th Grade – 16% increase of GPA
¾ 8th Grade – 21% decrease of GPA
Other Barriers
We asked students if they faced other negative external or internal
barriers they have individually. Students completed the survey (59
students in all) and indicated the following:
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¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
¾
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Depression: 8 students
Anxiety: 8 students
Anger Management: 7 students
Family Conflict: 11 students
Grief: 2 students
Substance Abuse: 0 students
School Conflict: 11 students
Friend Issue: 8 students
Thoughts of suicide: 0 students
Our Response – We will be inviting students to join us in
school-wide support groups next semester.
Implications and Next Steps
¾
Results indicated a greater success rate in
6th grade, than in 7th and 8th grade. We will
work on targeting students earlier.
¾
MOST students want to learn and succeed;
some need more encouragement and
monitoring than others.
¾
We will continue working with these same
students this semester during another 4
week workshop. We will focus on
addressing the specific barriers to learning
they indicated.
Feedback
¾
“Thank you so much for allowing my son to
take part in this class. He is so excited about
the agenda and calendar. I can definitely see a
positive attitude, acceptance, and affect this
class is having. Please let me know if there is
anything I can do to help!!” – parent
¾
“I am happy for the improvement, prayerful for
the lesson to take root and for her to use this
going forward in life. Thanks for you and your
counseling team's assistance.”- parent
Feedback (continued)
¾
“Thank you very much for all your help to
our kids. God bless
you” – parent
¾
“This is great - just what these kids need plus the invaluable bonus of knowing that
others are taking such an interest in
them.” – LA/AVID teacher
¾
“Are we doing Academic Workshop again? I
made honor roll. I know it was because of
Academic Workshop that I made it.” Student
Thank you!
¾ Shivela
administration and staff
members (especially PE and
Exploratory teachers) for consultation
and support of the program.
¾ Board
members for your time tonight.
Working together we are succeeding!