Chapter 2 SCHOOLS AS SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

1. Publisher to insert cover image here Chapter 2SCHOOLS AS SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS Developed by: Kelli Saginak, Amy Taake, & Anna GirdauskasUniversity of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

2. What Makes Effective Schools? • The counselors have a responsibility to help all stakeholders understand youth development, the complementary processes of learning and teaching, and the qualities of excellent schools • Education Professionals are accountable to parents/guardians and the school board • Communities must be willing to fund excellent schools • Schools must be willing to listen to the needs of the students, families, and community • Parents/Caregivers need to be willing to participate in the educational processes of all children

3. What Makes Effective Schools? • 8 Strengths of character that provide a sense of human flourishing: • Lifelong learning and critical thinking • Diligence and capable performance • Social and emotional skills • Ethical thinking

4. What Makes Effective Schools? • Respectful and responsible moral agency • Self-discipline and pursuit of a healthy lifestyle • Contributions to the community and democratic citizen • Spirituality in the pursuit of a life of noble purpose

5. What Makes Effective Schools? • 8 Outcomes desired by society for young people: • Academics • Healthy and Safe Behavior • Social-Emotional Functioning • Communication • Character/Values

6. What Makes Effective Schools? • Self-Direction • Vocational and other adult roles • Recreational and Enrichment Pursuits • An effective school would provide the environment where these outcomes can occur

7. What Makes Effective Schools? • Two emerging principles: • A caring environment • An emphasis on holistic development • Results of a collaborative relationship between schools, communities, and parents/caregivers to provide a school environment where: • Young people feel welcome and respected

8. What Makes Effective Schools? • There are opportunities to make connections with peers and adults • Information and counseling are provided to help them determine what it means to care for self and others • Opportunities and expectations are present that encourage them to contribute to the community through advocacy and service

9. How Do We Know That a School Is Effective? • To fully understand school counseling, we must understand the promise of effective schools and the reality of dehumanizing schools • Dehumanizing Schools • Schools created ways of dealing with children based on business models • Factory Model of Education: compliance with authority instead of initiative, dependence on others, extrinsic motivation, and competitiveness with classmates • Also compared to a hospital environment

10. How Do We Know That a School Is Effective? • Developmentally Appropriate Schools • Incorporates benefits of structured education and extends the range of learning experiences to reduce structure to fit the students’ developmental needs • Provides balance among academic, social, and emotional goals

11. How Do We Know That a School Is Effective? • Entire learning environment is designed to answer the question, “what is most conducive to the learning of those particular students?” • Effective systems allow people to learn from their decisions • Central premise of these systems is respect • Respect is the foundation to all healthy relationships!

12. Effective Relationships Within Educational Communities • Philosophies of education translate directly into the relationship developed with students • Can lead to effective or ineffective working relationships • Community refers to the community outside of school and the community within the school • Partnerships with other professionals within the community are essential • Pupil Services teams support the learning of the students, and ensure both physical and psychological health and solid support systems are in place for student success

13. School Counselor as Coordinator • Coordination: a counselor initiated process in which the counselor helps manage and organize the comprehensive guidance program and related services • Not a passive or second-rate function • Essential for organization of the program • Essential for management of the program • Coordinate ideas, resources, materials, and personnel to bring about the design and creation of the program • This needs to happen to make the program happen!

14. School Counselor as Coordinator • Examples of Coordination: • Scheduling Meetings • Scheduling Appointments • Creating Budgets • Writing Grants • Documenting Activities and Achievements • Compiling and Analyzing Data • Evaluating the Program for Program Audit • Scheduling Facilities for Events • Securing Donations for a Program

15. Coordination (and Leadership) in School Counseling • School Counselors have systemic, wide-reaching leadership responsibilities in the academic reality of the school • Monitoring student achievement, ensuring equity across student groups, and promoting access to educational resources • It is important for school counselors to take leadership positions in coordinating efforts for the school • They are leaders of the heart of the school • Achievement gaps will narrow when partnerships of professionals support the students

16. Coordination (and Leadership) in School Counseling • Academic Coordination • School Counselors need to be aware of all current educational tests, strategies, and tools • School Counselors coordinate services for students • 504 plans • Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) • Response to Intervention (RTI) • Multi-tiered model of instructional intervention • Uses data to monitor progress, standardize interventions, and target students who need additional support

17. Coordination (and Leadership) in School Counseling • Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) • Examining a student’s behavior as it is related to the student’s environmental context, and then designing behavior plans that target the student’s motivation • Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBS,PBIS)/ School Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) • Framework for enhancing a continuum of proactive, preventable, school-wide, evidence-based interventions to achieve academically and behaviorally important outcomes for all students

18. Coordination (and Leadership) in School Counseling • Race to the Top (RTTT) • Developed by Obama in 2009 to reform education so our graduates are competitive internationally • Common Core: all students should graduate from high school being college- and career-ready • Set of educational standards that identify what a student needs to know to graduate, and provides a template for how the learning should take place across grades and states

19. Coordination (and Leadership) in School Counseling • Services Coordination • Virtual School Counseling • Some strengths and barriers to this form of counseling • Barrier: Lack of face-to-face time with students & Large caseloads • Strength: Work to align their priorities and time with what their administrators value and desire to give more time to personal, social, and emotional needs of the students

20. Coordination (and Leadership) in School Counseling • Building Crisis Management • Multistep process • A planning committee is formed • Prevention efforts are engaged once a plan is in place • Committee provides postcrisis processing of the response • Educates the school and community on the plans • Calls rehearsals for all levels of crisis response