Advocacy: A Way of Being and Survival for Counselors

Advocacy:A Way of Being and Survival for Counselors Madelyn Isaacs, Ph.D. Professor and Chair, FGCU Counseling, Past-President, FSCA Florida School Counselor Association Webinar February 4, 2014

It starts and ends with student achievement Our goal and focus: Student Achievement. Data and arguments: Focused on removing barriers to student achievement.

Advocacy: Removing Barriers to Success (Lack of…) Support…Resources… Training…Ratios…Curriculum… Equity…Understanding of the problems/possibilities… Accountability/Evaluation

Areas for Advocacy Students • Safety • Achievement • Equity • Placement in Challenging Courses • Encouragement for challenging aspirations Profession/Self • Sufficient counselors • Perform job appropriate tasks • Sufficient resources • Appropriate training • Recognition

For students – one, some,all … • Advocating for one… • for individual students/families • Advocating for some… • to help particular groups of students (multicultural counseling competencies as a means for addressing discrimination; policies; placements) • Advocating for all… • for better school counseling programs, better schools, and more and effective community resources

For students – advocating for the profession • Advocating for school counseling… • …to promote the school counseling profession – being empowered to do what we know how to do and recognized for doing it well • because we can prove it works • which goes back to removing barriers • to student achievement

ASCA's (and FSCA’s) Goals and Objectives Fits with ASCA and FSCA Goals and Mission that is all about student success • Legislative policy • Strategic partnerships • Leadership/Champions • Professional development • Accountability • Access to supports for advocacy

Advocacy… An Ethical Obligation In the beginning we were obligated by our professional ethics “act in the best interests of the client” and “do good” Obligated to remove barriers and be leader for change has been enshrined in the ASCA National Model

ASCA Ethical Standards • Advocacy for comprehensive programs for ALL students is throughout the Code of ethics • Preamble (access and equity) • Advocacy is in our role statement and National Model (eliminate barriers impeding students' development; create opportunities to learn for all students; ensure access to a quality school curriculum; collaborate with others within and outside the school to help students meet their needs, promote positive, systemic change in schools. ) • Advocacy is in our curriculum (Career, Personal and Social, Academic • Advocacy embedded in collaboration and data driven accountability

FSCA:Advocacy Platform Goal: adresses the needs of all students, promotes professional excellence for school counselors, and advocates for closing the achievement gap between groups of students in our state.

Advocacy … tearing down barriers • Identifying unmet needs and taking actions to change the circumstances that contribute to the problem or inequity. • Promoting availability/accessibility of school counseling and social justice on local, state, regional, federal/national, and international levels.

Advocacy … tearing down barriers • Facilitating change and change processes by managing change and resistance to it • Ensuring that funding and policy decisions are made that support school counseling programs and school counselors.

Advocacy is about …skills and dispositions • Risk-taking • Persistence • Coordinating change • A bent toward altruism • Leadership • Communication • Courage • Collaboration

Using the skills of counseling • Collaboration with stakeholders • How advocacy fits with collaboration? • Advocacy • How advocating at the building, district, and state level supports student achievement? • Promoting systemic change • How advocacy fits with promoting systemic change?

Advocacy…for the Profession You know you are advocating when you are… • promoting school counselors' credibility in the public's eye • generating and promoting research on the efficacy of counseling • generating and promoting school counseling effectiveness in the eyes of administrators, families, and policy makers

Advocacy…for the Profession You know you are advocating when you are… • informing school/district/legislative policy agenda • Forming coalitions with other educators and community activists • Collaborating with families for program and opportunities • Collaborating with your state DOE and local School Board, local/state/national professional organizations or unions to ensure that school counseling effectiveness is considered.

The vicious cycle… You can’t advocate for students if… …you have too many students to be effective or implement a program …your non-counseling duties become a barrier to effective implementation of a quality program …you lack appropriate professional development …you lack representation in the reform discussions in your school or district …you don’t have a job due to policies, funding changes, legislative priorities which aren’t informed by school counseling research and outcomes

…You have to advocate to get to advocate more effectively. • To be in a position to advocate for students, you have to ensure that you have advocated for your profession. • Remember – it isn’t about you personally; it is about policies and outcomes that make school better for students. Think about a solution Focused Approach – how is your vision/goal happening just a bit – that is your basis for telling your story and garnering support for it to happen more.

Challenges for school counselors… overcoming our own barriers • School counselors tend toward helping, conformity and compromise more than autonomy, taking risks, being data driven, or engaging in objective analysis. • Like all new educators, newer school counselors will naturally be more obedient and conforming than independent and will seek to fit into their new school setting. • School counselors are biased toward emotional and personal issues and arguments which often work against effective advocacy.

The challenges for school counselors… overcoming our own barriers…Get out of your own way • School counselors often are not bent toward working and presenting data. • Have trouble balancing the collaborative relationships while being both assertive, self-confident and compromising. • Many schools and districts do not promote autonomy and assertive advocacy.

Have to create pictures for others • …a vision of what will happen if we DO something different. • …a vision of what will happen if we DON’T do something different.

Telling a story X% of our students are (are not) graduating on time. This is x% lower than we have targeted. We have identified common barriers among the students who have not completed on time including two of the following • a history of changing schools, • failure of at least one math class in the first two years of school, • and…. We can intervene with our Junior students to identify students who have changed schools and/or have failed at least one math class. Research based interventions for this group include small groups, mentors, after-school tutoring. To accomplish this we will need an additional twenty school counselor hours per week. This can be accomplished by either freeing up 20 hours of school counselor time or adding a half time school counselor. If accomplished, this will increase graduation by x % each year for a total of x%. If we don’t intervene, our school will continue to fail to meet graduation rate targets which will impact teacher allocations, school grades/rating systems, …

Use Credible Data …puts the facts behind the face of personal stories and anecdotes. Makes point more convincing. Gathering research and pulling out the important points that support your position, as well as points that negate the argument of those who oppose your position, will help you to gain supporters for your cause.

Anecdotes… Meet John Doe. John and his parents have moved four times during his schools years. A review of his records indicated that his grades would go down for several months to a year after each move. After his last move John’s grades went down for nine months before an intervention was initiated. Even though he had moved to the school nine months before, John’s counselor invited him to join a transition mentoring group and to participate in a special co-curricular field program for math improvement. John caught up in credits and finished on time with his class.

Advocacy is … A Good Story Based on Good Data • To identify the gaps in services, procedures, and policies • To set and create appropriate goals • To create a sense of urgency • To engage stakeholders

Advocacy is … Based on Good Data • To prove success • To be persuasive • To remove emotion from the equation • To challenge existing policies & practices • To serve as a catalyst for focused action

Types of Data That Can Help Learn to use results data so that you can answer the question: “How are students different because of the school counseling program?” Or, “How will things stay the same or get worse because we don’t change the school counseling program?”

Types of Data That Can Help Process – “What you did and for whom”Evidence that event occurredHow activity was conductedNumber of events, people participating, and products developedDid the program follow the prescribed practice? Examples • Six counseling groups with 8 students each were held. • 1,350 6-8th grade students received the “Time to Tell” guidance lesson. • All high school students were seen individually and prepared a 4 year plan.

Types of Data That Can Help Perception - “What others think, know or can demonstrate” • Measures competency achieved, knowledge gained or attitudes/beliefs of students (Pre-post measures, Competency achievement, Surveys or Questionnaires, Evaluations) • Measures what students are perceived to have gained in knowledge Examples • Competency Achievement • Every student in grades 9-12 completed a 4 year plan. • Every 10th grade student completed an interest inventory. • 50% more students turn in homework on time. • Knowledge Gained • 89% of students demonstrate knowledge of promotion/ retention criteria. • 92% can identify Early Warning Signs of violence. • Attitudes or Beliefs • 74%of students believe fighting is wrong. • 29% of students feel safe at school. • 78% know the name of their school counselor.

Types of Data That Can Help Results/Outcomes - “So WHAT” data • Hard data • Proof your program has (or has not) positively impacted students’ ability to utilize the knowledge, attitudes and skills to effect behavior • Attendance, Behavior, Academic Achievement, Graduation Rates Examples • 42 students on the retention list avoided retention. • Graduation rates improved 14% over three years. • Attendance improved among 9th grade males by 49%. • Parent involvement in school has increased by 150%.

Anecdotes are Data too!! Anecdotes are effective when • they are specific • they identify before, during, and after • have some data (qualitative or quantitative) involved • are current • are linked directly to the point of your advocacy • put a face on what you are trying to achieve They are NOT war stories, whines, talk about how hard you work, simple heart string tugs, designed to make policy makers feel bad, threats.

RESOURCES: USING DATA • www.robertniles.com/stats - A good introduction to talking about numbers. • Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media by Joel Best, www.ucpress.edu

A Model of the Advocacy Process for Professional School Counselors 1. Develop advocacy professional identity and skills. 2. Develop collaborative relationships with decision-makers and potential resource people and groups; acquire knowledge of parameters; and understand relevant systems inside and outside the school. 3. Define the problem based on data and information necessary to understand and objectively assess and define the problem and to aid advocacy efforts. Understand the problem in the context of systems. Set goals. 4. Develop clear and specific solutions and action plans that utilize resources and anticipate difficulties. Be flexible unless an important moral principle is at stake. • Bailey et al., (2003); Brown and Trusty (2005), Eriksen, (1997); Fiedler, (2000); House & Hayes, (2002); Kuranz, (2002), Svec, (1987, 1990).

A Model of the Advocacy Process for Professional School Counselors 5. Implement action plans using problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and dispute resolution skills. Monitor, organize, and manage efforts on various fronts. Ensure that agreed-upon changes are implemented. Promote and support collaborators and others as changes unfold and as setbacks occur. 6. Evaluate the effectiveness of advocacy efforts by following up on changes and determining if needs are met. The initial problem definition should specify or imply appropriate evaluation criteria. 7. Celebrate if successful with recognition for all involved or regroup if not successful and focus on support and coping. • Bailey et al., (2003); Brown and Trusty (2005), Eriksen, (1997); Fiedler, (2000); House & Hayes, (2002); Kuranz, (2002), Svec, (1987, 1990).

System-Change Model • Develop a focused problem-statement based on data; develop a goal and sense of benefits and projected outcomes for making change. • (Cultivate your relationships before you need them; you will have credibility and a ready partner).Identify potential resources and partners who are more natural allies/beneficiaries for change. • Understand the risks and costs involved in change for all; also understand the risks of not changing or addressing the problem.

System-Change Model • Reach out and collaborate; find natural partners and stakeholders and persuade them with data –based examples of how change will benefit them • Manage collaborative relationships based on effective communication, trust, respect, and past positive relationships. • Develop an advocacy strategy aimed at stakeholders and policy makers. Start small and build up and out.

Advocacy Examples and Strategies: The individual student Individual Student needs exception to a rule; a special placement; a change in circumstances or environments… Identify the desired outcome and the decision-maker who can make it happen Build your case based on data for why (including learning what works for the next student) Build your picture of a desired outcome – what are the costs of making that happen (human resource, financial, legal, achievement, financial) and what are the costs of not making it happen (child may fail, legal and accountability issues, not doing the right thing) Make a plan (assess options, assess alternatives, create new solutions) Gather potential partners (teachers and administrators) Implement plan Evaluate, reform and reframe and evaluate again

Advocacy Examples and Strategies: A group of students Students are being systematically placed into less challenging classes due to rigid teacher-only recommendation process… Identify data of class taking patterns on disaggregated basis Identify exceptions of success; identify incentives in law and public opinion for change Identify team of stakeholders (students, teachers, families) to identify alternatives and a plan through group meetings, focus groups, research of best practices, link with list-servs, collaborate with state programs, Develop pilot program with smaller group of faculty or with one department Pre-test and develop outcome results Evaluate -- expand what works and tinker with what didn’t

A Short Story of Success: The Washington State Example It started in one school: School Counseling Team Asking For Additional Career Center Staffing School population: 1800 students Number of Career Center Support Hours per Week: 28 Larger strategic plan: To improve college and career readiness, Goal: add 5 hours per week of additional career center support How: Step 1: One counselor worked with the building administration on budget issues and how the additional hours would provide college and career readiness support for our low achieving and at-risk students. Step 2: Once the principal bought in, the counselor worked with the district’s Career and Tech. Ed. director to secure funding and additional career and college readiness programs for the position.

Data at the Building Level: Olympia High (Washington State) Example Counselor Case Loads: A Presentation to a Principal Olympia High School In 1995, 1345 Students 1345/4= 336 Students per Counselor Olympia High School in 2006, 1800 Students 1800/4 = 450 Students per Counselor Note: Since 1995, additional graduation requirements had been added to the graduation requirements that school counselors track including : a Culminating Project, High School and Beyond Plan (six year plan), and student outcomes assessments. Other High Schools In Our Area (Called for data) Student Head Counts (students per counselor), May 2005: • Capital 1469/4 = 367 River Ridge 1120/3 = 373 • Avanti 132/1 = 132 Shelton H.S. 10-12th 977/3 = 325 • Yelm 1340/4 = 335 Choice H.S. 143/1 = Counselor • BHHS 1000/3 = 333 *** These were all high schools in our • Tumwater 1004/3 – 334 area (within 20 miles)!

Visual Representation

Additional Data in this Case • Results data which was linked in part to a lack of counselor connection as a result of higher caseloads and increased workload. • rise in the number of credit deficient students • decrease in the number of on-time graduates over the past decade • Presented to building principal, once earned support, then presented to the school’s Site Team (found a strong parent champion) and then to School Board. • Having both parent advocate and strong data helped us reach our goal of hiring a 5th counseling position for Olympia High School (still in place after five years.)

Data is All Around Us

Examples of Data to Examine

Stick to the Basics • Attendance • Discipline • Academic Achievement

Data…Data…Data • Present Raw Data before and after, over time, as compared by grade level from year to year. • Present percentage data (smaller groups as relative to a larger group) over time, pre and post treatment/intervention, increases and decreases in performance • Present Averages and how these may have changes over time • Capture the data into a story, onto a chart and in writing/media using a SPARC or Multimedia Presentation.

Use… • Charts, tables and figures • Collect and use raw data, changes in data, percentages, percentages of change, averages, changes over time, comparisons within groups, comparisons in matched groups (grade levels from year to year), pre and post, disaggregated by gender, grade, teacher, school, etc.) • Use available technology to collect, analyze and present data

Keep it Simple

Collect and share data stories • Every time you hear an anecdote about school counseling success, collect it. • Ask colleagues to write down brief descriptions of what they are doing that is working and the outcomes that verify it. • Begin to assemble school counseling success stories that you can tell in a few sentences. • Share with SPARC’s, closing the gap projects, newsletters, in person

Get involved with policy makers at all levels • School level for day to policy • District for those that impact students and counselors • State level to impact the profession and its ability to help students

Advocacy: A Way of Being and Survival for Counselors