Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
What is the role of courage in school counseling leadership? In the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Model, 3rd edition, Dr. Anita Young writes:
"Once thought to be the job or administrators, advancing academic achievement, reducing barriers to learning and creating equitable learning environments are central priorities for school counselors...While there are many leadership characteristics and practices, utilizing effective school counselor leadership requires visionary thinking, challenging inequities, shared decision making, collaborative processing, modeling excellence, and a courageous stance." (American School Counselor Association, 2012, pg. 11)
received a great deal of attention in recent years do to a number of suicides of students who were bullied for their real or perceived LGBT orientation. One of the middle school theater teachers, Jefferson Fietek, put his own job on the line in order speak up for policy change with regards to supporting LGBT students in the school district. As I went from session to session at the CESCaL conference, I heard stories of other teachers, administrators, and school counselors who were putting themselves and their jobs in jeopardy every day by advocating for Gay-Straight Alliances within their schools or for policy changes that would make their buildings safer and more inclusive for LGBT students. They possessed skills, the knowledge, and the resources to lead, but they also demonstrated their courage.
We can apply this to multiple situations in different schools around the country. For example, because we have the pulse of the school, and because we are the connection between so many different stakeholders, as school counselors, we know first-hand what is happening in schools like Harper or in Prince George's County, MD. We have opportunities to shine lights on what is happening with regards to young people dying in violent ways in order to garner support at higher levels to address this epidemic, to speak out until someone listens. Additionally, we are trained in how to address conflict resolution, and can work with students, starting in the elementary schools, on building positive coping skills. We can advocate for more resources with regards to social/emotional and grief supports. We can help to build community between students, parents, neighbors, and law enforcement to try to develop webs of support both within and outside of the schools. A colleague of mine on Twitter was asking what we could do about the inequalities that still exist in the Advanced Placement program around the country. My answer: School Counselors. Why? Because we are positioned to lead. We are the ones who academically advise our students, who help them map out the courses that they need to reach their post-secondary goals, and who encourage them and support them when they are taking rigorous and challenging courses. We are the ones who can put our hands on course data, grades, and test scores, and identify areas of need and then advocate for support programs or changes in enrollment policies with teachers and administration to help encourage more minority students to take AP courses. It is not enough for us to simply recognize these achievement gaps, we must also act to address them. I am in no way implying we do all of these things alone--systemic change does not occur in a vacuum. However, it may often be up to us to both determine where inequalities exist and then, using our relationship-building skills, lead others in addressing them.
Last year, I wrote about our responsibility as advocates and posed the question, "Who do you advocate for?" This year, as I was working with a group of counseling interns last week on preparing for their upcoming interviews with school districts and schools, I said to them, "School counseling is not a career for everyone. It takes a special kind of person to do so much of the work that we do everyday." And so, I ask you, do you possess the courage to lead?
The following work was cited as part of this piece:
American School Counselor Association (2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Third Edition. Alexandria, VA: Author
Saturday, February 23, 2013
As a school counselor, you may be approached by students who would like to participate and need help navigating your particular school culture to determine how best to go about organizing. You may be able to help support your school's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) as they prepare for the the event. Most importantly, you can show support to all of the students in your school as they take a day to reflect upon how members of the LGBT community often feel as if they have no voice due to anti-LGBT bullying and harassment. You can do this by:
"The Day of Silence is a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT." (source: www.dayofsilence.org)
- Advocating for all students to be able to participate within your school
- Assisting student leaders with your school's approval process for creating an event during the school day
- Helping school administration and student leaders work together to determine how the event will work best in your school community
- Serving as a sounding board and support for students and staff as they prepare for, participate in, and reflect upon the event and its meaning
- Guiding school personnel and student leaders to resources and tools for the event
Monday, February 18, 2013
From the Counselor's Office now has its own domain name, www.counselorsoffice.org. After a year-and-a-half and almost 100 posts, it seems only fair to make this level of commitment, not to mention teach myself how to acquire the new name and link it to the blog.
No worries--the old web address of counselorsoffice.blogspot.com will automatically forward you to the new one, and all links to former posts are still active. My hope is that this makes the blog easier to remember, search for, and find in the future.
Friday, February 8, 2013
I hope that students and staff have taken time this week to thank you for all that you do. Ideally, you have also been able to share with your communities our role, preparation, and the impact that school counselors are able to have on students. This weekend, have your own personal celebration by finding time to engage with your families and friends, get some exercise, grab a massage, or just veg on the couch with some excellent bad-television. Recharge--it's the most important gift you can give to yourself.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
This whole week, students create posters, decorate our offices, bake sugary treats, design watercolor cards with poems, and bring us small tokens of their appreciation, such as these flowers, to celebrate National School Counseling Week. I often think about the fact that there are so many negative news stories and perceptions out there of youth. It concerns me, because this is not what I see every day in my work. I am privileged to see young people do positive things on a daily basis. Some are large, like our Student Government Association partnering with us to implement a week-long anti-bullying campaign. Some are small, such as the other day when a student of mine was kind enough to give a new student a tour of the school to make him feel welcome. More often than not, though, in moments that really count, I see kids taking care of each other, being compassionate, overcoming obstacles, thinking through deep life questions, and engaging with the world in a positive manner.
At one of our opening in-services, this video was shown. As school counselors, I believe we see the children and adolescents of today not as empty shells, but rather as full of hope and promise:
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
In my post yesterday, I included some photos of the decorations outside and inside of my office. The students, families, administration, and staff at my school treat us extremely well, not only during this particular week, but all year long. In response to that post, Marty Stevens over at This Counselor's Journey responded on Twitter that I must be "filled with humility." Indeed, I am.
To be a school counselor is to dedicate yourself to a life of service. We give of ourselves on a daily basis through our time and through our emotional energy. We provide what so many people in this non-stop, on-the-go world are looking for--someone to simply listen and acknowledge their thoughts and feelings. We are constantly giving of ourselves to our students, their families, the school community, and to the community-at-large. Not everyone can do this work. So often when we talk about our careers in education with others the response is, "I could never do that." Yet, fellow school counselors, we can. Somewhere, we are hard-wired to advocate for those who need extra help, to provide an ear when no one else will seem to listen, and to believe in the ability of kids to succeed even if the faith of others has faltered. This mission to lend aid, to better humanity, to level the playing field, to bring joy and comfort and hope is what drives me to walk that free-reduced lunch paperwork down to the cafeteria directly versus having the student put it in the mail because I know it will go through faster. It is why I attend that IEP meeting to lend my voice to a student who needs more services. It is why I find peer-tutoring for a first-generation college-bound student so that they can have the support they need to be academically successful and meet that dream of attending a university.
I am humbled every day by my job, and I work very hard not to forget the place of privilege that I possess in our culture. I will never be a millionaire, but I have had the emotional and financial support of a loving family, vast educational and artistic experiences, and professional opportunities that have never left me wondering where my next meal will come from, where I will sleep at night, whether anyone in this world loves me, and whether I will be able to achieve my dreams. My hope, and the hope of school counselors everywhere, is that through our efforts we can help others find the same security, sense of belonging, and wings for their dreams.
Monday, February 4, 2013
It is wonderful to be appreciated!
School counselors, we work hard. Okay, we work really hard. Somedays, we work until we just about fall over. This week is for us to celebrate all that we do that has an impact upon our students' academic and personal well-being. However, it is also a week to help educate our stakeholders in our schools, our school systems, and our communities about what our training has taught us to do and the role that we have in schools. If we do not, we run the risk of having others define our role for us.
Looking for inspiration? ASCA and other bloggers have posted wonderful resources and ideas about ways to celebrate this week. Whether you have planned out activities for the week or just have the time and space to plan something for a day, they have something for you--just click the buttons below:
Sunday, February 3, 2013
"Picture yourself house-hunting. You are shown 20 different homes, all of which fit your basic criteria -- four sturdy walls, a roof, and modern amenities. Undoubtedly there will be one you fall in love with for any number of reasons, tangible or intangible. You've found your dream home. But here's the catch: at no point were you shown the prices of these homes, and the prices vary wildly. With the cost revealed, your dream home is one you cannot afford. Would you buy it anyway? Not if your mortgage lender had any sense. But if you replay this scenario and replace "home" with "college," Americans have proven -- to the tune of $1 trillion in outstanding debt according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- that they'll buy the college they can't afford anyway." (source: Frank Palmasani for www.huffingtonpost.com)
This is confusing because, as I've written about before, there is often a wide difference between the "sticker-price" for a college, meaning the published full-cost of a school if the student receives no aid whatsoever, and the "net-price" of a college, meaning what a student pays after scholarships, grants, work-study, and, debatably, student loans. Most students, especially at private colleges and universities, do not pay the full sticker-price. It reminds me of airline tickets, in that very rarely do most people on a plane pay the same price for their ticket. College can often be very similar, with no two students often paying exactly the same price to attend.
Further, one of the latest briefs from College Board discusses the relationship between college cost, selectivity, and one of the hot-new focal points in post-secondary education, graduation rates. In the report, it states:
- College "sticker-prices" for tuition and fees may play a prohibitive role in the college choice for families whose net-price may, in fact, be manageable.
- Even if there are only modest differences in the probability of degree completion between different categories of institutions, time-to-degree can still vary dramatically, which is an important consideration in a student’s college choice.
- Recommendation: Refine institutional reporting requirements so that students have better access to institution-specific completion rate data for students like themselves.
- Recommendation: Additional quantitative and qualitative research on the impact of net price calculators on student decision making.
- Recommendation: Convey clear message that, particularly for lower-income students, the additional cost of attending more selective colleges may be much smaller than the benefits of attending such colleges. (source: www.collegeboard.org)
Thus, here it says that students need to be wary of sticker-prices as they are shopping for colleges, as the net-price is so often different in the end. Further, at schools that are more selective (defined in the full report as schools with higher average SAT's scores in their admitted classes) there also tend to be higher rates of graduation within 4-6 years. Therefore, the report argues that students may be better off in the long-run if they pay a bit more for their education at a school where they are statistically more likely to finish their degree within a standard amount of time. Throw into the mix the continued rising costs of public-universities and the lack of standardization and faith in net-price calculators and it can be difficult for school counselors to determine how best to advise students and families to approach the financial aspects of the college search, application, and decision process.
- Students need two lists. For admissions, we often discuss the need for reach schools, mid-range schools, and "safety" schools, based on a student's academic criteria (classes, grades, standardized test scores.) Additionally, families should take that same list of schools and chart it with cost as the main factor versus admissions criteria. If none of the schools on their "financial" list fall into the "safety" category, then it may be time to go back and search for an additional school or two that might fit the bill. Again, this is just a starting off point to insure that a student will have a variety of options by the time they are making decisions in the spring.
- Use net-price calculators...with caution. If students have done the step above and have diverse lists of schools, then head to the net-price calculators, but realize that the word on the street is that there are still kinks to work out. However, this will give students an idea of what general ball-park "net-price" they might be looking at with some of the schools on their list. They should also look at additional financial-aid statistics, such as can be found at Big Future from College Board.
- Consider private schools. The sticker-price can be scary, yes. I realize this. However, if you get into the statistics of private schools, most of the students pay less than this, and many pay a lot less. When I was applying to colleges, there were two private schools at the top of my list. There was no way my family could afford the sticker-price of those schools. As such, my parents made me a deal. I could apply to those schools, but I also had to apply to at least one state-school that still met most of my admissions needs with regards to size, program reputation, etc. We would see what financial-aid offers came, and then decide. Thus, I had options come the spring. Again, by making a "financial" list with reach, mid-range, and safety categories, you should be giving yourself choices before making that final decision.
- Look at graduation rates. This is key. I believe what the College Board brief is telling us is that it may be worth going to a slightly more expensive school if that school has a higher rate of graduating students in four to six years. Why is this important? First, with a degree, your earnings potential is higher. You need to actually finish said degree, though. Secondly, the less time you are in school, the less money you are paying or going into debt over. If a four-year private school costs $4,000 more a year but has a four-year graduation rate of 80%, it may be worth it in the long run versus going to the less expensive school with a four-year graduation rate of 50%. If nothing else, it is worth considering. Click here for graduation rates by state and then by school.
- Don't just go K-16, but K-17 and beyond. As I alluded to before, if you have a student who is convinced they are going to be going to law school someday, or that they are going to go into a field where a graduate degree is a must, it is important to include this possible post-college education as a part of the conversation. Medical school is expensive. So is law school. Students and families should consider this when deciding on an undergraduate institution. It may not be worth going into $75,000 worth of debt for college when you are going to then go into $150,000 of debt for law school.