Comprehensive School Counseling Program Evaluation Essay

My pursuit of becoming a School Counselor led me to apply to the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland, College Park. I am a former student at University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. After graduating and teaching for two years in Prince George’s County Public Schools, I discovered my true passion lies not only in the classroom and students’ academics, but playing a pivotal role in the growth of their career, social, and personal development. Although I am no longer teaching full-time at the moment, my interaction with students from diverse backgrounds left an indelible responsibility to continue making a difference in our students. The objectives and mission of the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland can best help my goal of becoming an effective counselor and leader who is an agent of change to students and service the mental and emotional well-being of the younger generation.

There are many theoretical models of counseling. Often, a diverse approach or the use of several approaches is best for the resolution of problems. I utilize several different theories and strategies in my role as a counselor. However, it is the Individual personal theory and the Family theory model that anchors my orientation to counseling as a Christian counselor.

Caretaker Interview was completed by. As grading is completed and questions arise, they can be directed toward via e-mail at. Thank you!

It takes a special person to become a school counselor and in doing so it is important to take those life skills, knowledge, dispositions, and background experiences to help along the way. In the counseling field there are some guidelines and theories that will help, but nothing that prepares you for what may happen at any moment or any time during the day. It is clear that life definitely throws some unexpected curve balls and that is the same for situations in the field of school counseling. You never know what situation you will run into and in order to dodge those curve balls it is those life experiences that often time influence the direction in which we take both personally and professionally. It is important to compile all the knowledge and experiences that we have gained throughout life and apply them in a way that will help others to be successful. It is key to reflect on the past and those skills that I have that will lead me to become an effective professional school counselors.

The Comprehensive School Counseling Program Notebook which follows the ASCA National Model third edition was created in School Counseling Programs. This notebook is divided into four components as directed by the comprehensive school counseling program: foundation, delivery, management, and accountability. The Foundation section includes my core beliefs, my vision, my mission, rationale, description, and goals of the program at Mountain Home Junior School. Delivery, Management, and Accountability (AR 1.2).

For this assignment I reached out to an instructor at Lakeland College who is also a professional school counselor named Wendy Falk. Wendy was happy to complete an interview with me and provided information about herself including what assessments she uses, her theoretical orientation, and why these assessments are used. Wendy also spoke about her school counseling position, a difficult case she was presented with, and her opinion on the use of assessments. Additional research was conducted to learn more about the assessments she discussed.

Now that the data has been analyzed it is now up to the school counselor to share the results with the stakeholders. School counselors can use microsoft word, powerpoint, excel, and any other program to share their results. Delivering the results to the stakeholders in a presentation using powerpoint and excel is a great way to keep the stakeholders attention. When sharing the results with the stakeholders you want to be sure to share the results of the needs assessment and prove whether or not your program has impacted the students. You also want to discuss how you can improve the school counseling program. A chart with the analyzed data is also helpful. Implementing a comprehensive school counseling program can be challenging. My needs assessment was based off of how well the

School counselors use data to, “identify school counseling program goals; monitor student progress to close the achievement gap; assess and evaluate programs; demonstrate school counseling program effectiveness (Young, 2013).” The purpose of assessments are to identify and plan school counseling programs that align with the mission of schools. School counselors assist students individually to help with academic, personal/social or career concerns. One helps student establish goals as well as develop plans. School counselors conduct informal assessments by interviewing students to obtain information about their current problem or situation.

“the role of the school counseling program in ensuring data-driven academic, career/college and personal/social success competencies for every student, resulting in specific outcomes/indicators with all stakeholders” (2010). School counselors should keep the stakeholders informed about testing. The stakeholders should know when and where the test will be held and what kind of test it is. The students should be prepared to take the test and given the necessary tools to prepare them for the test. Some people suffer from test anxiety. Students should have the tools to know how to deal with testing anxiety. The teachers or whoever is administering the test should also know how to deal with students with testing anxiety. Once the testing is done and the results come back it is up to the school counselor

This research project will take place over the course of a year and half, from the Spring of 2018 to the Fall of 2019. The first six months will be dedicated to performing the needs assessment, while the full year will be used to implement the three iterations of the intervention. The site of this research will be three urban middle schools in Stamford Connecticut. Each with a population of about 500 students from grades six through eight, 45 faculty members and three administrators. Within the schools the sessions will take place in the administration offices and in the training rooms where the teachers meet. The participants for this study will include the principals, since

In order to do a proper analysis on a school counselor one must know what he or she does on a daily basis. This is to conduct a job analysis for a school counselor and discuss how it will be used within the school system. Next to determine the reliability and validity of the school counselor analysis. Then the performance and appraisal methods that apply to being a counselor will be evaluated. Finally the benefits and vulnerabilities of each performance appraisal method will be explained. This will provide a full job analysis of a school counselor and what their job entails.

When first applying to this program, I had a general idea of what school counseling was, but I never knew how many responsibilities a school counselor actually had. When I initially received my copy of the ASCA National Model, I was intimidated and unsure of what to expect. I soon learned that the ASCA National Model is a framework for school counseling programs and helps build a common understanding of what school counselors are responsible for. It consists of four components, foundation, management, delivery, and accountability, that make up the framework of the ASCA National Model and is based on the themes of systemic change, leadership, advocacy, and collaboration (ASCA, 2012). With that said, school counselors hold many more responsibilities than what they were once thought to. As a future school counselor, I now know that my duties go beyond simply helping students when they are experiencing a problem. I will be responsible for helping students achieve their academic, social/emotional, and career goals, which will ultimately help them become successful members of society. MORE????

As a future school counselor, I can reflect that these past eight weeks, I have a full understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a school counselor in a traditional high school. Practicum 2 has been learning experiences that I will remember as I start my new profession. I believe that being exposed and actively involved with a group of school counselors brought a wide range of knowledge that I plan to utilize in the future. As a continuum from my Practicum 1, the following CACREP standards are mentioned below.

Working with students who are considered at risk can be very rewarding. Middle and high school counselors play a critical role in the lives of students who are at risk. Sometimes a school counselor can be the only individual who makes an impact on the life of many students who go through difficult times. The importance of identifying and working with students who are at risk is crucial. Depending on the needs of the student the counselor can always develop an intervention that might help the student succeed. Moreover, it is important that school counselors are aware of the different challenges that students face nowadays. In addition, keeping in mind the different factors that affect students at risk is also important. I believe that this topic is relevant to school counseling because as a counselor I will be working with students who are at risk. As a counselor, I want to be able to advocate for these students and move them in a different direction. Also, I want to be familiar with the different indicators that label students at risk.

School counseling recommendations. I would recommend that Marcus gets properly diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Once he has been diagnosed the school counselor, teachers, and parents can come up with a plan to help Marcus. Marcus should be taught about anxiety and social anxiety this will better help Marcus understand what is going on. Marcus may have no idea why he acts the way he does during social activities or may not understand what anxiety is. Teaching Marcus these things can help him to identify when he is having a feeling of anxiety and how he can manage it. Teaching him how to stay clam, relax, breathing exercises, and muscle relaxation. Realistic thinking skills can also help Marcus. Instead of him thinking that he will be embarrassed or humiliated in front of the class he can start thinking more positive thoughts like “I will do well