6

MEASURE

Mission, Element, Analyze, Stakeholders-Unite, Results, Educate

A Six-Step Accountability Process for School Counselors

Name and Address of School:

Randolphville Elementary

Piscataway Township Schools

1 Suttie Avenue

Piscataway, NJ 08854

Principal: Shirley Eyler

Name of Counselor(s) Leading the Initiative: Jill Brown, School Counselor

Enrollment: Grades – Pre-K-3 = 505

Pre-K= 24

K= 94

1st = 122

2nd = 138

3rd = 127

School Demographics:

Caucasian/Non-Hispanic 110 (22%)

African American 127 (25%)

Hispanic 45 (9%)

Asian/Pacific Islander 223 (44%)

Free/reduced lunch 68 (41 free; 27 reduced) (13%)

English as Second Language 40 (8%)

Exceptional Student Education/Special Education: 35 (7%)

STEP ONE: MISSION

Mission
Connect your work to your school’s mission in keeping with the ASCA or your state’s comprehensive school counseling model.
The mission of the Piscataway Public Schools is the continual development of each child’s intellectual, aesthetic, social, and physical abilities in a positive environment that fosters self-esteem. Students in Piscataway will be confident, productive members of a changing society.
Piscataway District Strategic Action Plan Goal 7:
The school district will provide a safe and comfortable environment that will encourage all students to attend classes every day.
Piscataway Strategic Goal 7: School Climate – The school district will provide a safe and comfortable environment that will encourage all students to attend class every day.


STEP TWO: ELEMENT

Element
What critical data element are you trying to impact? (Examples include grades, test scores, attendance, promotion rates, graduation rates, postsecondary going rate, enrollment into honors or AP courses, special education, discipline referral data, and so on.)
What is the baseline for the data element? Where do you hope to move it (goal)?
Element: Reduce discipline incidents in grades 1-3 during recess
Baseline: There were 65 behavioral incidents during recess during the 2003-04 school year.
Goal: Reduce behavioral incidents during recess by 20% during the 2004-05 school year.

STEP THREE: ANALYZE

Analyze the Data Element
You can use percentages, averages, raw scores, quartiles, or stanines. You can aggregate or disaggregate the data to better understand which students are meeting success. You can disaggregate by gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or in a multitude of ways to look at student groupings.
The disaggregated baseline data revealed:
2003-04
September / 10
October / 5
November / 6
December / 9
January / 5
February / 9
March / 5
April / 6
May / 5
June / 5
Total / 65


STEP FOUR: STAKEHOLDERS-UNITE

STAKEHOLDERS-UNITE to develop strategies to impact the data element.
Beginning Date: 9/2004
Ending Date: 6/2005
Stakeholders
/ Strategies
School counselor(s) / ·  Conducted lessons and groups to reinforce the Randolphville bylaws (written expectations outlining the need to act in a safe, thoughtful, and respectful way to all grown-ups and students).
·  Delivered classroom guidance lessons on reducing conflict and bullying.
·  Provided group counseling for K-3 students with a focus on respecting others, conflict resolution using Win! Win! guidelines and ways to “Bully Proof” the school.
·  Encouraged students to draw posters/ pictures about peaceful ways to solve conflicts, how to stop a bully, friendship, and about showing respect for each other.
·  Held assemblies: How to stop a Bully, Respect, Friendship, and Getting Along.
·  Trained noon-time aides in Win! Win! language.
Administrators / ·  Enforced zero tolerance and bylaws. Collaborated with teachers, noontime aides, and counselor. Tracked recess referral forms.
Administrative Assistant to Counseling Director / ·  Designed charts and graphs.
·  Edited MEASURE and SPARC.
Teachers / ·  Reinforced Randolphville bylaws.
·  Established behavioral expectations with students.
·  Encouraged students to continue positive behavior on playground.
Teacher assistants / ·  Reinforced bylaws.
·  Understood and enforced bully-free policy.
Students / ·  Used knowledge and followed bylaws.
·  Behaved in a safe and thoughtful manner at recess.
·  Reported any unsafe or inappropriate incidents to an adult.
Parents / ·  Reinforced Win! Win! Guidelines, especially use of
“I-Messages” at home (as well as reviewed bylaws).
·  Spoke openly with teachers, principal, and counselor.
·  Read “Counseling Corner” section of Randolphville newsletter to keep abreast of lesson topics and themes.
·  Attended Parent-Teacher Organization meetings.
·  Reported any inappropriate incidents at recess time to school principal or counselor.
·  Signed recess referral and responded to school via note or phone call.
Other support staff (front office, custodial, cafeteria, playground, librarian) / ·  Highlighted books about friendship and getting along.
Noontime aides / ·  Referred students, using recess referral form.
·  Participated in Win! Win! training led by counselor.
·  Communicated openly with students, principal, and counselor.
·  Used Win! Win! guidelines for peacefully solving conflict.
School Improvement Team / ·  Made recommendations to teachers to enforce the bully-free theme within the class.
·  Encouraged parents to use Win! Win! guidelines for peaceful solutions at home.

STEP FIVE: RESULTS

Results: Restate your baseline data. State where your data are now.
Did you meet your goal?
Restate baseline data: Results (data now): Met goal: Yes X No ____
2003-2004 2004-2005
September / 10 / 5
October / 5 / 2
November / 6 / 1
December / 9 / 5
January / 5 / 3
February / 9 / 10
March / 5 / 0
April / 6 / 5
May / 5 / 3
June / 5 / 6
Total / 65 / 40
Type of Incident 2004-2005
Verbal / Physical / Safety / Misc.
Sept. / 1 / 4 / 0 / 0
Oct. / 0 / 2 / 0 / 0
Nov. / 0 / 1 / 0 / 0
Dec. / 2 / 3 / 0 / 0
Jan. / 1 / 2 / 0 / 0
Feb. / 2 / 8 / 0 / 0
March / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
April / 1 / 4 / 0 / 0
May / 0 / 3 / 0 / 0
June / 2 / 4 / 0 / 0
Impact:
With the Recess form, we were able to reduce the behavioral incidents by 25 incidents.
Reduced incidents by 38.5%.
Questions to consider as you examine results and revise your MEASURE:
Which strategies had a positive impact on the data?
Training noontime aides in Win! Win!
Using the Behavior Incident Form
Teacher/staff reinforcing bully-free theme as well as Randolphville bylaws
Ongoing parent communication (phone calls and signatures)
Which strategies should be replaced, changed, or added?
Expand initiative by evaluating behavioral incidents outside of recess.
Based on what you have learned, how will you revise Step Four, Stakeholders-Unite?
I would like to track next year’s 3rd graders with regard to behavioral incidents throughout the day. This population has had the most exposure to the initiative and I would like to see how it has filtered into other areas of the school environment.
How did your MEASURE contribute to systemic change(s) in your school and/or in your community?
We now have a common language spoken ( i.e., use “I- Messages;” bylaws, “conflict resolution”)
All parents, students, and staff continually implement the bully-free policy and are aware of zero tolerance. There are spoken and unspoken rules of the Randolphville environment. Every student knows what is expected of her/him.

STEP SIX: EDUCATE

Educate others as to your efforts to move data. Develop a report card that shows how the work of the school counselor(s) is connected to the mission of the schools and to student success. Following is an example of a report card.

MEASURE OF SUCCESS

Randolphville Elementary
Principal: Shirley Eyler
Enrollment: 505
School Counselor(s): Jill Brown

Principal’s Comment

The initiative this year under our school counselor’s leadership has been very successful. The recess behavior form has opened the lines of communication between the school and the parents of students involved in behavioral incidents at recess. Phone calls home and parent signatures on the referral form require students to take responsibility for their actions and holds them accountable for their behavior. Training the noontime aides in Win! Win! has also helped to reduce the number of incidents.

Critical Data Element

Reduce behavioral incidents at recess by 20% (baseline 65 incidents).

Stakeholders Involved

Counselor(s):
Reinforced bylaws. Taught skills of respecting others and conflict resolution. Trained noontime aides in Win! Win! Established behavioral expectations.
Administrator:
Enforced Zero Tolerance Policy. Tracked Recess Referral Forms. Contacted parents.
Parents:
Reinforced Win! Win! guidelines and use of
“I-Messages” at home. Reviewed Randolphville bylaws. Signed recess referral.
Students:
Behaved in a safe and thoughtful manner. Reported any unsafe incidents.
Noontime aides:
Used Win! Win! language.
Completed Recess Referral Form.
Librarian: Highlighted relevant books.
Paraprofessionals: Reinforced bylaws.
School Improvement Team: Recommended to teachers and parents the use of I-Messages and Win! Win! to solve conflicts peacefully. /

Results

Reduced behavioral incidents from 65 to 40
(38.5% decrease).

Systemic Changes

§  Students are much more aware of behavioral expectations.
§  Use of common language (I-messages).
§  Teachers know that recess incidents will be resolved at recess and not carry over into the classroom.
§  Noontime aides are comfortable handling conflict resolution without assistance from the counselor.

Faces Behind the Data

A first grade student wrote her counselor a note saying: “Thank you for making sure no one gets hurt at recess.”
A noontime aide excitedly stated: “A whole month with no referrals! We must be doing something right!”
NOTE: The Educate step in MEASURE has been adapted with permission from the Student Personnel Accountability Report Card sponsored by the California Department of Education and Los Angeles County Office of Education.