Christine Alves Exemplar 6 Exemplar 6: American School Counselor Association Model Book CSP 730: Fieldwork in School Counseling

Standards: 22, 28 & 29 Introduction: This exemplar demonstrates my ability to implement all aspects of a comprehensive school counseling program. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) developed a national model for counseling programs that includes foundations, delivery, management and accountability. This project allowed me to foster my program management skills through the implementation of a comprehensive program that promotes data driven interventions and accountability. Although the development of the ASCA Model Book incorporates almost all of the California School Counseling Specialization Standards, I will specifically focus on how I addressed the following standards. Standard 22: Leadership

Core classroom curriculum and intentional guidance are aspects of the ASCA
National Model that demand a significant amount of planning and organizing, such as assessing student need, identifying when to implement the interventions, and collaborating with teachers and staff. After developed, the core curriculum and intentional guidance are implemented, managed and evaluated to assess outcomes and to increase learning. One aspect of leadership is collaboration, which was a skill used to implement the model. Collaboration occurred during several stages. I collaborated with the Student Support Services Team and Board Members to develop the foundations aspect of the model. I also collaborated with faculty, staff and administration in the delivery, management and accountability stages. I presented the results from the delivery quadrant to the Student Support Services Team via a flashlight presentation, recommended by Dr. Hatch in The Use of Data in School Counseling (2014). This allowed conversations to begin on how to preventative steps to addressing common concerns in the school.

Christine Alves Exemplar 6 Standard 28: Organizational System Development

This exemplar is a demonstration of my understanding of a comprehensive

counseling program through the application and implementation of the ASCA National Model. I developed and implemented aspects of the model through core curriculum and intentional guidance. I evaluated the effectiveness through analyzing process, perception and achievement data..

Graduation and attendance rates are assessed to evaluate the impact of core
curriculum and intentional guidance on student learning. Formative evaluations are conducted to make necessary changes during the intervention in order to best serve the students needs. Standard 29: Prevention Education and Training

I developed a program with a vision and mission statement focused on the belief
that students have the right to services in the academic, personal/social, and career/college domains. Through this mission the Student Support Services Team is to offer guidance and support to all students in the academic, personal/social, and college planning domains, encouraging young people to develop both as scholars and as citizens through secondary and post secondary success and achievement.

The intentional guidance implemented as an aspect of the ASCA National Model

was an Academic Success Skills group for students on academic probation with the goal of the group being an increase in GPA by .5 for all group members.

Through assessing the belief, mission and vision of the program, I developed new
statements that advocate for achievement for all students. The development of new statements was done so in a collaborative manner, involving the Student Support Services team and the school board. By having the belief that all students can achieve, we hope to prevent students from limiting their post secondary options by designing a college going culture on campus through the counseling office as well as the teachers and staff. Conclusion: Through this exemplar, I learned the complexities of implementing a comprehensive school counseling program. I am aware of aspects that are easy to

Christine Alves Exemplar 6 implement and I am aware of aspects that might be difficult to implement. Overall, I learned that the implementation must be a collaborative effort with the support of teachers, administration, counseling team, and parents. If I were to re-implement this comprehensive school counseling program, I would elicit more parent collaboration in the development of the foundations of the program. Prior to this, I would explain the comprehensive school counseling program to the faculty and staff. I would have described each quadrant of the model and how we can work together. I will take my knowledge from this experience in to the profession by advocating for the implementation of aspects of the ASCA National model, if not the model in its entirety. Accountability is often a piece that is forgotten in our profession and I believe it is an important aspect that allows counselors to showcase our effectiveness and our need. It is also important for our own professionalism. I want to know that what I am doing is servicing my students in ways that they need.