Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference: Day 2

Day 2 of the Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference was packed with just as much information and professional learning as Day 1. For those who may not know about the Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference, here is an overview from the program welcome page:

"This conference was created to prioritize and disseminate what works in school counseling and to engage practicing professional school counselors, counseling administrators, and school counselor educators as leaders in that context...By using evidence-based and culturally responsive interventions to remove barriers to success for all students and to support achievement through multiple interventions, school counselors can be central players on the education team."

The Keynote
Day 2 started with an inspiring keynote by Paul Ripchik, Jr., Associate Principal and Director of 9-12 Counseling, Shenendehowa Central Schools. The title of his address, "A Roadmap to Goal Setting: A Communication Tool Between School Counselors and the Building Principal," described the incredible transformation of the School Counseling Department in his school.  Mr. Ripchik described himself as someone who had no formal degree in School Counseling, had coached a variety of sports, and had a degree in marketing.  When he took the position as Associate Principal and Director of 9-12 Counseling he knew he would meet with resistance as the Guidance department (as it was still called in 2011) had seen a steady stream of  changing leadership over the years.  Using the ASCA National Model book as his guide, in which he described his copy as tattered, highlighted, and full of sticky notes, along with his marketing and education backgrounds, he led his School Counselors to receive RAMP as a school of distinction.  Their transformation started with a study of the ASCA model,  senior exit surveys, asking what does 21st century school counseling look like and are we doing it, creating a comprehensive school counseling plan, re-branding their department and getting rid of the word "guidance."  They created a theme, instituted  a school based Career Fair where business could come to interview students for summer jobs, and created a student internship program using 2 students from each grade level to work on projects tied to the Counseling Center.  They reconfigured the counseling suite to make it more open, welcoming, and student friendly and invested time in training clerical staff so every person who entered felt they left with something.   He humorously described how for students in the past, trying to get through the bank of secretaries to a School Counselor was like running a gauntlet. 

Using the ASCA model, the school counseling team looked at aligning school and district goals, reviewed end of the year data points, identified burning questions, planned and held School Counselor professional development in a separate time and place to allow them to finalize goals, action plans, and create lesson plans.

In closing, Mr. Ripchik reminded us every data point is a child we are impacting and suggested listing data points by name.  What a way to keep it real! He reminded us to never get complacent and that schools with School Counselor and Administrative Leadership teams are the most powerful.

Creating Evidence-Based Tier 2 Intervention Kits 
Dr. Peg Donahue and her exceptional team of grad students, ready to be hired in May, presented a  double session of useful and relevant information for practicing School Counselors at all levels. The student presenters had created Tier 2 Intervention kits for students from elementary to high school which could be implemented by School Counselors, teachers, or teaching assistants. Each student took turns sharing their kits and the impact they had seen from using them.

As is always the case, there are going to be cases of teacher resistance to pulling students for Tier 2 interventions.  It was suggested to find those teachers who are there for the kids and engage with them.  When those teachers share the success they are seeing with their peers, it will "loosen the jar" with other teachers.

Dr. Donohue got me thinking about the way we present and advocate for the Tier 2 services we see are needed by our students.  She  made the comparison to speech services. She says, "...we give intervention to children at 4 for stuttering...by 4th grade it is not an issue."  As School Counselors, we know teachers and administrators are aware of the benefit of early intervention in speech and academic issues.  It is up to us as School Counselors to advocate for the benefit of early interventions for social-emotional learning as well.  Dr. Donohue states our students "...need to know and have skills to take care of themselves and make friends rather that self-medicating and self-harming."

My Turn to Present

In the afternoon it was my turn to present on "A Data Day is Like a Mental Health Day: But How to Evaluate the Impact?"  This session was based on my experience of creating a data day for School Counselors in my district.  I felt validated  and encouraged that morning when our keynote speaker talked about School Counselors needing professional development time away to review data and plan for a comprehensive school counseling plan. That was a perfect summary of my session. School Counselors need time away from their schools during the last few weeks of the school year to review data and plan for the coming year. For more information on creating a Data Day for the School Counselors in your district, check out my earlier post A Data Day is Like a Mental Health Day or listen to my podcast with Trish Hatch.

Create a data picture of your caseload

Data Tells a Story

There was time for one more session before I had to catch the Super Shuttle to the airport.  I chose "Data Tells a Story" presented by Dr. Deborah Hardy.  Dr. Hardy took data down to the most basic level.  She had us look at graphs of data and determine what we saw, then ask what was missing.  We considered questions  about gender, ethnicity, grade level, and who and when meetings with the School Counselor were being requested.  Were these requests happening more often after a particular lesson, a holiday, or recess?  She also had us consider the questions "Is this data going to improve a program?" and "Who and what will the evaluation impact?"

She pointed out how often there are services in our schools which are isolated.Their data is not included with the data we traditionally review.  It is important to come together to show who is having needs across multiple of settings, like who is spending a lot of time with the nurse or going to In School Suspension.  We need to ask who, how often, and why? From there we can develop future goals and action plans to better inform interventions and programming for students. 

Dr. Hardy also encouraged us to survey our students to determine the lessons we should be teaching (we think we know what is good for kids, but do we ask kids what they need) to understand the needs of those who are transitioning from one level to the next,  and even to explore what electives our schools should offer.  We often create electives because we think kids will love them she says, but have we asked?  

As a former elementary School Counselor, I had never considered a statistical picture of my caseload.  All the students were mine, so the school data was my data.  Now that I am at a middle school, and share the students with another School Counselor,  I see the importance of understanding the data for my caseload.  It will be interesting to see what the data reveals about the students I serve.

EBSCC 2019

All the sessions I attended at the Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference (EBSCC) were of the highest quality and there are so many others I wish I could have attended.  This is an excellent conference for School Counselors looking for professional development, networking, and learning about the latest research and evidence-based practices in our field. The cost for the conference is very reasonable at $159 for the 2 days. Start saving your money and mark your calendars now for March 10-11, 2019  when the EBSCC 2019 will be at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Evidenced Based School Counseling: Day 1

I just returned from the Sixth Annual Evidenced-Based School Counseling Conference, in New York City.  This was my third visit to the "boutique" conference featuring learning opportunities from School Counselor Practitioners, Educators, Supervisors and leaders in the field.  The word "boutique" of course refers to a small conference, but the impact and quality of sessions was anything but.

The program welcome to EBSCC 2018 states:
"This conference was created to prioritize and disseminate what works in school counseling and to engage practicing professional school counselors, counseling administrators, and school counselor educators as leaders in that context...By using evidence-based and culturally responsive interventions to remove barriers to success for all students and to support achievement through multiple interventions, school counselors can be central players on the education team."


The 2 day conference provided opportunities to attend a keynote and five 50 minute sessions each day.  There was also the option of attending  a number of double sessions for 2 hours offered both mornings.  As is often the case, there were multiple sessions I wanted to attend being offered at the same time.  The first morning I had to choose between these 2 hour sessions: Using School Data to Show Accountability, Motivational Interviewing Techniques, and Starting Universal Screening in your School District.  Any of the three would have been a winner, but I chose Motivational Interviewing.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) was a topic I had been hearing a lot about.  Its directive and client-centered style fits well with my own personal identity as a School Counselor. I learned MI empowers the student to set goals and action plans.  In doing so, it is the job of the School Counselor to involve the student in exploration and support rather than exhortation, persuasion, or argument.  The responsibility and argument for change is left with the client.  When students want to be the next NBA or Rap Star, it's okay to say, "Great, what do you need to do to get there?"
In MI the School Counselor does not fight the student's resistance.  When students are not interested in change or tell you they just don't care, "roll with the resistance."  Tell students you respect that they don't care, thank them for their time and invite them back if they want to change something.
The 5 principles of MI focus on empowering students. 
1) Express and show empathy towards students
2) Support and develop discrepancy
3) Deal with resistance
4) Support self-efficacy
5) Autonomy

Check out these Amazon titles:  Miller and Rollnick (2013) 3rd Edition Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change  
North (2017) Motivational Interviewing for School Counselors

My next session was "What are Social Stories and How Do I Write Them?" with Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott. The term Social Stories has been copyrighted by Carol Gray who pioneered their use.  You will want to check out this link to learn more about Social Stories and their development.  Carol Gray Social Stories.

Social Stories were originally developed for use with children with Autism.  Their use has expanded to provide an evidence based intervention for all students.  Social Stories can be used for helping students process any situation from adjustment scenarios, event preparation, anxiety, appropriate social skills, and understanding a new culture.  Social Stories most often feature the child at the center, however stories using popular cartoon characters have also been successful.  Social Stories can be designed, with the student, as a book in PowerPoint using Google Images or actual photographs (or selfies) of the student and situation.  They should be written in first person language and explain the situation or behavior, prepare students for what will occur, and show expected behavior,  Collaborating with all stakeholders involved with the student is important to be sure all aspects of the story are covered and to provide reinforcement.

This intervention can be used as Tier 3  and is great for collecting outcome data with students at any level.  I have a 6th grader with a behavioral disability and speech issues who has difficulty going to class and staying in class. I plan to write a Social Story with him about this topic.  This will allow me to collect the needed outcome data and will show the behavioral impact of a story written specifically to help him manage his behavior about staying in class.

My next session was about using Hip Hop and Spoken Word Therapy as a Group Counseling Framework in Schools. In this session the presenter has taken his love of Rap music and created a Donor's Choose project to fund a studio in his counseling suite.  He shared how 2/3 of adolescents today have experienced trauma and how trauma negatively impacts self regulation. He discussed how students of color are often put in a position where their emotional expression is considered disobedient, causing them to feel isolated and unsupported.  Lyric writing and recording hip hop beats allows students to express their emotional obstacles.  When students come together to share their experiences, they must listen to each other to create a cohesive track.  This group provides a way for students of color to cope, to express emotions, and reflect on their experiences. 

What's a School Counselor to do who is not familiar with Hip Hop, Spoken Word Therapy, or laying down beats?  Start with the students and ask them to teach you or find  someone in your community who has the skills and knowledge and ask for their help.

My last session of the day was Exploring Systemic Factors of White Spaces Within Educational Institutions and the Role of the School Counselor.  We were asked to examine our biases and how they impact our services to students. We heard how we must be compassionate about the socio-ecological realities of our students.  What are these and how do they impact our students?  Many students of color are characterized as underachievers.  It is important to ask deeper questions about discrepancies, for example, why are there a lower number of students of color taking AP courses? Our students come full of knowledge, how do we use it?  We ended with this powerful YouTube video below by Sy Stokes titled "Dear White  Counselor."  For more in depth understanding of this topic it is important to read about critical race theory, white fragility, and colonization mindset.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this unique professional developmental opportunity on evidence-based practices.  This conference is offered each Spring and will be held next at Ohio State University on March  10-11, 2019. 
Next week, Day 2 of the Evidenced-Based School Counseling Conference.