Blog 7 – Chapter 7, ASCA, and Accountability article

Blog 7 – Chapter 7, ASCA, and Accountability article  

This chapter was a refresher for me for the most part because we talk about accountability, data driven instructions, format and informal assessment, qualitative and quantitative data, and effectiveness and needs assessments. However I think that looking at data as a counselor is very different in how you look at it and what you do with it. The discussion in the chapter around process, perception, and results data and their uses was especially good to read from the counseling perspective. Dollarhide and Saginak (2012) mention when analyzing data we must consider the best use for the data, one interesting example is to use data to inform professional development for the school’s teachers.

Most of the processes involved in the evaluation and accountability of counselors make sense to me. Counselors are educators so of course they should be held accountable for what they are teaching students and how students are improving front heir direct instruction, guided practice and showing growth through assessment. The evaluation process is two parts, evaluation of your own program and the evaluation of the counselor. The evaluation of the program can be planned at the beginning of the program, possibly before it is even started. As the program progresses, the evaluation process can be used to see if it is producing the outcomes that it planned to. It seems to me the evaluation from principals may be difficult if they are not informed to the comprehensive school counseling program and/or the ASCA National model.

The article aligned with the history that we have been piecing together throughout this course. Just like many topics in education, accountability has been a recurring focus many times over the years. I could really connect to parts of the article where the author’s discuss the idea that many feel accountability is a “gottcha” so to speak for educators (counselors). I think many educators need to change their thinking about this; it is about making sure that we are all doing the best job we can, constantly reflecting and improving for the betterment of our students. As the article states it is important to be results driven so that you can reflect on what you have done and how well you did it. The school improvement plant is a HUGE part of this and I was really glad to hear it brought up. Knowing where to find your school improvement plan and how to align your CSCP with it is very important and will be useful in showing that your position is important in plan and projected future.

Dollarhide, C. & Saginak, K. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery systems in action (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Gysbers, N. (2004). Comprehensive guidance and counseling programs: The evolution of accountability. Professional School Counseling, 8(1), 1-14.