Introduction

School counselors play important roles in affecting the academic, career, and social/emotional outcomes of the students they work with. It is important that they align their goals to the needs of their school. In this assignment, you will assess what a school needs, identify goals that address academic outcomes, and propose evidence-based interventions for the stated goal.

Instructions

For this assignment:

Section 1: Foundation

1. Imagine you have just been hired as the school counselor at a school of your choice. The first step is to establish the foundation upon which the CSCP is built. For this section, identify the following elements:
   • Beliefs: Identify your belief statements regarding the ability of students to succeed, diverse ability and developmental levels of students, role in advocating for students, using data in the school counseling program, and practicing according to the ASCA Ethical Guidelines.
   • Vision Statement: The way students will be different as a result of receiving the services of a comprehensive school counseling program.
   • Mission Statement: Clear and concise statement about the intent of the school counseling program and its intended outcomes.

Section 2: Accountability

1. Narrate the steps required to find a school data profile or equivalent document such as a state report card (an example is available at the companion site for your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text). You may select whichever grade level you believe you would like to work with as a school counselor. Describe how you would go about locating your school's data profile. Whether or not you successfully access your own school's data, you must describe the processes necessary to find the data (for example, school Web site or principal request). Approximate length: 1–2 paragraphs.
2. Describe the best practices for designing and maintaining CSCPs from a strengths-based approach. For examples, see page 11 of your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counselingtext. For further reference, see pages 17 and 129–130 of your Comprehensive School Counseling Programs text. If you are unable to locate your local school's data, you may use any of the data sets provided in the Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text or any school data available publically on the Internet. You may invent school demographics and population data, including common indicators such as enrollment, attendance, grade levels, graduation rates, socioeconomic backgrounds, racial demographics, and/or discipline referrals. Approximate length: 1–2 paragraphs.
3. Analyze the data in your schoolwide program plan (or equivalent document) and look for gaps. Your analysis should include strengths, weaknesses, and trends. The conclusions you draw from this analysis should inform your "program needs assessment."
4. Next, identify three major data-driven school improvement goals, addressing all domains of practice: academic, career, and social/emotional. See page 14 of your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text for an example. Follow the guidelines for SMART goals noted on page 37 of the Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text. List the three goals in numbered format, each written as a fairly lengthy sentence.
5. Determine what the students need and select one goal for your program. For the purposes of this course, the selected goal needs to be based on academic outcomes, as opposed to career, personal, or social goals. Those goals will be addressed in later courses. Refer to pages 36–37 of your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text for templates. Remember: Select only one academic goal.

Section 3: Delivery System

1. Identify an intervention that you could deliver via the school counseling core curriculum (i.e., classroom lesson). Identify the grade level(s), lesson topic, ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors, and number/duration of the intervention. Describe the process you would use to deliver the lesson. Be certain you identify how you would differentiate your lesson for learners of differing ability levels. If you would like, you may include a copy of your a written lesson plan to support your narrative.
2. Propose an additional evidence-based intervention other than the school counseling core curriculum that addresses the one academic goal you selected. Remember you can find these resources in your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School
   Counseling text (starting on page 58). You may use other evidence-based resources, but they must be empirically supported as effectively implemented via school counseling programs. This step will include one paragraph explaining why this goal was selected as the primary target, followed by 1–2 paragraphs, describing how the intervention was selected. Approximate total length: 1 page.

Note: Remember to carefully review the scoring guide criteria before you begin the assignment.

Note: Consider ways you may illustrate this process and your choice, using a logic model on page 69 of your Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling text. You will create an illustration for your final assignment in Unit 9.

Assignment Requirements

Your assignment should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA format: Resources and citations should follow current APA style and formatting.
• Length of assignment: 3–5 pages.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.

Submission Requirements

Submit the following two documents for this assignment:

1. Your saved Turnitin Originality Report file. The Turnitin originality report must accompany your paper or your assignment will not be graded. Your assignment will be considered late until the report is provided.
2. Your assignment using the following file naming format: Your Name_Assignment_Number_Assignment_Title (example: ImaLearner_u03a1_NeedsAssessment).

You are required to submit your final version of this paper to Turnitin to generate a final report prior to submitting the assignment for grading. From the Turnitin tool, use the Final report option for the assignment. When your paper is downloaded and viewable in Turnitin, save the originality report. Refer to The Similarity Report (linked in the resources) from Turnitin Web site for guidance.

Resources

• Needs Assessment and Goal Setting Scoring Guide.
• APA Style and Format.
• Turnitin.
• The Similarity Report.
• Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling [Companion Site].