Program Evaluation, Accountability,

1
Program Evaluation, Accountability, Crisis
Counseling
2
Needs Assessments
3
Needs Assessments

• To determine what goals and objectives are needed
  in their comprehensive school counseling program,
  counselors need to determine the needs of the
  populations served. The populations are
• Students, Teachers, Parents

4
Needs Assessments

• SCHMIDT Comprehensive program evaluation and
  counselor accountability consist of a variety of
  activities beginning with the needs assessment.
  In addition, activity evaluations, surveys of
  students, parent and teachers, self-rating
  scales,

5
Needs Assessments

• and performance appraisal processes are all part
  of a comprehensive process to evaluate a school
  counseling program and assess the counselors
  effectiveness in delivering services.

6
Needs Assessments

• Wittmer p. 277 - The goals you set for your
  school counseling program evolve around the
  annual needs assessment done with parents,
  teachers, students

7
Accountability
8
PROGRAM ACCOUNTABILITY

• Wittmer p.275 the importance of
  accountability emerged in the 70s and 80s and
  continues today as an essential element of
  comprehensive school counseling programs.

9
Accountability

• Wittmer p.275 The importance of
  accountability emerged in the 70s and 80s and
  continues today as an essential element of
  comprehensive school counseling programs.

10
Accountability

• Myrick
• ACCOUNTABILITY - to be accountable means to be
  responsible for your actions, particularly for
  the objectives, procedures, and outcomes...
  involves an explanation of what has been done,
  including info and data to support any claims made

11
Ways to Look at Accountability

• focusing peoples needs and interests which could
  receive attention from counselors.
• focusing on concerns with the guidance and
  counseling services or interventions that
  addresses those needs

12
Accountability Studies

• examining the outcomes of the services or
  interventions

13
Accountability Processes

• Wittmer p. 276
• Accountability begins with an assessment of needs
  of students, parents, teachers who are being
  served by the school counseling program.

14
Needs Assessments

• Often needs assessments are used to guide the
  counselor, administrators and advisory committee
  to make decisions about program goals, learning
  objectives, and specific services.

15
Program Evaluation
16
Defining Program Evaluation

• Myrick - an ongoing process that provides
  continuous feedback during all phases of the
  program
• major purpose provide data for the necessary
  decisions about program structure and future
  developments
• all aspects of the program should be evaluated

17
Program Evaluation

• Wittmer- pp. 277-283
• Offers strategies to help you (the school
  counselor) focus on what you do, whether or not
  you reach identified goals and the degrees to
  which students, parents and teachers are
  satisfied with the services you deliver

18
Program Evaluation

• (Wittmer)
• Goal achievement -
• Student outcomes
• Consumer satisfaction
• Reporting results -
• See pp. 284-290

19
Documenting

• Chapter 26 Wittmer
• This chapter will help you with a step by step
  method to consider for documenting the delivery
  of your school counseling program
• Good forms in this chapter for documenting pp.
  297-305

20
Crisis Counseling
21
Crisis Management

• See pp. 63-64 Wittmer for crisis management
• Crises require immediate intervention that
  includes assessment to determine the degree of
  risk and the level of crisis that students face.
  Assessment includes interviews with students,

22
Crisis

• parents, teachers, and others, observations of
  students behaviors, review of medical records,
  use of questionnaires, and whatever other methods
  are appropriate for the situation.

23
Crisis Counseling

• Crisis counseling, by nature is directive and
  action-oriented. Theres no time for
  self-reflection or in-depth exploration. Crisis
  counseling is usually a systematic, structured,
  step-by-step procedure.

24
Crisis Counseling

• At all times during a crisis intervention, the
  primary focus is on the safety and welfare of the
  client.
• In schools crises may occur in many ways, from
  the death of a student or teacher to multiple
  acts of violence by an intruder.

25

• Therefore by developing a strategic team approach
  involving teachers, administrators, handling
  these situations becomes better.Good to assign
  every professional specific responsibilities

26

• to handle the crisis effectively. This means
  that the counselor is at the forefront and often
  the first in line to offer assistance to students
  or teachers in a crisis.

27
WHAT IS A CRISIS?

• Crisis is a kind of severe stress that negatively
  affects a person's ability to think, plan, and
  effectively cope with situations.

28
Predictable Sequence

• a. experience a precipitating event
• b. perceive the event as threatening and anxiety
  provoking
• c. responses to the event are disorganized and
  ineffective
• d. develop a coping strategy for handling the
  situation

29
Phases of a Crisis

• An individual usually passes through 2 or 3
  phases of a crisis
• 1. Impact phase - the person experiences his or
  her initial reactions to the realization that
  this is a particular situation has reached crisis
  proportions

30
Phases

• 2.Coping phase - individuals begin to make
  attempts to change the situation or to change
  their reactions to the precipitating event.
• 3. Withdrawal - this happens when people feel
  that nothing they have tried has helped to
  alleviate their pain

31
Phases

• Two types of withdrawal voluntary and
  involuntary
• Suicide is a voluntary withdrawal - attempt or do
  end their lives so they want have to deal with
  the pain

32
Phases

• Involuntary - usually some form of psychological
  or emotional disorganization (psychotic break
  involving distorted cognitions, mood swings, and
  other personality disruptions)

33
Crisis Interventions at School

• Goals of School based Crisis Intervention
• 1. Replace self-defeating behaviors and
  maladaptive thoughts and feelings with
  appropriate and effective coping skills and
  adaptive thoughts and feelings
• To do this, 4 goals

34
Replacing Self-Defeating Behaviors

• 1. realize that crises are a normal part of life
• 2. gain a different perspective on the
  precipitating event and current situation
• 3. recognize and accept the feelings associated
  with the crisis,
• 4. learn new problem-solving skills

35
Counseling Strategies in Crisis Intervention

• Help students by
• 1. assessing the crisis and personal resources
• 2. increasing emotional clarity and cognitive
  understanding about the problem
• 3. generating possible solutions

36
Strategies

• 4. deciding on an intervention
• 5. planning for the execution of the intervention
• 6. planning for evaluation of the intervention

37
School Crisis Plan

• Must have a crisis management policy and
  procedures in place
• If your system does not, the school counselor
  should play an important role in getting this
  together
• Provide awareness in school and community about
  the kinds of crises, the impact they have on
  people and possible intervention strategies
• Provide training for specific school personnel,
  school counselors
• (train teachers, parents, students about how they
  can help one
• another in times of crisis)
• plans for developmentally appropriate gg lessons
  to help students deal with the particular crisis
  at hand

38
Crisis Plan

• main task of the committee will be to write a
  policies and procedures manual outlining
  step-by-step staff responsibilities for specific
  types of crises that could affect the school

39

• (i.e., arranging for access to rooms,
  records,telephones, coordinating the
  dissemination of information to staff, students,
  parents and others who need details, providing
  liaison with community mental health resources,
  and acting as part of the crisis intervention
  team).