Student Services
Weekly Updates
The Role of School Counselors in Schools
October 14th counselors from all SUSD sites converged at Monterey County Office of Education to listen to Dr. Trish Hatch present the roles counselors plays and best practices that have a positive impact on students. Counselors at our district looked at what they were currently doing to see if it is line with our district LCAP. These are areas in LCAP that counselors can have a more positive impact with students: Chronic Absenteeism, Equity and Access, Student Behavior and Safety, College and Career Readiness, Special Needs, Parent Involvement and Mental Health.
Best Practices for Counselors:
- Develop, plan, implement, and evaluate a school counseling program that includes academic, career, personal, and social development
- Advocate for the high academic achievement and social development of all students
- Provide school-wide prevention and intervention strategies and counseling services
- Provide consultation, training, and staff development to teachers and parents
- Supervise a district-approved advisory program
Why School Counselors ?
School districts understand that school counselors directly impact the majority of the measurable accountability outcomes in the California DashBoard - Academic Performance: College/Career; Academic Engagement: Graduation Rate and Chronic Absenteeism; and Conditions and Climate: Suspension Rate.
Research Supports the Effective Use of School Counselors
A study showed the value of staffing school counselors. "Students in districts with the assistance of school counselors beginning in kindergarten, produced higher graduation rates, higher college entrance and persistence rates, lower chronic absenteeism rates, and fewer out-of-school suspensions when compared to schools with schools counselors beginning in 6th grade (Parzych, Donohue, Gaesser, & Chiu, 2019)."
The need for School Counselors have increased overtime
Recent trends seem to indicate that school districts are hiring more school counselors to work within six of the eight State Priorities in the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP): Student Achievement, Course Access, Pupil Engagement, Parent Engagement, School Climate, and Other Student Outcomes
Constructing Meaning - Emphasis on Writing
Refine application of the CM Planning Process
CM planning is important in different subject areas.
Learn about and incorporate tools for Academic Writing into the CM Planning process
Create rubrics that address Content and Language
What is a Genre and how does CM apply to other content areas?
- Genres are goal-oriented, they are meant to serve a purpose
- Genres have an expected overall structure: they rely on well-established patterns
- In the humanities, the common genres are narrative, Argument/persuasive, expository and response to literature.
- In science a CER paper and a lab report are examples
- In math, a problem -solving a work sample is an example
California Assessment Conference
SUSD staff members attend the first three days California Assessment Conference held in Oakland. This conference exposed participants to various topics relating to assessments. We were given foundational knowledge before engaging us in deeper learning into the purpose and use of each assessment program and allowed us to explore the tools and resources available to support students' success.
Using Interim Assessments to improve Teaching and Learning
Coming soon in January Focused IABs
- 40 ELA/literacy
- 40 Mathematics
- Connects to a DL playlist with resources for teachers
Check out the web link!
Questions for Evaluating Teacher-Created Unit Assessments
- Does the assessment reflect the standards?
- Will a student who scores proficient on this assessment show sufficient evidence of mastery? What needs to be fixed to answer yes?
- Which standards taught in the unit are not addressed?
Purpose and Use of Assessments
What is Formative Assessment?
Formative assessment is a deliberate process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides actionable feedback that is used to adjust ongoing teaching and learning strategies to improve students' attainment of curricular learning targets/goals _ SBAC
Assessment really is the bridge between teaching and learning - Dylan William (2013)
Wow! this is an awesome weblink - Check it out!
Contact us
Email: aehrlich@soledad.k12.ca.us
Website: http://soledadusd.org
Location: Soledad Unified School District, 1261 Metz Road, Soledad, CA, USA
Phone: 831-678-3987