Our Core Curriculum Results Report showcased three very different lessons focusing on aspects of our comprehensive school counseling program. Each lesson was strategically planned and implemented based on our annual goals, end of year data, state and county standards, the ASCA Mindsets and Domains, and the FCPS “Portrait of a Graduate”. These lessons were designed to meet the needs of our growing diverse school community.

The Active Listening Lesson was developed in line with our first program goal which targeted our academically struggling Hispanic students. During the fourth quarter, the data showed that some of the students’ grades were not improving. The counselors met to brainstorm new interventions that could be put in place and support academic success in the classroom. Teacher feedback indicated students were not reaching their academic potential due to distractions in the classroom and poor listening skills. Out of the 14 present students, five of the students had received a C– or below in a core class. The perception data indicated 12% increase in comprehension of active listening skills for the targeted students. All five students improved their C– or below grade by at least one letter grade for the final mark in a core class. This is a 100% increase for all students supporting the success of this lesson. This lesson will be presented during 1st Quarter of the upcoming school year in our ESOL and 7th Grade Classrooms. Teaching this lesson earlier in the year will give students the necessary skills to be successful from the start, which allows a more proactive approach than reactive approach to student achievement.

The Working in Groups Lesson was implemented due to teacher feedback, counselor referrals, and a number of discipline referrals from the 7th Grade AAP Classes. After analyzing this data, the counselors identified ten students as needing support with executive functioning. The goal of the lesson was to support students’ academic success by focusing on the social/emotional obstacles that can develop while working in groups. The perception data showed a 98% increase in knowledge of the stages of group work, and an additional 14% of students reported an awareness of strategies to utilize when resolving conflicts. Of the ten identified students, six students (60%) improved their GPA in their core classes, two students (20%) maintained their GPA in core classes, while two students’ (20%) core class GPAs decreased. Also, there were 17 discipline referrals prior to the lesson and only one after the lesson during the 4th quarter. This outcome data suggested that the lesson did have an impact on discipline and improvement of EF skills as evidenced by core class grades. In the future, we will give this lesson/class meeting to students earlier in the year so that the students have this knowledge of group process and conflict resolution for their group projects for the entire year. Quarterly follow-up lessons/class meetings will be conducted to process how they are applying their knowledge, and to address any new conflicts that arise. One topic to add to the lesson would be modeling how to create group norms. We may want to adjust our school programming goal so that rate of improvement is more realistic, increase by 0.3.

The 8th Grade Naviance Lesson exploring career clusters helped students recognize their academic strength and potential career aspirations. By researching their areas of interest, they developed an awareness of the academic courses needed to meet their career goals. By selecting the right courses, students were put on the path towards graduating with the skills necessary for their post-secondary plans. The perception data showed a 14% increase in students’ ability to identify possible careers for themselves, and 58% increase in understanding the concept of career clusters. The outcome data indicated that 100% of an 8th Grade team accurately completed their course selection sheets (CSS) as compared to teacher recommendations collected by the counselors. Counselors plan to continue presenting career lessons to all our students, and connecting these lessons to appropriate course selections. All rising 9th grade students will receive an academic advising packet to facilitate communication between home and school. Annual vertical articulation meetings with the high school counselors will allow us to discuss career surveys completed by our students. We will get their feedback on whether our students are arriving to high school prepared for their selected courses. We will dialogue with our high school counterparts on graduation rates and post-secondary trends. Based on this communication, we will evaluate the long-term effectiveness of these lessons.

Grade Level: 7th and 8th Grades

Lesson Topic: Active Listening

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M 6, B LS 4, B SM 2, B SS 1, B SS 3, B SS 9

Start/End: 05/25/2016

Process Data (Number of students affected): 14 ESOL Students At total number of 14 students participated in the Active Listening Lesson. Out of the 14 students, 5 of the students fall within our Hispanic focus group. These five students had a C- or below during their first quarter at Thoreau Middle School. This lesson took place during 1st Period on May 25th. It was a 47 minute classroom lesson.

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Pre-Survey/
Post-Survey
(Multiple Choice,
Short answer)

Pre/Post Survey Results:
Circled the correct pictures of Active Listening.

Results for all students:
Pre: 93% circled the correct pictures

Post: 99% of the students circled the correct pictures

There was a 6% increase in comprehension of active listening skills between the pre-survey and post-survey.




Results for 5 Hispanic Student Who Earned a C – or Below:

Pre: 88% circled the correct pictures

Post: 100% of the students circled the correct pictures

There was a 12% increase in comprehension of active listening skills between the pre-survey and post-survey.

Post-Survey Short Answer:

100% understanding of concept

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): Achievement Data: Student quarterly grades for the 2015-2016 school year were compared. Five Hispanic students had earned a C- or below in a core class during the 2015 – 2016 school year prior to the Active Listening Lesson. These students quarterly grades and final grades were analyzed to see if they improved by at least one letter grade by the end of the school year. After analyzing the outcome data, all five students who earned a C- or below in a core class improved by at least one letter grade for the final mark in that class. This was a 100% increase for all students. (A period designation indicates the student was enrolled in two ESOL Developing English classes.) Student 5: 3rd Quarter: ESOL Developing English – Period 5: C – Final Mark: ESOL Developing English – Period 5: B – Student 6: 3rd Quarter (1st Quarter at Thoreau): ESOL Beginning English – Period 1: C – Period 2: D+ Final Mark: ESOL Beginning English – Period 1:B Period 2: B – Student 7: 1st Quarter: ESOL Beginning English Period 5: F 2nd Quarter: ESOL Beginning English Period 5: D 3rd Quarter: ESOL Beginning English Period 5: D+ US History: C – Final Grade: ESOL Beginning English Period 5: B – US History: C + Student 9: 3rd Quarter (1st Quarter at Thoreau): ESOL Beginning English – Period 1: D Period 5: F US History: C – Final Grade: ESOL Beginning English – Period 1: C – Period 5: C ¬– US History: C Student 13: 1st Quarter: ESOL Beginning English – Period 1: F ESOL Beginning English – Period 8: F 2nd Quarter: ESOL Beginning English – Period 1: F Period 8: D 3rd Quarter: ESOL Beginning English – Period 1 – D Period 8: D+ Final Grade: ESOL Beginning English – Period 1: B – ESOL Beginning English – Period 8: C

Implications: The perception and outcome data both indicated 100% of students did gain a better understanding of the importance of active listening in the classroom and improved a core letter grade as identified by the criteria. The perception data showed a favorable growth between the pre-survey and post-survey. After analyzing the data, students did have prior knowledge about positive active listening skills but the lesson proved to reinforce these skills and form a stronger foundation of this concept. This was evident by the data and the follow-up meetings with each student. When presenting this lesson during the upcoming school year, the counselor will adjust the perception data to be on a Likert Scale. This type of data collection on the pre-survey and post-survey will help with analyzing data. The post-survey did include one short answer question. The question asked students if they could give one example of an Active Listening Skill. 100% of students were able to identify at least one skill. This gave additional information to the counselor about the students’ comprehension of this skill. Unfortunately, this question was not asked on the pre-survey so the data could not be compared. In the future, this question would also be included to determine the specific active listening skills they knew previous to the lesson and afterwards. The outcome data indicated the lesson had an impact on student learning. There was a 100% improvement in the five identified students’ final grades. Due to the significant improvement in grades as seen in the outcome data, the school counselors plan to teach this lesson during 1st Quarter the following school year. By teaching the lesson earlier in the year, the school counselors hope to give students’ the necessary skills to be successful from the start. The goal is to have a more proactive approach than reactive approach to student achievement. They also plan to do follow up lessons quarterly so these skills are consistently reinforced. This lesson was presented to a group of ESOL Students during their Beginning English Class in response to teacher feedback. The students in this class are considered to be a Level 1 English Learner (Entering) or a Level 2 English Learner (Emerging). All the students have not lived in the United States for more than three years. Three of the five target students have just moved to the United States within the past year. This move, often under dangerous situations, had a profound impact on our students. Not only are they trying to learn a new language but must also acclimate to a new culture. Students and parents have expressed that the expectations and environment in their home country was very different than at Thoreau. This lesson assisted students in beginning to acclimate to an American classroom environment. In the upcoming school year, counselors plan to develop more lessons based upon the feedback from the Hispanic Family Nights and Hispanic Parent Coffees. Counselors plan to continuously brainstorm ideas of ways to best support our growing Hispanic population.

Attachments

Grade Level: 7th grade

Lesson Topic: Working in Groups

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M.6, B LS 1, B SM 1, B SM 7, B SS 6

Start/End: 05/16/ 2016

Process Data (Number of students affected): 64 students total in two separate classes

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Pre and post surveys were used consisting of 5 questions. There was a 98% increase in student knowledge of the stages of group work. There was a 14% increase in students stating that they have strategies for handling conflict in working in groups

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): Behavior Data Prior to the lesson, there were 17 discipline referrals from these two classes that were reported to the 7th grade assistant principal. After the lesson there was 1 discipline referral to the assistant principal during the 4th quarter. This is a 94% improvement. Achievement Data Of the students in our 7th grade AAP center, 10 were identified previously as needing support with executive functioning. Of the 10, 6 students (60%) improved their GPA in their core classes. 2 students (20%) maintained their GPA in core classes, and 2 students (20%) core class GPAs decreased. Of the students who improved, 1- 0.4 3- 0.3 1- 0.2 1- 0.1 The two students who remained the same were both straight As The students whose core classes GPA decreased: 1- 0.2 1- 0.3

Implications: The perception data indicates that there was an increase in knowledge of the process of working in a group and some increase in knowledge of conflict resolution strategies. The outcome data implies that this lesson had an impact on discipline and some impact on improving executive functioning skills as evidenced by core class grades. With 60% of the students having improved by an average of 0.3 in their core classes GPA, this does not meet our 3rd school counseling program goal. We will give this lesson/class meeting to students earlier in the year so that the students have this knowledge of group process and conflict resolution for their group projects during 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters. Quarterly follow-up lessons/class meetings will be conducted to process how they are applying their knowledge, and to address any new conflicts that have arisen. One topic to add to the lesson would be to model how to create group norms. We may want to adjust our school programming goal so that rate of improvement is more realistic with our population, increase by 0.3.

Attachments

Grade Level: 8th Grade

Lesson Topic: Career Clusters

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M4, B LS 5, B SM 5

Start/End: 12/07/2015

Process Data (Number of students affected): 140 students

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Pre- Survey/ Post Survey

The perception data demonstrates substantial growth between pre and post data

Pre-Survey Results
1. Do you want to know what you want to do for a career/ occupation
65% Yes
35% No

2. Do you know what a career cluster is?
40% Yes
60% No


Post-Survey

1. Do you want to know what you want to do for a career/ occupation?
80% Yes
20% No

2. Do you know what a career cluster is?
98% Yes
2% No

1. Pre-Survey
85 out of 140= 65%
Post-Survey
112 out of 140= 79%

Increase of 14%

2. Pre-Survey
56 out of 140= 40%
Post-Survey
137 out of 140=98%

Increase of 58%

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): The counselor met with students individually to review course selection sheets to verify course selections in order to receive a high school diploma. 100% of the Alpacas 8th grade team completed their course selections sheets accurately and will be enrolled in appropriate 9th grade classes to be on track for on-time graduation

Implications: The perception and outcome data showed that students made large growth in their understanding of career development and career clusters. This is one of multiple lessons focused on career development that will assist in the students’ ability to make accurate course selections throughout their high school career with the ultimate goal of graduating with a diploma. The counselors plan to continue evaluating our academic advising curriculum. In the upcoming school year, we plan to provide parents/students with additional data prior to choosing high school courses. All rising 9th grade students will receive an academic advisement packet at the beginning of the registration process. This packet will include course descriptions and teacher recommendations. Our goal is to increase the communication between home and school. During our annual vertical articulation meeting with the high school counselors, we will discuss the career surveys completed by our students. These surveys can be accessed by all FCPS counselors through Naviance. We will get their feedback on whether our students are arriving to high school prepared for the courses they have selected. We plan to also have a dialogue with our high school counterparts on graduation rates and post-secondary trends. Based on this communication, we will be able to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of these lessons.

Attachments