*REVISED SECTION*

*We want to note that we uploaded revised charts for lessons 2 and 3, showing percent change to demonstrate impact. While we could not revise our chart for lesson 1, as mentioned in section 8, we created a pre/post test to use for this lesson going forward that would provide us with the percent change data we would need.*

It is important to our department that the process data for our core curriculum reflects our entire caseloads. When students were absent for our classroom lessons, we sought them out later to meet individually or in small groups, making sure we conveyed the main points of the lesson and that they completed our perception data instruments. Our core curriculum is in a growing phase but we see many challenges as we add new lessons. In 2017-2018, the lessons we delivered looked better on paper- in our perception and process data- than they did in our outcome data. Our perception data in particular for the academic/career lesson, at 91% average score on the post-test, appeared to indicate a huge success, until we saw at the end of the year that outcome grades had not risen but dropped by .3%. We did succeed in reducing Fs for 8th-graders in part through our core curriculum lesson on careers for that class, but we were only partially successful with the 6th-grade lessons. Peer conflicts and counselor-led conflict mediations dropped by a modest 5%, and language arts grades, mentioned above, actually got slightly worse. Because it was our first year delivering this academic lesson, it will serve as a baseline in the coming years for measuring our program’s effectiveness at helping students learn to work well in groups. It was also a reminder that we need to work harder and smarter at helping students internalize the Mindsets and Behaviors that we teach them.

Our pre and post-test for the conflict resolution lesson asked students to identify the steps to resolving a conflict peacefully but this tested theories, not practice. To improve our curriculum, we will incorporate more role-playing practice in the lesson and ask students to self-assess how they communicate through conflict. This will align the lesson and the perception data with B-SS 1: “Use effective oral and written communication skills and listening skills.”

There were problems with our curriculum that we will address with practical modifications. For example, because we saw a large disconnect between what first seemed like stellar perception data results followed by notably uninspired outcome data results, particularly for the 6th-grade lessons, we will revamp our lessons, pre/post-tests, and follow-up activities to align them more with our chosen Mindsets and Behaviors. We will shorten the academic/career lesson and the post-assessment because students did not have time to finish the assessment during the lesson. Cutting questions and lesson content will clarify the message. The same is true for our Mindsets and Behaviors- for both 6th-grade lessons, we focused on two per lesson, but this proved to be too much to teach and for our students to absorb in one lesson. We will focus these lessons to center on only one Mindset and Behavior. We will continue to expand our core curriculum. Due to increasing conflicts involving social media, we will add a lesson on social media and cyberbullying along with our conflict resolution lesson, and in response to disappointing outcome data for our academic/career lesson, we will add follow-up core curriculum on taking on academic challenges, with Mindset and Behavior B-LS 8: “Actively engage in challenging coursework.”

We will continue all of these lessons and add more. As we mentioned in our results report, we were happy with the outcome of a significant decrease in Fs among our targeted 8th-graders, so we will keep our 8th-grade career lesson intact. We know that our students find the most success through a program with a vigorous and data-driven core curriculum. We will continue to bolster this component of our program in order to help our students reach our vision for them to be “accountable citizens, productive members of society” and “lifelong achievers”.

Grade Level: 6

Lesson Topic: Personality of Learning

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): B-SS 6, B-SS 7

Start/End: 2/26/18-3/2/18

Process Data (Number of students affected): The lesson was planned to be taught to 248 students in 11 50-minute lessons that were taught to all 6th-graders over the course of one week. Enrollment declined by 6 students, so at the time of the lesson, there were 242 6th-graders (9 were absent from class when the lesson was taught, and were taught in 1 individual and 1 small group during a 25-minute flex period)

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Post-Assessment completed. There was no pre-test. Personality of Learning Lesson Post-Assessment included 10 questions. Section A- Write the correct color.
A1. Task-oriented, individual sports (tennis), likes being noticed, competitive, likes to be on the move. (97% correct, 3% incorrect)
A2. People oriented, team sports (basketball), loves to talk, friendly, optimistic, expressive (98% correct, 2% incorrect)
A3. Detail oriented, precise, (archery) likes to do things right the first time, likes the feeling of finishing a job. (98% correct, 2% incorrect)
A4. Creative, freethinking, (drawing), caring, open-minded, often likes nature and being outside. (98% correct, 2% incorrect)
Section B: Short answer. B1. What color was the color that was dominant for you? (99.5% correct, .5% incorrect)
B2. What color was the second most dominant color for you? (99.5% correct, .5% incorrect)
B3. Name one important gift that you bring to a group project because of your personality. (96% correct, 4% incorrect)
B4. What would be a good career for someone with the gift you mentioned in #3, and why? (88% correct, 12% incorrect)
B5. Name one of the action verbs that you used in your list of things you like to do. (66% correct, 34% incorrect)
B6. Name a different career that someone who enjoys doing the action word you wrote in #5 would enjoy, and explain why you think that. (68% correct, 32% incorrect)
Overall average post-assessment score 91%

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): Increase in language arts averages from marking period two to marking period four as shown by Realtime grade reports. This lesson was presented in February, during the third marking period, before 6th-grade students began their language arts/social studies cross-curricular Civil Liberties Project. This project requires students in all language arts classes, including self-contained, inclusion and regular education classes to pair up with a partner, choose a historical figure from a list and collaborate to plan, write, create a poster for, and present to parents, teachers and invited community members at a “Living Museum” open house. Students’ language arts averages the second marking period were compared with their averages for the fourth marking period, with their project grades included. After learning about how their personality and learning style affect their group work, we hoped to see a net rise in grades that included group work when compared to previous averages. Overall results: marking period two language arts average for 6th-graders was 86.5%, and marking period four average was 86.2% for a decrease of .3%. The average grade on the project assignment was an 85.7%: very much in keeping with the marking period averages.

Implications: For our perception data in the academic/career lesson on personality/learning style, we noticed a drop off in completed answers towards the end of the post-assessment, and have concluded that students often left the last two or three questions blank, presumably because they did not have enough time to finish the assessment. Next year, one of several ideas for improvement that we have is to tighten up the lesson and PowerPoint and eliminate some test questions so that students will have the ability to finish their work and that their perception data reflects their understanding of the material without being affected by a lack of time. We saw that our core curriculum showed mixed results overall. The hoped-for improvement in fourth marking period grades ended up being a .3% worsening in the outcome data. The perception data profile showed a different image, with post-assessment scores on the academic/ career personality of learning lesson showing an average score of 91%. The outcome data, however, showed a slight drop. What these results indicate to us is a disconnect between students’ responses to our test questions, and their lived experiences via the outcome data. In order to address the differences we are seeing between their perception and our outcome goals, we plan to rethink our pre and post-test questions, and how we will connect those to the Mindsets and Behaviors that we hope to instill in them. For example, the 91% overall successful result in the perception data alongside a .3% drop in the outcome data for our academic/career lesson shows such a vast disconnect as to suggest that we are not testing what we thought we were at all. We plan to radically revamp this lesson, as well as our instrument for collecting perception data, and add follow-up curriculum aimed at helping students be successful in group work. This was our first year with this lesson, and we plan to modify and improve it, along with the rest of our core curriculum, every year in response to the data. The only modification of Mindsets and Behaviors for this lesson would likely be to drop B-SS 9, “Demonstrate social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment”, in order to shorten the academic career lesson to address the time constraints that were experienced. We feel strongly that this lesson can be beneficial to our students with some adjustments in response to the perception and outcome data. Because we are seeking to expand and improve our core curriculum, we would not wish to discontinue this lesson. We were disappointed with the results of our academic/career lesson, meant to help students see how their own learning styles and personalities can affect and contribute to group work. In response, we are spurred to create a follow-up lesson, centered on another downfall for students in group work: taking on an academic challenge. Using Mindset and Behavior B-LS 8, “Actively engage in challenging coursework”, we know we can help our students work hard and be successful by helping them relish academic challenges.

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Grade Level: 6

Lesson Topic: Conflict Resolution

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): B-SS 1, B-SS 9

Start/End: 12/13/17-12/15/17

Process Data (Number of students affected): The lesson was planned to be taught to 248 students 11 50-minute lessons were taught to all 6th-graders over the course of three days, but 11 students were absent, and they were given a shorter Flex-period summary of the lesson in two small groups and one individual lesson.

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Conflict mediation pre- and post-test completed.
Social/emotional pre- and post-tests included five true/false questions: 1. “I hate you” is an example of an “I” message in conflict resolution. (Correct answer: False) Pre-test: 31% of students answered correctly, Post-test 67% were correct.
2. Interrupting is the best way to show that you are listening in conflict resolution. (Correct answer: False) Pre-test: 79% of students answered correctly, Post-test 91% were correct.
3. Cooling off for a while before having a conversation about a conflict is a way to make you calmer, and help the conflict get resolved more easily. (Correct answer: True) Pre-test: 81% of students answered correctly, Post-test 100% were correct.
4. Saying back what you heard when you are having a discussion about a conflict shows the other person that you are listening to what they are saying. (Correct answer: True) Pre-test: 26% of students answered correctly, Post-test 88% were correct.
5. Every conflict can be solved by using the strategies for conflict resolution. (Correct answer: False) Pre-test: 34% of students answered correctly, Post-test 61% were correct. Overall average pre-test score: 51%, post-test score 81%.

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): Reduction in the number of behavioral referrals for peer conflicts, as measured by Realtime reports. Realtime behavioral referral reports in counselor log of “peer conflict” and “conflict mediation.” We compared the average number of these incidents per day for the dates from September 2017 through the date of the first presentation, December 13, 2017 with the average number of these incidents per day from December 15, 2017 through the end of the school year in June 2018. In the dates before the lessons were delivered, there were 78 incidents in 64 school days, for an average of 1.22 peer conflict and conflict mediations per day. After the lessons were delivered to all students, there were 139 incidents in 120 days, for an average of 1.16 incidents per day, indicating a decrease of .06 incidents per day, or a 5% decrease in peer conflicts and counselor-led mediations.

Implications: The small decrease in peer conflicts after the conflict resolution lesson is a step in the right direction for our program. However, we intend to expand our conflict lessons over two days, with the extra day focusing on social media, online conflicts and cyberbullying. We based this on Realtime counselor reports, which showed an increase of conflicts stemming computer and smartphone use. We saw that our core curriculum showed mixed results overall. The conflict resolution lesson that was delivered to 6th-graders showed a slight improvement in one case: for the social/emotional conflict resolution lesson, with a 5% decrease in daily conflicts. The perception data profile showed a different image. The social/emotional conflict resolution lesson for 6th-graders showed significant improvements from pre to post- test (30%). The outcome data, however, only showed slight improvement. What these results indicate to us is another disconnect between students’ responses to our test questions, and their lived experiences via the outcome data. In order to address the differences we are seeing between their perception and our outcome goals, we plan to rethink our pre and post-test questions, and how we will connect those to the Mindsets and Behaviors that we hope to instill in them. For example, the test questions for the conflict resolution lesson centered around students’ understanding of the strategies and steps to resolving conflicts in their relationships. We are now considering modifying this assessment for next year to hone in on the practicality of B-SS 1, “Use effective oral and written communication skills and listening skills”, by having students self-assess their own ability to communicate after having practiced with partners in conflict role-plays. We feel that the Mindsets and Behaviors that we have chosen for this lesson were all good matches for our goal. We feel strongly that this lesson can be beneficial to our students with some adjustments in response to the perception and outcome data. Because we are seeking to expand and improve our core curriculum, we would not wish to discontinue this lesson either.

Attachments

Grade Level: 8

Lesson Topic: Naviance Career Explorer and Resume Writing (Program Goal)

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): B-LS 7, M 2, M 4

Start/End: 2/16/18, 2/20/18, 2/21/18

Process Data (Number of students affected): The lesson was planned to be taught to 253 students 11 50-minute lessons were taught to all 8th-graders for three days over the course of a week. 10 students were absent and summary/follow-up lessons for these students were spread over two weeks before all were finished.

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Pre and post-tests, Naviance Strengths Explorer survey and resumés completed in Resumé Builder
253 students completed the pre- and post-tests, and 249 finished a resumé. The pre-and post tests had questions requiring four short answers. All reasonable and completed responses were scored as correct. The questions were:
1. Name a job you would like to have when you are an adult. Pre-test: 84% of students answered correctly, Post-test 94% were correct.
2. Name one thing you need to do this year or in high school to prepare for that job. Pre-test: 69% of students answered correctly, Post-test 88% were correct.
3. Name another thing you need to do this year or in high school to prepare for that job. Pre-test: 32% of students answered correctly, Post-test 75% were correct.
4. Name one thing you need to do after high school to prepare for that job. Pre-test: 72% of students answered correctly, Post-test: 90% were correct. Overall average pre-test score: 64%, post-test: 87%.

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): Decrease in the number of Fs for these students in 2017-2018 from 2016-2017 as shown by Realtime grade reports. As one of our program goals, we compared the number of 2017- 2018 final average Fs to this cohort of students with the number of Fs for them in the previous year, 2016-2017. All students who had received one or more final Fs in 2016-2017 were part of the target group. They earned 47 Fs in the first year, and after the intervention, the overall number of Fs for the grade increased to 57, but Fs among the targeted students dropped to 31, for a 34% decrease in Fs.

Implications: We were pleased with the results in the data for our 8th-grade career lesson, though we know our core curriculum is just one of several factors affecting whether students pass or fail their classes. Student-teacher rapport, classroom dynamics, family situations, maturity, and many other things can impact whether a targeted student who failed a class in 7th-grade fails another in 8th. However, with the decrease in Fs among these students, we believe that we will keep this lesson intact. As mentioned previously, we saw that our core curriculum showed mixed results overall. Our career lesson/program goal for 8th-graders showed the most impressive outcome data results, with a 33% reduction in Fs among the targeted students. However, the total number of Fs for the class increased, indicating we have more work to do. The perception data profile showed a different image. In comparison with the 6th-grade lessons, it tracked more closely with the outcome data (23% improvement in perception data, with a 46% improvement in outcome data). Since we saw that our results could improve, we intend to incorporate more discussion on how to plan for careers in the lesson plan. Once again, we feel that the Mindsets and Behaviors that we have chosen for this lesson were all good matches for our goals. We feel strongly that this lesson can be beneficial to our students with, again, some adjustments in response to the perception and outcome data. Because we are seeking to expand and improve our core curriculum, we would not wish to discontinue this lesson either.

Attachments