The results report highlights the three different grade levels (5K-2nd) that receive whole classroom lessons as part of the school counseling program’s core curriculum.

Kindergarten’s lesson focused on responsibility and punctuality as it relates to school attendance. For the past several years, improving attendance has been a goal for the school counseling program. Analysis of the attendance data showed that kindergarten students were responsible for a large majority of the unexcused tardies and absences. Different strategies were implemented to improve the attendance rate for kindergarten students with one of the strategies being a classroom lesson on responsibility and punctuality. This lesson was presented in September to 108 kindergarten students. An informal pre-test at the beginning of class revealed that no kindergarten students knew that time school started. At the conclusion of the lesson, 100% of the students were able to classify morning routine activities as either appropriate or inappropriate and 100% of students were able to identify the correct school starting time. In reviewing attendance data at the end of the year, findings showed that 5K students who had 5 or more unexcused absences decreased from 69% in 2016-17 to 62% in 2017-18. This percentage is still too high but the decrease of 7 percentage points is a move in the correct direction. 5K students with 10 or more tardies increased slightly to 32% (up 2% from previous school year).

There are many possibilities as to why kindergarten has such a large amount of tardies and absences. For many this is their first time out of the home or in a school setting so their immune system is not as strong against germ exposure. Parents may also not be aware of the attendance policies and the need to send in a medical excuse. Parents could also not yet understand the importance of good attendance in kindergarten. They may not realize that the demands and standards placed on children today are vastly different than when they were in school.

While parents are normally the one responsible for their child’s attendance the classroom lesson is still important as it educates the children on routines and correct start time as well as illustrates the importance of punctuality and good attendance. Parent education on attendance policies and procedures will need to continue to supplement this lesson and continue throughout the school year.

First grade’s lesson topic was feelings. The goal of this lesson was to help students learn to identify feelings and verbal and non-verbal cues of these feelings in order to reduce discipline referrals. 105 first grade students participated in the classroom lesson during December. 100% of all students participated in the group activity where each student had to identify and describe a feeling. An analysis of the discipline data revealed that first grade referrals increased by 11 from 24 in 2016-17 to 35 in 2017-18. A closer look at the data shows that half of these referrals were from the same three students and 22 of the referrals came from two teachers. Overall, I would argue that the lesson was beneficial for the entire grade level because if you remove the three students who had half of the grade level referrals from the data, the referrals would be much lower. The data indicates that the lesson should continue but needs to include follow-up support and interventions for students who receive repeat referrals and the two teachers who had a much higher referral rate.

The last lesson targeted second grade students and dealt with internet safety. During the month of February, 109 second grade students participated in the lesson. A pre and post test was given. Correct answers on all questions increased from the pre to the post test. During the year there were no discipline referrals involving internet misconduct. In addition, there were no referrals to the counseling program regarding issues with cyber safety.

While the outcome data on this subject is a bit more difficult to track than the other lessons, the perception data from the pre/post test shows how vital this lesson is for students. Minus the first question, none of the questions on the pre-test had a correct response rate over 42%. The questions asked involve situations that could have potentially deadly consequences. The knowledge gained from the lesson and shown by the correct responses on the post-test could save a child's life. in the future this lesson will be supplemented by information sent home to parents and/or parenting workshops on cyber safety.

Grade Level: 5K

Lesson Topic: Responsibility/Punctuality

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): Domain: Academic & Social; Mindset: M6; Behavior Standards: SMS1, SMS2

Start/End: September 1-28, 2017

Process Data (Number of students affected): 108

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Before lesson 0 students were able to correctly identify when school started. After the lesson, 100% of all students were able to identify the correct school starting time.
100% of all students were able to classify morning routine activities as either appropriate or inappropriate

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): 5K students who had 5 or more unexcused absences decreased from 69% in 2016-17 to 64% in 2017-18. This percentage is still too high but is moving in the correct direction. 5K students with 10 or more tardies increased slightly to 34% (up 4% from the previous school year).

Implications: The perception data was promising in regards to knowledge gained from the lesson. All students who participated in the lesson were able to classify morning routines as either appropriate or inappropriate as evidenced by the survey instrument. All students were also able to identify the correct school start time. In the future, the data might be more meaningful if there was a pre/post-test assessment done by either using the existing instrument and having students do it before the lesson and then at the end or using another method to measure their knowledge of appropriate morning routine activities. Regardless of how the data is collected, I need to be mindful of the developmental level of 5K students during their first full month of school and make sure the pre-assessment is not too frustrating for kindergarten students. I would also be interested in measuring if students retained the knowledge from the lesson. This could be measured by having them take a quick assessment during their next classroom guidance class. Outcome data showed conflicting results. Unexcused student absences decreased by 5% from 2016-17 to 2017-18. However, student tardies, which was the primary focus of the lesson, increased by 4%. The lessons on punctuality need to continue as well as parent education on attendance policies and the impact attendance can have on academics. Short mini-lessons before classroom guidance throughout the school year may also need to be done to provide continual reinforcement of school start time and morning routines.

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Grade Level: 1

Lesson Topic: Feelings

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): Domain: Social/Emotional; Mindset: M1; Behavior: B-SS2

Start/End: December 1-12, 2017

Process Data (Number of students affected): 105

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): 100% of all students participated in group activity and were able to identify a feeling characteristic

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): Discipline referrals for 1st grade increased from 24 in 2016-17 to 35 in 2017-18.

Implications: Perception data and outcome data were in conflict as to the success of the lesson. According to the perception data collected, all students who participated in the group activity were able to correctly complete the lesson objective of identifying a feeling characteristic. While this data shows the knowledge of feeling characteristics, it does not show if the knowledge was prior knowledge or learned from the lesson. One way to clear up this discrepancy is by having a pre-test before the lesson where the students have to match a feeling with the feeling face. This could also be given as a post-test as well and give more information on what students gained from the lesson. On initial analysis of the outcome data, I was disappointed. The discipline referrals for 1st grade increased from 24 referrals in 2016-17 to 35 in 2017-18. However, on further analysis the data revealed that two teachers were responsible for over half of the first grade referrals. Grade level professional development on behavior management may want to be considered and/or more frequent check-ins and support by the school counselor for these teachers. For following years, those classes that have a lot of referrals may also need an additional whole group lesson on conflict resolution, more in-depth lesson on feelings, etc. In addition, referrals were highest during times when teachers/students were “tired” and ready for a break (ex; before Spring Break, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, etc.). Morale boosters and student incentive programs were done to help alleviate this but will need to be refined to make them more beneficial.

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Grade Level: 2

Lesson Topic: Internet Safety

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): Domain: Social/Emotional; Mindset: M1; Behavior: B-SMS9

Start/End: February 2-19, 2018

Process Data (Number of students affected): 109

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Q1. What is a piece of personal information?
PRE/POST Results:
67% to 87%

Q2. You are online and meet someone your ag that also likes the same video games as you. Is it OK to give him or her your address and phone number so you can get together and play the video games?
PRE/POST Results:
11% to 99%

Q3. You are in the middle of a chat session and someone says something that makes you uncomfortable. What should you do?
PRE/POST Results:
27% to 86%

Q4. You meet someone online that lives in Darlington. Is it ok to plan to meet-up at the park so you can play together?
PRE/POST Results:
42% to 87%

Q5. What should you do if a stranger contacts you online?
PRE/POST Results:
9% to 96%

Q6. What would make the best password?
PRE/POST Results:
42% to 89%

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): There were no discipline referrals involving internet misconduct during the 2017-18 school year. There were no parent and/or self-reported incidents of internet misconduct occurring at home.

Implications: Perception data and outcome data both indicated the successfulness of this core curriculum lesson. For all six questions, knowledge considerably increased which was the direct result of the lesson. Outcome data was a bit more difficult to measure but there were no discipline referrals involving internet misconduct for second grade students during the school year. There were also no parent and/or self-reported incidents of misconduct on the internet occurring at home. Obviously, internet safety at home is more problematic than at school because there is usually not as much supervision and filters at home. To enhance this lesson, informational newsletters and/or parent workshops on cyber safety should be considered to bridge the gap between home and school.

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