Evaluating School Counseling Programs

ERIC Identifier: ED388887 Publication Date: 1995-01-30 Author: Gysbers, Norman C. Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Student Services Greensboro NC. Evaluating School Guidance Programs.

'Demonstrating accountability through the measured effectiveness of the delivery of the guidance program and the performance of the guidance staff helps ensure that students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the general public will continue to benefit from quality comprehensive guidance programs' (Gysbers & Henderson, 1994, p. To achieve accountability, evaluation is needed concerning the nature, structure, organization and implementation of school district/building guidance programs; the school counselors and other personnel who are implementing the programs; and the impact the programs are having on students, the schools where they learn, and the communities in which they live. Thus, the overall evaluation of school district/building guidance programs needs to be approached from three perspectives: program evaluation, personnel evaluation, and results evaluation (Gysbers & Henderson, 1994). GUIDANCE PROGRAM EVALUATION. Guidance program evaluation asks two questions. First, is there a written guidance program in the school district?

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And second, is the written guidance program the actual implemented program in the buildings of the district? Discrepancies between the written program and the implemented program, if present, will come into sharp focus as the program evaluation process unfolds.

To conduct program evaluation, program standards are required. Program standards are acknowledged measures of comparison or the criteria used to make judgments about the adequacy of the nature and structure of the program as well as the degree to which the program is in place. For example, here is a program standard: The school district is able to demonstrate that all students are provided the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that lead to a self-sufficient, socially responsible life. (Gysbers & Henderson, 1994, p. 481) To make judgments about guidance programs using standards, evidence is needed concerning whether or not the standards are being met.

In program evaluation such evidence is called documentation. Using the standard listed above, evidence that the standard is in place might include the following: 1. A developmentally appropriate guidance curriculum that teaches all students the knowledge and skills they need to be self-sufficient and lead socially responsible lives. Yearly schedule that incorporates the classroom guidance plan (Gysbers & Henderson, 1994, p.

Using the Missouri Comprehensive Guidance Pro- gram framework for example, the job description of a school counselor would include the following key du- ties: implementing the guidance curriculum; counseling individuals and small groups concerning their educa- tional and occupational plans; counseling individuals and.

Documentation of such evidence could include: 1. Guidance curriculum guides 2. Teachers' and counselors' unit and lesson plans 3. Yearly master calendar for the guidance program 4.

Curriculum materials (Gysbers & Henderson, 1994, p. 482) Sometimes the program evaluation process is called a program audit. The American School Counselor Association, for example, uses the 'term' audit in its program evaluation materials. The Association has developed guidelines for a program audit for secondary schools (ASCA, 1986), for middle/junior high schools (ASCA, 1990b), and for elementary schools (ASCA, 1990a). GUIDANCE PROGRAM PERSONNEL EVALUATION.

Personnel evaluation begins with the organizational structure and activities of the guidance program in a school district. A major first step is the development of job descriptions that are based directly on the structure and activities of a school district's guidance program. Having established that a guidance program is operating in a school district through program evaluation, and having established through personnel evaluation that school counselors and other guidance program personnel are carrying out the duties listed on their job descriptions 100% of the time, it now is possible to evaluate the results of the program. Johnson (1991) suggested that there are long-range, intermediate, immediate, and unplanned-for results that need consideration. According to Johnson, long-range results focus on how programs affect students after they have left school. Usually long-range results are gathered using follow-up studies.