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Welcome to the February edition of School Counseling News & Notes. Our issue this month is filled with lots of important information, including the highly-requested Comprehensive School Counseling Program Plan District Self-Assessment and Template!
Before diving in, the School Counseling team at OSPI want to take the time to acknowledge you, the amazing school counselors who support students, schools, and families across the state, as we approach National School Counseling Week 2022 - February 7th-February 11th.
National School Counseling Week gives us a chance to highlight the unique contribution you make, and the tremendous impact you have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. Take a moment to reflect on your work, and extend a "thank you" to your fellow school counselors!
To learn more about National School Counseling Week, visit www.schoolcounselor.org/nscw, and take a look below for some ideas of activities that you can take part in to help celebrate the work of school counselors!
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In the spring of 2021, the Washington state legislature passed SSB 5030. This bill requires districts to develop a comprehensive school counseling program (CSCP) that aligns with the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) national model of best practices.
OSPI's Guidance Bulletin to support districts in developing and adopting a comprehensive school counseling program has been released!
Throughout the year, you'll find tools and opportunities for professional development in this newsletter that will support your work to develop and implement your district's program.
Photo by Dawid Małecki on Unsplash
This tool is designed to assist districts in engaging in an intentional assessment and evaluation of their current and desired school counseling program elements, and help guide the creation of district-level CSCPs, as required by SSB 5030
COMING SOON! A school-level self-assessment template designed to assist school staff involved in school counseling program implementation to assess and evaluate their current and desired school counseling program elements and gauge alignment to the district-level CSCP.
We are confident and excited that these self-assessment tools will not only provide a starting-point in the creation of your district's Comprehensive School Counseling Program plans, but will also serve as ongoing tools for school-level school counseling program planning and evaluation.
CSCP Professional Learning - Save the Date(s)
We are looking forward to TWO big statewide virtual comprehensive school counseling professional learning events this year with our partners at Hatching Results. Please hold these dates on your calendar if you would like to attend. As soon as we have more information about registration, we will share it here!
March 24, 2022 - 10-11:30AM
May 24, 2022 - 1-2:30PM
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
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504 Implementation: A Team Effort
School counselors play an important role in the 504 process as a source of individual student contextual information in the development of plans and accommodations.
There is a continuum of responsibilities in 504 development and management. From clerical work, like sending forms, scheduling meetings, and managing the calendar of yearly plan reviews; to the collaborative development of the plan and accommodations; to the supervision of plan implementation.
The school counselor's role and expertise fits squarely in the "collaborative development" part of the 504 process. As a tier one support provider, school counselors have insight into each student's personal situation on their caseload. This positions school counselors as key collaborators in the plan development process.
Section 504 policy requires that evaluations and plan development must be conducted by a "group of knowledgeable persons". Thus, 504 plans must not be developed in isolation by one staff member, such as a school counselor or any other educator.
What does this mean in practice?
School counselors play an important role on 504 teams, they work collaboratively with other staff to contribute to the development of 504 plans. The input of school counselors is an important part of building a 504 plan that supports the specific needs of each student with the whole child in mind.
The COVID-19 Student Survey: Impacts & Implications on Student Learning and Well-Being is back for 2022. This survey, for students in grades 6 to 12 is an opportunity for districts to gather student voice on the impact of COVID-19 and their mental health and well-being. Additional questions about school experience and mental health have been added this year. A copy of the survey questions can be found here.
You can learn more about the survey in this quick, two-minute video.
The survey was developed with schools and districts in mind. It’s meant to be actionable, allowing schools to use the data that they receive to make changes. It has also been streamlined and can be administered in a 20-25 minute period.
Registration is open now until February 16th.
Schools can choose to administer the survey at a time that works best for them from February 1st to 28th. Results will be delivered in April 2022, in time to use for 2022-23 planning.
The survey is available in English, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese and Somali.
Questions? Email or call: [email protected] 360-725-6030
High School and Beyond Plan Advisory Council Launch
February 24, 2022 | 2:30-3:30pm
The Graduation Pathway and Preparation Team at OSPI is excited to announce the launch of the High School and Beyond Plan Advisory Council!
Purpose of the High School and Beyond Plan Advisory Council:
- Drive adoption of best practices to standardize the understanding and use of the HSBP
- Support the planning of expanded and enhanced professional development around the HSBP
We would like to invite staff connected to HSBP implementation to gather with colleagues from across the state to learn more about what opportunities are available, depending upon your participation capacity, to share your wisdom and expertise toward the development of OSPIs resources and training for the High School and Beyond Plan. We're especially hopeful that some of our middle school staff will join us!
If you are interested in taking part in this opportunity, please complete the following sign-up form: https://forms.office.com/r/6iaC3rqDMn. Once you submit this form, you'll receive a meeting invite to join the launch event!
We’re looking forward to connecting with and learning from you!
The Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference
The EBSCC provides school counseling professionals with a virtual opportunity to learn about innovative and effective strategies to continually improve school counseling programs. In addition, the EBSCC has a strong network of school counselor educators sharing evidence-based practices and other innovations related to school counselor training.
$30,000 OSPI Social Emotional Learning Curriculum Grants
Application is OPEN!
School districts can apply for up to $30,000 in funding for evidence-based Social Emotional Learning curriculum. School districts that receive funding are required to use the adopted Washington SEL Standards.
Priority for funding will be given to school districts that have not already purchased evidence-based social emotional learning curriculum and are eligible for high-poverty allocations from the learning assistance program.
Interested districts should apply by February 17, 2022 to be considered. For more details and to apply, go to iGrants, login, and search for Form Package 167.
For more information, contact Ben Everett, SEL Program Specialist at 564-200-3083.
OSPI's Monthly GATE Equity Webinars
Graduation: A Team Effort (GATE) Equity webinars help growth-minded educators and education advocates to learn from Washington districts that are closing opportunity gaps.
This month's topic is:
Youth Re-Engagement
National leader in reengagement, Dr. Victor Rios will share what he’s learned about establishing reengagement programs with school districts and communities to address system inequities and how to promote prosperity, well-being, and educational achievement for at-promise youth and their families. We’ll also be hosting a panel of Washington reengagement leaders to talk about their partnerships in Highline Public Schools with Southwest Youth & Families Services and Career Link. They’ll be sharing their favorite resources that you can use to assess your progress.
Register here for the series, streamed virtually the second Wednesday of each month from 10:00-11:30am during the school year.
Each session is free and includes up to 1.5 clock hours.
Recordings of past GATE Equity Webinars can be found on OSPI's YouTube page.
2021-22 OSPI - WSAC Webinar Series
March 16: High School and Beyond Planning: Strategies to Increase Student, Staff, Family, and Community Engagement
Join the OSPI-WSAC team on March 16, 2022 from 9-10:30am for the 4th of 5 Wednesday Webinars. These webinars are designed for school counselors, career counselors/specialists, college access support staff, and and any other interested staff to provide cutting edge career and college readiness resources and information, and highlight promising and best practices happening in schools.
Register here for the 2021-22 series. Staff interested in clock hours will be given an opportunity to request a link to the pdEnroller event that corresponds to each webinar.
Here is a snapshot of several of the hundreds of bills we're tracking at OSPI. The legislature appreciates hearing from educators about these issues. If you'd like to advocate for your community by testifying in person or in writing, please find the instructions here and, as always, consider contacting your local representatives directly.
HB1162 - Establishing a new Graduation Pathway
HB1182 – Enhancing and expanding behavioral health and suicide prevention crisis response services
HB1392 – Establishing pilot project for mobile mental health crisis intervention
HB1444 – Trauma informed counseling
HB1659 – making higher education more affordable and accessible for students by bridging the gap between cost and need to reduce barriers, improve opportunity, and advance economic security
SHB1664 - The prototypical school funding model updates to increase funding for social, emotional, and physical health staffing
HB1687 – enhancing the college bound scholarship program by increasing opportunities for students to attend community and technical colleges
HB2078 – Establishing the outdoor school for all program
SHB1800 – Increasing access to behavioral health services for minors
SB5209 – Enhancing and expanding behavioral health and suicide prevention crisis response services
SB5498 – Awarding diplomas posthumously
Tracking these bills does not necessarily mean we support their passage. We actively work with the legislature to provide information and context about the impact of bills affecting schools and students.
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Thank you for joining us here!
If you have suggestions for future topics or resources to share, always feel free email them to us.
Megan, Brittni, and Kim
[email protected] (Elementary)
[email protected] (Secondary)
[email protected]
(Director of Graduation & Pathway Preparation)
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