Urban School Counseling Initiative

							Urban School Counseling
        Initiative


           Mesa Public Schools
           April 2, 2009
   Confronting the brutal facts
    –   20% is not good and it’s definitely not great
   Closing the achievement gap
   Defining excellence
   Challenges and supports
   Next steps
   Confronting the brutal facts
    –   20% is not good and it’s definitely not great
SAT Report

   In 2007-2008, 29.5% of our seniors took the
    SAT. Also, 19.9% of our seniors took the
    ACT.
   In 2007-2008, 1215 students took AP tests.
    During that school year, 14,859 students
    were enrolled in MPS secondary schools. As
    such, about 8% of our students took AP
    tests.
   MPS has approximately 7314 junior high
    students. We have 1694 ELP students.
    Thus, about 23% of our junior high students
    are ELP students.
   ELP students have the greatest percentage
    chance, based on the sequence of courses,
    of reaching advanced courses.
American Government/Economics
           Enrollment
          Spring 2008


          19%

                          AP
                          Conventional

81%
Spring 2008 enrollment in mathematics courses




21%




                                                Algebra II and lower
                                                Trigonometry and higher




                        79%
   Closing the Achievement Gap
              MPS Ethnic Distribution
                 March 16, 2009


                     2.747640752
                          3.761956731
                                   4.602940232




                                                          Asian/Pacific
                                                          Native American
                                                          Black
53.98985684                                               Hispanic
                                            34.89760544   White
               Mesa Public Schools
       Junior High ELP Students by Ethnicity
                  March 16, 2009


                     3.670811131
                        1.302545885

                               13.55831853



                                      0.947306098
                                                    Asian/Pacific
                                                    Black
                                                    Hispanic
                                                    Native American
                                                    White




80.52101835
                                  MPS Ethnic distribution vs. ELP students by ethnicity
                                                     March 16, 2009

             90

             80

             70

             60
Percentage




             50
                                                                                            Ethnic Distribution
                                                                                            Percentage in J.H. ELP
             40

             30

             20

             10

             0
                  Asian/Pacific     Black          Hispanic      Native American    White
                                                   Ethnicity
                              Percentage of total failures and ethnic distribution
                                               March 16, 2009

60



50



40



                                                                                      Percentage of Failures
30
                                                                                      Ethnic Distribution


20



10



 0
     Asian/Pacific Islander   Black          Hispanic     Native American     White
   Defining excellence
    –   School counseling program advisory
    –   Vision
    –   Mission
    –   Program goals
School Counseling Program
Advisory

   Meetings – Jan. 22, 2009, Feb. 19, 2009,
    and March 12, 2009
   Team members – elementary school
    counselors, junior high school counselors,
    high school counselors, Diversity Specialist,
    Career and Technical Education (CTE)
    representative, Special Education
    representatives
Vision

   Upon graduation, all Mesa Public Schools
    (MPS) students will be ready to meet their
    college/career goals.
Mission

   Through classroom lessons, small group
    activities, data-based decision making, and
    programs and interventions, our school
    counselors ensure that ALL students have
    the academic, career, and personal/social
    skills they need to be successful.
MPS Counseling            MPS District             Arizona or US Dept. of
                                                   Ed.
Educational and Career   ECAPs referenced in       Mandated by the AZ
Action Plans (ECAPs) for course description        Board of Education
every student            catalog
Guidance lessons          Student achievement in
concentrating on career   reading, writing and
and academic planning     mathematics
Guidance lessons                                   Safe and Drug Free
concentrating on                                   Schools (Title IV)
reducing substance
abuse and violent
behavior
Transition programs       Transition programs
Encouraging students to   Achievement in Algebra
take a schedule of        II and higher
career ready courses
Targeted student          Student attendance and
interventions             drop-out prevention
Parent involvement and
communication
Challenges

   Providing professional development having to do with
    data-based decision making
   Providing professional development having to do with
    research-based and evidence-based interventions
   Building friendly systems of data collection
   Turning the flywheel with teachers
   Employing the hedgehog concept – becoming consistent
    and systemic
   Creating systems of accountability for results
   Doing more with less
Supports

   New leadership
   Our College Core and other transformational
    initiatives
   Changing models of professional
    development and support for quality
    instruction
   Backing from leaders in key positions
Next steps

   Work with MPS Professional Development to provide
    system-wide professional development having to do with
    data-based decision making
   Work with MPS Research and Evaluation and/or
    Information Systems to build friendly systems of data
    collection (and/or purchase Cognos Software)
   Revise teacher, counselor, and school evaluation
    systems to create systems of accountability for results
   Continue to expand our MPS College Core as brand that
    can be turned into a broader initiative
   Include principals and community members on advisory
    council