"Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud" - Dr. Maya Angelou
Advocacy & Leadership
Woodward Career Technical High School - Comprehensive School Counseling Program
Program Beliefs
Vision Statement
Mission Statement
The mission of the Woodward Career Technical High School’s School Counseling Program is to provide equitable access for all students to an inclusive, supportive, and data-driven comprehensive school counseling program delivered by certified professional school counselors. The comprehensive school counseling program collaborates with stakeholders to meet students’ developmental needs as identified through needs assessments, to deliver evidence-based interventions, and evolves through data analysis of outcomes. As a result, all students will be able to identify personal strengths, feel empowered to achieve their academic, career, and personal/social goals, and become lifelong learners.
The vision of Woodward Career Tech High School’s Counseling Program is that all students will be empowered to strive towards growth and reach their fullest potential through the equitable implementation of academic, social/emotional, and career development supports. Woodward’s School Counseling Program will realize success when:
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All students can identify and apply their strengths to overcome barriers.
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All students have equitable access to resources that allow them to succeed in their academics, social/emotional learning, and post-secondary planning and exploration.
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All students promote an atmosphere of social justice, respect, and equity.
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All students can identify personal strengths and weaknesses and develop short-term and long-term goals.
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All students will be lifelong learners.
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All students recognize the importance of overall well-being in their academic, social/emotional, and post-secondary success.
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All students feel encouraged and supported by the adult role models from Woodward
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All students use their individual strengths to contribute to society as local and global citizens
Belief Statement
The school counselors at Woodward Career Technical High School believe:
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All students have significance and worth, the potential to achieve their goals, and unique and important strengths
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All students can learn to become self-advocates and resilient in overcoming obstacles
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All students should be accounted for and feel valued, so their academic and social/emotional wellness is nurtured, thus allowing them to become productive members of their community and society.
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Each student has the right of equitable access to a quality education and a comprehensive school counseling program that promotes inclusivity, social-emotional learning, and academic growth.
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School counselors should foster a positive and inclusive school community through celebrating students’ cultural and racial diversity, along with diversity-related to disability, learning differences, gender, and sexual orientation.
Belief Statement, pt 2
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All students have the right to equitable access to a data-driven counseling program to support their academic and social-emotional growth.
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School counselors collaborate with all parents, administrators, community members, and teachers to support student needs.
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The school counseling program advocates for the needs of all their students through implementing evidence-based school counseling interventions that empower students to reach their academic, social, and emotional goals.
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The school counseling program collaborates with educational stakeholders to increase equitable access to resources and opportunities for all students.
Cincinnati Public Schools and Woodward Career Tech HS' Mission & Vision
Equity in Achievement & Access
Needs Assessment
Professional School Counselors utilize Needs Assessments to uncover the most prevalent concerns of students and teachers. Sculli (2011) states, “The data produced by needs assessments provide counselors with important student, parent, teacher, and administrator feedback that evaluates and informs the program’s direction and interventions.” The data collected from needs assessments administered as a part of a CSCP are classified as precipitation data, which is defined as data that measures how the students are impacted by counseling activities through measuring knowledge gained, competencies achieved, and attitudes and beliefs adopted (Sculli, 2011). This indicates that these forms of data are necessary to evaluate the needs of students, the direction of the CSCP, and the ways in which students are impacted by the school counseling program’s interventions. As a part of Woodward’s Comprehensive School Counseling Program, a needs assessment investigating the prevalent concerns of students was initially be administered to 11th students.
Findings from the baseline needs assessment demonstrated that 48% of 11th-grade students with credit recovery report feeling “prepared” or “very prepared” for post-secondary success. Other significant findings showed that 67% of 11th-grade students with credit recovery report feeling knowledgeable of graduation requirements and pathways. We also found that only 31% of this population of students were planning on enrolling in college, after graduation. These findings are consistent with the Ohio School Report Card data (2019) and indicate that there is a high need for interventions that target students’ preparedness for post-secondary success and graduation. Click the button below to view the Needs Assessment.
Program Goals for Addressing Achievement Gaps
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Based on our Needs Assessment, we found that 12% of 142 11th grade students need significant credit recovery. We define significant credit recovery as a deficit of 5 or more credit hours. Significant credit recovery can negatively impact a student’s ability to graduate on time, as many have to take on additional classes on their course load to make up their credits.
We plan to support 11th-grade students with significant credit recovery in the development of the skills they need to be successful in their courses, graduate high school on time, and preparing for post-secondary success. In order to support this population, we will strive towards several specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time-bound goals (Zyromski & Mariani, 2016).
These goals include:
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By the end of the 2020-21 school year, 10% more 11th grade students with significant credit recovery who receive our intervention will report feeling “prepared” or “very prepared” for post-secondary success from 48% to 58%, as measured by a Post-Secondary Success Needs Assessment, Pre and Post Intervention Survey, and the Student Engagement in School Success Skills (SESSS) assessment.
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By the end of the 2020-21 school year, 10% more 11th grade students with significant credit recovery who receive our intervention will report feeling knowledgeable of graduation requirements and pathways, from 67% to 77%, as measured by a Post-Secondary Success Needs Assessment Pre and Post Intervention Survey, and the Student Engagement in School Success Skills (SESSS) assessment.
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By the end of the 2020-21 school year, 10% more 11th grade students with significant credit recovery who receive our intervention will be college bound, from 31% to 41%, as measured by a Post-Secondary Success Needs Assessment, Pre and Post Intervention Survey, and the Student Engagement in School Success Skills (SESSS) assessment.
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Core Curriculum
Evidence-Based Curriculum implemented to address student achievement gaps
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Student Success Skills 2.0
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College and Career Success Skills
In order to support students in achieving our identified goals, we will implement the evidence-based program, Student Success Skills 2.0 with College and Career Success Skills as a core curriculum intervention with our 11th-grade students. This intervention helps students cultivate skills in five key areas, including cognitive factors like memory and learning processes, attitudinal skills, self-regulation and metacognitive abilities, behavioral strategies, and goal-setting, and social skills training (Atlantic Education Consultants, 2020).
The College and Career Success Skills (CCSS) is a corresponding program of SSS 2.0 which facilitates students’ development in the academic, social, and self-management skills necessary to meet college and career readiness demands (Atlantic Education Consultants, 2020; Webb & Brigman, 2007). SSS 2.0 with CCSS would meet the needs of Woodward students by addressing barriers to success and would aid in improving graduation rates and post-secondary readiness.
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ASCA Alignment
ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors:
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Mindset 4 (M4) - School counselors must promote an understanding that postsecondary education and life-long learning are necessary for long-term career success (American School Counselor Association, 2014).
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This mindset aligns with the SSS 2.0 and CCSS program goals of supporting students in the development of key skills that will prepare them for college and career by cultivating students’ learning strategies, relationship-building skills, and self-regulation skills (Atlantic Education Consultants, 2020; Webb & Brigman, 2007).
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B-LS 7- Students should identify long-term and short-term academic, post-secondary, and social-emotional goals (ASCA, 2014).
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B-SMS 6 - Students should demonstrate the ability to overcome barriers to learning (ASCA, 2014).
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These behavior standards relate to SSS 2.0 and CCSS because the program involves supporting students in developing self-management, goal-setting, and progress monitoring skills (Atlantic Education Consultants, 2020).
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B-SMS 7, which requires students to learn resilience, effective coping strategies, and emotional regulation skills when facing a problem (American School Counselor Association, 2014).
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Resilience plays a key factor in ensuring that students are prepared for college and career, as many individuals will need to navigate obstacles to success.
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This intervention will work in tandem with additional interventions to accomplish our identified goals of improving post-secondary readiness and student success by providing accessible information and facilitating the development of success skills (Webb & Brigman, 2007). The combination of these interventions will target multiple domains of post-secondary readiness and student success.
Tier 2 Interventions
Tier 2 interventions impact some students. Students who are identified as needing Tier 2 interventions will receive support through the Check In Check Out (CICO) evidence-based program. CICO involves daily morning check-ins with a coach/mentor, so students can set goals for the day. Oftentimes, the student will use a “points card” that lists the goals for the day. Throughout the day, teachers evaluate the student's behavior and assign points for meeting their daily goals. At the end of the day, the student checks out with the same coach/mentor to assess their total points for the day. Finally, the student often takes their point card home to a parent or caregiver to sign (Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, 2020).
Tier 3 Interventions
Tier 3 interventions impact very few students. Interventions at this level are intensive and individualized. Tier 3 interventions may involve consultation, collaboration, and advocacy. This can involve crisis response and referrals to other support providers to ensure the most beneficial educational placement (ASCA, 2019).