Indiana Student Achievement Institute

Guiding All Kids

KEY FEATURES

Guidance Curriculum

Educational Alignment

Systemic Implementation

Accountability

The Ripple Effect

THE InSAI GUIDANCE SYSTEM

   InSAI participants design and implement the InSAI Guidance System.  This model is competency based and aligns guidance with student achievement.  The entire faculty and appropriate community members implement activities designed to help students master the guidance competencies and provide guidance relationships for all students.  The model provides the means to evaluate the guidance system from two perspectives: student mastery of guidance competencies and the impact of guidance activities upon student achievement and other related variables.  

    Guidance Curriculum:  Each school establishes guidance competencies in the areas of self knowledge, educational and career exploration, and educational and career planning.  Activities are then designed to help all students master the competencies.  Some schools adopt the competencies found in the Sharing the Vision: The National Standards for School Counseling Programs published by the American School Counselor Association in 1997, while others draw from the National Career Development Guidelines published by the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee in 1996.  Most schools, however, develop a local set of competencies designed to help students move toward the school’s vision for student success.

      Educational Alignment:  Every guidance competency is aligned with the school’s educational philosophy and/or educational goals as found in documents such as the school’s mission statement, vision statement, and/or school improvement plan.   Thus, the guidance system is an integral component of the educational system, rather than an ancillary program unrelated to student achievement.  Competencies and activities are prioritized according to the school’s student achievement goals.

   Systemic Implementation:  Curriculum mapping is conducted within the school and community to coordinate the delivery of guidance activities.  Activities are implemented by a variety of people including school counselors, teachers, parents, advisors, mentors, and community members.  Activities may include one-on-one sessions with an advisor or counselor, small group pull-out meetings, advisory or mentoring programs, community youth group meetings, and classroom lessons delivered by the school counselor or other qualified community member, as well as lessons in which the guidance competencies are integrated within the academic curriculum.  Thus, guidance becomes a community responsibility rather than a solely the school counselor’s.

   Guidance Relationship:  In addition to the guidance curriculum, all students are involved in a guidance relationship with a caring adult who values education, understands educational and career development, and is able to negotiate the educational system on behalf of the student.  Some schools provide training to help parents fulfill this role.  Other schools provide programs such as teacher-advisor and community-mentor programs to compliment the guidance that is provided by parents.  The adult helps the student with educational and career planning and monitors the student’s progress in reaching his or her goals.  The adult also serves as a friendly listener who sincerely cares about the student and can serve as the student’s advocate at school.

   Accountability: The InSAI Guidance System includes two levels of accountability.  First, the system provides a means to evaluate student mastery of the defined guidance competencies.  Students participate in pre- and post- assessments, such as self-reports, multiple choice assessments, portfolios, and exhibitions, to determine their degree of mastery of the guidance competencies.  Second, since each school community designs their  local student guidance competencies to align with their school’s achievement goals, the guidance system becomes integrally linked with the mission of the school.  Therefore, student achievement data is monitored to determine the impact of the guidance system, along with other school improvement strategies, on student achievement and related variables such as attendance, discipline referrals and parent involvement.

THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF GUIDANCE:

        The National Education Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners, 1995, states in Goal 3 that “…every school in American will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our Nation’s modern economy."  Sound guidance is crucial to achieving the various aspects of this goal.  Traditionally, guidance has been defined as a position, and more recently, as a program based on competency statements.  The InSAI Guidance System integrally connects student guidance with raising student achievement and links it to the school’s achievement goals.  Through this system, guidance becomes the responsibility of the entire faculty and key community members.  The system provides a means for accountability through the assessment of student mastery of the guidance competencies and monitoring the impact of program activities upon educational achievement.  The Institute’s emphasis on guidance is key to raising student achievement due to its ripple effect on student choices, teacher convictions, effective teaching and supportive learning environment.  

        Sound Educational and Career Guidance:  Sound guidance includes

         Different student choices:  When students and their parents participate in sound educational and career guidance program,  they tend to make different choices in school.  Because sound guidance practices personalize education for the student, they tend to select a more rigorous curriculum and work harder in school.

   Increases in Teacher Expectations:  As students choose a more rigorous curriculum, teachers’ fundamental beliefs are often challenged.  On a survey given to InSAI participants during the 1998 summer Institute, one teacher wrote, “I had bought into the nonsense that some kids will fail.  All kids have gifts.  If they don’t show them, we’ve got to try again.”  Teachers must decide if they believe all students can learn, whether it is their obligation to teach all students, and whether they want to put forth the effort to teach all students.

    Changes in Educational Practice:  When teachers decide that all students can learn to high standards and commit to teaching all students, then find that the "same old way" of teaching is no longer suitable.  They begin to seek new ways of providing guidance, new ways of teaching, new ways to provide a productive learning environment, and new ways to raise expectations. The InSAI institute provides a document, InSAI Force Field Self-Study, to help schools examine each of these areas and select high leverage strategies. 

Increases in Student Achievement:  Student achievement tends to increase once the staff has implemented new and effective strategies.