Department Student Achievement

Indiana Indiana Department Student Achievement of Education Institute

To: Indiana School Counselors From: Matt Fleck, Academic & Career Specialist, Indiana Department of Education Sue Reynolds, Executive Director, Indiana Student Achievement Institute Re: 2008-09 Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Workshop Series

You are invited to participate in the 2008-09 Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Workshop Series sponsored by the Indiana Department of Education and the Indiana Student Achievement Institute.

School teams have TWO options for participating; 1) through a four-part workshop series in Indianapolis, or 2) through an online video series that may be completed during Professional Development (e.g. PBA) Days. Schools that choose either option will design and implement a comprehensive, developmental, and accountable school counseling program that meets the Indiana Program Standards for School Counseling upon which the Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Award is based. OPTION #1 – 2008-09 Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Workshop Series

Who Should School-community teams. It is strongly recommended that teams consist of two to six members since more Attend: fully represented teams are able to address school counseling from a variety of perspectives. Team members may be counselors, administrators, teachers, parents, and/or community members. The maximum number of members is six.

Dates: Teams must attend all four sessions. The one-day sessions will be held in September, November, February and April. Exact dates will be made available soon. Location: Indianapolis.

Times: 9:30 am – 3:30 pm Workshop Sue Reynolds, Executive Director, Indiana Student Achievement Institute (former National High School Presenters: Counselor of the Year as recognized by the American School Counselor Association). Bruce Ricklin, Director of Operations, Finance, and Human Resources, Indiana Student Achievement Institute CRU’s and Up to 45 CRU’s for 90 contact hours as indicated by an activity log Grad Credit: 2-3 graduate credits, Workshop in Education – School Reform, Indiana University. Deadline: May 9, 2008 for applications Cost: No cost (lunch on-your-own) School Schools will be selected from those submitting complete applications, with preference given to those who Selection have at least two team members, on a first-come, first served basis. Consideration will be given to building Criteria: level, geographic location, and school size.

OPTION #2 – 2008-09 Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Online Video Series

How to This series allows your school the flexibility to complete the Indiana Gold Star Counseling Workshop Participate: process during Professional Development days throughout the year. School teams will view guided video presentations to assist them as they develop their Indiana Gold Star School Counseling portfolio

Who Should As described in Option #1, team members may be counselors, administrators, teachers, parents, and/or Attend: community members.

Dates, Schools complete this workshop series at the school during Professional Development days. Times,

Presenter: Sue Reynolds, Executive Director, Indiana Student Achievement Institute

CRU’s and Up to 45 CRU’s and/or 2-3 IU Graduate credit hours Grad Credit:

Application May 9, 2008 Deadline:

Additional Information

What is Indiana Gold Star School Counseling? Indiana Gold Star School Counseling is a collection of initiatives aimed at providing a foundation upon which comprehensive, developmental, and accountable school counseling programs can emerge in Indiana’s schools. These initiatives include new licensing standards for school counselors, student standards for guidance (voluntary), program standards for school counseling (voluntary), new resources for counselors and students, and professional development opportunities for schools wishing to transform their school counseling program. Additional information about these initiatives can be found at www.asainstitute.org/goldstar.html Indiana PL 221: Gold Star School Counseling programs are designed to support the academic goals found in the local school improvement plan. In addition, school counseling programs can be designed to help address the strategies required by P.L. 221 including parental participation in the school, safe and disciplined learning environment, and activities to promote the Academic Honors Diploma and Core 40 curriculum (high school). ASCA National Standards and the ASCA National Model: Indiana Gold Star School Counseling aligns with both the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Standards and the new ASCA National Model. Schools implementing the Indiana Program Standards for School Counseling will meet ASCA’s expectations for both of these ASCA initiatives. Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Award: Schools implementing the Indiana Program Standards for School Counseling (addressed in the workshop series) may apply for recognition as an “Indiana Gold Star School Counseling School.” Schools will submit a portfolio and those meeting the Indiana Program Standards for School Counseling will be recognized at various state events. These schools will also receive a special logo to use on their school’s print materials.

Questions? Questions should be addressed to: Matt Fleck, Indiana Department of Education, [email protected] or 317-232-9172 Sue Reynolds, Indiana Student Achievement Institute, [email protected]

Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Workshop Series Sponsored by the Indiana Department of Education and Indiana Student Achievement Institute APPLICATION Deadline May 9, 2008

Submit completed application to: Select ONE Option: Matt Fleck – Gold Star Workshops Indiana Department of Education Option 1 – Workshop Series Room 229, State House, Indianapolis, IN 46204 Fax: 317-232-9121 Option 2 – Online Video Series

Questions to Matt Fleck: [email protected] or 317-232-9172 SCHOOL INFORMATION School Name School Address School Phone School Fax

TEAM INFORMATION (Teams are strongly recommended to have at least two members. Team members may be counselors, administrators, teachers, parents, and/or community members. The maximum number of members is six.)

NAME POSITION EMAIL Team Contact 1

2 3 4 5 6

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR TEAM CONTACT Home Address Home Phone Home Email

PRINCIPAL, IF NOT A TEAM MEMBER LISTED ABOVE Principals are required to attend the first training session of the Workshop Series only.

NAME POSITION EMAIL Principal 2008-2009 Indiana Gold Star School Counseling Workshop Series ASSURANCES

A. The school principal agrees that: 1. Sound school counseling programs can be designed to have a positive impact on student achievement objectives as defined in the local School Improvement and Achievement Plan for Indiana Public Law 221. 2. Sound school counseling programs can be designed to have a positive impact on the following required components of the local School Improvement and Achievement Plan for Indiana Public Law 221: a. Parental participation in the school b. Safe and disciplined learning environment c. Encouragement for the Academic Honors Diploma and Core 40 (high school) d. Attendance e. Cultural competency

B. The school principal agrees to: 1. Support the School Counseling Leadership Team as it works through the following steps designed to transform the existing school counseling program to a comprehensive, developmental, and accountable program: a. Create a School Counseling Advisory Council b. Create a vision for student success c. Collect, analyze, and establish data targets for the following types of data fields:  academic achievement data  student choice data (enrollment patterns, attendance, discipline referrals, etc.)  guidance indicator mastery data d. Analyze barriers to implementing a sound school counseling program and develop strategies to address those barriers. e. Design a comprehensive, developmental, and accountable school counseling system that meets local needs. f. Implement the transformed school counseling program 2. Allow team to attend each of the training sessions. Because the sessions are sequential and build on the activities of the previous session, it is important for the same team members to attend each session. Due to limited resources, teams attending the Workshop Series are limited to six members. 3. Attend the first training session of the Workshop Series with the School Counseling Leadership Team. 4. Provide time for the School Counseling Leadership Team to make one thirty-minute presentation to the faculty for the purpose of introducing the Indiana Gold Star School Counseling initiative. 5. Allow the School Counseling Leadership Team to conduct two surveys with the faculty regarding, a) the design of the school counseling program, and b) ways in which the faculty could give real-world applications to their academic content related to academic, career, and citizenship development. 6. Allow the School Counseling Leadership Team to conduct one survey with the student body (or in a large school, a representative sample of students) regarding student counseling needs and the current student mastery of targeted guidance indicators.

C. The Gold Star School Counseling Leadership Team agrees to: 1. Convene a broad-based School Counseling Advisory Council consisting of teachers, students, parents, business representatives, community members, and at least one building administrator. (Note: Schools may use an existing broad-based committee for this purpose.) 2. Facilitate eight meetings with the School Counseling Advisory Team (Eight monthly meetings are recommended for the first year. The process could also work with four longer meetings. After the first year, two meetings a year are recommended). 3. Complete tasks between training workshops. 4. Establish local school counseling goals and monitor data in the following areas:  academic achievement data  student choice data (enrollment patterns, attendance, discipline referrals)  guidance indicator mastery data 5. Follow ethical standards as published by the American School Counselor Association

______School Name Team Contact Signature Date Deadline May 9, 2008 ______Principal Signature Date