enhancing school achievement

Enhancing School Achievement Through Counseling

Course Description

CCEUS31 - Enhancing School Achievement Through Counseling. [10 contact hours] - [$50.00 - NO OTHER COURSE FEES APPLY]

School counselors have long needed effective strategies that will improve their role in enhancing student achievement at all costs. This course gives the counselor a working definition of student achievement within the context of Professional Learning Communities in the schools today and strategies to employ when students do not learn. With the current emphasis on getting students to achieve to their potential, the counselor must develop a role to assist the other segments of the school community to achieve goals of setting high expectations and attaining them. The counselor is a pivotal player in the student achievement effort in the school. This study emphasizes the Professional Learning Community [PLC] as a blueprint for school-wide and system-wide interventions to insure that all students who can learn, will learn. The work here answers the three burning questions about our schools: [1] What is it we want our students to learn? [2] How will we know when students have learned these skills? [3] Most importantly, how will we as professionals, respond when students experience initial difficulty so that counselors and teachers can build approaches to improving current levels of learning? Collaboration is the life blood of effective strategies to insure student learning and the counselor plays an integral role. All educators, including school counselors, need to lay down the debilitating effects of past priorities and share in the common efforts to insure learning for all in today's schools. The goal is to keep firmly in mind the dreams and aspirations of the children who come to school. The parents who send them there, and the teachers, counselors, and administrators who entered the profession to make a difference in the lives of students.

Course Directions

Click on the Course Directions page to read course procedures.

Course Outcomes

As a result of the work in the course the counselor/student will:

	understand where professionals need to concentrate their efforts to insure learning for all students.
	understand the role of the school counselor in this effort.
	discover the value of collaborative school teams and how they can enhance student achievement.
	develop a working understanding and definition of Professional Learning Communities.
	learn how Professional Learning Communities turn aspirations into action and visions into reality.
	accept that schools will be transformed into institutions of perpetual learning.
	understand the concept of "continuous improvement."
	know why schools will be evaluated on results rather than intentions.
	know what the three critical questions are that enable Professional Learning Communities to align their practices with a commitment for learning for all.
	discover what others have done when kids do not learn.
	know why learning should be the constant in this process.
	learn what is "counselor's watch."
	learn a variety of strategies that have been employed to enhance student learning.
	learn strategies to ensure smooth transition from middle to high school.
	discover strategies to provide extra time and support for students who experience difficulty.
	know what the "Pyramid of Intervention" is and how it can be used.
	learn how to eliminate or minimize barriers to implementation of a plan to enhance achievement in a school.
	become aware of a school system-wide approach that will enable educators and counselors in a Professional Learning Community to devise a plan and carry it out.
	become aware of some of the philosophical challenges to the systematic intervention for students.
	learn to move from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning.
	learn to move from working in isolation to working collaboratively.
	learn to move from focusing on activities to focusing on results.
	learn to move from fixed time to flexible time.
	learn to move from average learning to individual learning.
	learn to move from reactive to proactive.
	learn to move from teacher tell/student listen to teacher coaching/ student practices.
	learn to move from recognizing the elite to creating many winners.
	understand the concept of "short-term wins."
	discover new "learning for all" resources available to Professional Learning Communities.

Text [Required Reading To Be Prepared For The Exam]

Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn by Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Gayle Karhanek ISBN 1932127283 $16.47 (new) $16.46 (used) in The Bookstore .

Study Guide Questions

	How can professionals concentrate their efforts to insure learning for all students?
	What is the role of the school counselor in this effort?
	What is the value of collaborative school teams and how they can enhance student achievement?
	What is a Professional Learning Community?
	How do Professional Learning Communities turn aspirations into action and visions into reality?
	How can schools be transformed into institutions of perpetual learning?
	Define concept of "continuous improvement."
	How can schools be evaluated on results rather than intentions?
	What are the three critical questions are that enable Professional Learning Communities to align their practices with a commitment for learning for all?
	What have others done when kids do not learn?
	Why is learning the constant in this process?
	What is "counselor's watch?"
	What strategies that have been employed to enhance student learning?
	What strategies will ensure smooth transition from middle to high school?
	What strategies provide extra time and support for students who experience difficulty?
	What is the "Pyramid of Intervention" is and how it can be used?
	How CAN YOU eliminate or minimize barriers to implementation of a plan to enhance achievement in a school?
	What is a school system-wide approach that will enable educators and counselors in a Professional Learning Community to devise a plan and carry it out?
	What are some of the philosophical challenges to the systematic intervention for students?
	How can we move from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning?
	How can we move from working in isolation to working collaboratively?
	How can we move from focusing on activities to focusing on results?
	How can we move from fixed time to flexible time?
	How can we move from average learning to individual learning?
	How can we move from reactive to proactive?
	How can we move from teacher tell/student listen to teacher coaching/ student practices?
	How can we move from recognizing the elite to creating many winners?
	What is the concept of "short-term wins?"
	What are the new "learning for all" resources available to Professional Learning Communities?

Vocabulary

	Professional Learning Community
	collaboration
	Power of Collective Intelligence
	mission
	values
	goals
	vision
	collective inquiry
	action orientation
	continuous improvement
	results orientation
	intervention
	The Critical Question
	NCLB
	learning as a constant
	counselor watch
	proactive student registration
	summer study skills
	The Good Friend Program
	The Counselor Check-In Program
	Freshman Orientation
	Freshman Advisory
	Freshman Mentoring Program
	Co-Curricular Activities
	Student Support Team
	Mandatory Training Program
	Guided Study
	Mentor Program
	Team Time
	Spiraling Instruction
	Benchmark Testing
	Low expectations
	High expectations
	Parent workshops
	Peer Tutoring
	Save One Student
	Common Threads Of Improvement
	Stretch culture
	mission statement

Examination

The examination for this course is attached to this page. PRINT OUT THE EXAM. All examinations consist of both True-False and/or Multiple-Choice items with five answers. You must score 80% on the exam to gain the contact hours. When you have printed the exam, read each question carefully, choose the BEST answer and circle the letter of the answer you choose. Return the exam by mail to Dr. Budd A. Moore, Exam Scoring At CounselingCEUsOnline along with the signed Honor Pledge and a check or money order for $36.00 payable to Dr. Budd A. Moore. The exam and the honor pledge can also be faxed to our office at 1(717)597-2302; however, it will not be scored until the scoring fee is paid in full. When the fee and all of the materials are received, the exam will be scored within 48 hours. Results will be e-mailed to you as soon as they are available. A letter of congratulations, a certificate from CounselingCEUsOnline, and an official transcript will be mailed to you. Examinations will not be returned to the student. Records of your scores will be maintained by CounselingCEUsOnline and will be available for you for a $5.00 transcript fee.

Mail: Exams, CounselingCEUsOnline, 8864 Lorford Drive, Chambersburg, PA 17201-9335 OR

FAX: 1(717)597-2302

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