Safe at School: Feedback Needed

The American School Counselor Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the School Social Work Association of America are partnering with the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to gather important information about the climate of our schools and the preparation of school-based mental health and academic support personnel.  If you are not familiar with GLSEN, they are one of the leading organizations assisting schools in supporting the needs of sexual and gender minority youth.  Beyond this, they have a wealth of resources and curriculum to support educators and students in building safe and inclusive educational environments for all, and are strong advocates for creating bully-free schools.

Additionally, GLSEN does an amazing amount of research, examining everything from school climate as it relates to LGBT youth to the specific experiences of LGBT students of color.  One of their next projects is to examine the pre-professional and professional training of school counselors, school psychologists, and school social-workers with regards to creating safe and supportive environments for all students.  If you are a middle-school or high-school counselor, psychologist, or social-worker, please take 15 minutes and complete the survey at www.safeatschool.org.  The more school helping professionals that take this survey, the stronger the data will be and the better picture they will be able to paint of just where we stand in our profession with regards to this topic.

Please pass this survey on to the other mental health and academic support personnel in your building, and feel free to share this information through Facebook and Twitter.

The "Courage Gap"

Continuing with my love of all things public radio, I tuned in last week to one of my favorite programs, This American Life.  The episode was the first of two in which the TAL team visited Harper High School in Chicago, where last year 29 current and former students were involved in shootings.  29.  Very early on in the radio program, the host, Ira Glass, makes a profound statement.  Basically, he poses the question, if this had happened in a wealthier suburban school district and not in the South Side of Chicago, where Harper is located, would this not have received national media attention?  Would there not be an outcry of horror and calls for change?

This past week, here in the DC metro area, Prince George's County, Maryland, saw additional shootings of teenagers, bringing the total up to six killed in the last six months.  Six.  Now, we have had attention paid here and there have been responses and calls to action from amongst county leadership.  When asked about the shootings, the county public safety officer said, "The thing that keeps coming back is people just don't know how to deal with conflict." (source: www.washingtonpost.com)

College Board released their yearly report on Advanced Placement courses and test results.  While, overall, scores are up slightly, there are still large gaps by race and ethnicity.  Black and American-Indian students are still largely underrepresented amongst the whole population of students taking AP exams, and even more so amongst those students passing AP exams.

*****  

I recently attended a national conference for educators focused on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, and Allies (LGBTQIA) youth, put on by the Center for Excellence in School Counseling and Leadership (CESCaL).  The conference brought together educators and leaders from all around the country who shared best-practices for working with LGBTQIA young people in schools, to include program development, standards and policies, advocacy, and ethics.  Ever the planner and maximizer of my time (there may have been lists involved), I went to this conference with a very specific agenda--to gather information and see what others had down with regards to staff developments and policy for working with LGBTQIA students and families in schools.  I was a man on a mission.  In the first session I attended, put on by a speaker from Gender Spectrum,  as a group we were discussing situations that other participants were experiencing in their own schools.  One of the conference-goers brought forth a situation in which all of the best practices and policies were made known to school leadership, and they seemed to be sympathetic.  However, the school leadership was not choosing to act.  The presenter speculated that this might be because of several things, one of which was a "courage gap," meaning that there was a space between what the leadership knew and agreed was right to do and actually doing it, for fear of negative consequences and repercussions.  There was that one last leap that they simply could not take.

What is the role of courage in school counseling leadership?  In the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Model, 3rd edition, Dr. Anita Young writes:

"Once thought to be the job or administrators, advancing academic achievement, reducing barriers to learning and creating equitable learning environments are central priorities for school counselors...While there are many leadership characteristics and practices, utilizing effective school counselor leadership requires visionary thinking, challenging inequities, shared decision making, collaborative processing, modeling excellence, and a courageous stance." (American School Counselor Association, 2012, pg. 11)

Leadership is one of the prongs of the ASCA National Model, and thus of our profession.  As we develop comprehensive data-drive programs and become embedded within our school cultures, we have a real opportunity to help guide our schools to be more equitable for all students as well as create welcoming and inviting environments for everyone who walks through our doors.  Yet, I often feel that this point of the model is often the most difficult and challenging for school counselors.  We are a humble people, we school counselors.  Inherent within most of us is a desire to keep the peace, to broker compromise, and to keep the seas smooth versus making waves.  Our strong relationship-building skills allow us to do things like mediate between students, students and teachers, and help build consensus at committee meetings involving our school leadership.  Many of us do not like to stand up in the crowd and go against the grain.  However, part of our mission is to examine our schools and school systems as a whole, identify achievement gaps and areas of need, and then work to address these systemic issues.  Sometimes, in order to do this, we must be willing to speak out and advocate on behalf of what is best for students and to leverage our reputations and relationships to bring about policies and practices that either level the playing field or create safe spaces.

While I am no expert on leadership, I have learned through the years that we often mistake "managers" for "leaders."  What is the difference?  I believe it is this one piece, this final tip on the iceberg--courage.  Many school counselors have a vision, espouse a long-term strategy, hold to a set of core-beliefs, and possess strong skills with regards to their practice.  Additionally, they provide resources and even professional development to help bring others along and get everyone on the same page.  However, this is only the beginning.  You have a choice to make at this point--either you maintain the status-quo and "manage" what you already have in place day-to-day, year-to-year, or you begin to advocate for what your professional practice and data tell you is best for kids.  Courage and fear are yin-and-yang to each other--we cannot have one without the other.  To lead others through change is not for the faint of heart--it can have moments of great challenge, and can even involve risk to our professional and personal relationships, as well as our positions.  Yet, unless we are willing to truly serve as "leaders" versus "managers," we cannot ever really be the agents of change and advocates that our students and families need us to be.  This is no more real than in the school district of Anoka-Hennapin, which has received a great deal of attention in recent years do to a number of suicides of students who were bullied for their real or perceived LGBT orientation.  One of the middle school theater teachers, Jefferson Fietek, put his own job on the line in order speak up for policy change with regards to supporting LGBT students in the school district.  As I went from session to session at the CESCaL conference, I heard stories of other teachers, administrators, and school counselors who were putting themselves and their jobs in jeopardy every day by advocating for Gay-Straight Alliances within their schools or for policy changes that would make their buildings safer and more inclusive for LGBT students.  They possessed skills, the knowledge, and the resources to lead, but they also demonstrated their courage.

We can apply this to multiple situations in different schools around the country.  For example, because we have the pulse of the school, and because we are the connection between so many different stakeholders, as school counselors, we know first-hand what is happening in schools like Harper or in Prince George's County, MD.  We have opportunities to shine lights on what is happening with regards to young people dying in violent ways in order to garner support at higher levels to address this epidemic, to speak out until someone listens.   Additionally, we are trained in how to address conflict resolution, and can work with students, starting in the elementary schools, on building positive coping skills.  We can advocate for more resources with regards to social/emotional and grief supports.  We can help to build community between students, parents, neighbors, and law enforcement to try to develop webs of support both within and outside of the schools.  A colleague of mine on Twitter was asking what we could do about the inequalities that still exist in the Advanced Placement program around the country.  My answer: School Counselors.  Why?  Because we are positioned to lead.  We are the ones who academically advise our students, who help them map out the courses that they need to reach their post-secondary goals, and who encourage them and support them when they are taking rigorous and challenging courses.  We are the ones who can put our hands on course data, grades, and test scores, and identify areas of need and then advocate for support programs or changes in enrollment policies with teachers and administration to help encourage more minority students to take AP courses.  It is not enough for us to simply recognize these achievement gaps, we must also act to address them.  I am in no way implying we do all of these things alone--systemic change does not occur in a vacuum.  However, it may often be up to us to both determine where inequalities exist and then, using our relationship-building skills, lead others in addressing them.

Last year, I wrote about our responsibility as advocates and posed the question, "Who do you advocate for?"  This year, as I was working with a group of counseling interns last week on preparing for their upcoming interviews with school districts and schools, I said to them, "School counseling is not a career for everyone. It takes a special kind of person to do so much of the work that we do everyday."  And so, I ask you, do you possess the courage to lead?

The following work was cited as part of this piece:
American School Counselor Association (2012).  The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Third Edition.  Alexandria, VA: Author  

Day of Silence: April 19, 2013

Many schools participate in the annual Day of Silence.  If you're unfamiliar with exactly what it is:

"The Day of Silence is a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT." (source: www.dayofsilence.org) 

As a school counselor, you may be approached by students who would like to participate and need help navigating your particular school culture to determine how best to go about organizing.  You may be able to help support your school's Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) as they prepare for the the event.  Most importantly, you can show support to all of the students in your school as they take a day to reflect upon how members of the LGBT community often feel as if they have no voice due to anti-LGBT bullying and harassment.  You can do this by:

• Advocating for all students to be able to participate within your school
• Assisting student leaders with your school's approval process for creating an event during the school day
• Helping school administration and student leaders work together to determine how the event will work best in your school community
• Serving as a sounding board and support for students and staff as they prepare for, participate in, and reflect upon the event and its meaning
• Guiding school personnel and student leaders to resources and tools for the event

For more information and resources, check out the Day of Silence website, as well as the short videos below:

What's Your LGBT IQ?

A very interesting article appeared in the April 2012 Journal of Counseling & Development entitled, "Examining School Counseling Students' Multicultural and Sexual Orientation Competencies Through a Cross-Specialization Comparison."  (Biddell, 2012) That's a very long and wordy title, but basically the author studied the differences between community counselors and school counselors with regards to their knowledge on issues surrounding sexual orientation as well as the skills they have developed to support those who may identify as gay or lesbian.

The results were, at least in my mind, not surprising.  School counselors reported significantly lower  levels of multicultural and sexual orientation competencies as compared to those in community settings.  The author does point out some possible flaws in the study--small sample, not random, does not cover gender-identity, and the data is based on self-reporting. (Biddell, 2012)  However, as there have been very few studies on the topic of school counselor training and competence with regards to LGBT issues, it is certainly a starting-off point.  The author discusses some of the factors that he believes contribute to this lack of skill.  Schools are, generally, more conservative and under more public scrutiny than community counseling settings.  As such, teachers, counselors, and school staff can be made to fear for their jobs if they attempt to advocate for gay and lesbian students by such activities as sponsoring a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).  Further, while there is an expectation that counselor-education programs' multicultural courses cover sexual orientation, according to the author many programs and courses do not adequately prepare future school counselors to work with this subgroup.  For those programs that do devote trainings and classes to LGBT topics and skills, they tend to score higher on self-reported assessments of counselor competencies. (Biddell, 2012).

This certainly supports my own experiences in the field.  Northern Virginia is home to several strong, CACREP graduate programs in school counseling.  Yet, what I have heard from many colleagues is that this topic was left out or barely-covered in their programs.  Oftentimes there is simply only so much time in multicultural counseling courses and skills seminars, and coordinators and professors have to pick and choose what specific subgroups they may plan to cover.  I was at a conference this past year and attended a session about some of the latest research in counseling LGBT clients.  Afterwards, a director of a university counseling program began a discussion with the presenter about bringing them in, either in person or via webinar to do a similar presentation for the program's graduate students, as they currently did not have anything in the curriculum to cover that topic.  Thus, public schools are staffed with new school counselors who may have very little exposure and knowledge about working with LGBT students and families, or they have seasoned school counselors who have also never had training on this particular topic.  Why does this all matter?

There are several reasons why this knowledge gap needs to be filled in.  First, as I've written about here, and here, and here, students who either identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) or who are perceived as LGBT or gender-non-conforming are at a higher risk for being bullied, harassed, assaulted, for avoiding school, for lower-grades, and for dropping out (source: www.glsen.org).  If you have seen this video made by students in Illinois or watched as Kelby struggled with her Oklahoma school in the movie, Bully, you have some idea of what LGBT students face on a daily basis.  As school counselors, one of our primary missions, according to our national organization, the American School Counselor Association, is to remove barriers for students to academic success.  It is thus one of our missions to make sure that all of our students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, are able to feel safe in school so that instead of avoiding classes, students, and teachers who may harass and bully them, they are instead in classes with supportive adults and peers, focusing only on the academic material at hand.  Secondly, it is an ethical mandate of the American School Counselor Association.

From the preamble of the ethical code (addition of boldface is mine):

"Each person has the right to be respected, be treated with dignity and have access to a comprehensive school counseling program that advocates for and affirms all students from diverse populations including: ethnic/racial identity, age, economic status, abilities/ disabilities, language, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, family type, religious/spiritual identity and appearance." (source: www.schoolcounselor.org)

E.2.b:

"Develop competencies in how prejudice, power and various forms of oppression, such as ableism, ageism, classism, familyism, genderism, heterosexism, immigrationism, linguicism, racism, religionism, and sexism, affect self, students and all stakeholders." (source: www.schoolcounselor.org)

E.2.c:

"Acquire educational, consultation and training experiences to improve awareness, knowledge, skills and effectiveness in working with diverse populations: ethnic/racial status, age, economic status, special needs, ESL or ELL, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, family type, religious/spiritual identity and appearance." (source: www.schoolcounselor.org)

Thus, it is our professional responsibility as school counselors to serve and respect LGBT students, regardless of our own personal feelings and views on the topic of homosexuality and gender identity, and also to seek out professional development opportunities and education if we do not feel we possess the knowledge and skills necessary to adequately work with those students.  If you did not receive it in your graduate program, whether it was last year or 20 years ago, you should seek out opportunities to further your education on this topic.  Third, there are now legal implications for schools and school systems who are found to be unsupportive of LGBT students.  The Anoka-Hennapin school district in Minnesota recently settled a lawsuit concerning bullying and harassment of LGBT students.  This week the Hanover school district in Pennsylvania is in the spotlight because of alleged harassment of a gay student by a teacher.  The student's mother has not yet retained legal counsel, but she has enlisted the help of a local LGBT affirming group to support both her and her son through the situation.  Lastly, if you are in elementary school or middle school, you may be thinking to yourself that this is really only an issue for high-school counselors and their students.  Think again.  A recent study by GLSEN discusses the prevalence of bullying gender-non-conforming children in elementary schools as well as the sometimes unwelcoming environment same-sex parents find when they go into their child's school.  Further, various reports over the last couple of years state that more and more middle-school students are coming-out of the closet as gay or lesbian at earlier ages.  This is an topic that effects all school counselors at all stages of child development.

So, how do you begin to acquire this knowledge?:

• Read articles in professional publications.  ASCA won an award for their School Counselor magazine that focused on LGBT issues in schools.  ASCA also does the magazine, published three times a year, for many states.  The Spring edition was about bullying, and featured an article by yours truly on how homophobic language hurts all students--check out page 18 in the Kansas edition.   Counseling Today, the monthly magazine put out by the American Counseling Association, regularly features articles on LGBT issues in counseling.  You can also find articles about the topic on the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GSLEN) website.
• Attend conferences.  The national American School Counselor Association conference is coming up in June, and there are at least three LGBT specific sessions to be found.  Further, if you belong to your state school-counselor association, or any other local counseling chapters, there are bound to be conferences and professional developments about this topic.  If you are unable to find something on LGBT issues in schools, look for topics such as LGBT issues and children or adolescents, LGBT families, bullying and harassment, etc.  Any workshop that adds to your knowledge base of LGBT issues, in general, is only going to help your work with your students and families.
• Explore online options.  ASCA is doing a series of webinars.  One of them in February explored supporting LGBTQ youth, and one coming up in October will look specifically at creating a safe-and-supportive environment for all elementary school students, including those who are gender-non-conforming.  GLSEN also sponsors webinars on LGBT topics in schools and with youth.  I would also recommend taking a look at a class through Rutgers on LGBTQ topics in schools--it covers the basics and gets you thinking about how you would deal with certain situations in your own school and district.
• Ask for professional development in your school and/or district.  This may be something you have to feel out a bit, but if there are enough counselors in your school or district who feel this is a need, maybe it is time to have a discussion with your central office about getting a workshop.  Maybe you or someone else in your district has enough knowledge that you/they could present?  If not, you can look to GLSEN or Rutgers for some additional support in either having a training or having someone help you to develop your own training for your school. 

Anytime you can share an article with other professionals in your building--teachers, administrators--the more you also be educating your whole building on the issues pertaining to LGBT students and families.  If you do decide to do an online training or attend a conference session, see if you can get another counselor or principal in your building to attend with you.  Is it possible to get a whole-school training on the topic?  Given the prevalence of LGBT bullying and harassment in schools that is currently being portrayed in the media, now may be the time that you can get community buy-in to have some professional development on this topic.  Regardless, whether it is your whole school, a small group, or just you as an individual, it is important that all school counselors become familiar with the risk-factors present for LGBT students as well as best-practices for how to assist them.  If you have not yet dealt with this issue in your job, I can almost promise you that you will at some point.  When that time comes, it will benefit both you and the student/family if you have already gained knowledge, familiarity, and a certain level of comfort with this topic versus flying blind.  Further, by getting this information, you will be best able to lead your whole school community in ethically and properly supporting a middle school student who comes out of the closet, an elementary school student who was born a male but who identifies as female, or a gay high-school student who has special considerations when applying to colleges.  Thus, in the future, there is hope that studies will no longer show that school counselors lack competency to support these students as they move towards academic success.

The following article was sited within this blog post:
Bidell, M. (2012).  Examining school counseling students' multicultural and sexual orientation competencies through a cross-specialization comparison.  Journal of Counseling and Development 90, 200-207.

Don't Know Much About History? That May Be a Problem...

Growing up, I had some sort of bizarre dislike of "history" in school.  Mostly American history, actually.  I enjoyed studying European history, especially the Medieval and Renaissance periods.  I can, to this day, still remember how excited my AP European History teacher got during his lecture on Medieval torture devices--truly inspiring, if not a little concerning, in retrospect.  However, I just could not get into American history--all those plain, boring clothes.  All that walking and suffering through the mud.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that my father was working on his Ph.D in American History at that time and reading two to three books on the topic each week.  I was not a rebellious adolescent by any stretch of the imagination, but perhaps my avoidance was also my way of asserting independence and breaking away from the family system.  Something for fodder in some sort of future therapy, I am sure.

Anyways, needless to say, when I was interviewing for an honor's program at my eventual undergraduate institution during my senior year of high-school, I was asked by one of the panelists what my "least favorite" subject in school was.  I of course responded, "history," minus the discussion of the dismal fashions and unvarying scenery.  I then learned that the panelist who had asked the question was also the chair of the university's history department.  It's no wonder that in prepping my current students for college interviews, I stress the concept of "know your audience."

There are now quite a few years between these events of my past and my current life and experiences, and I am happy to say that my "history-phobia" is in remission, although I do still tend to mostly read books about Tudor and Elizabethan history when given a choice and time.  You are also probably wondering, by this point, "What does this have to do with school counseling?"

In the March, 2012 issue of Counseling Today, the lead article featured various counseling leaders discussing where they feel the profession of counseling is heading.  Dr. Courtland Lee, Professor of Counseling at the University of Maryland, had a response that truly resonated with me:

"It will be important, therefore, for the counseling profession as it is known in the United States to develop more of an international perspective on counseling and human development, given the sense of global interconnectedness that is emerging among mental health professionals....In addition, counselor training must stress the notion that what happens in one community in any part of the United States must be understood within this larger global context. More than ever, it will be crucial for counselors to be able to 'think globally and act locally.'" (source: ct.counseling.org)

He goes on to say:

"Global literacy implies an understanding of the contemporary world and how it has evolved over time. It encompasses important knowledge of cultural variations in areas such as geography, history, literature, politics, economics and principles of government." (source: ct.counseling.org)

We live in an ever more diverse society.  Not only is this born out in the latest census data, but most of us see it every single day in our schools.  Over the last several years, I have worked with students and families from Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Sierra Leone, China, Ukraine, Spain, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Bolivia, and I am sure there are others I am forgetting right at this very moment.  Further, our students are now able to connect with other students from across the globe in a matter of seconds.  As school counselors, we are uniquely situated to help lead the charge in helping our students to appreciate and respect the diversity within their school so that they are better able to collaborate with others on a global basis, a skill that is becoming essential in the modern world.  Additionally, we are the ones in schools who can be the most helpful in bridging the gap between mainstream American culture and the rich diverse cultures of our students and families from around the world.

However, we ourselves must first have an understanding of how different cultures function not only within themselves, but the history of their interactions with other cultures.  Further, we need to have an understanding of current events.  If a student arrives mid-year from Sierre Leone, it is important that you know there has been a history of conflict within that country.  It is important that you understand that there is the possibility of that student having witnessed or experienced trauma so that you can be on the lookout for any warning signs.  If you have a student who may be an illegal immigrant to the United States, it is important to know if there have been any pieces of legislation in your state or jurisdiction that would either hinder or help these student with regards to tuition and financial aid for college.  This information should always be used as one of many pieces to solving a puzzle, as each individual situation may be different.  Additionally, a tragic event in South Korea may not mean much to your general school population, but it could be devastating to your student who moved to the US from South Korea five years ago.  It is always important to meet each student where they are at, currently.  Having some background knowledge of a student's particular cultural context, though, can be extremely useful and help you to be more effective when you intervene.

We also serve as models and educators for appreciating, respecting, and collaborating with diversity for not only our students, but our faculty, staff, and families, as well.  Students are always curious and watch what the adults say and do within their buildings, and they do pick up on these cues.  If we take the time to mediate a conflict between students of differing cultural backgrounds and understandings, they will notice.  If we use language and design lessons that are inclusive of diversity, they will notice.  Moreover, if we show that we have some basic knowledge of history and current events, they will notice and see that knowing this information is important not only in history class, but in the world at large.

How can you keep abreast of current events and past historical events without having to go back and get another college degree?  Here are some tips:

• Read a newspaper once a week without skipping over international news.
• Listen to news radio, such as NPR, on your morning or evening commute.
• If you receive a student from another culture, do a quick skim of the Wikepedia page of their home country.  At registration ask the family what brings them to your school, what concerns they may have, what they would like for you to know about them and their child, and what additional information would help them to feel more comfortable.
• Have one-on-one conversations with your students of other cultures.  So often school counselors do not get to know their English Language Learners (ELL).  They are all our students.  This way you can get to know their own unique individual cultural perspective.
• Ask your history department chair for some international news blogs to follow.  There is one at Reuters, PBS, and MSNBC, for starters.  Again, skimming these blogs every couple of days will keep you up to date on what is happening globally.  Keep your eye out for events that happen in countries from which you know you have students.
• If something peaks your interest, grab a book about the topic and read about it.  The blog at History Today might be a great place to start, and you can always do a search on Amazon.

I truly believe that Dr. Lee is dead on with his prediction for the future of counseling.  The world seems to shrink each and every year.  We, as school counselors, can help to facilitate and smooth the changing landscape of our school populations and help to prepare all students to be more globally literate and culturally aware.  However, we must first start with ourselves.

Insuring Access to a Rigorous Curriculum

An article this week from the Ed Week blog talks about a study that was recently done in Florida which states that the students who accessed rigorous and challenging classes, especially in 9th and 10th grade, were more likely to graduate from high-school and also more likely to go to a four-year college or university.  Additionally:

"While most relationships were the same across demographic groups, Hispanic, African American and poor students experienced a slightly higher increase in high school graduation rates when they took a rigorous course by 10th grade." (source: http://www.edweek.org/)

The best preparation for students to both get into college and then be successful in college is the exposure to more advanced coursework, whether that be International Baccalaureate classes, Advanced Placement classes, or dual-enrollment, a way to take classes at a two or four year college and also receive high-school credit.  These classes emphasize not only content knowledge, but also higher-level reasoning, critical-thinking skills, creativity, and collaboration, all of which are key to success in college and in life.

There are concerns, though, about minority students having access to these higher-level courses.  For example, there was a school in Evanston, Illinois, where a teacher of honors' science classes stated that "out of 26, you might have three nonwhite students." (source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/)  Because we now live in an educational culture that looks at and examines data, we are able to see that there are often disproportionate numbers of African-American and Hispanic students in our advanced classes as compared to white students.  Organizations like College Board have noticed that minority populations are accessing courses such as Advanced Placement classes more and more, but that there is still a great deal of room to go.

Thus, one of the movements has been to close minority achievement gaps and to increase minority enrollment in advanced coursework.  This has led some school districts, including my own, to take a hard look at the curriculum and make some choices to encourage more students to take the higher level classes.  The school in Evanston mentioned above proposed eliminating the freshman honor's English course and instead having all 9th grade students take a humanities class together that would discuss art, literature, and philosophy, all with honors level rigor.  In my own neck of the woods, several years ago Fairfax County Public schools began to eliminate the "middle" level of core-classes (English, Social Studies, Science, and Math) and only leave two options: the regular level and the honors/AP/IB level.  As the article from Evanston discusses, there was a concern that students were being placed onto regular or advanced course tracks, and that once they were on one they could not easily move off.  Further, these tracks often fell along racial lines.  By eliminating the honors section or by taking away the middle option, the intention was that either all the students would be together, accessing a high-curriculum, or, in the case of Fairfax County, that with only two choices of level, more students would choose the higher one.  In our case, it worked.  Last school year:

"Greatest gains were made by underrepresented minority students, with Hispanic student AP enrollment increasing by 38.9 percent and Black student AP enrollment increasing by 14.5 percent." (source: http://www.fcps.edu/)

However, there is the counter argument that multiple levels of coursework are needed in order to be able to serve all students.  This last month the Fairfax County School Board voted to again offer the middle level of courses, the 'honors' level, so that students will typically have three choices in their core-classes for much of their high-school career.  The feeling was that you had a significant number of students who were not yet ready for the AP or IB level, yet who needed a more rigorous curriculum than the honor's level afforded.  Further, you had students who would try to balance multiple AP classes with a less rigorous course who found the only choice open to them was a regular class.  In Evanston, there was a great deal of concern that the top students would not learn all that they needed while waiting for other students to move forward.

I believe there are valid arguments on both sides--do I believe that it is a concern when advanced academic courses are culturally and racially disproportionate to the population of the school as a whole?  Yes, I believe we should want to change that.  However, I also had those students who took an AP class who would have perhaps benefited from a year at the honors level, and I had those students who took regular classes who really needed more challenge.  In the Fairfax County debate, I choose to believe that those on both sides really only had the best of intentions.  For my district, a decision has been made, but for myself and for all school counselors trying to help their students become college and career ready, how can we continue to insure that all of our students, including our minority students, have access to that rigorous curriculum that is shown to help them be successful?

• Find data tools to help you identify students who may be ready for the honors level curriculum.  For example, College Board has a program called AP Potential which, utilizing PSAT data, can help you to see which students in your building are ready for an AP class.  You can even use this information to help your school select which AP classes would be best to offer given your population.
• Use your academic advising sessions to find students areas of strength and interest.  In your conversations with students as they are signing up for classes, be on the lookout for areas that they have consistently done well in, say English, for example.  Maybe they are not ready in all their classes to take the higher level, but if there is just one area that they excel in, they can start small with an honors English course.  Further, if they are passionate about an area like psychology, their strong interest and love of that subject might help to motivate them to work through challenging reading, notes, and class discussions in an AP Psychology class.
• Work within your school to build supports.  This one is huge.  At my school, our AP Coordinator runs a mentoring group for any interested advanced academic students, but targeting our minority populations.  She includes summer institutes on study-skills and note-taking, as well as matching them up with a mentor who teaches advanced courses and who checks on them throughout the year.  At Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, they have run groups like The Cohort as a way to provide both academic and personal support to minority students to encourage and keep them in higher level classes.  If your school has AVID programs or College Partnerships, consider working with those leaders to help boost students into higher level courses as well as linking them to college and career success.  There are students who can do well in advanced classes if they have a little bit of help along the way.
• Emphasize study, note-taking, and test-taking skills at all levels.  Students are much more successful at these classes if they have a strong foundation.  These are lessons and groups that can be done in elementary, middle, and high school, and could also be coordinated with teachers on a school-wide level in all classes. 

No matter what classes your school or district offers, we, as school counselors, serve as advocates for all of our students.  We are the ones who sit with students and help them to select classes that will get them towards their goals--it is an important role. In getting our students college and career ready, we need to do our best to help them build up the academic skills necessary to be successful in their post-secondary options.  Exposure to advanced academic curriculum is one such way that we can directly help them meet those future challenges.

In the News: LGBT Issues in Counseling

It is becoming increasingly more difficult to avoid the topic of homosexuality and gay families in our schools.  As gay people and gay families with children become more visible in the mainstream media (take the award winning television show, Modern Family, for example) and as the bullying of students based on sexual orientation or gender identity continues to remain at the forefront of the national consciousness, school systems are beginning to consider how to address the topic.

As such, there was an in-depth article this weekend in the Washington Post that discussed how area school systems are beginning to implement curriculum that discusses homosexuality as well as gay families:

"Highly publicized teen suicides tied to anti-gay bullying have galvanized administrators to introduce tolerance and safety programs. These days, many openly gay and gay-friendly teenagers are bringing same-gender dates to the prom, putting on gay-themed school plays and creating gay-straight alliances. In elementary schools, a growing number of openly gay — and legally married — parents are also pushing for change. They want their families to be reflected in classroom discussions and on back-to school-night bulletin boards." (source: www.washingtonpost.com)

There are parents who are concerned about the topic coming up with students, especially in elementary school, out of a fear of "hypersexualizing" their children.  However, discussing gay relationships and gay families is no more about sex than discussing heterosexual relationships and heterosexual families.  In an increasingly more diverse and open society, school systems will need to look to address how best to serve gay students, gay parents, and their entire school communities to create a culture of inclusiveness, acceptance, and safety for all.  These kinds of initiatives start from the top down.  In a previous blog post I wrote about how teachers are ready and feel comfortable bringing this topic up within their schools--they feel they need additional support from school boards as well as central office staff in order to develop appropriate curriculum and set guidelines.

**********

Next, we have a story about Scott Lively, an anti-gay activist who also presides over a ministry in California.  He had the following to say about GLSEN and Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs):

Basically, he is stating that GLSEN and GSAs are out to recruit children to the homosexual lifestyle and that:

"...many of these kids, when you see the kids that get wrapped up in this, they're the misfits, for the most part, they're the kids that don't have friends in other places, they're chubby or they have a bunch of acne or they're socially awkward and then the Gay-Straight Alliance Club reaches out to these kids and brings them in and then they start adopting a gay identity." (source: www.rightwingwatch.org)

As a GSA co-sponsor, I can say with certainty that there is not a recruiting aspect in any way associated with the club.  In fact, one of the basic tenants of GSAs is that these groups be student-led and student-driven--the adults are meant to be supports as well as resources if the groups plan events or have questions about policies relating to student organizations/fundraisers/events.  They are not supposed to use the groups for their own agendas, the same as for any faculty sponsor of a school organization.  Secondly, GSAs have a wide diversity in their make-ups with students from all different cultures, backgrounds, and sexual orientations.  Are there lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth in GSAs?  Yes, but there are also many straight allies whose sexual orientation remains constant throughout their participation with the organization.  GSAs are built upon principles of openness and acceptance of all students.

Most importantly, these groups continue to serve as a support for students of all backgrounds, but especially for those who identify as LGBTQ.

"Having a Gay-Straight Alliance in school was related to more positive experiences for LGBT students, including: hearing fewer homophobic remarks, less victimization because of sexual orientation and gender expression, less absenteeism because of safety concerns and a greater sense of belonging to the school community." (source: www.glsen.org)

Given the current focus in our nation on bullying as well as the number of teen suicides attributed in part to harassment and bullying based on real or perceived sexual orientation (including another one this past week), these student clubs can help to connect students to each other for support, identify accepting faculty sponsors, and give them a meaningful connection to their school, all of which have been identified as markers for stronger levels of academic success.

**********

Finally, this New York Times article continues the conversation on whether it is ethical to dismiss counselors-in-training from graduate counseling programs if they refuse to work with LGBTQ clients for personal religious reasons.  I posted this article on Twitter (@CnslrDarrell) and have had excellent points made on both sides.  For consideration:

• Counselors are ethically bound to refer clients who are out of their scope of practice.  Would this qualify?
• Is the role of the counselor to affirm someone's actions or beliefs, or is it to facilitate the client being able to make whatever changes are necessary to achieve a "normal" level of functioning?
• Would it be acceptable to refer clients of other races because a counselor was not comfortable with him/her?  Is a homosexual client any different?
• How can you really screen completely for any issue that many go against your own personal beliefs and values?  As the article discusses, what a client walks in with as the presenting issue may not ultimately be what comes out after 5 or 6 sessions.  
• What about school counselors? You cannot typically refer your students and must ethically assist them with whatever needs may arise.  This includes students with gay parents and who themselves identify as LGBTQ. (source: www.nytimes.com)

I believe it comes down to a few things--harm to the client, for one.  A colleague on Twitter asked the question, "Is it more harmful to refer the client immediately, thus having them face rejection, or is it more harmful to have them work with a therapist who believes them to be 'wrong'?"  Harm either way, I believe.  Still, I wonder what many counselors believe when they enter the profession.  In an increasingly more diverse society, it is very unlikely that you are always going to be able to work with the "perfect" client who shares in your same beliefs and convictions.  It seems to me that the ethical mandates to develop strong multicultural skills (LGBTQ people are a culture) as well as the emphasis by CACREP to incorporate multiculturalism into almost every aspect of a program would dictate that counselors be prepared and willing to work with a wide swath of people.  Clients are going to make choices or live lifestyles that you may not agree with or would choose yourself.  I ultimately believe it is not our role to judge, but rather to help clients work towards goals that allow them to return to a high quality of life.   

No Name Calling Week: Video Retrospective

Last week was national "No Name Calling Week," a week where schools across America focus on the impact of words on students.  Oftentimes student groups, including Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs), will make videos to help get awareness out amongst their peers and in their communities.  Below is a sampling of the creativity from some wonderful young people to help combat bullying.

This next video is particularly poignant, as it comes from a GSA at a school in Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee is where a bill is currently moving through the legislature known as the "License to Bully" bill, very similar to one that was moving through Michigan a few months ago.:

"What this bill would do, if passed, would give students the ability to justify bullying their peers that are gay or perceived to be gay by pointing to a political or religious conviction." (source: www.huffingtonpost.com) 

Given the number of suicides attributed in part to anti-gay harassment and bullying across the country, what kind of message does legislation like this send?  This video, then, is doubly courageous.

New ACA Case Studies Book Offers Best Practices for LGBTQQI Clients

ACA has just published a new book of case studies, designed to help counselors think through and learn about working with LGBT clients--consider taking a look.

Diversity: Coming to a Neighborhood Near You

The cover story of Sunday's Washington Post is entitled "The New American Neighborhood," and details the changing demographics of the Washington D.C. area over the last 30 years.  The basic premise is that majority white neighborhoods are becoming a thing of the past, with more areas welcoming a mix of ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity.  This does not just apply to the city, but even to the far reaches of the suburbs of Loudoun County, Prince William County, and Montgomery County.  The county that I work in, Fairfax, is no exception.  You can read the full article here.

Additionally, the story discusses the way that children today are having different experiences than in past generations:

"The multiculturalism is shaping the way children interact in ways that even their older siblings did not experience.  When Lisette Pozo, 25, was in high school, most of her friends were Hispanic, like her. Her 12-year-old brother, Michael, hangs out with neighbors in Ashburn who are Middle Eastern and Indian. They have sampled his mother’s arroz con pollo and lomo saltado, and he has been to their houses for flat bread and chicken, and other spicy dishes whose names he doesn’t quite remember." (source:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/)

Children and students today, at least from my observations, have much more diverse groups of friends, and are more relaxed and willing to experience and learn more about their peers' cultural backgrounds.  In fact, it is projected that within the next 30 years, non-hispanic whites will be in the minority in the United States.  Across the country we can already see this transformation as the latest census data is made known. What does this mean for us as school counselors?

I happen to love working with diverse populations--I find people, in general, fascinating, and I enjoy learning about the cultures and backgrounds of my students and families.  In fact, the diversity of my school is one of the things that really spoke to me when I was in the interview process.  Hopefully, all counselors are now receiving some form of training in multicultural counseling--it was a strong component of my degree program.  It is important to develop an awareness and empathy for cultures other than your own and/or the dominant culture in the society, and at the same time avoid assigning broad labels to groups--this is one of the possible pitfalls of multicultural counseling. Rather, the strength of counseling from a multicultural perspective is that you are able to take each client, couple, or family and view them within their own unique culture.  That being said, please note that in the following paragraphs I am only speaking in general terms--every individual situation is different, and I do not propose any of them as more right or wrong than another.

In traditional American culture, for example, there is generally a strong belief in the rights of the individual to chart their own destiny, make their own decisions, and prioritize their own needs above the needs of the group or others.  An ailing mother may need her child to stay at home in order to help take care of her when he graduates from high school, but she may encourage him to leave and go away to college, working to make other arrangements to support herself when he is gone.  However, in some cultures, the needs of the family and the group are seen as being more important than those of the individual--it might be unheard of, in the same situation, for that child to go away to college leaving his mother to fend for herself.

Same situation, different cultural situations.  What do you, as a school counselor, do?

If the student is from the more individualized culture, it might be important to work with him on setting up ways to stay in touch with his mother on a regular basis, and on helping to connect him to resources in the area that might be able to assist.  You can work out an emergency plan with him in case his mother becomes truly debilitated.  You can help him to think about who is in the area that could also assist and check in with his mother so that she has people watching out for her on a regular basis.  Are there siblings?  Family friends?  Neighbors?  Can he work out a car-pooling system for regular visits home on the weekends?

In the case of the student who may be part of a culture that places a strong value on the family and the group, you might want to work with him on finding a pathway to college that would allow him to remain in his house.  Perhaps he needs to attend a university that is close to home?  Maybe he needs to take a reduced class load in order to help out with his mother's care?  Perhaps a two-year college is a good place for him to start with flexible class times so that he can share in the care of his mother with other family or siblings and still find time to begin his college education?

The place to start, though, is in confronting your own cultural biases.  If you read the above example and felt more sympathy with one scenario over the other, does that color your judgement when working with your students?  You probably are going to feel more comfortable with one path versus another--that is normal and to be expected.  Our own values are a part of who we are.  However, what is important is being aware of these predispositions so that you are able to prevent them from hindering your work with students and families who may have a different life-perspective.

There are many resources available to gain more skills in working from a multicultural perspective.  The Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development has resources available on their website, and the list of multicultural competencies is available on the ACA website.  If you are interested in reading further into working with diverse populations, I would recommend taking a look at two books.  The first is edited by one of the gurus of multicultural counseling, Courtland Lee at the University of Maryland, entitled Multicultural Issues in Counseling.   The second book is published by ASCA and is Multiculturalism and Diversity by Sharon Ravitch, Ph.D.  Both of these publications are filled with resources, strong research, and case studies.  Moreover, there may be classes, workshops, or in-services available through your school district, local universities, or professional organizations to help develop your multicultural counseling skills.