Ruth Howard

Counseling Internship
Advocacy Project Part II
Advocacy Project Intervention Write-up
Vision Data: When coming up with my overall vision for this project, I utilized both school data
and results my needs assessment. School data used included both the enrollment summary and
the D and E list, a list which indicates students who are failing one or more of their classes
(they have either a D or an E grade in a given class or classes). When we examine this data,
it is clear that African American, Hispanic, and Multi-racial students are currently
overrepresented on the D and E list. We can look at this data in a couple different ways. First,
to put the current data in context, the break-down of the student population at JAMS, by
ethnicity, is as follows:
White: 51%
African American: 12.5%
Hispanic: 11.2%
Asian: 14.7%
Pacific Islander: .30%
American Indian: 1.1%
Multi-racial: 9.4%
With this in mind, the break-down of the D and E list, by ethnicity, is as follows:
White: 31.7%
African American: 30.8%
Hispanic: 18.3%
Asian: 4.2%
Pacific Islander: .8%
American Indian: 1.7%
Multi-racial: 12.5%
In addition, another useful way to look at the data, is by the percentage of students,
within each ethnic category, who are represented on the D and E list
White: 10.3 %
African American: 40.7%
Hispanic: 27.2

Asian: 4.7%
Pacific Islander: 50%
American Indian: 25%
Multi-racial: 22.1%
When examining this school data (and taking into consideration the size of the population of
each ethnic category), it is clear that African American, Hispanic, and Multi-Racial students are
disproportionately failing academically in comparison to White and Asian student groups. We
can see this in a couple different aspects of the data. First, when we compare the enrollment
summary to the D and E list, the percentages of African American, Hispanic, and Multi-Racial
students on the D and E list are much larger in comparison to the percentages that they
represent in the overall student population of JAMS. Second, when looking at the percentage of
students within each separate ethnic category, within the African American, Hispanic, and MultiRacial student populations, there is a much higher percentage of students who are academically
failing, in comparison to percentage of students who are failing within the White and Asian
student populations (ex., a little over 40 percent of African American students at JAMS are
failing one or more class, compared to about 10 percent of White students at JAMS who are
failing one or more class). I utilized this latter category of data to set goals of academic success
for specific student populations.
In this way, the vision data is targeted towards increasing the academic success of the
African American, Hispanic, and Multi-racial student populations through a decrease of the
number of students within each of these student populations who are failing (as indicated by the
D and E list). Specifically, by 2020 (5 years out) my goal is see no more than 5% (1 in 20
students) within each of the African American, Hispanic, and Multi-racial student populations at
JAMS on the D and E list. The yearly benchmarks for this decrease are as follows.

Yearly Benchmarks for decrease in percentage of students within the African American,
Hispanic, and Multi-racial populations who are failing one or more class as indicated by the D
and E list :
Current Data:
African American: 40.7 %
Hispanic: 27.2%
Multi-racial: 22.1%
2016:
African American: 30%
Hispanic: 20%
Multi-racial: 17%
2017:
African American: 22%
Hispanic: 15%
Multi-racial: 12%
2018:
African American: 15%
Hispanic: 11%
Multi-racial: 9%
2019:
African American: 10%
Hispanic: 7%
Multi-racial: 7%
2020:
African American: 5%
Hispanic: 5%
Multi-racial: 5%

Where and how to intervene:

When considering interventions for increasing the academic success of African
American, Hispanic, and Multi-racial students, it is necessary to consider all possible levels
where intervention can occur, especially since academic failure is not only something that occurs
for each individual student, but rather, also the result of an overall academic system and school
culture that is failing students of color. With this in mind, there are three different levels in which
we can look at for possible intervention: the micro-level (individual), meso-level
(school/community), macro-level (political).
Micro-level:

Individual counseling focused on academic success plans, as well as personal/social needs

(already happening)
Group counseling focused on academic, career, and personal/social needs.
Mentorship that provides role modeling, as well as support for academic, career, and
personal/social needs.

Meso-level:

Guidance Curriculum focusing on academic strategies and personal/social skills related to

academic success that is received by all students
Professional development focused on changing school culture and meeting the academic,
personal/social, and career needs of all students.
Role models in school for students of color: This can include a community of staff whose
ethnic composition better matches that of the schools student population, as well as all
school events such as guest speakers or career fairs that include role models for students of
color

Macro-level:

Advocacy for an academic system that better meets the needs of students of color
(changes in curriculum, standards, assessment, and discipline methods)
Advocacy that promotes high expectations for all students and equal access to rigorous
curriculum and college/career preparedness
Advocacy that promotes equal access to early childhood education and higher education
for students of color, with the long-term result of more people of color serving in higher
status roles as role models for students of color

Select Intervention:
I considered several aspects when determining a selection of where and how to intervene.
First, existing school data already shows a need for academic intervention among specific groups
of students (African American, Hispanic, and Multi-racial). It is also important to recognize that,
in the case of working to close the academic achievement gap, intervention on the individual
level is not effective or beneficial without intervention, in conjunction, that is on a systemic
level. With that said, I have used the existing school data to determine where to intervene.
Intervention efforts will occur both on the micro (individual) and meso (school) levels, and will
focus on increasing the academic achievement of African American, Hispanic, and Multi-racial
students. The needs assessment was used to further guide and direct how to focus efforts of these
interventions in a way that will be most useful for this particular population of students on both
the individual and school level. The needs assessment was implemented to a group of 6th grade
students (36 students) who were selected based on being on the D and E list during second
semester, while also not receiving any academic supports from SPED or ELL programs. The
needs assessment was focused on beliefs, skills, and knowledge surrounding several assets
determined, through discussion with a community partner, as important for academic success.
These assets of focus were: self-efficacy/locus of control, resilience, initiative/leadership,
emotional regulation, future orientation, and belonging. The survey was given using the
computer program Survey Monkey and during students advisory period. The results of the
survey implied a need for intervention focused on these specific skills and/or assets within these
two different areas:

Academic skills: self-management (focusing/listening, assignment completion/return)

and asking for help

Environmental/social factors: sense of belonging, sense of safety at school, and feeling

respected and valued at school.

Utilizing findings from both school and needs assessment data, I have selected interventions
that will address both academic skills (micro-level) as well as environmental factors (mesolevel). The first level of my intervention will be to implement an academic counseling group for
6th grade students who are academically struggling. Specifically, I will use a researched-based
curriculum, Student Success Skills, to address the need for developing certain academic and
social skills. I believe the Student Success Skills curriculum is a good fit for this group of
students, as it addresses the academic, social, and self-management skills that these students
indicated struggling with. In addition, the curriculum attempts to address environmental factors
through encouraging the development of supportive and caring classroom environments.
The second level of my intervention involves forming a partnership with community partners
that can be utilized in the future to address school-wide environmental factors. One of these
community partnerships is with, Tali Hairston, the director of Seattle Pacific Universitys (SPU)
John M. Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community Development.
Through this partnership, the school will be able to provide mentorship opportunities (through a
mentorship group) for individual students, as well school-wide professional development for
staff. The second community partnership is to bring guest speaker, Reggie Jones (an African
American former NFL player, author, educator, and motivational speaker) as a school-wide role
model for students to provide an event and experience for our school that includes and assembly,
as well as small-group mentorship for some selected students.
The steps to this advocacy project follow:

Use information from needs assessment to determine curriculum and focus for
academic counseling group intervention for 6th grade students who are academically
failing We will utilize Student Success Skills curriculum (Brigman and Web)

Select a group of students to receive intervention (determined by 6th grade students

who were on the D and E list both 1st and 2nd semester and who are not receiving other
academic supports from either SPED or ELL programs).

Give pre-evaluation to students receiving group intervention in order to determine

baseline of academic beliefs, skill, and knowledge, as well as discover contributing
factors to achievement gap

Implement academic group that utilizes Student Success Skills curriculum for
selected students
o Weekly for 6 weeks
o Co-facilitated with 6th grade counselor

Evaluate progress of students in academic group to determine effectiveness of

intervention, as well as further need for program adjustments. Progress will be measured
through:
o Post Student Evaluation related to skills and strategies taught in group
o Grades
o Teacher Report

In addition:
o Continue to meet with community partner (Tali Hairston: Director, SPUs
John M. Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community
Development) in order to develop memorandum of understanding to determine
aspects of future partnership, including scope of services to be provided,
responsibilities of school and community partner, and potential outcomes.
o Write a grant in order to gather the funds to bring a guest speaker/role
model (Reggie Jones: African American former NFL player, author, educator,
and motivational speaker) to provide an event and experience for our school that
includes all school assembly, small group break-out sessions, and hang out time
during lunch.