Through student comments, the counselor found which lessons were less interesting and made sure to present this information in the stakeholder information meeting. For example, the career exploration lesson on researching potential jobs was considered too easy by 8th grade students and they grew bored quickly. The school counselor decides to collaborate with teachers to create a career portfolio. This portfolio will allow these students to learn how to make a resume, apply for a job, write a cover letter, and learn how to have a successful job interview. In the personal/social domain, the students found the lesson on peer pressure to be an eye-opening experience. Working together to create a presentation on how to avoid peer pressure and allowed them to be as creative as they wished and learn that other students are experiencing the same dilemmas. In the academic domain, students responded well to the lesson on test preparation and their grades improved significantly as well. The school counseling lessons seemed to benefit all students in some way, but improvements can still be made in the future. The counselor could make sure all lessons are appropriate for the grade and developmental level of students. For instance, 6th grade students would benefit from forming appropriate study skills, but may not need the job shadowing lesson so early in their middle …show more content…
In order to evaluate it for effectiveness, the Accountability Bridge Model was utilized. This allowed for the counselor to determine what stakeholders needed from the program, provided a platform to implement it, and allowed for evaluation and further modifications as needed. Cymeric Middle School’s evaluation demonstrated a marked improvement in each identified area, but also revealed room to grow. Improvements can be made in making lessons appropriate for the developmental level of students. This method can be used to ensure that identified needs are being met and stakeholders remain an active part of the process. It also allows for creativity when designing future improvements, such as collaborating with teachers to incorporate the academic curriculum with the school counseling curriculum. Program evaluation allows all stakeholders to not only be aware of what the school counseling program is doing, but also have a say in making changes to strengthen students’