Data can provide administrators, parents, and other community stakeholders empirical evidence of the impact that school counselors are making on their students' academic and personal growth.  Through data collection, school counselors can monitor student progress, identify possible learning barriers, recognize inequities and advocate for change (ASCA, 2012). School counselors, therefore, must be able to collect, analyze and present data.

Examples of school counselor data include:

-standardized tests scores                                       -grade point averages

-drop out rates                                                             -attendance records

-suspension records                                                   -discipline referrals

Once counselors have a clear picture of their students abilities and needs, it is important to look at the school counseling program’s vision, mission, and goals and use data to determine if those goals are being met.  To better assess the program’s perfomance, counselors should review immediate data (e.g. evaluations from classroom lessons), intermediate data (e.g. student marking period grades), and long-term data (e.g. year-to-year graduation rates) (Dimmitt & Hatch, 2007) What does the data say? Are the counseling program goals reflective of student needs?  Have they been effective?  School counselors must use their data to answer these questions and modify their programs accordingly to meet the needs of their students.

School counselors can use data to pinpoint the inequities within their school and advocate for change to close potential achievement gaps (Holcomb-McCoy, 2007). Data comparisons with other schools and districts can help counselors identify effective strategies being used elsewhere. According to one study, educators who reviewed the successes of their neighboring schools felt that “if other schools can help students like theirs at high levels, so can they” (Armstrong & Anthes, 2001).

For more information on planning and using data, visit this North Carolina Public Schools data literacy reference page.

References

American School Counselor Association (2012).  The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Third Edition. Alexandria,

VA: Author.

Armstrong, J., & Anthes, K. (2001). How data can help. American School Board Journal, 188(11), 38-41.

Dimmitt, C., Carey, J. C., & Hatch, T. (2007). Evidence-based school counseling: Making a difference with data-driven practices. Corwin Press.

Holcomb-McCoy, C. (2007). School counseling to close the achievement gap: A social justice framework for success. Corwin Press.