2023 Advisory Council at Troy High School

Yu Chu Chang

Chapman University

CSP618: Best Practice in Professional School Counseling

Professor Darwin Vega

Spring 2023
 Introduction: Background

An advisory council consists of multiple selected stakeholders such as administrations,

school counselors, school psychologists, teachers, students, and parents to review and advise the

school counseling program (American School Counselor Association, 2021). Through examining

program data, reviewing program goals, and identifying areas for improvement, the advisory

council helps stakeholders understand the roles of school counselors, allows the school

counseling team to reflect on their obligations and progress, and informs decision-making and

future directions. During the advisory council, stakeholders exchange opinions and provide

feedback on student outcome goals and results, working together to promote a data-driven

comprehensive school counseling program.

I chose to host an advisory council for my internship site, Troy High School, at Fullerton

Joint Union High School District. The school counseling program at Troy has never had an

advisory council meeting before due to the program's capacities and the lack of a structured data

collection system. When the idea of hosting an advisory council meeting was first brought up to

the school counselors, they were unsure about the procedures and how they could better support

me with the process.

Process Data Review

Although the school counseling team had never had similar experiences in the past, the

school counselors were very open to the idea and trusted me to lead the process. I decided to

consult with the lead counselor, Counselor S, at Troy to find out where the program was at and

the methods they had been using to collect program data. Counselor S shared that the team had

been having difficulty staying consistent in data collection and did not know how to provide me

with the information I needed. I suggested that I could list the data points that might be beneficial
to present during the advisory council (i.e., student workshop attendance, A-G completion rate,

pre/post data for classroom presentations, number of visits at the wellness space, etc.), and the

school counselors could share instructions on where and how to obtain the data. Thanks to the

counseling team’s help, I was able to identify lots of important data to analyze and showcase.

Since this was the Troy counseling program’s first advisory council meeting, Counselor S

suggested that we host the advisory council within our counseling department. Therefore, I

created a flyer and emailed the advisory council invitation to the school counselors, the school

counseling secretary, the guidance techs, and the school counseling interns (a total of 10 people

were invited).

Advisory Council Meeting

Summary of meeting

The advisory council was held on April 27th during the counseling department meeting.

The participants included five school counselors, two guidance techs, and one counseling

secretary. The presentation covered the purpose of the advisory council, the role of school

counselors, program goals and areas for improvement, program data and assessments, intern

progress, and implications. I first reviewed Troy’s Western Association of School and College

(WASC) action plan and highlighted the three areas for improvement, and then I utilized data to

determine if each area was aligned with the interventions implemented this school year. Using

program goals and areas of improvement identified in the past to guide data collection was

helpful as it emphasized the progress of a comprehensive school counseling program. On the

other hand, I presented the pre-/post-survey data from the lunchtime student workshops I hosted,

which also indicated remarkable student outcomes. Since the advisory council was held in April,

one of the biggest challenges I encountered was to access the data that were not yet available
(e.g., the latest student grade report, April workshop data, etc.). Therefore, if we decide to hold

an advisory council meeting again in the future, the date and time of the meeting should be

reconsidered.

Advisory council post-survey data

Six participants ended up completing the post-survey at the end of the meeting. The

following chart suggested that after the advisory council meeting, all the participants either

agreed or strongly agreed that they understood the progress of the counseling program, that the

purpose of the meeting was conveyed clearly, that the meeting was informative, and that they

would like to participate in more advisory council meetings in the future.

Regarding the areas of achievement and areas for improvement, some feedback provided

by the participants included:

Counseling secretary: “Letting people who attended the meeting know how their role

can help in specific areas.”

 School counselor V: “Access to better data would allow counseling program to better

determine how to support at-risk students with services to narrow

achievement gaps and support students social-emotionally.”

School counselor V: “The presenter did an exemplary job conveying the presenting

issues, the current program highlights, and offering insights on

potential areas of growth with specific actions and strategies.”

School counselor D: “I would love to have an advisory council. Also, data was great and

it made us aware of the information and what needs to change.”

Reflection on the Process

It was an invaluable experience to host an advisory council meeting at my school site.

Although the counseling team and myself were not familiar with the process at first, we were

able to collaborate effectively during the data collection stage and problem-solve using our

knowledge of ASCA and program planning. I was thrilled and grateful to find out that my

supervisor and the other school counselors were happy about the meeting outcomes and

considered making the advisory council meeting a recurring event. Because of all the positive

feedback I received from the advisory council, my supervisor even invited me to present again at

the administrative meeting at the end of the month. Seeing everyone’s work and efforts being

recognized makes me feel gratified and inspired. The services we provide in schools and

attempts made to help students thrive should not be hidden behind closed doors. Only when our

actions and initiatives are examined constantly can we reflect on our own practices, identify

areas for improvement, address issues, and have our hard work acknowledged by ourselves and

others. Going forward, I will continue to implement a data-driven comprehensive school

counseling program that emphasizes stakeholder collaboration and supports every student's
success.

References

American School Counselor Association. (2019). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for

School Counseling Programs, Fourth Edition, Alexandria, VA: Author.