What role do you believe a counselor should take in closing the achievement gap? Is this an issue strictly for teachers and administrators? What specific strategies could a counselor use to be a part of closing the achievement gap? Use information from the required reading (as well as other research you can find), but also try to be creative and think of a strategy in addition to the ones you have read. Locate, read, and cite at least three journal articles in your response to these assignments. The primary role counselors should take in closing the achievement gap begins first by becoming proactive prevention experts. Low-income students benefit from what schools offer while other students have the luxury of advantages offered in the home. Counselors’ role is to ensure each student graduate with the required skills to succeed in the everyday world. Majority of the skills may not be from tests or assessments but from everyday life skills and social competence. These skills will not only benefit the current students but will assist generations to come by installing parental values in current students. I believe that counselors must introduce programs with interventions that focus around racial-ethnic and socioeconomic students in their existing environment. Achievement gaps in schools across America impinge on racial-ethnic and socioeconomic status groups. For generations school systems focus on improving the achievement gaps for low-income and minority students. Statistics have provided evidenced that the school systems made enormous progress between 1970 and 1988, but came to a halt thereafter. Presently in the 20th century the gap has widened and the need for improvement is challenging for the school administr... ... middle of paper ... ...and the problems that surface. Rapport is an important tool that allows counselors to gain trust, which aid in breaking barriers that hinder the success of the students. The goal is to assist students with reaching their education and person aspirations. Counselors are open-minded and do not pass judgment verbally or physically at anytime while assisting students. Prejudging minimizes responses from distressed or problematic students. Giving advice and assistance should not be based on counselors’ personal opinion. Good counselors will refrain from bias and therefore communicate effective skills to empower students. Counselor should become listeners, observers, and advisers. To make a long story short utilizing good counseling techniques will progress students self confidence and independence. Once a student is empowered they will see growth within his/herself.
The gap between the nation’s best and worst public schools continues to grow. Our country is based on freedom and equality for all, yet in practice and in the spectrum of education this is rarely the case. We do not even have to step further than our own city and its public school system, which many media outlets have labeled “dysfunctional” and “in shambles.” At the same time, Montgomery County, located just northwest of the District in suburban Maryland, stands as one of the top school systems in the country. Within each of these systems, there are schools that excel and there are schools that consistently measure below average. Money alone can not erase this gap. While increased spending may help, the real problem is often rooted in the complex issues of social, cultural, and economic differences. When combined with factors involving the school itself and the institution that supports it, we arrive at what has been widely known as the divide between the suburban and urban schools. Can anything actually be done to reverse this apparent trend of inequality or are the outside factors too powerful to change?
There are a lot of people giving efforts on closing the gap so all children have equal opportunity to be the best the can in the classroom. School reformers have been focusing on evidence showing that high quality teachers and schools have been helping to close the gap. Most of these efforts have come far short of closing the gap completely and they don’t address how to deal with the growing divide between the middle and top class. Even though we have found ways to help with this gap we still have a long way to go before there is equal opportunities for
The compressive school programs are driven by student data and are based on academic, career, and personal/ social development. The programs are collaborating between the counselor, parents, and many other educators to create an environment that promotes student excellences (ASCA, 2016). A productive school counselor will focus on their skills, time and energy on direct and indirect services to all students. Therefore, to achieve those goals, the ASCA recommends that a school counselor should not have more than 250 students and that 80 percent or more of a counselor’s time in direct and indirect services. As a result, we will focus on the delivery of those services.
The first issue that has been identified as a significant problem involved in the Achievement gap, is that it is partially the fault of America's educational system. Because of the suffering economy that has spurred the increasing lack of basic necessities in schools across America, there are an increasing number of children who are not being properly educated. Whether it is a deficiency in supplies, poor teacher selection, or administration and staff who are indifferent to the students at their sch...
Many people believe that urban schools are failing to educate all of the students they serve, but in reality, they are only failing a portion of them. Reports and observations give off the perception that these schools students achieve less, retain less material and the student’s success after the schooling process is over, is low. Some of the students are failing because they are lacking things like school readiness, a basic understanding of the English language or simply because they are not engaged. Schools need to find a way to incorporate each student in their own education and not forget about those who are struggling. Academic success hinges on many different factors that the families, students and schools are all responsible for helping.
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
The Achievement has been a reoccurring issue for many years within the education system. Achievement gaps refers to the academic performance within a set of students. The most vital indicators pertaining to the achievement gap is reviewing standardized tests, course selection, dropout rates, and college completion rates (Morris 227). This issue has been reoccurring because of the various attempts of reforms to close the gap. Some of the reforms to decrease the gap is “No child left behind act 2001”, recovery act, P-12 reform, and many more. It can be argued that these first reforms changed the education system to any extent. However it is evitable to find the most successful reform for the United States increase economically. Which is why this topic is important for North Carolina. The achievement gap is sustainably defined by the differences among not only racial groups but subgroups as well.
This article identifies several special characteristics of children that require adaptations of adult effective counseling skills. This article also offers modifications of basic skills to make them more applicable to the needs of children. Next, addressing children’s special characteristics on counseling is discussed. Building trust in the relationship, maintaining a facilitative counselor, and using questions appropriately is discussed in full detail. This article is targeting counselors, parents, and children.
Many people around the world believe that education is fundamental to achieving equality and economic opportunity. A high school diploma and a college degree ensure better jobs and higher income. In recent decades, the importance of literacy skills has become more vital than ever but schools still have many deficiencies. The measures of student performance are on the rise but, many of our youth fall short of graduating high school. Public opinion agrees that changes must be made but have not come to an agreement of what exactly the solution to the problems is. Equal school funding is at the top of my list when it comes to poverty and inequality in the school system. Although schools are educating more young people than ever before, their deficit of funds and programs hinder them from meeting the needs of an array of students.
When I think about closing the academic achievement gap the first thing that comes to mind is which group of students is having a difficult time and the group of students that is succeeding. Once I figure that out it is now my job to come up with ways I can close the gap between the two groups of students. Over time our history has shown us that minority students has had the hardest time keeping up with Caucasian students. There are a few factors that play into this. One of the factors is that some public schools have a low expectation for minority students especially African American children. It is time for the public education system to do something about
Rothman, Robert. "Closing the Achievement Gap: How Schools Are Making It Happen." Journal of the Annenberg Challenge. 5.2 (2002): Print.
...ory within counseling. (1) It helps counselors find unity and relatedness within the diversity of existence. (2) It compels counselors to examine relationships they would have otherwise ovelerlooked. (3) It gives counselors operational guidelines by which to work and helps them evaluate their development as professionals. (4) It helps counselors focus on relevant information and tells them what to look for. (5) It helps counselors assist clients in the effective modification of their behavior, cognitions, emotional functioning and interpersonal relationships. (6) Lastly, it helps counselors evaluate both old and new approaches to the process of counseling.
The achievement gap in education is the difference in academic performance between groups of students. The achievement gap is most commonly found in grades, test scores, course selection, and dropout rates both in high school and college. It is most often used to describe the troubling performance gaps between African-Americans, Hispanic students, and their Caucasians counterparts. It also measures the academic difference between students from low-income families and those who are better off. In the past fourteen years, policymakers have begun to focus their attention on how to reduce the achievement gap.
As I read this chapter, I begin to see how important it is to be an effective counselor. It is like anything else that we do, it takes practice and the awareness of what works and what doesn’t work depending
In education, when referring to the difference in performance between groups of students, often the phrase “achievement gap” is used rather than the more appropriate term, opportunity gap. The term ‘achievement gap’ further exemplifies the way society chooses to narrate this issue. This opportunity gap shows up in grades, course selection, standardized-test scores, dropout rate, and college-completion rates, amongst other success measures. A lot of the time the main focus is simply on the gap itself, and the conversation behind the cause of this is missing. They don’t want to talk about poverty or segregation, only about test score gaps. Despite politicians trying to address this issue by enacting policies such as the No Child Left Behind