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MEASURE 
M​ission, ​E​lement, ​A​nalyze, ​S​takeholders-​U​nite, ​R​esults, ​E​ducate 
A Six-Step Accountability Process for School Counselors 
 
Name and Address of School:​ ​LaVergne High School,​ ​250 Wolverine Trail, La Vergne, TN
37086 
 
Principal: ​Dirk Ash 
 
Name of Counselor(s) Leading the Initiative: ​Caitlin Robles, Kim Malcolm, Alicia 
Bonnington 
 
Enrollment: ​1912 
 
School Demographics:  
Caucasian/Non-Hispanic ​599  
African American ​561  
Hispanic ​586  
Asian/Pacific Islander ​86 
Native American ​3 
Multiracial 77   
Free/reduced lunch ​786   
English as Second Language ​233 
Exceptional Student Education/Special Education ​186  
 
STEP ONE:​ M​ISSION   
   
M​ission 
Your school or department’s mission statement is: 
  
The mission of the LaVergne High School Counseling Department is to support all students through
empowerment and advocacy, to challenge and prepare every student academically, and to
encourage student achievement through a comprehensive and data-driven school counseling
program. The counselors at LaVergne High School will meet the needs of each student by partnering
with parents, teachers, community leaders, and other stakeholders to provide support for academic,
social/emotional, and career and college readiness.  
 
STEP TWO: E​ ​LEMENT  
  
E​lement  
 
Element:​ ACT Scores for 1st​ ​ Generation College Students 
Baseline:​ Average ACT score of 16 
Goal​: Increase the average ACT score of these students to 20 
 
 
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STEP THREE:​ A​NALYZE   

   
 
A​nalyze the data element.   
You can use percentages, averages, raw scores, quartiles, or stanines. You can 
aggregate or disaggregate the data to better understand which students are meeting 
success. You can disaggregate by gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or 
in a multitude of ways to look at student groupings.  
 
The baseline data revealed: students whose parents/caregivers did not obtain a 
college degree have lower average scores (16) on the ACT than those whose 
parents/caregivers attended college. 
 
 
 
Race/Ethnicity  Average ACT Score 
Caucasian  23 
African American  17 
Latino  19 
Asian/Pacific Islander  25 
Native American  18 
Multi-Racial  22 
 
 
Gender Identity  Average ACT Score 
Female  20 
Male  20 
Gender Variant/Non-Conforming  19 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Grade Level  Average ACT Score 

Senior  23 
Junior  21 
Sophomore  17 
Freshman  16 
 
 
 
Parent/Guardian Education Background  Average ACT Score 
Parent/Guardian did not obtain a high school diploma  12 
or GED 
Parent/Guardian obtained a high school diploma or  14 
GED 
Parent/Guardian attended college but did not obtain a  17 
degree 
Parent/Guardian obtained a degree from a 4-year  20 
university 
Parent/Guardian received a Masters or Ph.D  24 
 
 
 
 
STEP FOUR:​ S​TAKEHOLDERS​-U​NITE 
S​TAKEHOLDERS​-U​NITE​ ​to develop strategies to impact the data element 
 
Beginning Date: September 2019 
Ending Date: February 2020 
S​takeholders   Strategies 
 
School counselor(s)  ▪ Early and at-risk interventions 
▪ Individual and parent/guardian 
conferences 
▪ Participated in small group 
counseling 
▪ Referrals to tutoring centers 
▪ Mentoring programs 
▪ Classroom guidance lessons 
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▪ Advocacy for systemic change 

(extra ACT vouchers for students) 
Administrator(s)  ▪ Time and funding provided to 
school counselors 
▪ Professional development 
opportunities for ACT prep 
Teachers   ▪ Parent conferences 
▪ Staff professional development 
meetings 
▪ Before- and after-school tutoring 
▪ Practice ACT standard essay 
writing (ELA) 
▪ Practice ACT standard math 
questions (Math) 
Students  ▪ Attend school regularly 
▪ Attend group counseling and 
conferences 
▪ Complete practice ACT 
assignments 
▪ Complete interventions 
Student organizations (clubs, teams,  ▪ Sponsored awareness activities 
etc.)  about ACT prep 
Parents  ▪ Attended parent conferences with 
teachers and counselors 
▪ Monitor attendance, grades, and 
ACT prep 
Parent-Teacher Associations  ▪ Assisted in creating a tutoring 
program 
School psychologists  ▪ Additional group and individual 
counseling to at-risk students 
Social workers   ▪ Provided references for parents and 
students to tutoring 
Community agency members  ▪ Individual support of students 
▪ Assisted in establishing a 
mentoring program 
Faith-based organizations  ▪ Hosted Saturday tutoring sessions 
Youth and community associations  ▪ Volunteered to help tutor students  
Colleges and universities  ▪ Hosted college sessions providing 
information about admission 
requirements 
Classroom teacher assistants  ▪ Monitored student progress 
Other support staff (front office,  ▪ Monitored student progress 
custodial, cafeteria, playground) 
School Improvement Team   ▪ Monitored student progress 
 
STEP FIVE:​ R​ESULTS  
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R​esults   
Restate your baseline data. State where your data are now. Did you meet your 
goal?  
 
Restate baseline data:​ Students whose parents/caregivers did not obtain a college 
degree have an average scores of 16 on the ACT while those whose 
parents/caregivers attended college have an average ACT score of 20.  
 
Results (data now):​ Students whose parents/caregivers did not obtain a college 
degree now have an average scores of 18 on the ACT. 
   
Met goal:​ Yes____ No _​X​___ 
 
 
Parent/Guardian Education Background  UPDATED 
Average ACT Score 
Parent/Guardian did not obtain a high school diploma  17 
or GED 
Parent/Guardian obtained a high school diploma or  19 
GED 
Parent/Guardian attended college but did not obtain a  20 
degree 
Parent/Guardian obtained a degree from a 4-year  20 
university 
Parent/Guardian received a Masters or Ph.D  24 
 
 
 
 
Questions to consider as you examine results and revise your MEASURE:   
Which strategies had a positive impact on the data? 
All of the strategies used had a positive impact on the data, especially the small 
group counseling conducted by the school counselors and individual/group tutoring 
completed by teachers and community organizations. 
 
Which strategies should be replaced, changed, or added?  
An increased amount of students in group counseling would help the amount of 
students reached. It would also be helpful to create a division of group work between 
students with various backgrounds within the group, such as students whose 
parents did not receive a high school degree or GED in one group. 
 
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Based on what you have learned, how will you revise Step Four, 
Stakeholders-Unite? 
Next year, we will reach out to more community organizations to provide volunteers 
and tutors to help at-risk students with ACT prep. We will also ask administration for 
more hours and money to be allotted to this initiative.  
 
How did your MEASURE contribute to systemic change(s) in your school and/or in 
your community?
Many of the students in this program have improved in other areas of their academic lives, including
grades and classroom behavior. Many teachers have reported that this has improved the environment
in their classrooms, thus creating an overall willingness to learn.
Students in other groups have all been reported as coming to tutoring sessions, which are open to all
students. This has created a community of students that are actively participating in ACT prep.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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STEP SIX:​ E​DUCATE 

 
LAVERGNE HIGH SCHOOL​ ​MEASURE OF SUCCESS 
Principal: ​Dirk Ash  
School Counselor(s): ​Caitlin Robles, Kim Malcolm, & Alicia Bonnington  
Enrollment: ​1912 
 
Principal’s Comment  Results 
Comparative Changes in ACT Scores
Preparing students for post-secondary life
is of utmost importance for us at LaVergne
High School and is an essential part of our
school’s mission. Our counselors worked
very hard over the last six months to
improve the average ACT score for
students with parents/guardians with some
college or below. They collaborated with
stakeholders, advocated with further
resources, and counseled at-risk students
to create a vast improvement in the data. DATA SUMMARY

School Counselor(s)’s Comment 

Although we did not meet the goal of
improving the average ACT score of our
students to 20, the improvement of many of
our students is substantial and
encouraging. As the school counseling
department continue this program next
year, we will continue to partner with
relevant stakeholders and will increase the Faces Behind the Data 
amount of partnerships with community
members. We will also create subgroups
A student approached a counselor after the
for small group counseling based on the
most recent ACT score results were posted:
variations within this group.
“Thank you for caring so much about making
Critical Data Element(s)  us do better. I just got a 23, and I couldn’t have
done it without you.”
Students whose parent/guardian did obtain
a high school diploma or GED, as well as
those with a high school diploma or GED,
saw an improvement of 5 points, while
those with a degree saw a 3 point increase.
From this data, it is evident that parents
with a background of high school or below
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showed a significant increase, while those

with parents with some college showed a
moderate increase. This suggests a divide
within the group for next year to
appropriately address each subgroups’
needs.

Systemic Changes 
Measurable results show an increase in
average ACT scores for students whose
parents/guardians have not received a
4-year college degree. It also created a
culture of preparation for high-stakes,
important tests.

Stakeholders Involved 
Counselor(s):​ Implemented early and
at-risk interventions; Conducted individual
and parent/guardian conferences;
Participated in small group counseling;
Referred students to tutoring centers; 
Placed students in mentoring 
programs; Conducted classroom 
guidance lessons; Advocated for 
additional ACT vouchers  
 
Administrator(s): ​Allotted time and
funding to school counselors for project;
created professional development
opportunities for ACT prep

Teachers: ​Hosted parent-teacher

conferences; Attended staff professional
development meetings; Conducted before-
and after-school tutoring; ELA teachers
provided practice ACT essay writing
lessons; Math teachers provided practice
ACT math lessons

Parents: ​Attended parent conferences with

teachers and counselors; Monitor
attendances, grades, and ACT prep
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Students: ​Attend school regularly; Attend

group counseling sessions and
conferences; Complete practice ACT
assignments; Complete interventions

Colleges and Universities: ​Hosted

college sessions providing information
about admission requirements

Business Partners:​ Assisted in

establishing a mentoring program; Assisted
in establishing a tutoring program;
Individual volunteer support of students

NOTE:​ The Educate step in MEASURE has been adapted with

permission from the Student Personnel Accountability Report
Card sponsored by the California Department of Education
and Los Angeles County Office of Education.