Northwood High School

COUNSELING PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORT

prepared by Boon Khang | Fall 2020

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY "For the good

Northwood High School students, on average,
outperform their counterparts across California when it
comes to graduation rates and college/career
preparedness. This is a positive indication that the
support systems and comprehensive resources provided
by the school and counseling department are beneficial
and effective. Because Northwood students are doing
very well overall, it could be easy to overlook smaller
groups in the student population who may be
underperforming. This evaluation report examines
existing data on two minority populations at Northwood
High School to evaluate whether they are achieving
similar outcomes as their peers. Disaggregated data on
graduation rates and college/career preparedness rates
for socioeconomically disadvantaged students and
students with disabilities is the baseline in this
evaluation to determine whether these two specific
groups of students could benefit from additional
targeted counseling services. This report utilizes data
from the California School Dashboard and
supplemental information obtained through the school
counseling department at Northwood High School. The
data indicates some disparities between these two
minority groups and the general student population. An
analysis of the data is provided and recommendations
are suggested.
of the pack"
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary.....................................1
Mission Statement........................................1
Introduction....................................................2
Purpose of the Evaluation.............................2
Audience for the report...................................2
Limitations of the Evaluation......................2
Overview of Report..............................................2
Focus of the Evaluation..............................3
Description of the Program..........................3
Evaluation Questions.........................................3
Information Needed to complete the
Evaluation...................................................................3
Overview of Evaluation Plan and
Procedures.....................................................4
Presentation of Evaluation Results........5
Summary & Interpretation of
Findings...................................................................5-6
Conclusion and Recommendations.......7
References......................................................8
Appendix A: Logic Model...........................9

MISSION STATEMENT
Our mission is to provide a comprehensive, coordinated
counseling program addressing the academic, college/career,
personal and social development of all students.
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 COUNSELING PROGRAM EVALUATION REPORT

INTRODUCTION
PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION
The counseling program at Northwood High School serves a predominantly middle- and
upper middle-class community with very few students who have a disability, are low-
income, are homeless, are foster youth, are English Language Learners, or are of a minority
ethnic background other than Asian. As such this evaluation intends to examine more in-
depth the outcomes of students who do not fall within the scope of the majority
population. The purpose of this evaluation is to determine whether there is a need to
implement targeted interventions and additional counseling services to support specific
minority populations at Northwood High School. This evaluation report provides a closer
look into the achievements of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and students with
disabilities. Though the focus of this report is on only two minority groups, the secondary
purpose of this evaluation is to initiate an effort to examine the effectiveness of the
comprehensive counseling program for all minority groups.

AUDIENCE FOR THE REPORT

The intended audience of this report is the counseling department, the administrative
team, the teachers, and all support staff at Northwood High School. The emphasis of this
evaluation is related to the school counseling program, but the entire staff plays a crucial
role in ensuring that all students are receiving appropriate and equitable supports and
services.

LIMITATIONS OF THE EVALUATION

A major limitation of this evaluation is the timing in which it took place. Due to the COVID-
19 pandemic, there was very limited access to students, teachers, and other staff. As a result,
data could not be gathered directly from any individuals who were part of the focus of this
evaluation. Data used was limited to what was already available and, unfortunately, it did
not include data from the most recent year, 2020.

OVERVIEW OF THE REPORT

This report begins with a description of the counseling program in order to provide context
for the evaluation. Next it presents two evaluation questions and details the procedures
used to gather information and data. Evaluation results are shared through a summary of
the findings and an interpretation of the data. To conclude, the report suggests possible
implications of the data and recommendations for next steps.

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FOCUS OF THE EVALUATION

DESCRIPTION AND CONTEXT OF THE PROGRAM
The comprehensive school counseling program serves over 2,000 9th-12th grade students
at Northwood High School. The program’s initiatives include advocating for all students,
believing that every student can achieve their maximum potential, and ensuring that all
students have access to the skills and knowledge necessary to become productive and
successful members of society. The counseling program comprises many components such
as professional staff, physical school space, technology, time, etc. An overview of the
counseling program's components, activities, and outcomes is provided in the form of a
logic model at the end of this report in Appendix A.

Based on data from the California Department of Education (2020) via the California School
Dashboard, in 2019 Northwood High School had a student population of 2,195 students with
1 students identified as homeless, 180 as English Language Learners, 133 as students with
disabilities, and 344 as socioeconomically disadvantaged. In addition, Figure 1 below shows a
visual breakdown of the student population by race/ethnicity.

Figure 1: Student Population by Race/Ethnicity EVALUATION QUESTIONS

This evaluation focuses on answering the
two following questions:
1. Are Socioeconomically disadvantaged
students graduating and becoming
college/career ready at an equivalent
rate as the general student population?
2. Are student with disabilities
completing high school and prepared
for post-secondary college/career
transition at a rate proportionate to the
general student population?

INFORMATION NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE EVALUATION

The information needed to complete this evaluation consists of the following:
Data for socioeconomically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and the
overall student population (obtained from the California School Dashboard)
graduation rates & college/career preparedness rates for the 3 most recent years
Supplemental data and information from school counselors and other related staff

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OVERVIEW OF EVALUATION PLAN AND PROCEDURES

Two evaluation questions were selected to guide the direction of the evaluation process.
These questions are intended to target areas where a gap or disparity could potentially exist.
As such, the evaluation questions focus on two distinct student populations. The table
below provides a breakdown of the steps and rationale for selecting each question and the
plan to carry out the evaluation.
Evaluation Information Collection and Analysis Worksheet

The most appropriate evaluation Procedure for Conducting the Evaluation

design during this time was the
time-series design because it uses
existing data. This design allows the
opportunity to examine data over a
period of time in order to observe for
trends, patterns, or disparities that
may exist between the different
students groups.

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PRESENTATION OF EVALUATION RESULTS

The data used in the this evaluation came from the California School Dashboard database
published by the California Department of Education (2020). Data for the graduating class
of 2020 was not yet published, therefore, this evaluation utilized data from the most recent
3 years that were available: 2019, 2018, & 2017.

SUMMARY & INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS

The following trends and disparities emerged from a thorough analysis of graduation rates
and college/career preparedness rates from 2019, 2018. and 2017:
Socioeconomically disadvantaged students & students with disabilities consistently
graduated at a lower rate than the general student population.
Socioeconomically disadvantaged students & students with disabilities consistently had
a lower rate of college/career preparedness than the general student population
Both of these groups had a significantly larger margin of students who graduated but
were not college/career prepared compared to the general student population.

Figure 2 below shows that socioeconomically disadvantage students have just a slightly
lower graduation rate (averaging 2.1% lower) than the general student population, but for
students with disabilities, the graduation rate is drastically lower (averaging 23.9 % lower).

Figure 2: High School Graduation Rate by Year and Student Group

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Figure 3 below shows that socioeconomically disadvantage students and students with
disabilities consistently had a lower college/career preparedness rate than the general
student population (averaging a 15.7% lower rate and a 47% lower rate respectively).
Figure 3: College/Career Preparedness Rate by Year and Student Group

Figure 4: Comparing Graduation rates & College/Career Figure 4 on the left shows that
Preparedness Rate Across Groups
while 96.4% of all students
graduated in 2019, only 77.8%
of all students were college/
career prepared (a difference of
18.6%). For socioeconomically
disadvantaged students and
students with disabilities, this
margin is significantly larger (at
a 35.5% difference and 46.9%
difference respectively). This
indicates that a significant
percentage of students in
these 2 groups are graduating
but are still not college/career
prepared.

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSION
Overall, students at Northwood High School are high achievers. They outperform in
graduation rate and college/career preparedness rate when compared to the state average.
As a whole, the school is doing very well and the counseling program is providing
comprehensive support for all students. However, even though Northwood High School has
an impressive track record of high achievement, there can still be many opportunities for
improvement. The results of this evaluation conclude that there is a disparity between the
graduation and college/career preparedness rates of the overall student population,
socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and student with disabilities. Comparing data
between the overall student population and these small subgroups helps to only determine
whether a disparity exists, but does not provide conclusive evidence about why the disparity
exists. This serves as a good starting point in an effort to begin identifying specific areas of
services that could and should be reevaluated by the counseling department.

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Administer targeted needs assessments to socioeconomically disadvantaged students
and students with disabilities. This could help identify the unique and specific needs of
these two populations and produce valuable data to guide the implementation of services
aimed at improving graduation rates and college/career preparedness.

2. In a future evaluation, when conditions permit, utilize a descriptive case study design in
order to examine specific students more closely. This could help counselors gain a deeper
understanding of factors impacting achievement and outcomes among socioeconomically
disadvantaged students and students with disabilities.

3. Plan with minority students in mind to ensure that the services meant to reach all
students are actually accessible and equally effective for all students.

4. Collect and analyze similar disaggregated data for other minority student populations to
determine whether disparities in achievement exist in among other groups as well.

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REFERENCES

California Department of Education. (2020). California School Dashboard. Retrieved

November 2020 from https://www.caschooldashboard.org/

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APPENDIX A: LOGIC MODEL

Northwood High School Counseling Program Logic Model