Action Plan Project

By Kira Thomas
 The ASCA model:
States Advocating for the success of every student is a key role of school counselors
and places them as leaders in promoting school reform...Advocacy involves
leadership,collaboration, and systemic change.
Demographic of students who was interviewed

All students were African American,lives in a low income family, receive government assistance, qualify
for free lunches, all had a Mental Disability.
Problem Description

Problem Description students state that the teachers focus on their disability instead of their individuality, the students that I interviewed had a major problem with the fact that
they were a limitation of what they can do. Teachers seem to always mention their disability instead of them being pushed to try new things. Students said that the advocacy
level of the counselors are weak and because of their disability and being in an inclusive classroom they are looked on to complete all assignments or to participate in sports.
Target Audience- Who will best implement the plan ?

School counselors
Administrators
Support staff
Social workers
Classroom Teachers
Principals
Parents
Strategies that can be developed to help students who needs extra support. GOALS

Teacher’s assistance, 1:1 support, paraprofessionals

Changing of class instructions
Peer –mediated instruction and intervention
Intervention/s
How do School counselors advocate and make the teachers not focus on
the students’ disabilities?

School counselors should always advocate for students and always keep the
student's best interest in mind. (Milisom, A. 2006)
School counselor should have a wide range of understanding when it comes to a
student disabilities capabilities, sex, race etc..(ASCA 2019)
School counselor can do workshop to educate teachers about various issues that
impact a student with disabilities.
School counselor should do more push in lessons and focus on the student that
needs extra support
Yes I discovered an issue related to social justice, I realized that the resources for special
education student is limited, and if parents and caregivers do not fight for the right for their
child/children and advocate for them they will be loss in the system of misconception and
judgmental analysis which has been put in place by people about student with a
disability.although the implementation of certain strategy such as 1;1 support, Teacher’s
assistance, 1:1 support, paraprofessionals, Changing of class instructions and Peer –
mediated instruction and intervention is useful that cannot be the end result for students who
need help, the fact that school counselors need to do more advocacy and put their degree to work
Problem is the lack of availability of student teachers relation and the fact that schools and
administration needs to get involved. Student has been left to fend for themselves in a world
where they are misunderstood and where not taught to be independent or to deal with being
treated like their disability.According to NEA today “Social justice is about distributing resources
fairly and treating all students equitably so that they feel safe and secure-physically and
psychologically (neaToday 2019).As stated by the interview student did not feel completely
secure in the school they believe that the school lack the proper resources to help them with
Conclusion

School counselor should focus on the area of change and work towards that this need to be done in order to establish an optimistic climate for student with a mental disability. In collaboration with stakeholders they can work in coherent to assist to organize school policies that convey appreciation for student uniqueness, high anticipation, and interest inequitable for all students. School counselor can generate the awareness of
administrators the significance of continued skills improvement for all school faculty in connection to working with students with disabilities. It does not matter how school counselor
Educate others about the special needs population it can be through direct services where they do a listen based on self-advocacy or by collaborating with teachers and other support staff. School counselor can assist students in formulating an appreciation week for student with a disabilities and apply applicable techniques for successfully interacting with them. Eventually, by communicating this would elevated probabilities and
delivering assistance. School counselors can encourage students to self-advocate and to comprehend to others that their disabilities should never get in the way of them reaching their highest potential.
References
Lashley, Carl A. and Stickl, Jaimie (2016) "Counselors and Principals: Collaborating to Improve Instructional Equity," Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://digitalcommons.gardner-
webb.edu/joel/vol2/iss1/6
Murawski, W. W. & Wilshinsky, N. (2005) Teaching Self-Determination to Early Elementary Students: Six-Year-Olds at the Wheel. TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus, 1(5) Article 3. Retrieved [date] from http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/tecplus/vol1/iss5/3

Bankston, C., & Caldas, S. (1996). Majority African American Schools and Social Injustice: The Influence of De Facto Segregation on Academic Achievement. Social Forces, 75(2), 535-555. doi:10.2307/2580412
Esther Katz, Luigi Girolametto. (2015) Peer-mediated intervention for preschoolers with ASD: Effects on responses and initiations. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 17:6, pages 565-576.
Milsom, A. (2006). Creating Positive School Experiences for Students with Disabilities. Professional School Counseling Journal , October 2006, 10(1), 66-72.
The Effects of School Support on School Engagement with Self-Determination as a Mediator in Students with Special Needs