April 27, 2006

Irvington HS counselor Deborah Hardy

With rising caseloads, ever-changing curricular and graduation requirements, parental pressure, and more complex social issues, you'd think districts would be adding school counselors.

Instead, it's just the opposite, with budgetary pressures blamed as more districts cut non-mandated counselor positions. The statewide ratio of students to counselors grew from 399-to-1 to 445-to-1 in 2003-04, according to statistics from the American School Counselor Association.

It's closer to 500-to-1 this year, more than twice the ratio recommended by the profession.

"Our pupil support personnel provide essential student services," NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi said. "Districts should be increasing their ranks — not making their jobs even harder."

Just ask concerned parents and students in Yonkers , where 44 percent of the school counselors, social workers and psychologists have lost their jobs in the last three years.

The fallout was so bad last school year that seniors at one high school — where the student to counselor ratio was reportedly 1,000-to-1 — staged a walkout.

Thanks to community pressure and a partial bailout from Albany , some staff were returned, but it's still a skeletal support system. "The children are literally crying out for help," said Deb Collier, vice president for special areas at the Yonkers Federation of Teachers. "What's especially frustrating is that so many of the problems could be taken care of quickly if there were proper intervention. Instead, the children's needs are not being met and little problems turn into big ones."

Collier, who prepares special education annual reviews, spoke of a first-grade child who was school-phobic. "She missed 44 days before there was any intervention," Collier said. "There was no counselor there to bridge the gap."

In Yonkers , one counselor is assigned to 28 elementary schools, essentially having only time to present a class on the state-mandated "good touch, bad touch" lesson, then moving on to the next scheduled visit.

"Some jokingly call her the 'drive-by counselor,' but it's really a sad situation," said Collier. "What good is the good-touch, bad-touch discussion if a child is unable to follow-up? How can the counselor establish any kind of trust relationship?"

While Yonkers ' situation is more extreme than other places, other big-city schools report caseloads of 500 to 800 students. Some districts like the City of Buffalo have found they cannot get along without the counseling services, but have resorted to contracting out with private agencies to save money on benefits.

Expanding duties

In districts big and small, counselors increasingly find themselves pulled in many directions.

In addition to traditional guidance counseling on academics and course selection, school counselors are spending more than half their time addressing mental health issues, a recent study showed. It's not just test stress; counselors are addressing a myriad of personal and social issues which can become barriers to learning and widen the achievement gap. On top of the drive to make good grades, students contend with peer pressure, bullying, temptation to use drugs and alcohol, school violence, dysfunctional family lives and even natural disasters.

"The social, emotional and academic needs of the students have grown so much," said Liberty counselor Linda Argentati, a 16-year veteran. She said her rural Sullivan County district is unique because they're planning to add a counselor position when eighth-graders are moved into the expanded high school for grades 8-12. "The only position they're adding is a counselor," Argentati said. "They recognize the students need more support to make that transition."

"Schools have become a tremendous social services department," said Deborah Hardy, an Irvington counselor recently named Outstanding Secondary School Counselor of the year by the American School Counselor Association. "We've become a sort of jack-of-all-trades and expert at all."

On top of their existing workloads, counselors are increasingly being asked to do more: to serve as "coordinators" of everything from Academic Intervention Services to Advanced Placement programs, Hardy said.

The introduction of the No Child Left Behind's grades 3-8 testing has prompted some districts to try to designate counselors as the "testing coordinator" responsible for administering, scoring and training.

The New York State School Counselor Association is awaiting written clarification from the State Education Department on the issue.

"Should we be involved in AIS, AP and testing programs? Absolutely," Hardy said. "But should we be overseeing them? Counselors need to be careful they don't get stuck wearing too many hats."

Promoting the profession

To keep up with changing curriculum, higher standards and ever-evolving graduation requirements, NYSSCA has recently released the New York State Model for Comprehensive K-12 School Counseling, a three-volume guide that can be ordered or downloaded free at www.NYSSCA.org.

"As education changes in New York state, school counseling must transform itself to address those changes," said Hardy, past president of NYSSCA and co-editor of the guide. "It's impossible for teachers to do everything."

The guide is filled with sample activities at the elementary, middle and high school level to help students meet the new standards and narrow the achievement gap. Many are focused on eliminating learning barriers for students, such as creating an outreach program for parents who do not speak English or a newcomer's club for mobile students. With time always at a premium, Hardy is committed to working with subject area teachers.

For example, she "pushed in" to an art class making collage masks to expand the assignment into a soul-searching exercise. "Inside the mask is what's personal; outside is what the world sees," Hardy said. "The results were remarkable."

Hardy gave a long list of examples where a counselor can be particularly effective: working with at-risk kids on study skills; easing the transition into middle school and high school; looking at data for increased detentions and suspensions to find a common thread that can be addressed.

"We have a new generation of counselors saying, 'We're more than career and college processing,'" Hardy said. "They're saying, 'We want to work with the kids and be a part of the educational team. We don't want to be reactive, we want to be preventive.' With reduced caseloads, we can have more of an impact on students."

Beat the clock

The Comprehensive School Counseling Model recommends a "time and task" analysis can help counselors evolve helpful strategies in light of their mounting workloads.

Hardy told of one high school counselor who reported 4,961 e-mails and phone calls, many of which were about college application information. That spurred the department to start an evening informational program for parents — and has cut down on some unnecessary e-mails and calls from frantic parents.

Having a comprehensive program for the increasingly complex and competitive college admissions process can reduce the craziness of the unknown and the media hype of how many colleges students should apply to, Hardy said. Suggested activities include student autobiographies (getting to know self); a career inventory and learning style study; personal conferences and exploration of college characteristics; and resume writing, college essays and interview practice.

Surveying staff and students can also be invaluable, Hardy noted.

"We need to show how we make a difference systemically, not just with individuals," said Angela Reformato, United Federation of Teachers chapter leader of 2,700 counselors in New York City . "For example, we need to use the data to show that one of the most effective ways to raise test scores is to improve attendance. That's how we make the case for increasing our numbers."

The UFT and New York State United Teachers are pressing for legislation that would require a counselor in every school building. Currently, fewer than half of all elementary schools in New York state have one because it's not mandated by the state.

State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, D-Brooklyn, introduced the bill after he was confronted by an angry constituent whose daughter couldn't get counseling in her elementary school. It is co-sponsored by Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Queens.

"They want us to do Band-Aids. They say 'Uh-oh, now we need you,'" Reformato said. "But the fact of the matter is, the whole injury might have been avoided if you had just provided services up front."

— Sylvia Saunders

NYSUT.org. Copyright New York State United Teachers. 800 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, New York, 12110-2455. 518.213.6000. http://www.nysut.org.