Implementing the MA Model By MARCIA MUNDAY Assistant Director of Student Support Services Waltham Public Schools
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wo years ago Waltham High School guidance counselors decided to implement the new MA Model for School Counseling. We realized that what we were already doing in our classroom guidance curriculum achieved many of the recommended benchmarks. For the past ten years we had been conducting guidance seminars in a classroom setting. Each guidance counselor met four to five times a year with their students at each grade level.
What we needed to do was take a closer look at what topics we were covering, align them with the benchmarks, see where the gaps were, revise the curriculum accordingly, then devise measurements to see if we were meeting the benchmarks. Even with an existing delivery system in place, it was a task that would take a lot of planning, The first step was to form a two-year study group. During the first year the plan was to layout the whole program,
Model Implementation Progress Each month, the Counselor’s Notebook will include submissions from counselors and guidance directors who are making progress with MA Model implementation. How does your program measure up? E-mail your submissions to Jennifer McGuire at jmcguire@uppercapetech.org or Katie Gray at uniquepotential @comcast.net.
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revise the ninth grade curriculum, and create a Ninth Grade Guidance Seminar Curriculum Guide. The second year would be spent revising the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade curriculums. Initially, the task seemed overwhelming, with so many competencies to cover from the Model. Our plan was to 1. Decide on a theme for each grade level. Ninth Grade: Orientation. Tenth Grade: Exploration. Eleventh Grade: Preparation. Twelfth Grade: Transition. 1. Organize all the benchmarks and competencies into the grade level that they would be covered. 3. Write a Core Concept and Guiding Principle for each of the major benchmarks. 4. Write three objectives and list which competencies the objectives achieved for each Guidance Seminar. 5. Write a lesson plan for each Guidance Seminar. 6. Collect materials and activities that support the lesson plan for each Guidance Seminar. Include alternate activities to add some variety. 7. Develop four or five Essential Questions to ask students at the end of each seminar to assess student learning and attainment of the benchmarks. 8. Construct a Competency Checklist for each grade level. This was an ambitious project. Some competencies were clearly more difficult to hit than others, but with a little creativity we did. We ended the second studygroup year with a new curriculum guide and materials for grades 9-11. Grade twelve was not completed, but we will be working on it during the coming year. The measurement and data piece is more illusive. However, with a focused curriculum linked to the Curriculum Frameworks and assessment of student learning through Essential Questions, our school counselors are achieving the benchmarks. We are making our guidance curriculum stronger and more beneficial for all students. If you would like more information, please contact me at mundaym@k12 .waltham.ma.us. ■ COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK
