Research Proposal on "How Do Counseling Interventions Influence the Academic and Emotional Success of Students With Learning Disabilities?"

Research Proposal 10 pages (2827 words) Sources: 15 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Counseling Interventions on the Academic and Emotional Success of Students With Learning Disabilities

The academic success of the student with learning disabilities is influenced by both social and emotional aspects. Social skills are "the specific reactions, responses, techniques and strategies that a student uses in social situation." (Horowitz, 2007) Social competence "is the term used to describe how well a student performs in social situations." (Horowitz, 2007) Students with learning disabilities often demand attention in an inappropriate manner and are generally in need of assistance with establishing emotional intelligence. The objective of this work is to answer the question through a review of literature relating to counseling interventions and their influence on the academic and emotional success of students with learning disabilities.

LITERATURE

The work entitled: "New Roles in Response to Intervention: Creating Success for Schools and Children" published in 2006 in a collaborative project involving: (1) the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); (2) Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE); (3) Council for Exceptional Children (CEC); (4) Council for Learning Disabilities (DLD); (5) Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD); (6) International Dyslexia Association (IDA); (7) International Reading Association (IRA); and (8) Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA); (9) National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE); (10) National Association of School Psychologists (NASP); (11) National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD); (12) National Education Association (NEA); and (I3) School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA) and reports that the "Responsiveness to Intervention (RTI) process is a multi-tiered approach to providing services and interventions to struggling learners at increasing levels of intensity. RTI can be used for making decisions about compensatory, and special education, creating a well-integrated and seamless system of instruction and intervention guided by child outcome data." (2006)

It is stated that RTI calls for "...early identification of learning behavioral needs, close collaboration among teachers and special education personnel and parents, and a systemic commitment to locating and employing the necessary resources to ensure that students make progress in the general education curriculum." (Problem Solving and RTI: New Roles for School Psychologists, 2006) There are important roles that personnel in schools can play in utilization of RTI in making identification of children with disabilities as well as in making the provision needed by students who are struggling which is that of special instruction. Professional development is highlighted in this report as being key in the initiative of supporting academic achievement by students with disabilities. Specifically stated is "training (as needed) in evidenced based intervention approaches, progress monitoring methods, evaluation of instructional and program outcomes and contextually based assessment procedures, and the implications for both preservice and in-service training." (Problem Solving and RTI: New Roles for School Psychologists, 2006)

The work of McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt (2005) entitled: "The Current Status of School Counseling Outcome Research" states that there is an issue of an "ongoing" nature in the field of school counseling "is a general lack of understanding by critical stakeholders about what school counselors do that impact student outcomes." (2005) Traditionally, training has been more along the lines of mental health providers "rather than as student advocates, school leaders and empirical researchers." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) the traditional model is a "student services model" with the focus of the work of the counselor being directly "related to career planning and placement, problem solving and class scheduling." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) the greatest part of the time of the counselor has been directed toward the provision of individual counseling services to the students deemed to be the most in need of such services and has been in the nature of putting out fires.

Proactive services are needed as well within the realm of counseling services within the school and this is particularly true in relation to students with disabilities. Counseling models are based on the 'Comprehensive Developmental Guidance" program model and is stated to have an "increased focus on both accountability and the use of data to make decisions and to increase student achievement." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) This model is one that "encourages counselors to complete yearly results reports with data about students change, to develop school counselor performance standards for constructing job descriptions and annual performance evaluations, and to conduct periodic program audit to ensure that the school counseling program is targeted at the right goals and implementing interventions effectively." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt (2005) state that failure to make the necessary changes in the field will result in "school counselors...being left out of the picture of school reform and risk losing their jobs." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) the CDG programs that have been already implemented "have been shown to positively impact student outcomes and educational experiences." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) it is related by McGannon, Carey and Dimmitt, 2005) that there have been two evaluations that were large-scale and which have "produced positive findings related to the implementation of CDG Programs." (2005) McGannon, Carey and Dimmett (2005) state that the work of Wilson (1986) primarily focused on the interventions of counselors with students that were low achieving and the effectiveness of school counseling interventions.

Wilson (1986) made a review of 19 studies across a twenty-five-year period and reports indications that counseling interventions can have positive effects on academic achievement." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 205) it is additionally reported that the study of Brigman and Campbell (2003), which was a "quasi-experimental, pre-post test design to evaluate the impact of a school-counselor-led intervention on student academic achievement and school success behaviors." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) Assessment of academic improvement was accomplished by the Math and Reading scores from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT)..." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) participants were randomly selected 185 experimental (treatment) group students and 185 comparison groups students "who had scored between the 25th and 50th percentile on the FCAT." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) Findings of the study state indications that "a significant difference between treatment and comparison groups on reading and math scores. These results provide very strong support for the conclusion that school counseling interventions that focus on the development of cognitive social, and self-management skills can result in sizable gains in student academic achievement." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005)

McGannon, Carey and Dimmitt (2005) state that "social skills training" has been shown to "increase the social attractiveness of gifted and special needs students, but did not impact student self-esteem or school behaviors." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) McGannon, Carey and Dimmitt (2005) state that studies on children who are learning disabled resulted in findings that LD students "who participated in group counseling had higher levels of self-esteem and the STEP intervention improved parental attitudes and locus of control of their learning disabled children." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) Wilson (1986) is reported to have stated findings that "directive counseling and behavioral counseling had positive effects on academic achievement with underachieving students." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005)

It is reported in the work of McGannon, Carey and Dimmitt (2005) that the 'Center for School Counseling Outcome Research (CSCOR) has a mission that is inclusive of "improving the practice of school counseling by developing the research base that is necessary for responsible and effective practice. The Center's mission is to provide national leadership in the measurement and evaluation of the outcomes of school counseling interventions and programs." (McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt, 2005) Others include the following: (1) the University of San Diego School of Education: established the Center for Student Support Systems in December 2002 in response to an urgent need to improve the quality of guidance and counseling and related student support programs and services in California and beyond. The purpose of this program is to strengthen the practice of counseling and related student support services in schools by improving theory, leadership and advocacy, and program development and evaluation; (2) Washington School Research Center (WSRC): The Washington School Research Center is an independent research and data analysis center within Seattle Pacific University. The Center began in July 2000, funded through a gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Center mission is to conduct sound and objective research on student learning in the public schools, and to make the research findings available for educators, policy makers, and the general public for use in the improvement of schools. The WSRC conducts educational studies on various aspects of K-12 education in Washington, particularly in the area of the current school reform efforts (WSRC); (3) National School Counseling Research Center (NSCRC): The National School Counseling Research Center is currently being developed through a joint endeavor between the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) and the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES). The mission of the NSCRS is to enhance school counseling by collecting and dissemination information that facilitates school counseling professionals' efforts to be accountable for student success; and (4) National Panel for School Counseling Evidence-Based Practice: Evidence-based practices have been developed in many fields to help practitioners gain access to… READ MORE

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