Monica Echegaray

CSP 710A
Exemplar #4: Closing the Achievement Gap Curriculum
Standards Met 23, 24, 28
Introduction
An essential belief for school counselors to have is the idea that
every student can succeed. For decades the education system has
struggled with the achievement gap, which has managed to persist for
decades. As school counselors we have a responsibility to advocate for
student equity and social justice. Our students have been constantly
stripped from their opportunity to succeed and that is unacceptable.
We must begin by recognizing that there is a problem and begin to
take action now. After analyzing most recent data, we realized that at
Eastlake High School close to half of our graduating seniors were not
graduating college eligible. We have failed these students by not
preparing them to succeed after high school, and unfortunately most of
the affected students come from marginalized populations. In order to
act upon these injustices, I created a curriculum geared toward
marginalized student populations because our WASC report had
already identified a need to provide additional support to students who
identify as African America, SPED, ELs, and/or economically
disadvantaged. In this case we began by targeting English Language
Learners because perception data demonstrated that they had
received minimal college and A-G requirement instruction when
compared to their English-speaking counterparts.
The guidance curriculum provided students with a 90-minute
presentation of the A-G requirements. This presentation included
modifying or recreating a four-year plans and creating SMART goals for
achieving what they had proposed for themselves. The A-G information
was scaffolded in order to assure student comprehension, modeling
and support strategies where utilized to help students produce desired
educational plans and goals.
Standards Addressed
II. Professional Skills and Training
B. Themes of School Counselor Preparation
Standard 23: Advocacy
A key role in the school-counseling career, in my perspective, is advocating for
student rights. The ASCA Ethical Standards state that we have a responsibility in
assuring that students are treated with dignity, reach maximum development,

Monica Echegaray
CSP 710A
develop an action plan for their success; all while abiding by ethical standards. I
took action by advocating and creating a curriculum for students that had been
kept from instruction of supports that would help them reach higher education.

Standard 24: Learning, Achievement and Instruction

In order to reach all ELD students, the curriculum was presented during the
students ELD classes. Providing classroom instruction gave the opportunity to
implement classroom management strategies such as walking around to assure
students are engaging with the content, utilizing proximity when students are
being disruptive or getting distracted, praising positive behavior and setting high
expectations at the beginning of our time together. Students were praised and
empowered by recognizing their potential, with it motivating them to collaborate
and setting higher expectations for themselves when setting goals. Classroom
management is essential for guidance curriculum success as student engagement
and participation are strong indicators of intervention success.
During lesson plan development I made sure to incorporate modeling to guide
students and set an example of what they are to accomplish, by utilizing I do, we
do, you do or gradual release of responsibility. With this students were able to
see an example of what they were to do, get help/ collaborate with peers to get it
right, then write a SMART goal for themselves. Teaching strategies like think-pair
share, and calling on students to read off the presentation slides and contexting
the information provided helped students understand the importance of the
information they were receiving.
C. Functions of School Counselors
Standard 28: Organizational and System Development
After analyzing our school data, we realized that a significant percentage of our
students were not being served or supported to succeed after high school.
Realizing that we were failing half of our graduating students, I took on the
responsibility of conducting a program goals evaluation and asking for a specific
action plan. This evaluation of our comprehensive counseling program and with it
school site systemic factors proved that English Language Learners were falling
through the cracks and having to fend for themselves on factors, such as A-G
requirements, that they had no idea about. The development of this curriculum
allowed me to plan, develop and implement interventions that would help meet
our schools goals.
Having analyzed perception data results, this curriculum helped demonstrate the
power that counseling on student learning has. With only two days of

Monica Echegaray
CSP 710A
presentations, we empowered a complete school population to strive and
challenge themselves to meet one of their dreams. Language learners should not
be perceived as limited because of their language acquisition because their
abilities are defined by an array of factors. The barriers they face to satisfy college
entry requirements are hard to overcome, but they are not impossible. We as
student advocates should provide them with every resource and knowledge to
persuade them to strive and reach as much as every other student.
Conclusion
I selected this curriculum as part of my exemplars because it is a school counselor
duty that I hold high regards for, because I hold a passion for student equity particularly
when it is reoccurring to marginalized students. With this exemplar I demonstrate my
ability to develop interventions that will help students reach higher and foster a college
going culture for all students in our school.
Particularly, developing a closing the achievement gap curriculum allowed me to
reinforce my classroom instruction and management skills, by setting up high
expectations for students at the beginning of my lesson, incorporating pacing and specific
teaching techniques to keep students engaged, and most importantly checking for
understanding. As I developed the curriculum, I was also able to asses our school and
counseling programs goals and accountability. Our schools WASC report goals ordered
additional supports for marginalized groups of students, i.e. language learners, low
socioeconomic status, and/or disabilities. I was appalled to know that these students had
been neglected to some extent, this allowed me to further develop my advocacy and
leadership skills by reaching out to both teachers and counselors to gain buy-in into the
creation of this curriculum, as well as sharing results and long-term data to be measured.
Being the first time this curriculum was presented, I was happy to have seen an increase
in perception data in the pre and post-tests the students took which will hopefully
correlate to an impact in course completion and with it an increase in students graduating
college eligible. Yet, there are still some things I would modify. First of all, I would be
more considerate of the developmental level the students are in, in language acquisition,
and be more mindful of my pacing, incorporate more checking for understanding, and
even dividing the lesson into two lessons to allow time for students to process the data
and not overwhelm them with too much information.