MASCA's Program Review Initiative

In 2023, the Massachusetts School Counselor Association (MASCA) launched a new initiative, led by its Research and Evaluation Committee: Program Reviews of school counseling programs by peer MASCA members.  Our goal in providing peer-led program reviews is to produce a holistic assessment of their school counseling department’s efforts to develop a comprehensive program which supports students’ academic, social/emotional, and college/career readiness development. The program review committee adopts a strengths-based approach to this work, with the hope that a program review will better enable the school counseling department to promote and advocate for its efforts in improving student outcomes.

The ASCA National Model 5.0 and MA Model 3.0 serve as the frameworks for the committee’s work.  Five core areas will guide the program evaluations, including examining ways that school counseling departments are:

1. Collecting and analyzing data to document the department’s activities, interventions, and accountability efforts;

2. Delivering tiered interventions to support all students, with school counselors acting as leaders and coordinators of the program delivery;

3. Developing college/career readiness in all students and building awareness about multiple post-secondary pathways;

4. Promoting family and community engagement; and

5. Incorporating leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and systemic change to ensure equity and access for all students.

The Review Process will include:

Application Process

School counseling departments interested in participating in the program evaluation project should send a completed application form mascaprogramevaluation@gmail.com.

Members of the MASCA Program Review committee will review the application and will schedule a brief (approximately 30 minutes) introductory Zoom call with the district contact to discuss the process and timeline for a school counseling program review. We strongly encourage districts to allow department members to participate in a meeting with our team early in the process to promote transparency and give staff an opportunity to ask questions.

Data Collection

The program review will make use of data from the following sources:

Online Surveys

The Program Review Committee will provide the district with links for three online surveys: one for administrators and school counseling department members, one for teachers and other staff, and one for students. This will provide insight into the roles and responsibilities of school counselors, the priorities of the department, and perspectives of the department among various stakeholders.

Document Review

The school counseling department will be asked to electronically provide a variety of departmental materials to the Program Review committee to demonstrate its current activities across the core school counseling domains, as well as how the department engages with students, families, colleagues, and community partners. We ask that all identifying student information be redacted from any materials provided to the committee.

Interviews with School Counselors + Administrators

After identifying themes and trends revealed in the survey data and documents, committee members will conduct individual in-person interviews with all members of the school counseling department and department/building administrators to better contextualize our findings and fill in any gaps in our data.

Final Report + Recommendations

The committee will synthesize all findings to identify both strengths of the school counseling department and areas for improvement, using the five core areas listed above. The summative report will also provide recommendations, grounded in the school counseling research base and best practices advocated by ASCA and MASCA, to assist departments in moving toward a more robust delivery of a comprehensive school counseling program. 

A final report will be provided as both a written narrative and in an executive summary-style slide deck to promote accessibility of findings among all stakeholders. If desired, districts may schedule a debrief meeting with the committee once the report has been digested and an initial action plan has been discussed.

Program Review Standard Option - $4500:

Members of the Program Review Team will: 

●  Meet virtually with school counselors and principal to discuss the program evaluation process

●  Analyze self-study survey results from school counselor(s) and principal/administrator

●  Create and share charts and graphs of survey results

●  Administer student and teacher surveys about their perceptions of the school counseling program

●  Review electronically submitted school counseling department documents

●  Conduct in-person interviews with school counselors and principal (30 minutes each)

●  Develop a draft summary report and share with the district

●  Incorporate the district’s edits and create a final written report and slide deck with noted areas of strength and areas for improvement and recommendations for moving forward

●  Meet virtually with school counselors and school/district leaders to debrief final report (1 hour)

Looking for a Program Review for multiple schools?  Contact us to discuss this option.