Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference

The Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference provides school counselors with critical information about successful practice, evaluation, and relevant research to create dynamic and powerful school counseling programs.  The conference uses a unique format incorporating both peer-reviewed research presentations and professional workshops by leaders in the field.

Workshop sessions of interest to school counseling practitioners will include:

• Evaluating school counseling efficacy related to closing the achievement, opportunity and attainment gaps
• Using Comprehensive School Counseling to implement strategies identifying mental illness and coordinating appropriate interventions
• Writing Grants as part of initiatives directed towards program improvement
• Developing successful RAMP applications
• Measuring school counseling outcomes, individuals, and programs
• Demonstrating efficacy with achievement and achievement-related data
• Examining evaluation models and examples

Northern Kentucky University’s (NKU) School Counseling Program, in collaboration with the Northern Kentucky Center for Educator Excellence and the Center for School Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation, presented the inaugural Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference on Monday, March 18, 2013 and Tuesday, March 19, 2013.  The second annual Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference will be held January 13 and 14, 2014.

Who:

Professional School Counselors, District School Counseling Directors, State Directors of School Counseling, School Counselors In-Training, School Counselor Educators, and other School Counseling Stakeholders.  Principals and Superintendents where school counseling reform initiatives are in development will find this to be an especially useful conference.

What:

The mission for the Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference is to collect and disseminate research-based, effective school counseling practices focused on removing barriers to success for all P-12 students in the academic, personal/social, and career/college readiness domains.

This conference will provide training to professional school counselors in various relevant areas, such as program development, program management, data-analysis, and in writing up practitioner research for publication.

For example:

The Elementary and Secondary Demonstration Grant (ESDG) program promotes innovative school counseling practice and is one of the only federal grant programs supporting the development of counseling in schools.  Each participating school commits to the development, implementation and evaluation of a high quality program.  Up to this point there has not been a forum for the exchange and transmission of the valuable information gained through school counselors’ involvement in this important work.  The Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference will serve as this forum by providing an opportunity for ESDG participants to present their work, and to engage in dialog with each other and with the broader school counseling community about school counseling innovation and results.

The RAMP initiative encourages implementation of ASCA National Model school counseling programs.  Although several opportunities exist which highlight and acknowledge the RAMP award winners, there are limited opportunities for school counselors from RAMP schools to disseminate and share information about the results of their programs.  The Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference will serve as this forum by providing opportunity for school counselors from RAMP schools to present results of their work, and to engage in dialog with each other and with the broader community about school counseling program outcomes for students.

Where:           METS Center, 3861 Olympic Boulevard, Erlanger, KY

See our travel page for hotel accommodations.

When:             Monday January 13, 2014 and Tuesday January 14, 2014

Professional Development and Continuing Education Units:

This conference provides continuing education units approved by NBCC, and professional development units for both Ohio and Kentucky.

Registration:

To register for the Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference, please visit the NKU Connect registration website.  If you would like to register a group of 5 or more attendees, or if you have any issues with registration, please contact the NKU Connect Center at 859-572-5600.

Please note that reimbursements are not available after registration for the conference. However, if you are unable to attend the conference after registering, your registration fee can be applied to the conference registration cost for the following year.

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION is OPEN FOR January 13-14, 2014 at the METS Center.  Register here for the 2014 Second Annual Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference!

Proposal Submission (deadline dates to be announced):

The conference focuses on practitioner evaluation and research.  Presentations by school counseling practitioners, presentations that reflect collaborations between practitioners and university-based faculty, and research about school counseling interventions and practices, are invited and will be prioritized.

To submit a proposal to present at the Evidence Based School Counseling Conference, please complete the Proposal Submission Form.

Proposals will be peer-reviewed by a review committee composed of national, regional, and local leaders in school counseling.

To be accepted for the conference, proposals must focus on one or more of the following areas:

•  A school counseling program or intervention which used student-achievement or achievement related data to evaluate the success of the program or intervention.

• The use of student outcome data to illustrate the impact of a school counseling intervention or program on student progress in academic, personal/social, or career/college readiness domains.

• The use of data-over-time to illustrate the impact of a school counseling intervention or program on student progress in critical data areas, such as post-secondary going rates, attendance, suspension rates, or graduation rates, to name a few examples.

• Evaluation models for measuring the success of school counseling interventions.

• Instruments that measure school counseling outcomes.

Please note: Presentations do not need to have statistical significance to be considered for the conference.  Evolving, practical examples applied by practicing professional school counselors are encouraged for submission.

How will the Conference Work?

The official EBSC Conference program from 2013 is available for review.

However, beyond the actual conference, the mission of the Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference is formed and crystallized with the support of the Conference Advisory Council.

The Conference Planning Committee is invaluable in transitioning the vision of the council to the reality that will be experienced during the conference.  To learn more about how to get involved, contact the Planning Committee or Dr. Brett Zyromski.

Graduate Student Involvement

A selected group of counseling graduate students will participate in this First Annual Conference for Evidence-Based School Counseling.  These students will support conference objectives and help determine how graduate students should be included in future annual conferences.  Each Graduate student will work with a small subgroup of conference participants during the two days of the conference to serve as recorders and reporters.  This will involve 2-3 meetings each day that will revolve around assigned group discussions and task.  At the end of the conference, the graduate students will meet with conference organizers as a “focus group” to identify successes and challenges of the conference, and how graduate students should be included in subsequent conferences.

Questions?

Please contact us via email and we will do our best to answer questions about this conference.

Thank you for your interest!