Accountability
Lane Tech High School exhibited a need to analyze the personal/social trends emerging in their school. As a strong technical high school, they already provide an extensive career and academic curriculum. By distributing a needs assessment to a selection of the student body, trends emerged in regards to the personal/social needs of the students. Accountability ensures that the data collected from the needs assessment provides accurate analysis and interpretation of the data which is then transformed into curriculum-based material. Utilizing the data collected and the strengths of the Lane Tech counseling department, we were able to devise a program that suited their needs.
Since Lane Tech has an established academic and career center, the counseling department is presented with the task to address their personal-social standards; therefore, the suggested focus of the needs assessment highlighted what personal/social topics students felt were the greatest need.
A survey was distributed to 122 Lane Tech students regarding their personal/social needs in the winter of 2012. The survey was distributed in several freshmen and sophomore division classrooms although the results did capture a sample of juniors and seniors. The survey consisted of nine questions including demographic information, interests, availability, and social acceptability. It comprised of various styles of questions including multiple choice, multiple answer, Likert scales, and short answer.
The results showed that all students had a high need for topics surrounding relationships, self, and their health. However, all topics surveyed presented a noteworthy demand. The data also revealed a trend in the personal/social needs of the students between freshman and sophomore year. For example, the personal/social topics that might be linked to autonomy and social support reduced by eight percent from freshman to sophomore year. Surprisingly, there were no significant variances in personal/social needs between genders.
Students indicated that friends, followed closely by school counselors, represented the groups that were the most accepting of others. Unfortunately, school administrators and teachers were rated as the groups in which students felt were least accepting. This was essential data to consider as we thought about ways in which to implement a personal/social program at Lane Tech. Another critical discovery indicated that some groups identified through the survey expressed that they felt less accepted by some listed social groups than other groups. This is an important trend to identify as Lane Tech continues to analyze the personal/social trends that emerge within their students.
As we developed the program for Lane Tech, we utilized these results to formulate a realistic and obtainable program that could be implemented in their school to assist with the personal/social needs of their students. Based on the feedback from the survey, all of our programming was scheduled either during school or after school and scheduled regularly in a setting that is no larger than a standard classroom size.
Since Lane Tech has an established academic and career center, the counseling department is presented with the task to address their personal-social standards; therefore, the suggested focus of the needs assessment highlighted what personal/social topics students felt were the greatest need.
A survey was distributed to 122 Lane Tech students regarding their personal/social needs in the winter of 2012. The survey was distributed in several freshmen and sophomore division classrooms although the results did capture a sample of juniors and seniors. The survey consisted of nine questions including demographic information, interests, availability, and social acceptability. It comprised of various styles of questions including multiple choice, multiple answer, Likert scales, and short answer.
The results showed that all students had a high need for topics surrounding relationships, self, and their health. However, all topics surveyed presented a noteworthy demand. The data also revealed a trend in the personal/social needs of the students between freshman and sophomore year. For example, the personal/social topics that might be linked to autonomy and social support reduced by eight percent from freshman to sophomore year. Surprisingly, there were no significant variances in personal/social needs between genders.
Students indicated that friends, followed closely by school counselors, represented the groups that were the most accepting of others. Unfortunately, school administrators and teachers were rated as the groups in which students felt were least accepting. This was essential data to consider as we thought about ways in which to implement a personal/social program at Lane Tech. Another critical discovery indicated that some groups identified through the survey expressed that they felt less accepted by some listed social groups than other groups. This is an important trend to identify as Lane Tech continues to analyze the personal/social trends that emerge within their students.
As we developed the program for Lane Tech, we utilized these results to formulate a realistic and obtainable program that could be implemented in their school to assist with the personal/social needs of their students. Based on the feedback from the survey, all of our programming was scheduled either during school or after school and scheduled regularly in a setting that is no larger than a standard classroom size.
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