For school counselors accountability means carefully collecting, analyzing, and using data to assess and improve a comprehensive school counseling program. School counselors hold themselves accountable not only by analyzing the data they collect for themselves, but also through reporting the results to other stakeholders. School counselors should make a habit of reviewing and explaining the results of various program implementations at school board meetings, teacher in-services, and parent nights. In doing so, the accountability for the program is shared while counselors are also providing evidence of ways their program is effective and areas for improvement.
One way to collect data for the school counseling program is to do a needs assessment at the beginning of each school year; parents, teachers, and students can all have a say in the needs of the school community. The counselor can combine the results of such an assessment with disaggregated school data to create a comprehensive understanding of the academic, college/career, and personal/social development needs of the school. In order to assess whether or not the program created is meeting the needs of the students, counselors should work to incorporate pre and post assessments into as much of their direct services as possible ( i.e. classroom psycho-educational lessons, small group counseling). Counselors can also be accountable by using data in management of the program. Counselors should assess how they use their time and look for ways to improve, as well as assessing the programs implemented. School counselors should also use to data to look for achievement gaps in the data and create reports that address those gaps and outline goals for closing the gap. One of the great things about accountability is that it permeates every other component of the model. To truly lead a comprehensive, data-driven program, school counselors must evaluate and report the results of all parts of the program. They must evaluate the goals, mission, and vision established under the foundation of the program, they must manage the program through evaluation and assessment, and they must implement evidence-based practices and use data to track the success or lack of success of each program. And finally, counselors must hold themselves accountable to all stakeholders by sharing the results with them comprehensively.
Linked below us the American School Counseling Association's RAMP rubric for schools attempting to demonstrate a comprehensive program. Also linked is my evaluation of an academic program at my internship site. Evaluating academic programs is another way to hold oneself accountable to stakeholders.