Blog Week 2

The case study of counselor Eleana Sobol and student Cody was hard to read. I was appalled at the Principal's reaction to the situation. I try to imagine what I would do in that situation. I honestly don't know. I hope I would have had the presence of mind to calmly and respectfully disagree that Cody needs help and that a school climate where bullying by students and teachers is tolerated is not okay. Is it possible to change a school? My gut is YES! but it won't come easy. You need to have a clearly defined approach and purpose and you need to get the players (at least the main ones!) on your side. Not an easy task.

I enjoyed reading about what makes a school effective and also the section on dehumanizing schools. I fortunately had a good experience in my K-12 schooling. My father is a pastor and so we moved around quite a bit. I went to one school for kindergarten in Elkhart, IN, another for 1st grade in Indianapolis, IN and then we moved to Cincinnati, OH where I went to a school for 2nd-5th grade. In 6th grade, I was accepted into the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati. I spent three years there before moving to Bluffton, OH where I went to Bluffton High School. The school that stands out for me most was the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA). It was similar to the TV show FAME about a group of students attending an arts school in New York City. I always enjoyed going to school and was a good student. I think this was because of many factors including strong parental support, great reading skills, and the fact that I am a social person who loves to learn. I liked SCPA because it was different than any other school I had attended. People walked down the halls singing and dancing, wearing dance leotards and carrying artwork. Students really seemed to want to be there. Our teachers were supportive (I was a creative writing and art minor) and we had the chance to go to the ballet, opera and playhouse. You could feel the creative juices running through the school. I believe that I learned best in this developmentally appropriate environment. Dollarhide and Saginak write, "The reasons students learn better involve how and why students learn. Since developmentally appropriate education allows for natural curiosity and intrinsic motivation to be expressed, students may learn better because they enjoy what they are learning." (p.24) This was true for me. I still had all of the basic classes (three "r"'s if you may) but I also had classes in subjects I was passionate about and that created a positive outcome for me.

I appreciated the two articles we read this week as I do not have a lot of knowledge about school counseling outcome research. The article by Whiston & Sexton, while being 15 years old, pointed out, "tentative support for career planning, group counseling, social skill training activities, and peer counseling." (p.412). The article by McGannon, Carey & Dimmitt supported these same findings some seven years later. Both articles make the case about how important school counseling outcome research is for the profession and also that more research needs to be done. Let's add that to our huge list of things to do!!!





Dollarhide, C. T. & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs. (2nd ed). New York: Pearson, Inc.

McGannon, W., Carey. J. & Dimmitt, C. (2005). The current status of school counseling outcome research. Center for School Counseling Outcome Research Monograph, (2).


Whiston, S. C. & Sexton, T. L. (1998). A review of school counseling outcome research: Implications for practice. Journal of School Counseling & Development, (76), 412-426.