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Starting with a bit of hope...
For the rest of this school year and into next year, we will be featuring an article and pertinent resources about the science of hope.
The science of hope is a positive psychology framework that highlights “what is good about you” rather than “what is wrong with you”. Hope as a psychological term is a cognitive process that can be learned. Hope is the belief that the future will be better than the present AND that we have the power to make it so.
To foster hope, the research tells us we need to set detailed, achievable goals, visualize and successfully navigate pathways to reach our goals, and employ strategies to maintain our willpower over time to meet our goals.
How do you imagine the science of hope applying to your work with students? With adults and families? And your personal life?
Resources:
Hope TED Talk with Dr. Chan Hellman (20min)
GATE Equity Webinar Recording: How Can Hope-Centered Education Improve Student Outcomes? (90min)
In the spring of 2021, the Washington state legislature passed SSB 5030. This bill requires districts to develop a comprehensive school counseling program (CSCP) that aligns with the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) national model of best practices.
OSPI's Guidance Bulletin to support districts in developing and adopting a comprehensive school counseling program has been released!
Throughout the year, you'll find tools and opportunities for professional development in this newsletter that will support your work to develop and implement your district's program.
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This tool is designed to assist districts in engaging in an intentional assessment and evaluation of their current and desired school counseling program elements, and help guide the creation of district-level CSCPs, as required by SSB 5030
Now Available for Review & Feedback! The school practitioner program alignment tool is designed to assist school staff involved in school counseling program implementation to assess and evaluate their current and desired school counseling program elements and gauge alignment to the district-level CSCP.
We are confident and excited that these self-assessment tools will not only provide a starting-point in the creation of your district's Comprehensive School Counseling Program plans, but will also serve as ongoing tools for school-level school counseling program planning and evaluation.
We are looking forward to TWO big statewide virtual comprehensive school counseling professional learning events this year with our partners at Hatching Results. You may access the recording for 3/24/22 and register for the upcoming session on 5/24 at the links below. Registering and attending the live virtual session can earn you 1.5 free clock hours each!
March 24, 2022 - Recording Link
May 24, 2022 - 1-2:30PM - Register Here!
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- Learn some of the foundational best practices for inviting youth voice into the classroom, school systems, and the community.
- Learn from the examples of our practitioner panel about how to implement these best practices in ways that are culturally relevant
- Check out some state youth voice data highlights
- Get resources to guide your practice
So what are the youth saying these days? What are the adults doing to make sure they’re listening? We’re bringing you Association of Washington Student Leaders Director James Layman to talk about P.I.E.: Prioritizing, Inviting, and Encouraging youth voice and ways that we can get real opinions by asking the right questions. We’re also honored to have 2018 National Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning on our practitioner panel to share practices for inviting youth voice in the classroom, school system, and the community as well as Kennewick School District Migrant and Bilingual Graduation Specialists, Esmerelda Lopez and Ana Claro to share how they’re elevating migrant and bilingual students through club offerings aimed at increasing leadership and post-secondary options.
Register here for the series, streamed virtually the second Wednesday of each month from 10:00-11:30am during the school year.
Each session is free and includes up to 1.5 clock hours.
Recordings of past GATE Equity Webinars can be found on OSPI's YouTube page.
Multi-Tiered System of Supports Implementation Cohort
Through a partnership with OSPI and the ESDs, districts have the opportunity to apply for MTSS implementation and scale-up support.
If you are interested in learning more, reach out to your Regional MTSS Implementation Coordinator.
Also consider attending one of the upcoming virtual information sessions with the statewide team:
Cohort 2 Application Open March 15th thru April 15th.
 2021-22 OSPI - WSAC Webinar Series
May 18th: Legislative Updates: Possible Impacts in the Realm of Career and College Readiness
Join the OSPI-WSAC team on May 18, 2022 from 9-10:30am for the last of 5 Wednesday Webinars.
These webinars are designed for school counselors, career counselors/specialists, college access support staff, and and any other interested staff to provide cutting edge career and college readiness resources and information, and highlight promising and best practices happening in schools.
Register here for the 2021-22 series. Staff interested in clock hours will be given an opportunity to request a link to the pdEnroller event that corresponds to each webinar.
Fall 2021 Healthy Youth Survey data have been released!
The WA Healthy Youth Survey gathers data from 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders every other year. Questions cover substance use, mental health, school perceptions, and general wellbeing.
The data is useful for all of us - even elementary practitioners! Think about reviewing data for the middle school where your students transition into or out of. View the state, ESD region, and county data here. You can request access to your district or school data through your district data administrator or Superintendent.
To see what you can find out from the survey, check out the Risk and Protective Factors and Hope factsheets.
How could you use this data to support your Comprehensive School Counseling Program development?
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HSBP Advisory Council - Deadline to Join!
 2022 #PlanYourPathWA Student Video Contest
Ready Washington is launching their seventh annual student video contest to ignite high school students' thinking and conversations about their education and career goals! The goal of this contest is to amplify students’ voices and motivate all students to think about their futures and consider the people and resources available to help. The deadline is April 27, 2022.
Do you know of a Washington high school student who could use a $500 scholarship? Please share this opportunity with them and share on Twitter using the link below!
A deeper look at HB1664:
Prototypical school funding model updates to increase funding for social, emotional, and physical health staffing.
As of 3/28/2022, this bill has passed the legislature and is awaiting Governor Inslee's signature.
HB 1664 will create a new funding model for certain Educational Staff Associate staff in Washington school districts. Instead of a single allocation that can be used for any school funding need, districts will receive a categorical fund for social, emotional, and physical health staffing; category defined as school counselors, school social workers, school psychologists, and school nurses.
This change means the funds, which include improved funding ratios for all four affected ESA roles, can only be used to fund these roles. Districts can decide, based on their schools' needs, which professionals within the category to hire. There is a requirement in the bill to prioritize the funding to pay for ESA certified staff. However, if ESA staff are not available to hire, districts may use the funds to hire community-based providers.
We know many districts already use their allocations for ESA staff for the intended purpose AS WELL AS find other funds to dedicate to hiring even more staff to support student well-being. We're hopeful that the improved ratios and categorical funding change helps build even more comprehensive student support systems in Washington!
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