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After graduating with a Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling, I plan to become a high school counselor at Lubbock-Cooper High School.

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Step 2: Exploration Option 2 - National Education Association (NEA) Legal and Ethical Issues

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Step 2: Exploration Option 2 - National Education Association (NEA) Legal and Ethical Issues

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A few legal and ethical issues discussed on the NEA website that interested me included dropout prevention and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Much of the discussion on dropout rates for high school students was concerned with the fact that while dropout rates have declined, the dropout rate for minorities is still below average.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), is the most prevalent issue that the NEA is currently buzzing about. One of the significant accomplishments the ESSA provides schools is the understanding that a child's success cannot simply be measured by one test. The NEA commends this act in that it gives power back to educators.

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The National Education Association (NEA) is more than 3 million people-educators, students, activists, workers, parents, neighbors, friends-who believe in opportunity for all students and in the power of public education to transform lives and create a more just and inclusive society.

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Step 2: Exploration Option 2 - American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Legal and Ethical Issues

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Step 2: Exploration Option 2 - American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Legal and Ethical Issues

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In exploring the ASCA website, I noticed that  there was a significant amount of discussion concerning Title IV. The ASCA supports the use of Title IV funding for areas such as educational technology, mentoring programs, and counseling for all students.

Another interesting topic on the ASCA website included their response to the School Safety and Mental Health Services Improvement Act. According to the ASCA, one of the highlights of this act is the use of Title II funding to hire more school counselors and psychologists.

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Home - American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

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Step 2: Exploration Option 3 - Education Dive

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Step 2: Exploration Option 3 - Education Dive

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In the policy section of the Education Dive website, Jacobson (2018), discusses the heavily debated issue of how to make schools a safer place. This article primarily focuses on the debate between those wanting to add more armed police officers in schools and others who suggest that funds would be better spent on mental health services.

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U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos may have said that the Federal Commission on School Safety would not focus on guns, but those who spoke at the commission's "listening session" Wednesday offered strong opinions on reducing gun violence in schools and rejected the idea that arming teachers or other school personnel is a good idea.

"This commission should look at guns," Michael Yin, who graduated Tuesday from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., and is 2018 Presidential Scholar, said during the session, which was live streamed. "Rather than being a sign of cowardice, it would show great courage for this commission and this administration to make our schools and our students and our entire country safer even when it is hard, even when it is about guns."

On Tuesday, DeVos, who did not attend Wednesday's session because she was traveling in Europe to observe apprenticeship and vocational education programs, told a Senate subcommittee that the commission is not focusing primarily on gun policy, according to CNN. The commission's website, however, notes that the members were charged with developing "meaningful and actionable" school safety recommendations that include discussing minimum ages for firearm purchases, as well as addressing social-emotional issues, school safety infrastructure and the impact of violence in video games and the media. The commission is expected to complete its work at the end of the year.

Perhaps because of DeVos' statements, Deputy Secretary Mick Zais, who presided over the session, said that he wanted to clarify that the commission would not be considering confiscating Americans' guns, but that it would look at "specific age limits for the purchase of specific kinds of weapons" and examine "legal procedures for the confiscation of weapons from people with identified mental health issues."

Speakers call for wraparound services, privacy protections

Increasing the availability of trained school resource officers and expanding access to mental health services for students were among the top recommendations members of education organizations and the public made during the session. Several speakers also asked the commission to reject any consideration of rescinding the Obama-era guidance related to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act - which states that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will investigate complaints of discipline policies and practices that discriminate based on students' "personal characteristics" - should be maintained and that it improves school safety.

That guidance was the topic of two April " listening sessions" held on the same day, in which DeVos first heard from those who want to maintain the guidance and then met with those who argue it should be rescinded. Opponents of the guidance say that the policy is an example of government overreach, and that school leaders are reluctant to address "troubling, sometimes violent behavior" when they are told to reduce suspensions among disabled and minority students. DeVos has indicated she's considering rescinding the guidance.

"Listen to communities"

Wednesday's session was the first gathering for the commission that was open to the media and the public, and some speakers called on the commission to increase its membership to add parents and students, and to hold meetings in communities.

"This federal commission on school safety needs to listen to communities that it's supposed to represent, communities like mine," Amina Henderson-Redwan, a leader with Voices of Youth in Chicago Education, told the commission.

While some of the speakers argued in favor of more trained school resource officers, others said these personnel create an unwelcoming environment in schools and lead to more arrests for nonviolent infractions.

"Police presence in schools has increased over time and contributes to the criminalization of young people, particularly young black people and brown people," said Hashim Jabar, of Dayton, Ohio-based Racial Justice Now.

Congressman John Rutherford, R-Fla., the first speaker of the morning session, said it's important for the DOJ to quickly implement the STOP School Violence Act, which includes funding for violence prevention training as well as physical security measures, such as more metal detectors, locks, emergency response technology

"We need to make this money available to schools as soon as possible," he said, but added that it's important to better understand what is occurring in the perpetrators' lives that makes them return to schools to kill people. "They go there to kill the pain in their life."

That's why speakers also called for "softer" measures, such as more counselors, conflict resolution programs, school nurses and social-emotional learning programs.

"Counselors, wraparound services and strong relationships with caring adults for struggling students is what is needed," said Zakiya Sankara-Jabar, the national field organizer with the Dignity in Schools Campaign, a coalition pushing for alternatives to suspension and zero-tolerance policies.

Amelia Vance, of the Future of Privacy Forum, also urged the commission to consider privacy issues when increasing video surveillance and using technology to monitor students' online activity.

"We are talking about the government actively seeking out children's social media accounts, both public and private, and combining this information with existing law enforcement or social services records to profile which students are threats," she said. "Programs to collect student data should be targeted at the most serious threats."

States move forward with safety agendas

Last week, the commission, including those representing the Justice, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security departments, visited a school for the first time, learning about Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports at Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School in Hanover, Md. According to a ED press release, George Sugai, a special education professor at the University of Connecticut, gave the commission members an overview of PBIS - a widely used school climate framework - and leaders from the Anne Arundel County (Md.) Public Schools talked about how they implement the program.

In a statement released to the press Tuesday, Beverly J. Hutton, deputy executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), called on the commission to "abandon the notion of arming teachers, principals and other school personnel," to maintain the discipline guidance and to spend more "purposefully" on mental health services in and out of schools.

"The consensus of the education community - more than one hundred education and law enforcement organizations - was captured in the 2013 Framework for Safe and Successful Schools," her statement said. "I hope the members of this commission can reclaim some time on your busy calendars with an awareness that many of the answers you seek are already known."

Those points were echoed by NASSP senior manager of federal engagement and outreach Zachary Scott during the public forum's Wednesday afternoon session. Also speaking during that session, Rabbi Abba Cohen of Agudath Israel of America emphasized that Jewish and other religious-affiliated schools also face the threat of rising ethnic, racial and religious extremism, adding another layer to the school safety discussion.

Meanwhile some states are holding their own school safety commissions. In Arkansas last week, mothers and grandmothers voiced opposition to arming school staff members, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The 18-member commission, appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, also listened to a presentation on PBIS. And in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott last week recommended more police and armed officers at schools and called on lawmakers to consider a "red flag" law, which allows family members or police to ask a judge to temporarily take a gun away from someone who appears to be a threat to themselves or others, according to The New York Times.
Roger Riddell contributed to this article.

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Advocates, parents call for more mental health services, reject idea of arming teachers

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U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos may have said that the Federal Commission on School Safety would not focus on guns, but those who spoke at the commission's "listening session" Wednesday offered strong opinions on reducing gun violence in schools and rejected the idea that arming teachers or other school personnel is a good idea.

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Step 2: Exploration Option 3 - Education Week

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Step 2: Exploration Option 3 - Education Week

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In the Laws and Courts section of Education Week, Samuels (2018), brings attention to misconceptions with homelessness and the additional challenge that homeless students with disabilities face. Federal laws such as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are discussed in the article.

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More than 1.3 million children in public school experienced homelessness during the 2015-16 school year.

Of those, about 18 percent-five percentage points higher than the rate for the general student population-were also students with disabilities.

One of those students was Myesha Lyles, now a 22-year-old college student at Florida International University in Miami. In school, she had to cope with placement in several foster homes, a difficult relationship with her adoptive mother, and bouts of housing insecurity that left her staying with various friends. At 17, she lost her vision due to a brain tumor. That added a disability to her list of challenges.

Lyles kept a lot of her family difficulties secret from school staff.

"I felt like I needed to keep it to myself. [Teachers] didn't make themselves so open and welcome," said Lyles.

And she also reasoned, where would she go if educators found out?

"I was really scared that if I said something, they were going to take us and separate me from my sisters," Lyles said.

Lyles has been able to move past some of her earlier struggles. She plans to graduate this fall with a bachelor's degree in psychology; Florida provides free college tuition to children adopted from foster care.

But her story illustrates some of the deep vulnerabilities of children facing both a disability and homelessness, and the challenges that can come with trying to make sure they get the help they need.

Two federal laws, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, govern school responsibilities when it comes to serving such children. But in some cases, the laws have different requirements and operate on different timelines. Both laws require schools to proactively identify children and families in need, but sometimes families or students keep their problems secret out of fear and shame. And sometimes, school personnel may not recognize the signs that a student or family is struggling, or they may not know how best to help.

When children enroll in school is an obvious time to identify some families in need, said Patricia Popp, the director of Project Hope-Virginia, which oversees that state's McKinney-Vento program. Each state disperses federal funds to school districts for homeless student support services.

"Beyond that, [homeless student liaisons] explicitly need to train every staff member, to make sure that teachers and counselors and bus drivers know what we mean by 'homeless for education purposes.' It could be the little guy whose mom is sitting in the car every day to pick him up. Teachers need to know what to listen for. It's all those little red flags."

Among homeless students, 76 percent of them are sharing housing with another person, or what the law calls "doubled up." The remainder are in shelters, hotels and motels, or unsheltered-living in cars or abandoned buildings, for example.

Getting Support Fast

Angeleatha McAdoo, the homeless-education advocate for the Christina district in Wilmington, Del., estimates that 32 percent of the district's approximately 500 homeless students have disabilities. McAdoo receives data sheets on homeless students from school administrators.

"We try to put them to the top of the list" for help, McAdoo said. But homeless students are highly mobile, and a phone number given to a school one day may not work later on when staff members try to reach the family.

"We try to tell the parent, if you move, you need to notify me as soon as possible, so that we can set the transportation [to school] based on that moving date. I think that's a big piece of it, we try to minimize that interruption of their education as much as possible."

In Florida, a state with a large homeless student population, about 18 percent are classified as having disabilities. Debra Albo-Steiger, an administrator who oversees support for homeless students in the 350,000-student Miami-Dade district, said she also tries to get help to families quickly.

"If I have a student who is coming from another district, I immediately call our special ed office. I'm not going to wait months for these kids' [individualized education program] to be done. If they're within the shelter system, we're working with the shelter staff on really how to best help that family," said Albo-Steiger, who oversees a program for the district called Project UP-START.

The acronym, which stands for "Updating Personnel Support and Tutoring Activities to Retain Transitioning Students," offers both a description of the program's work and a term for families-"transitioning"-that Albo-Steiger says makes it more palatable for them to accept support.

Albo-Steiger did not work with Lyles, but said that one of her goals has been to educate school staff about signs that children may be in crisis. Fear of getting in trouble or being separated from loved ones is common for youth facing homelessness, she said, making school staffers even more critical.

"In the last three or four years, we've had a concerted effort to make teachers aware enough to ask someone else," Albo-Steiger said. Educators are not expected to solve the problems themselves, but they should share their concerns with a school counselor or social worker, she said.

The federal government does not keep track of the individual disability categories that homeless students have, but some districts, such as Miami-Dade, do. In the 2016-17 school year, Miami-Dade had about 8,000 students classified as homeless, about 1,250 of whom were classified as being eligible for the district's exceptional student services, Albo-Steiger said.

Many of those students, close to 400, were identified because they were eligible for gifted services. Of the remainder, most had specific learning disabilities, which is also the largest disability category for special education students overall. Smaller numbers were identified as having other health impairments, emotional disturbances, and autism.

Clashing Timelines

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, districts are required to provide transportation so that homeless students can remain in their school of origin. The law also requires schools to enroll children even if they don't have their complete educational records available. The Every Student Succeeds Act expanded some provisions of McKinney-Vento by stating that preschool-age homeless children are also eligible for services, that schools must remove enrollment barriers such as fees or documents that might otherwise be required, and that educational institutions must partner with other agencies that support homeless families and youth.

While all districts must follow McKinney-Vento's mandates, only a fraction of school systems receive federal support through the U.S. Department of Education to do so. In fiscal 2017, $77 million was distributed to the states through formula grants.

McKinney-Vento's focus is on moving quickly to enroll children. The IDEA, on the other hand, has built-in timelines for evaluating a child for services that don't fit neatly into McKinney-Vento's mandates.

"You can have administrators saying, 'I have to put them in school, do we put them in the wrong placement and then have to change them?' " said Kerry Wrenick, the statewide director of homeless student services for Colorado. Before she took that position, she oversaw homeless student services in the Kansas City, Mo., district.

"And then there's the whole question of whether they have a legal person to sign off on all their [special education] stuff," Wrenick said, such as a parent or recognized guardian. The IDEA requires an authorized party to agree to an individualized education program, but the student may be living with a person who doesn't have that standing. The IDEA has a provision allowing schools to appoint what the law calls a "surrogate parent," just for the purposes of developing and supporting a student's special education program.

But the tug-of-war between the two laws should not stop schools from offering these students what they need, Wrenick stressed. She urges district leaders not to overlook these students because they're such a relatively small part of the student population.

"I really approach it as these provisions were put into place to help level the playing field," Wrenick said. Given the special challenges life has handed them, these students "need a little extra."

Published in Print: March 7, 2018, as Disabled and Homeless: Twice as Vulnerable

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Getting Help Fast for Disabled, Homeless Students Isn't Easy

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More than 1.3 million children in public school experienced homelessness during the 2015-16 school year. Of those, about 18 percent-five percentage points higher than the rate for the general student population-were also students with disabilities. One of those students was Myesha Lyles, now a 22-year-old college student at Florida International University in Miami.

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Step 3: Legal and Ethical Issue of Interest to Me - Every Student Succeeds Act.

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Step 3: Legal and Ethical Issue of Interest to Me - Every Student Succeeds Act.

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After researching various articles and websites on legal and ethical issues school counselors are facing, The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), stood out to me the most. As nearly every educational website mentioned how important ESSA is, I am interested to learn more about it and how it will impact my role as a school counselor.

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The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), was recently adopted to replace the No Child Left Behind Act. One of the major points of this act is that it allows states to have more control and say over their schools than had previously been possible (Lee, n.d.). Through the implementation of ESSA, schools will be held accountable through four academic indicators and at least one indicator measuring school quality. According to Penuel, Meyer, Valladeres, & the University of Colorado at Boulder, N.C. (2016), the non-academic indicator can include indicators such as student or educator engagement, availability of advanced coursework, college or career readiness, and school climate.
As ESSA is a federal law, this will impact all educators, administrators, and counselors. As a counselor, I can see how this law will definitely affect my career. While I will play a role in ensuring that my school is held accountable in each of the academic indicators, the non-academic indicator is where I can really see a counselor taking the lead. It provides a platform for schools to focus on issues such as school safety and climate. As educators, it is our responsibility to ensure that schools are safe and conducive to learning for students of all learning abilities and ethnic backgrounds.

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Jacobson, L. (2018, June 06). Advocates, parents call for more mental health services, reject idea of arming teachers. Education dive. Retrieved from https://www.educationdive.com/news/advocates-parents-call-for-more-mental-health-services-reject-idea-of-arm/525127/

Lee, A. (n.d.). Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): What you need to know. Understood. Retrieved from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/your-childs-rights/basics-about-childs-rights/every-student-succeeds-act-essa-what-you-need-to-know

Penuel, W., Meyer, E., Valladares, M. & University of Colorado at Boulder, N. C. (2016). Making the most of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Helping states focus on school equity, quality and climate.

Samuels, C. (2018, March 09). Getting help fast for disabled, homeless students isn’t easy. Education week, 37(23). Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/03/07/getting-help-fast-for-disabled-homeless-students.html

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Step 4: Internet Research on the Every Student Succeeds Act 

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Step 4: Internet Research on the Every Student Succeeds Act 

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After completing an online search for information on ESSA, I selected a website called Understood. This website is credible and provided a great amount of detail on ESSA.

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At a glance

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the main education law for public schools in the United States.

The law holds schools accountable for how students learn and achieve.

ESSA aims to provide an equal opportunity for disadvantaged students, including those who get special education.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the main law for K-12 public education in the United States. It replaced . ESSA is a large, complex law. It affects all students in public schools.

The main purpose of ESSA is to make sure public schools provide a quality education for all kids. It gives states a central role in how schools account for student achievement. This includes the achievement of historically disadvantaged students who fall into one or more of four key groups:

Students in poverty

Students of color

Students who receive services

Those with limited English language skills

Under ESSA, each state creates an education plan for its schools within a framework provided by the federal government. The law gives parents and caregivers a chance to weigh in on these plans. Each state plan must describe:

Academic standards

Annual testing

School accountability

Goals for academic achievement

Plans for supporting and improving struggling schools

State and local report cards

These aren't the only requirements for states and school districts. But they're the ones that most directly impact kids who learn and think differently.

ESSA also provides funding for literacy programs and other grants. And it encourages innovation in how schools teach kids.

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What Is the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)?

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The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the main federal law for K-12 public education. It holds schools accountable for student performance. Find out how.

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Step 4: Academic Resource on the Every Student Succeeds Act

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Step 4: Academic Resource on the Every Student Succeeds Act

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Making the Most of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) — Helping States Focus on School Equity, Quality and Climate.pdf