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Slide #13 Recommendations/Best Practices for Compliance

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Slide #13 Recommendations/Best Practices for Compliance

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School counselors should help all students and encourage parental involvement at all grade levels. The more parents are involved in their kid's education the more support the students will receive which is especially important to special education students.

Schools should always have multiple eyes on special education students in making sure all their needs are being met per their IEP not only because it is the right thing to do but also because an IEP is a legal document and it must be followed.

When evaluating a student or planning an ARD meeting the ARD committee should always meet deadlines and make sure they have provided everything they are required to to the parent and the student.

IEPs should be unique for each student because they are an Individualized Education Plan and no two students are exactly the same.

All schools should meet ADA requirements because they never know when they may have a new student move in that has a need per ADA and their IEP that the school may not be able to meet at the time but will have to modify their staff or structure to meet the requirements.

Standardized testing cannot hold a student back from obtaining a regular high school diploma.

Counselors should advocate for all students especially those who do not have anyone to do so. Even if a systematic change needs to be made counselors should push for the right things to take place.

There is an abundance of resources available to help teachers make sure all students' needs are met, always ask others for guidance if you do not know the best way to go about meeting the needs of an IEP.

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Educators 4 Social Change has provided a website to help educators with helpful lesson plan templates, articles related to special education, informational sites, and more. They have also provided apps that could be beneficial in teaching different special education students according to their disability (Educators 4 Social Change, n.d.).

https://educators4sc.org/using-online-platforms-for-students-with-special-needs/

Educators 4 Social Change. (n.d.). Teaching with online platforms for students with special needs. Educators 4SC. https://educators4sc.org/using-online-platforms-for-students-with-special-needs/

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Students with special needs face unique challenges when learning, but there are many resources online that can be used by educators to aid their students. Whether these students are homeschooled and using these resources 24/7 or enrolled in school full-time and utilizing these resources as supplemental material, online platforms can help children with special needs gain more of an understanding on course content. Interactive games, activities, and videos may be a better alternative to handwritten homework for some students with learning disabilities. Special needs educators with students who may benefit from this type of learning should begin their search for resources with those provided below!
Resources
Education is becoming more digital every day. Therefore, there are more online resources on the internet than ever before. As more awareness is being raised for students with special needs, many of these online resources are being created to help them reach their greatest potential.
Lesson Plans

1. Top 12 Websites For Children With Learning Disabilities: This article offers educators a list of a dozen websites for children with learning disabilities. This online site recognizes that students with learning disabilities are just as smart as their peers, but their brains work differently. The educational websites which this site recommends are some of the best resources to help these children develop the skills they need. The recommended online platforms include IXL Worldwide, FunBrain, AAA Math, Storyline Online, Into the Book!, Starfall, Reading Rockets, the Exploratorium, Do2Learn, AdaptedMind, and others.

2. New Partnership Extends the Power of Online Learning to Special Education Students: fueleducation explains the functions of two different online platforms: Fuel Education and PresenceLearning. The general manager for Fuel Education, Gregg Levin, reports that both platforms "focus on using technology-enabled education to better serve students on an individual, personalized level." Through the partnership between the two, the companies are hoping to offer "a new, innovative way to meet the needs of special education students."

3. 7 Fantastic Websites for Teaching Curriculum to Students with Disabilities: Here, a list of seven different websites is provided to help educators gather online materials for students with special needs. Teachers Pay Teachers, Engage NY, IXL, Reading A-Z, Edhelper.com, education.com, and Khan Academy are all linked and explained on this site.

Articles

1. 50 Great Websites for Special Needs Educators: A list of fifty different websites for special needs educators is provided here. Masters in Special Education gives educators the resources they will need to help their students thrive. This list contains links for associations, council, centers, and societies along with conferences and financial aid. In addition, helpful websites, articles, research, and teaching resources supplied here may be helpful when you are trying to put together the best resources for your students to utilize.

2. Teaching Kids with LD: LD Online offers a multitude of resources on their site to help students with learning disabilities "reach their full potential." Articles, instructional strategies, (information on) teaching issues, resources, recommended links, and more are given here. Also, a forum where special education teachers can share their advice and experiences with one another is also linked at the bottom of the page. This list is a great place to start when compiling resources!

3. The Best Writing & Reading Programs for Special Education: We Are Teachers has published an article which has a list of the best writing and reading programs for special education. SpellRead, Stevenson Reading, Zane Education, i-Ready, Edmark, and more are listed. Each of these programs is accompanied by a short explanation from a teacher who has utilized the online platform itself.

Informational Sites

1. Ginger Tiger is the Largest Online Platform for Special Needs Learners: Ginger Tiger is one of the largest online platforms for special needs learners, and Closing the Gap provides an abundance of detailed information on the site. A ten-minute video on the platform is linked and the benefits of Ginger Tiger, including its accessibility and flexibility, are explained extensively.

2. Websites that Work for The Special Education Classroom: This Powerpoint presentation links and provides a snapshot of dozens of various websites that work for special education in the classroom. Sites for all subjects, science, language arts, reading, social studies, and math are included. Websites specific to autistic students are also provided.

Conclusion
Using online platforms for teaching students with special needs may be daunting, but there are many great resources out there for educators to use. Common programs like IXL, Do2Learn, and Khan Academy and other lesser known sites can be utilized to teach students with special needs science, math, history, or language arts. There's no harm in testing out a few of these online platforms and seeing which is the most effective!
Additional Resources

Nextfrontierinclusion.org: This site offers a list of apps for dyslexic learners, autistic learners, the visually impaired, and learners with writing difficulties. See below!

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Teaching with Online Platforms for Students with Special Needs

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Introduction Students with special needs face unique challenges when learning, but there are many resources online that can be used by educators to aid their students. Whether these students are...

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A counselor's responsibility to students in marginalized populations is to advocate for systematic changes so that they have the same chance at an appropriate education as everyone else. If teachers or others are not doing for special education students as they should a school counselor should step in and advocate for what is right for the students to have their educational needs met (American School Counselor Association, 2022).

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/44f30280-ffe8-4b41-9ad8-f15909c3d164/EthicalStandards.pdf

American School Counselor Association. (2022). Asca ethical standards for school counselors. ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/44f30280-ffe8-4b41-9ad8-f15909c3d164/EthicalStandards.pdf

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Slide #10 Policy or Rule from a School - Administrative Law

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Slide #10 Policy or Rule from a School - Administrative Law

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MVISD Special Education Teacher Manual

Mount Vernon ISD. (2022). MVISD special education teacher manual. https://docs.google.com/document/d/154tFSyIB0Ck9FRwVfjfHqb47a7MAt7tMlUvRWWVR8lQ/edit

Source of Law: Administrative Law

https://docs.google.com/document/d/154tFSyIB0Ck9FRwVfjfHqb47a7MAt7tMlUvRWWVR8lQ/edit

Each special education student will be assigned a case manager who will track their student caseload in Plan Management. Case managers will respond to calendar invites through their Google calendar. The case manager will gather data from teachers to determine the basis for information being input into the Individualized Education  Plan (IEP) for the student to present to the ARD committee (Mount Vernon ISD, 2022).

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Slide #9 Original Sources of Law at the Federal Level

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Slide #9 Original Sources of Law at the Federal Level

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Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Every Student Succeeds Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2015).

Statutory Law

https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn

ESSA assures all students be taught high academic standards which will make them successful in postsecondary education. ESSA also states that standardized testing cannot hold a student back from obtaining a regular high school diploma. The ARD committee can decide after substantial attempts at standardized testing that it will not be required for graduation (Every Student Succeeds Act, 2015).

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Slide #8 Original Sources of Law at the Federal Level

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Slide #8 Original Sources of Law at the Federal Level

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American with Disabilities Act

Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (1990).

Statutory Law

https://www.ada.gov/

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is derived from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and protects people with disabilities from discrimination. ARD requirements are connected to the ADA as students must have the appropriate accessibility they require. If a student is wheelchair bound they must have the same access to classes, buildings, restrooms, etc. as general education students do via wheelchair ramps, places to sit in classrooms in their wheelchairs, and wheelchair-accessible restrooms to name a few (Americans With Disabilities Act, 1990).

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Slide #7 Original Sources of Law at the Federal Level

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Slide #7 Original Sources of Law at the Federal Level

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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004).

Statutory Law

https://sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/

Schools are required to develop an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for any student who qualifies for special education services. IEPs should be unique for each student’s needs and should include the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) for each student which entails an inclusive environment in which the special education student can be the most academically successful. Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) details that special education students should receive the services they need to make them as successful as general education students. IDEA ensures that appropriate testing is applied for each student who may need an evaluation completed. IDEA ties to the ARD requirements as collaboration is the key to special education because one person cannot make all the decisions for a student it needs to be reviewed through a committee to compile opinions and data from parents, teachers, special education staff, and any other school employees who have an educational purpose to benefit the student (Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 2004).

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Slide #6 Original Sources of Law at the Federal Level

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Slide #6 Original Sources of Law at the Federal Level

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Rule §89.1050 The Admission, Review, and Dismissal Committee

The Admission, Review, and Dismissal Committee, 19 Tex. Admin. Code § 89.1050

Administrative Law

https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=2&ch=89&rl=1050

Every school must form a committee representing each student who qualifies for special education services. The committee must include the parent of the student, at least one general education teacher who teaches the student, at least one special education teacher, an administrator, a diagnostician, the student, a related services representative if applicable, a career, technical, and education (CTE) teacher of the student, and if he student is emergent bilingual a staff member who is on the language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC). Parents must be given written notice of at least 5 days of the meeting which parents may attend in person, over the phone, or through video conference. If the parent provides written notice of wanting to hold an ARD meeting the school district must schedule it within 5 school days or provide written notice explaining why the meeting will not be held. The school is responsible for providing an interpreter for the parent if they do not speak English. If the parent does not agree with all decisions being presented they are allowed to ask for a recess and for the committee to reconvene at a different time all while the school should be accessing different options, collecting more data, preparing more documentation, and/or ask an additional people who may assist in reaching a mutual agreement. When a student moves to a new school district in Texas the new district has thirty school days to have a transfer ARD to verify the needs of the student. If a student moves to a new district from out of state the new district may determine whether the student needs a full evaluation or accepts the full initial evaluation (FIE) from the previous district. These decisions must take place in the timeline outlined by the district. The previous district must provide the student's paperwork to the new district within 10 school days (19 T. A. C. § 89.1050).

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Special education students in Brookfield were not being serviced properly due to the district not having a proper plan in place. The program was lacking staff which was in turn not allowing all the students to be met. Brookfield is developing a strategic plan to implement to improve the education their special education population is receiving (Fox, 2023).

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/new-review-brookfield-s-special-education-program-18141878.php

Fox, S. D. (2023, June 12). New Review of brookfield’s Special Education Program calls for changes, starting with a strategic plan. NewsTimes. https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/new-review-brookfield-s-special-education-program-18141878.php

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Lisa Weir/For Hearst Connecticut Media

BROOKFIELD - A new in-depth review of the embattled special education program in the Brookfield Schools, conducted after complaints from parents about staffing, services and more, called for many improvements - starting with a comprehensive strategic plan.

The report's main criticisms included the special education program's lack of a strategic plan, a need for improved communication and insufficient staffing levels, said Dana Corriveau, managing director of professional learning at the Capitol Region Education Council Resource Group, or CREC, which conducted the review.

"It became apparent to us that there was no comprehensive plan in place and that creates a lot of frustration and anxiety for a lot of people," said Corriveau, who presented the 46-page " Brookfield Public Schools Special Education Program Review" at Wednesday night's school board meeting.

The detailed report and the PowerPoint presentation can be viewed at www.brookfield.k12.ct.us/district/brookfield-public-schools/pages/crec-special-education-review-june-2023

The review looked at the use of resources, organizational structures, student learning and collaboration and communication in the special education program. It analyzed district documents and reports, student files, classroom observations, staff and parent surveys, and the results of focus groups and interviews.

The program needs a strategic plan to identify its goals, Corriveau said.

"Strategic plans can include every single thing that any department or leader or person can do," she said. "We do a lot of things on a daily basis, but there should be some sentiment of everybody is working in the same direction to achieve these goals, and there is agreement that these are the right goals to have."

Developing a strategic plan will take time, Corriveau said.

"That's a three- to five-year process," she said. "That is not an over the summer of 2023 process."

The review was conducted after many complaints from parents about the special education program in the Brookfield schools.

Parents have said they're concerned about high staff turnover in the department, teacher behavior toward special education students and failure to follow individualized education plans, or IEPs, for students in special education.

Communication issues

The also review found "communication issues" on many levels, Corriveau said.

"This was leadership, this was school staff and this was parents. This wasn't coming from just one particular area. This was apparent that it kind of went both ways," she said.

Also, the special education staff members want to have a relationship with their director that is conducive to "teamwork, a positive culture and collaboration," she said.

Additionally, there is "definitely disruption" in the availability of staff to implement students' IEPs and this has caused "some discontent," Corriveau said.

"When you layer that in with a lack of communication, it's really ingredients for a really tumultuous culture in the schools," she added.

Resources, staffing

The review also found "inconsistent responses" to requests for resources by staff leaders, Corriveau said.

"It was shared with us pretty consistently that (regarding) certain resources, staff members were either told it wasn't going to be possible or that money in the budget wasn't available or that it was going to be taken care of a different way," she said.

"In other instances, staff were readily given and granted the request for the resource," she added.

Additionally, in regard to staffing, she said many times, "people aren't available."

As an example, she said, teachers and paraprofessionals "are being pulled from one child to serve another child" to stay in compliance with the IEPs.

The review looked at staffing not from a caseload perspective but from a workload perspective, Corriveau said. Though staffing levels mostly remained the same year over year, "it kind of begs the question of what is happening in services that the staffing levels are no longer sufficient?" she said.

There are also challenges regarding the special education department's absenteeism rate, Corriveau said.

"While the district really didn't lose or gain a significant number of positions in special ed ... filling those (positions) with substitutes or temporary staff, by and large - those were really difficult for the district to fill," she said.

Next steps

The Board of Education, along with Schools Superintendent John Barile, will be closely reviewing the findings of the review, Barile said at the meeting. They will develop "a plan of action" for making improvements in the special education department that could be regularly monitored at future meetings.

The review will be discussed further at the July 19 school board meeting. Corriveau said she'll return for further discussions at later meetings.

Additionally, the district will set up a dropbox or email for members of the public to provide input on the results of the report.

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New review of Brookfield's special education program calls for changes, starting with a strategic plan

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CREC presented a 46-page report to the school board on its findings after a deep dive into the special education program that has drawn criticism from parents.

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When a student is struggling it does not always mean they have a disability, however, when a teacher or parent requests a student be tested the timeline starts to have the student tested for special education services. Not all students will qualify but the school must provide the testing and determine whether or not they qualify. There is not a maximum or minimum number of special education students a school can have but every school must provide every student with an appropriate education (Arundel, 2021).

https://www.k12dive.com/news/why-having-too-many-or-too-few-special-education-students-matters/600659/

Arundel, K. (2021, June 1). Why having too many or too few special education students matters. K-12 Dive. https://www.k12dive.com/news/why-having-too-many-or-too-few-special-education-students-matters/600659/

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The improper identification of special education students was a concern to Lauren Katzman and many others before the pandemic. Now, after a year of millions of students collectively experiencing lost instructional time, fluctuating learning formats, social isolation and trauma, the angst about special education misidentifications has grown, said Katzman, executive director of the Urban Collaborative, a network of school districts working to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

"I do worry about it a lot," she said. "I believe coming back to school from the pandemic could exacerbate this, but it's not a new issue."

Indeed, special education -

But it's not a perfect system, and some of the practices for identifying students for special education are subjective, Katzman said. Additionally, a common myth is that a special education identification can get a student more individualized support. If the identification is flawed, however, the student's special education label could actually do more harm than good, she said.

"Let me tell you, more is not better," Katzman said.

Inappropriate identifications for special education services also have programming, staffing and financial implications for districts. Pandemic-related misidentification of students with disabilities is also of concern to school administrators, including district special education directors, said Phyllis Wolfram, executive director of the Council of Administrators of Special Education.

Wolfram and Katzman say as students return to classrooms, school administrators should make sure they have a strong multi-tiered system of supports in place to provide general education interventions to all students and be prepared to intensify those supports for students needing extra help.

School and district administrators should also monitor special education referrals and identifications, and make comprehensive investigations of the disaggregated data when the numbers are not consistent with historical trends or otherwise seem unusual, Wolfram said.

"You have to dig deeper into the information to see what the data is telling you," she said.

Avoiding artificial caps

There are no ideal local, state or federal percentages or numbers of students who qualify for special education services. In fact, districts cannot set arbitrary limits on the number of special education students they serve.

District, state and federal education agencies do monitor the data and when the numbers seem amiss, more research into the root causes for discrepancies should take place, said Sue Gamm, an attorney and independent consultant who works with school districts to review their special education practices.

Determining an educational disability

"There is a debate about whether trauma is or is not a disability and I want to say that the world has been traumatized this year."

Lauren Katzman

Executive director of the Urban Collaborative

IDEA also says a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math or being an English learner cannot be a factor in finding a student eligible for special education.

The post-COVID-19 concern is that well-intentioned educators will rush to qualify students for special education services in an attempt to catch kids up academically, said Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, director of policy and advocacy for the National Association of School Psychologists.

NASP has released guidance emphasizing the need to differentiate students' COVID-19 related learning disruptions from an educational disability.

While some students will most certainly qualify as needing IDEA services for the first time, that won't be the case for most students who are academically behind or who have challenging behaviors, Vaillancourt Strobach

At the same time, school systems shouldn't delay the special education evaluation process for those students who struggled academically before and during the pandemic and truly qualify for IDEA services.

"We just want to make sure we're making the right identifications," Vaillancourt Strobach said. "Special education can be wonderful and beneficial for a lot of kids but it can be very harmful to other kids who don't need it, who have been labeled that way, especially... the kids with emotional and behavioral disabilities."

Disproportionality concerns

Emotional disturbance, like specific learning disability, is one of 13 recognized disability categories under the IDEA. About 5% of IDEA-eligible students have ED as their main special education classification. Black or African American students represented the second largest racial subgroup of students with ED behind students identified with two or more races, according to the Education Department's most recent Annual Report to Congress on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act .

The CRDC data also shows that although students with disabilities comprised 12% of the student population, they had 26% of the out-of-school suspensions.

Vaillancourt Strobach said there's concern that as students reenter classrooms after learning virtually for so long, the adjustment to school routines and rules could be difficult for students whose at-home time wasn't as structured.

"What we don't want to see happen is those kids being inappropriately labeled as having an emotional disability because what they really needed was a little bit of time to transition and a little bit of support from the school counselor or the school psychologist - or you know, whomever - to just let them ease back in," she said.

The financial and emotional hardships students experienced during the pandemic could also be a factor in students' challenging behaviors, special education experts said.

"There is a debate about whether trauma is or is not a disability, and I want to say that the world has been traumatized this year," Katzman said. "You're gonna have kids acting in all sorts of ways when they come back, and I think we need to assume that and not count that as a disability."

Recommended practices

Gamm and other special education experts say there are several best practices school systems should consider for the prevention of misidentifying students for special education services. They include:

Special education experts say MTSS is one of the best methods for preventing inappropriate special education identifications. Having strong general education practices for providing evidence-based instructional supports that increase in intensity based on individual students' needs can help schools address academic regressions. Strengthening multi-tiered system of supports.

Likewise, positive behavioral intervention and supports is also a multi-tiered framework that can prevent challenging behaviors first with a whole school approach and through more individualized interventions in order to meet a range of students' needs.

If a district lacks a strong MTSS framework, then special education services may seem like the best way to provide help to struggling students, but it's not always the solution, Katzman said. The special education referral and identification process is supposed to distinguish students who truly need services from those who don't. Strong systems for special education referrals and identifications can Understanding the IDEA referral and identification process.

help prevent misclassifications and harmful disproportionate practices, according to research recently published by The Brookings Institution.

Even though any educator or parent can refer a student for special education services, the process for finding a student eligible for IDEA support includes reviews of multiple indicators of a student's past and present learning status, as well as applying the criteria for identifying a student with one or more of the 13 IDEA-recognized disabilities.

. The review, which concluded in 2018, showed the percentage of IDEA-eligible students was higher than state, urban districts and national averages. As a result, one of the recommendations from the review was that a multidisciplinary team of educators provide more specific guidance for special education referrals, evaluations and eligibility. Monitoring data for areas of concern. School districts can proactively initiate data deep dives, said Gamm, who worked with the Detroit Public Schools Community District and the Council of Great City Schools to review the school system's special education practices, including disability prevalence rates

Wolfram said special education directors should monitor both referral and identification rates and disaggregate that data by class, grade, school, race, gender and other factors.

Katzman advises school administrators find the teachers who are struggling and provide those teachers extra support and training. Gamm adds that all teachers should have training in the MTSS framework.Teachers, however, shouldn't carry all the burden for MTSS or pre-referral monitoring for special education, they say. School psychologists and other instructional support personnel, for example, can assist teachers with designing and monitoring classwide interventions, Vaillancourt Strobach said. Supporting teachers.

"Teachers are the ones in the classroom but there needs to be a team of people who are all supporting this work and principals and school leaders need to take a good look at the available resources that they have and make sure that they're being used most effectively," she said.

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Why having too many or too few special education students matters

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The improper identification of special education students was a concern to Lauren Katzman and many others before the pandemic. Now, after a year of millions of students collectively experiencing lost instructional time, fluctuating learning formats, social isolation and trauma, the angst about special education misidentifications has grown, said Katzman, executive director of the Urban Collaborative, a network of school districts working to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.

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Professional school counselors are available for students of all backgrounds to help them understand how to reach their full potential no matter their background. School counselors are meant to support students in all their academic endeavors and encourage family engagement and support in each child's academic career (American School Counselor Association, 2022).

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Students-with-Disabilitie

American School Counselor Association. (2022). The school counselor and students with disabilities. The School Counselor and Students with Disabilities - American School Counselor Association (ASCA). https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Students-with-Disabilitie

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The School Counselor and Students with Disabilities

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The school counselor takes an active role in student achievement and postsecondary planning by providing a school counseling program for all students. As a part of this program, school counselors advocate for students with special needs, encourage family involvement in their child's education and collaborate with other educational professionals to promote academic achievement, social/emotional wellness and college/career readiness for all.

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Special education is a large population of students and a continuously growing population, as well. Special education also has a lot of legal requirements within a school district. School counselors are often one of the first people that parents or students go to when looking for advice on how to approach a situation. The more a school counselor knows about special education and ARD requirements the more beneficial they will be to a population who often needs guidance.
An emerging issue related to special education and ARD requirements is families are becoming more educated on their rights, therefore, the school must know everything they are supposed to be doing to make sure they are covered in all aspects. A lot of school counselors have a hand in scheduling so if they are able to help make sure teachers are doing their duty to follow accommodations or meeting schedule of services minutes then they will be able to help make sure all requirements are met for the special education students. Counselors can also help guide teachers to make sure their students are being as successful as possible so if that could possibly mean helping with a special education referral then having that knowledge will not only help the teachers but the students as well.

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I am Rebecca Russell and I will soon be starting my sixteenth year in education. I am currently a high school math special education teacher and case manager while going to school to become a professional school counselor. I chose ARD Requirements as it is not only something I will be involved in when I become a professional school counselor but as I am also involved in ARD meetings for my caseload of students. I have always enjoyed helping kids who do not always have someone in their corner so when I became a special education teacher this became even more important. I believe as a professional school counselor you should have as much knowledge as possible about all the different populations you are working with. Knowing more legal requirements of ARD meetings will allow me to not only be more well-rounded as a counselor but also allow me to be able to advocate for students who may not have a strong support system otherwise.