A key reason for the changes executed by Superintendent Dr. David Aderhold in his Whole Child approach to education concerned the reportedly high level of stress caused by schoolwork and activities. (External review: K-12 Programs and Services for Gifted Students, Program Evaluation for West Windsor-Plainsboro.)
But the district has strong guidance and counseling services, as well as a wealth of online resources and numbers to call when stress arises. Seminars are available for parents to cope with their children’s stress, and the district offers instruction to its students on stress management. Counselors are available during lunch at each high school. Yet, for some students, these efforts are seemingly insufficient.
A major source for students and families in the WW-P district is admission to a college of choice. The high school counselors have an enormous workload. They handle emotional, social and academic crises, help students choose their course of study, correct scheduling conflicts, consult when discipline problems arise, help register students for advanced testing, review and implement 504 plans, meet with parents and, further, have major responsibility for the college application process.
The American School Counselor Association has recommended that the maximum ratio of counselors to students should be 1 to 250. The ideal ratio has been recommended as 1 to 100. The ratio at the WW-P high schools, including the student assistance counselor, is about 1 to 206. Despite this load, guidance counselors in the district certainly meet the ASCA’s National Model in terms of the full array of services offered.
If, during the next four to five years, the district decided to put a priority on hiring more counselors so that the ratio was closer to 1 to 100, the college admission process and everyday schoolwork could be less stressful. Crises could be handled earlier. For example, in some programs guidance counselors have flexible hours, including evening and weekend hours. If each guidance counselor had about 100 to 125 students, then home visits could be made in ninth grade during an evening or weekend, so that the family, the student and the counselor could establish ways to work together.
Parents would know they could call the guidance counselor if problems arose. Careful explanations could be given about both the support available as well as the need to find a good fit for the individual student from a wide range of colleges or vocational schools.
Vocational schools could be given even more coverage. By 2020, a two-million-person shortage in construction jobs will exist in the U.S. A machinist skilled in software applications and robotics is always in demand. During the sophomore, junior and senior years, family consultations would further refine choices, give support to the student and gauge both student and family stress.
Since the ASCA is increasingly data driven, students and parents, after every home visit or school interaction, would be encouraged to complete anonymous on-line satisfaction surveys, whose results would be tabulated and combined to provide each counselor in the high schools and throughout the district with monthly feedback on personal performance.
School taxes are considerable. Still, residents can demand that substantive changes in the guidance departments be made: more counselors, increased flexibility in hours, and thorough performance feedback. If the district is concerned about stress, such changes will be essential in alleviating that stress.
Tamerra Moeller
West Windsor
