CLU hosting workshop for new school counselors

California Lutheran University will sponsor a workshop for newly hired public school counselors from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 6, at the college’s Oxnard Graduate Center.

CLU organized the two-part course to assist middle and high school counselors from Ventura and Los Angeles counties in designing, planning and evaluating programs for high-risk students at the middle and high school levels.

School districts hired additional counselors nine months ago after AB 1802 provided $200 million to decrease the counselor-student ratio, explained Gail Uellendahl, a CLU professor in the School of Education and workshop project manager. California ranked 50th in the nation with one counselor to every 966 students in 2006.

The many challenges facing these new counselors include giving individualized attention to students in danger of failing the California High School Exit Exam, providing college and career counseling, and helping those with social and emotional needs.

“These new counselors are expected to hit the ground running to make a positive impact on student graduation and passage of the California High School Exit Exam,” Uellendahl said. “However, they cannot be expected to succeed without the proper training.”

The workshop will give counselors the tools they need to analyze their data. They will learn to prepare a one-page report highlighting the impact they have had on students’ academic success. Uellendahl hopes that well-documented results could lead to permanent funding for the counselors.

Workshop leaders are Uellendahl; Bob Tyra, a consultant for the Los Angeles County Office of Education; and Diana Stephens and Lisa Buono, instructors in CLU’s School Counselor Education Program.

The first workshop was held in February. The two sessions were funded in part by a $2,450 grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Community Response Fund.

For more information, please contact Uellendahl at (805) 493-3080.