Preconference Workshops
February 24, 2010 One of the Full-Day Preconference Workshop Presentations
Lance Williams, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Assistant Professor, Inner City Studies – Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois
“Lessons Learned from Hip-Hop: Using the Voice of Youth as a Transformative Tool to Create A Positive, Pro-Social Behavior”
Counselors and educators are a valuable resource in helping youth interpret the influences surrounding them. An understanding of the culture can enhance the effectiveness of counselors and educators. In this workshop, participants will be provided with information and strategies that they can use to encourage students to participate in school and to make healthy choices.
Lance Williams, Ph.D., is Assistant Director of Northeastern Illinois University’s Jacob H. Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies and an Assistant Professor of Inner City Studies Education, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois. At the university Dr. Williams teachers Inner City Studies Education and Sociology. Topics in his courses include the history and culture of ethnic groups, city organization, the sociology of health and illness and the sociology of violence. Lance Williams is dedicated to helping Youth understand the influences of pop culture. He has presented to students, educators, families, and community resource persons at local and national conferences. Dr. Williams serves on committees dedicated to improving the education and outlook for inner-city youth.
Dr. Lance Williams has developed a workshop format that uses hip-hop music and videos to focus on the mass media’s influence on adolescent behavior. In the workshop, Dr. Williams will provide a historical context of the evolution of hip-hop from a once socially conscious art form to its current state of negative images. The workshop will document the overwhelming impact the current media has on the self-esteem of youth. A goal of the workshop is to provide information that educators can use to help their students review and critique the impact of hip-hop pop culture on self-identity and self-esteem, decision-making about school and the value of education, criminality and risky behavior. Participants will learn strategies to help them reach youth in school and classrooms.
February 24, 2010 One of the Full-Day Preconference Workshop Presentations
Carol J. Kaffenberger, Ph.D., Associate Professor – Counseling and Development Program, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
“Making DATA Work”
Professional school counselors have a role in schools for which they were not initially trained. Professional school counselors are now expected to collect data to understand educational issues, disaggregate existing data to uncover achievement gaps, and conduct program assessment to assure that school counseling programs are making a difference for all students. And yet, back in their buildings, faced with the day-to-day challenges of their role in schools, professional school counselors are not sure how to begin. They are looking for strategies that are easy to implement given their already demanding responsibilities.
The purpose of this workshop is to introduce the power of data-driven decision-making about educational issues. This workshop provides step-by-step implementation strategies along with a variety of resources and examples. Participants will learn about the power of data, how to implement accountability strategies, and how to share results with stakeholders.
Using data to understand educational issues involves a four-step process. The process involves working through a series of questions:
- DESIGN: What is your question?
- ASK: How will you answer your question?
- TRACK: How will you make sense of the data?
- ANNOUNCE: How will you use your findings?
Dr. Carol Kaffenberger is currently an associate professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, in the Counseling and Development program. She teaches counselor preparation courses and supervises school counseling interns. She was an elementary school counselor for 11 years. She provides training for practicing school counselors nationally and locally concerning the transformation of school counseling, the use of data to address educational issues, and school reentry for students with chronic illness. She is serving a three year term as the ASCA Counselor Educator VP and is on the Board of Hopecam and Breast Cancer Network of Strength.
Kaffenberger’s research interests include the transformation of school counseling, helping children with chronic illness, and the effectiveness of school counseling preparation programs. She has recently co-authored a book on the use of data to address educational issues, and also completed a study of the impact of cancer on academic achievement and school reentry. Professional presentations include training school counselors to use data to understand educational issues, coping with chronic illness for children and adolescents, transforming counselor education programs, implementation of the ASCA National Model, and narrative counseling in schools. She has written professional articles and chapters on school reentry issues, coping with cancer, the diagnosis of mental disorders in children, the transformation of school counseling, and counseling practices. She developed a model for school reintegration for students with chronic illnesses and provided training to school counselors, social workers and school nurses.
February 24, 2010 One of the Full-Day Preconference Workshop Presentations
Stephanie G. Robinson, Ph.D., Principal Partner Emeritus Education Trust, Inc., Washington, DC
“Diversity and Cultural Competence: Myths, Realities and in the 21st Century”
This workshop will explore the concept of diversity, the myths that surround the idea and the twenty first century realities that confront our society. Diversity generally refers to differences in culture, race, ethnicity gender, physical and mental capacity as well as sexual orientation. Racial and cultural diversity are important in the face of the fact that the majority of the world is populated by people of color. Instantaneous, high speed communication and travel capability are shrinking the size of the world so that no little or time separates the remote corners of the world from main street USA. We are a global society.
What are the skills that leaders need in order to function in this, the global village? This diverse “local” world demands culturally competent educators, leaders and citizens. This workshop will provide participants with hands-on, interactive experiences designed to acquaint them with the definitions of diversity and cultural competence as well as the characteristics and behaviors of culturally competent leadership.
Stephanie Robinson brings over 30 years of experience as a public school teacher, administrator, college faculty member and education advocate to her work. She possesses a rare combination of experiences: (1) she was a teacher/administrator in the Montclair, NJ school system; (2) as Education Director for the National Urban League, she designed and implemented their National Education Initiative which linked that agency’s local affiliates to schools; (3) she served as Deputy Superintendent of the Kansas City, Missouri School District; and (3) most recently, at the Education Trust, she has worked with school districts and communities to ensure that all students reach high standards.
Now retired from the Education Trust, Dr. Robinson was one of the founders of the organization and until January 2007 she served as a Principal Partner. On joining the Trust in 1993, she provided leadership for the Commission on Chapter 1, implementing a public information campaign to generate support among policy makers and education advocates for the Commission’s report, Making Schools Work for Children in Poverty. At the Trust, she put her community education experiences to work engaging community-based organizations in education reform.
Dr. Robinson led the Education Trust’s Practice Team which provided technical assistance to school districts implementing standards-based reform. Their work helped educators align curriculum and instruction with standards and assessments. Additionally, Dr. Robinson worked with community-based organizations to enhance their capacity to engage parents in improving their children’s education. Dr. Robinson also provided leadership for the Education Trust’s Transforming School Counseling Center. The virtual center continues as a collaborative effort among universities, school districts and state education departments to change the role of school counselors from focusing on mental health, to eliminating systemic barriers to academic success. As a principal partner, she assisted the four other managing partners in guiding the Trust’s overall work.
Dr. Robinson serves on numerous national boards and commissions and has published numerous articles on education reform. She continues her work as a spokesperson for equity and excellence in education at forums nationwide. She provides technical assistance to school districts, states and organizations on an array of educational issues and has received numerous awards from national and local organizations.
Dr. Robinson graduated Cum Laude from Douglass College, Rutgers University; received a Masters in Social Work from the Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work; and earned a Ph.D. in Human Growth and Development/School Administration from the Union Institute.