Volume_4_Issue_5_Digest

TPC D igest 79 Ian Martin is an assistant professor at the University of San Diego. John Carey is a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the Director of the Ronald H. Fredrickson Center for School Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation. Correspondence can be addressed to: Ian Martin, 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA 92110, imartin@sandiego.edu . Development of a Logic Model to Guide Evaluations of the ASCA National Model for School Counseling Programs – DIGEST Ian Martin John Carey S ince its initial publication in 2003, The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs has had a dramatic impact upon the field of school counseling. A quick scan of school counseling professional journals, associations and training materials yields multiple references to the ASCA National Model. Recent statewide research results suggest that ASCA National Model implementation is associated with increased student engagement, fewer disciplinary problems and higher student achievement. Most states have revised their models of school counseling to make them consistent with the ASCA National Model, and schools across the country have implemented the ASCA National Model (for example, the ASCAWeb site currently lists over 400 schools from 33 states that have won a Recognized ASCAModel Program [RAMP] award for exemplary implementation of the model). Despite the countrywide push for ASCA National Model implementation, overall evaluation of the model has not kept pace. For example, even with the vast majority of states adopting or adapting the model, only a handful of states have developed systems for evaluation. Rationales for this lack of evaluation include a recognition that the ASCA National Model is complex and difficult to evaluate, and evidence that practitioners continue to struggle with general evaluation issues (e.g., lack of training, time, practical examples, and evaluation resources and supports). Based upon these evaluation challenges, the authors hypothesized that retroactive logic modeling might have the potential to elevate the evaluation status of the ASCA National Model and provide researchers and practitioners with a new evaluation tool.