KPBSD counselors: testing takes a toll

  • By Kelly Sullivan
  • Tuesday, February 3, 2015 11:55pm
  • News

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District counselors are concerned state regulated standardized testing is taking an unexpected toll on students.

At Monday’s School Board meeting, a group of seven counselors, including representatives from Kenai Central High School, Skyview Middle School and Soldotna High School spoke about the detriments of organizing the excess of annual exams.

“I am concerned that we are losing the very activities School Counselors are specifically trained for to excessive test responsibilities,” said District Specialist and Counselor Sara Moore said. “Our counselors are specifically trained for serving students, not for putting stickers on test booklets.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Moore asked the school district’s 16 counselors to take the School Counseling Activity Rating Scale during a meeting on Jan. 23. The survey is designed to rate the actual and preferred frequency of functions that counselors may perform, she said.

Of non-test coordinator counselors, 100 percent routinely advise students regarding academic issues, whereas only 25 percent of test coordinators are able to accomplish academic advising, Moore said. Only 40 percent of non-test coordinator counselors routinely counsel with students regarding personal and family concerns, and that number drops to only 13 percent for test coordinator counselors, she said.

“They don’t feel as available to as many students as they want to be, and know they need to be,” Moore said.

The school district’s counselors operate under the American School Counselor Association’s National Model, Moore said. The plan recommends that school counselors spend at least 80 percent of their time in direct and indirect services to students in the areas of academic, career, and personal/social development.

Not all KPBSD counselors are testing coordinators,” said school district spokesperson Pegge Erkeneff. “Traditionally our counselors have been in charge of organizing the implementation of assessments, which can be state and federally mandated.”

LaDawn Druce, who works as a counselor at River City Academy, Soldotna High School and Ninilchik School said the workload increased even more at the start of this school year when the K-12 College and Career Readiness Standards changed again. The state now requires all graduating students must have taken the WorkKeys, SAT or the ACT.

The testing organizations set nation-wide test dates, and the school district can’t coordinate times that would work best locally, Druce said.

“Next year won’t be easier, we will just know the horror ahead of time,” Druce said. “Just know the sequel and know what’s coming ahead of time.”

The requirements make it physically impossible for counselors to help students, Druce said. The school district does not employ counselors in the elementary schools, which is where students will most directly benefit from social services, she said.

“We have been completely reactive, and not being proactive at all,” Druce said.

Ideally, a staff member would be designated to handle testing, Druce said.

Moore said she is optimistic because the school board and school district administration feel similarly about the challenges local counselors are facing.

The school district recognizes the frustrations surrounding testing as a result of the new requirements, Erkeneff said.

At the meeting board member Sunni Hilts said the school board plans to advocate for counselors in Juneau.

“You are preaching to the choir,” Hilts said.

 

Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulclarion.com

More in News

Robert Weaver was last seen at the Doroshin Bay public use cabin on June 25, 2025. (Photo provided by the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)
Kenai wildlife refuge seeking information on missing man

Robert Weaver was last seen near Skilak Lake on June 25.

The Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team conducts a training mission in Seward, Alaska in 2024. Photo courtesy of the Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team
Anchor Point fundraiser to benefit Alaska rescue and recovery group

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization established in 2016.

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic staff (left to right) Angie Holland, RN; Jane Rohr, Sonja Martin Young, CNM; Robin Holmes, MD; and Cherie Bole, CMA provide an array of reproductive and sexual health services. (Photo provided by KBFPC)
Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic releases report on STI trends on the Kenai Peninsula

The report pulls from data gathered from 2024 to early 2025.

Pool manager and swim coach Will Hubler leads a treading water exercise at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Swimmers, parents call on Kenai to support Kenai Central pool

The KPBSD Board of Education last week said communities will need to step up and take over administration of pools within the next year.

Traffic passes by South Spruce Street in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai drops effort to rename South Spruce Street

The resolution would have changed the name to make it clear which road led to North Kenai Beach

Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress fourth grade reading scores during a press conference on Jan. 31, 2025. Alaska is highlighted in yellow, while Mississippi is in red. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy calls special session for August

Lawmakers on Wednesday said they were surprised by the move.

A makeshift coffin decrying the risks of Medicaid funding cuts is seen on Thursday, June 26, in front of the Blazy Mall in Soldotna. The cuts were included in legislation passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday morning. (Photo by Jonas Oyoumick/Peninsula Clarion)
Ahead of Senate vote, Soldotna protesters defend Medicaid funding

Cuts to the program were included in legislation passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday morning.

Board President Zen Kelly speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough school board to finalize budget

The new budget designed by the committee will be considered at a public hearing during the full board meeting on Monday evening.

Most Read