January has a way of sneaking up on me—and usually bringing one big question with it: How’s your data looking?

In this episode, I’m sharing a realistic, no-pressure approach to doing a midyear data check, without the guilt, the overwhelm, or the unrealistic expectation of having “perfect” charts and reports. This conversation is all about using what you already have to guide meaningful next steps for your students, instead of stressing over what you didn’t collect.

In This Episode, I Talk About:

1. Why “real data” doesn’t always live in spreadsheets and graphs
2. What actually counts as meaningful data in a real school setting
3. Simple reflection questions I use to spot trends and changing needs
4. How I know when it’s time to adjust groups, lessons, or interventions
5. Why January is more about course correction than evaluation
6. How my own energy and workload often point to important patterns

Reflection Questions I Share:

1. What feels heavier than it did in the fall?
2. What feels lighter?
3. Who am I seeing more often—and who am I seeing less?
4. What has surprised me so far this year?

“You don’t need more data to prove you’re doing meaningful work. You just need enough information to guide your next steps.”

Key Takeaway:

Midyear data isn’t about proving everything worked—it’s about asking one powerful question:

What do students need now?

If this episode encouraged you, I’d love for you to follow the podcast and leave a review—it helps other counselors find support, ideas, and practical strategies too.

Grab the Show Notes: Counselingessentials.org/podcast

Join Perks Counseling Club Membership and get the lessons, small group and individual counseling materials you need. Join now and get your first month free when you sign up for 3 months!

Connect with Carol:

• TpT Store
• Counseling Essentials Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Elementary School Counselor Exchange Facebook Group
• Caught In The Middle School Counselors Facebook Group
• High School Counselor Connection Facebook Group

Mentioned in this episode:

Perks Membership

You're listening to the Counselor Chat podcast, a show for school counselors looking for easy to implement strategies, how to tips, collaboration, and a little spark of joy.

I'm Carol Miller, your host. I'm a full time school counselor and the face behind counseling essentials. I'm all about creating simplified systems, data driven practices, and using creative approaches to engage students.

If you're looking for a little inspiration to help you make a big impact on student growth and success, you're in the right place. Because we're better together.

Ready to chat.

Let's dive in.

Hey there counselor friends. Welcome back to another episode of Counselor Chat. I'm your host, Carol Miller,

and if you are just joining me for the first time,

I am a full time school counselor in an elementary school in upstate New York and I'm doing this job right along with you.

Well, let's dive in today, shall we?

So January,

I think, has this really funny way of just sneaking up on us and tapping us on the shoulder saying,

so how's your data looking?

And suddenly we're thinking about the numbers we meant to collect.

Spreadsheets that are,

face it, half finished,

pre tests that have never happened,

and that one Google form we swore we'd send out,

but we didn't.

And if that's you, take a deep breath because today's episode is all about doing a mid year data check without all the stress.

And we're not talking perfect data,

not fantasy data,

just real data.

Now, somewhere along the line, many of us picked up the idea that by January we should have really clean graphs, these beautiful charts.

We should be able to see clear growth trends in our students and have airtight evidence for everything that we've done and accomplished so far.

But let me be very honest with you.

That version of mid year data usually lives in a training PowerPoint,

not a real school building,

real life school counseling data looks more like notes scribbled in a planner,

a mental list of students you see less often,

a feeling that referrals are up or down,

attendance patterns that make you go, hmm,

and guess what?

All of that still counts.

So let's start with this truth.

You can't go back and collect data that you just didn't collect.

And beating yourself up about it doesn't magically create spreadsheets either.

So instead I want you to ask,

what do I have?

What can I reasonably look at right now?

And what information would actually help me make decisions?

And I'm saying all of this because I know right about now, if you're on social media, you're looking and everybody's showing you their beautiful mid year reports with all the beautiful charts, all the beautiful graphs and they're saying you got to put one together too.

And that can be really, really intimidating.

So don't beat yourself up about what you didn't do.

Really.

Start by asking what do I have?

What can I reasonably look at right now?

And what information would actually help me make decisions?

Because believe it or not,

you already have examples of data.

There are already things that you actually do have and those things include things like attendance records.

It could be referral trends,

the participation in your small groups,

teacher feedback,

student check ins,

and even your own observations.

One year I can just remember stressing because I didn't have those formal pre and post tests for a group.

And I'm saying this as someone who rights group curriculum,

has group curriculums published on the market and not just in my TPT store, but through Youth Light and Research Press and having those formal pre and post tests like they're a necessity and I didn't do it.

But what I did have was fewer crisis visits really improve class participation and teachers even telling me that you know what,

something's different with this kid and in a good way.

And my friends, let me tell you something,

that's data.

You really don't need a full afternoon or a fancy system to look at all the data that you do have.

But here are a few simple reflection questions that you can ask.

What feels heavier than it did in the fall?

Am I getting more referrals?

Am I feeling more anxiety?

Are kids having more anxiety?

Are there more attendance issues?

But also ask what feels later?

Are there fewer friendship issues?

Less crisis support?

Maybe there's some improved routines and who are you seeing more often?

But also who are you seeing less often as well?

And what surprised you because surprises often point to important trends.

Sometimes I also joke that my mid year data analysis starts with why do I feel so tired?

And what's making me tired?

Because my friends, your energy.

Well, that's data too.

But what data really does matter in January?

Because January data isn't about proving that everything worked.

It's about answering one key question.

What do students need now?

And in January?

The most helpful data often relates to emotional regulation,

attendance patterns,

anxiety and motivation,

engagement,

transitions and routines.

So this is not the time to stress out about your end of year outcomes that perfect longitudinal data,

or proving your entire program in just one chart.

January and the mid year is all about adjustment and not so much evaluation.

And this is where our mid year Data becomes really powerful when it helps you pivot.

And some of those examples include groups.

If one group feels full but another isn't gaining traction,

it's okay to.

Some examples include groups.

I mean, if one of your groups feels really full but another one isn't gaining traction,

or maybe they're just not gelling,

it's okay to combine the pause to shorten or even refocus.

I have ended groups mid cycle before and not always because they failed, but because their needs changed.

The same goes for lessons. Maybe the lessons that you planned for February doesn't match January's reality.

Maybe it doesn't even match your school wide goals right now or what your kids need and your teachers are asking for.

You are actually allowed to swap topics,

to simplify,

to slow down and even to repeat what the students need most.

I started this year with goal setting and smart goals and setting smart goals with my kids.

You know what? I'm going to be repeating smart goals and setting goals and creating a new goal for this upcoming semester.

And it's okay to do that because what I really want my kids to know is what a smart goal is and that sometimes you have to make a small goal to get to a bigger one.

And part of my job is to help them plan for their futures.

And that's all about goal setting.

And besides our groups and our lessons,

it might even be our interventions.

If something is taking a lot of time but giving very little return.

Hello law of diminishing returns.

It might be time to let it go.

And my friends, that's not quitting,

that's just strategic decision making.

We have had a student that is on basic behavior plan and he's been on it for a couple,

couple months now and it just has him track.

All right, have you been on task or off task? And there's a spot for the morning for him to check in in the morning and a spot for him to check in in the afternoon.

And really he's been on it for a while and we're good for a couple days and then it's bad.

And we're not really seeing the growth that we hope this chart would make. Even though we have all the motivation things tagged with it,

all the incentives, all the parent buy in, it's just not working.

And so we have to really go back to the drawing board for him and figure out what's something else that we can do.

So it's okay to adjust and to change things.

And if we hadn't collected the little bit of data that we have all those sheets and really looked through them,

we wouldn't really, we'd probably still keep them on it.

But going through and actually counting how many D's in a row does he usually get through?

What do we have to change?

Are his behaviors getting any better if we didn't have that,

like I said, we'd probably still continue it and it wouldn't be the best intervention for him.

But knowing what we have and looking at those numbers,

we can say tweaks have to be made.

I also once spent way too much time tracking something that no one ever asked me about any again.

Meanwhile, the thing I didn't formally track,

like student check ins,

that ended up being the most impactful part of my program that year.

And another time I realized halfway through January that I was running a group mostly out of guilt.

Not data,

not need,

just guilt.

And that was because I had a set of girls that just wanted to come in and spend some time with me and I knew that they didn't really need it and I had the time in my schedule.

But as we kept going and,

and the year progressed,

they didn't really need the group.

And I really needed that time for kids that did need a group.

So I let that go.

And guess what?

Everything felt a little lighter.

So let me give you some permission because sometimes we need to hear it out loud.

You are allowed to let go of unfinished data.

You're allowed to let go of unrealistic expectations and you're allowed to let go of plans that no longer fit.

And last but not least,

let go of the shoulds.

I should do this, I should do that.

Because it gets you nowhere.

Mid year it's not about judgment,

it's about course correction.

And I think as counselors we are really good at helping others course correct,

but sometimes we just forget to do it for ourselves.

So as you are looking at your mid year data,

however messy or imperfect it may be,

remember this.

You don't need more data to prove you're doing meaningful work.

You just need enough information to guide your next steps.

Use what you have,

adjust what you can,

and let go of the rest.

And until next time, my friends,

I hope you have a really great week.

Bye for now.

Thanks for listening to today's episode of Counselor Chat. All of the links I talked about can be found in the show notes and at counselingessentials.org forward/podcast.

Be sure to hit follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast player and if you would be so kind to leave a review, I'd really appreciate it.

Want to connect? Send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram at Counseling Essentials until next time. Can't wait till we chat.

Bye for now.