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Topic: Teacher, Counselor, and Administrator Preparation Standards

I am currently a middle school teacher, and I will be graduating this December with a Master's in Guidance and Counseling. I am contemplating on pursuing another Masters degree in Education Leadership with a Principal's certification which is why I selected this topic. I am hoping this Padlet will be beneficial to aspiring teachers, counselors, and administrators.

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I work at Palacios Junior High School, so I decided to interview the school counselor there. School counselor, Rhonda Huitt, has been the middle school counselor for over 15 years.

Interview Q/A
1) Why the Legal Guide topic is important in your field of education or how it is impacting your field of education?

Without proper preparation and standards there would be more role ambiguity in the education field. Counselor Huitt states that graduate school prepared her for her role as a school counselor. However, due to the counseling field emerging without a framework, she still carries out many non - counseling duties that may have been delegated to the counselor when there was not a framework to follow. She believes that slowly, but surely with stricter preparation, standards, and advocacy, school counselors will only be performing their true role (R. Huitt, personal interview, November 16, 2020).

2) Best practices

According to Counselor Huitt the best practices are:

-Always place students first.

-Be informed on current education laws and changes.

-Join a professional association.

(R. Huitt, personal interview, November 16, 2020)

3) An area emerging issue related to your topic that educators should watch to see how it plays out and impacts your work.

According to Counselor Huitt, an emerging issue is schools moving towards digital learning. She stated that COVID - 19 gave that small push to schools. She states that she believes that schools will never fully go back to "complete walls and bricks." She has witnessed teachers using Google classroom even for face to face learners. She stated that when she was teaching she used the over - head projector with the transparency sheets, so she never really envisioned online learning down the road for K-12 schools. She stated that this is an issue, because it changes preparation programs or at least it will. Future educators that are currently enrolled in college now, may have to take some kind of remote instruction classes by the time they graduate. The same is true for counselors she states, I have to remember that I also have online students to provide services to  (R. Huitt, personal interview, November 16, 2020).

4) Who you interviewed (name, title, school/org).

Rhonda Huitt, Palacios Junior High School Counselor, www.palaciosisd.org

References:
Huitt, R. (2020, November 16). Personal Interview [Personal Interview].

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I went to the American School Counselor Association website and found an article.

The article I found is called "Six Steps to a Colossal Career Program" which outlines how to develop a career program that emphasizes the importance of searching for a career of interest beginning at the elementary level. Under the Guidance Curriculum of the Comprehensive School Counseling Program, school counselors is to guide students in career, college, technical, or trade pathways. This article stressed the importance of doing so at an early age and not waiting until the annual large group interest assessments. Additionally, this is a great way for parents and administrators to see the importance of the school counselor given that many other tasks school counselors perform are confidential (Liedtka, 2014).

References:
Liedtka, K.D. (2014, November 1). Six steps to a colossal career program [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/magazine/blogs/november-december-2014/six-steps-to-a-colossal-career-program

Link: https://www.schoolcounselor.org/magazine/blogs/november-december-2014/six-steps-to-a-colossal-career-program

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Common Core standards have been implemented by many states across the country and one of those states is California. The goal of implementing Common Core is to equip students with skills and knowledge which will enable them to succeed in college, career, and life. The big picture of Common Core is that it goes more in depth of the content. For example, in math, students do not just learn how to do the math, but also the "why" and "where." In other words, students are learning how to do the math, but must also understand the concept and be able to apply it in real life. The issue with this shift that happened ten years ago in many states, with Texas being one of the states that did not adopt Common Core, is teacher preparation. Efrain Mercado, policy director for the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, states that he believes that those who are providing professional learning should also receive professional training themselves. Seven years later, it is reported that many administrators and teachers across different districts do not feel like they have received high - quality training in order to successfully teach the rigorous Common Core standards. Additionally, a former principal and district administrator stated that it can take anywhere from five to ten years for a teacher to teach new standards well (Harrington, 2017).

New standards, such as Common Core, require teacher preparation even for the ones who are "veteran" teachers. The Education field requires educators to continue to go to professional development seminars or workshops.

Reference:

Harrington, T. (2017, January). More teacher preparation needed to fully implement Common Core standards in California. EdSource. Retrieved from https://edsource.org/2017/more-teacher-preparation-needed-to-fully-implement-common-core-standards-in-california/575306

Link: https://edsource.org/2017/more-teacher-preparation-needed-to-fully-implement-common-core-standards-in-california/575306

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Due to COVID - 19, schools went virtual including teacher preparation programs. Nazerian (2020) states that online teacher preparation programs are both positive and negative. However, the goal is to use it in a way that is grounded to research.  Preservice teachers are not only learning online, but will also have to learn how to effectively teach online. As a result, teacher preparation curricula will soon need to address how to adapt traditional instruction to a virtual environment. Moreover, digital tools will remain, even when the pandemic ends. In turn, teacher preparation programs may permanently include curricula that addresses online teaching (Nazerian, 2020).

Preparation and standards are constantly changing. COVID -19 is having a permanent impact in education and in teacher preparation programs.

References:

Nazerian, T. (2020). LOOKING AHEAD: Four ways 2020 might shape the future of teacher prep. Literacy Today (2411 - 7862), 38(3), 26-29. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.easydb.angelo.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=6e55ead9-1506-485d-b0e7-af9e91d99ce8%40sdc-v-sessmgr03

Link: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.easydb.angelo.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=6e55ead9-1506-485d-b0e7-af9e91d99ce8%40sdc-v-sessmgr03

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Slide #6 - Texas Education Code - Educators Certification Required

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Slide #6 - Texas Education Code - Educators Certification Required

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Source of law: Statutory Law
Citation: (Tex. Ed. Code § 21.003)
Link: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.21.htm#21.003
Summary: This law states that a person cannot hold an employment as a teacher, teacher intern or teacher trainee, librarian, educational aide, administrator, educational diagnostician, or school counselor unless he/she holds an appropriate certificate or permit.

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Slide # 7 - Texas Education Code - Educator Preparation Program Approval & Renewal

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Slide # 7 - Texas Education Code - Educator Preparation Program Approval & Renewal

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Source of law: Statutory Law
Citation: (Tex. Ed. Code § 21.0443)
Link: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.21.htm#21.0443

This law outlines rules to establish standards to govern the approval or renewal of educator preparation programs.

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Slide #8 : Texas Education Code - Certification Examinations

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Slide #8 : Texas Education Code - Certification Examinations

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Source of law: Statutory Law
Citation: (Tex. Ed. Code § 21.048)
Link: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.21.htm#21.048

This law outlines the rules on candidates who take the certification tests such as not being able to take the test more than four times.

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Slide #9 : Texas Education Code - Information for Candidates for Teacher Certification

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Slide #9 : Texas Education Code - Information for Candidates for Teacher Certification

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Source of law: Statutory Law
Citation: (Tex. Ed. Code § 21.0453)
Link: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.21.htm#21.0453

This law requires teacher preparation programs to provide certain information to teacher candidates such as the skills and responsibilities required of teachers and the importance of classroom management.

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Texas Administrative Law - Classroom Teacher Certification Standards
Citation: (19 Tex. Admin. Code § 235.41 (2018))
Link: https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=7&ch=235&rl=41

Summary: This local administrative law outlines the pedagogy and professional standards for classroom teachers. The standards include proper teaching techniques, strategies, teacher action, and teacher judgements to name a few.

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Section A - The Counseling Relationship
A.1. Client Welfare
A.1.a. Primary Responsibility
"The primary responsibility of counselors is to respect the dignity and promote the welfare of clients."

This ethics principle comes from the American Counseling Association. An issue that can come up with this ethics principle is if a parent wants to know what his/her child said in a counseling session. School counselors are not obligated to disclose information to parents unless the child is in imminent danger. This ethical principal shows how it is important for school counselors to follow standards and have the preparation needed to confront issues like these.

Link: https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2014-code-of-ethics-finaladdress.pdf
Citation: American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2014-code-of-ethics-finaladdress.pdf

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I have learned that laws and ethics will not always see eye to eye. In other words, sometimes when doing the ethical thing, you may run into some law conflict. This has helped me in my educational journey, because it has taught me to take both laws and ethic principles when making a decision.

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Slide # 13 Best Practices for Compliance

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Slide # 13 Best Practices for Compliance

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1) Be up to date with educational laws as they tend to change.
2) Read ethics related to your field/position.
3) Place students first.
4) Follow district policy
5) Continue taking continuing education workshops/classes as new teaching practices tend to arise.
6) Join a professional organization related to your field/position given that these organizations will be up to date with things going on in your field.