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     Comprehensive School Counseling Program

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     Comprehensive School Counseling Program

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Definition:  A comprehensive school counseling program is used to create a system that leads to the overall academic and behavioral achievement of all students, regardless of their cultural, socioeconomic and ethnic background. A comprehensive program includes direct and indirect services to students that is data driven and collaborative to ensure students needs are equitably met. School counseling programs require the definition of a clear vision; intentional design and planning; collaboration with stake holders ;  managing the moving parts of the program and ongoing assessments of program components.

Importance for School Counselors: The ASCA National Model is the primary resource available to school counselors that provides a unified outlook for a school counseling program and a guide for school counselors to create a school wide program. A comprehensive program helps organize a school counselors’ approach to meet the academic, social/emotional and post-secondary needs of students. Rather than providing interventions based on perception of needs of students, a comprehensive program utilizes data to determine how to prioritize program development and

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               School Counseling Scope of Practice

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               School Counseling Scope of Practice

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Definition: The School Counseling scope of practice outlines the duties that the school counselor is responsible for and how our time, skills and energy are used to plan, manage, implement and assess programs and supportive services within the school. The American School Counseling Association recommends a counselor ratio of 250 students per 1 counselor which show the impact on academic achievement and school discipline (ASCA, 2022).  The scope of practice lists indirect and direct services that school counselors will spend the majorit y of time, and program planning as a smaller component of the scope of school counselor’s practice. Direct and indirect services include duties such as: social emotional support, academic support for students, career development, teaching lessons, consulting with school staff about student, consulting with parents about student, providing resources and referrals, brief short, advocacy, outreach and collaboration. It is suggested that a school counselor spends a small amount of time on developing action plans for classroom, reporting data from action plans , reviewing data, discussing student annual goals and reporting findings in an administrative conference ( ASCA, 2023).

Importance for School Counselors: The scope of practice help school counselors understand their range of duties and responsibilities on a daily basis. A scope is a set of guidelines that school counselors use to establish boundaries on appropriate and inappropriate duties. There are many occasions where school counselors may encounter a request outside of their professional practice and duties.  Knowing what the scope of our professional duties and practices are helps keeps school counselors ethically accountable to themselves and students, as well as refer obligations that belong to an administrator or teacher to preserve the ethical standards of the school counseling profession.

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                       Academic Development

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                       Academic Development

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Definition: School Counselors create strategies for students to achieve academic success and improve their mindset and behaviors towards learning. Academic development involves the students obtaining the necessary attitude and skills to maximize their ability to learn and grow ( ASCA, 2023).  School Counselors realize that for students to be academically successful, they need to feel safe emotionally/socially as well as feel competent in achieving goals they are striving for.  School counselors design their program based off the vision, mission, goals and data collected from the school. They collaborate with various partners to ensure the student can access resources and support to address barriers that impede their ability to succeed academically.

Importance for School Counselors: The goal for school counselors is to promote student success in the three major domains of education: academic, social/emotional and career development. The purpose of a student being in school is to obtain the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed during school but also after. School Counselors need to align themselves with the goals of their school so that when developing a program, they can target the major areas of concern based on the data collected. There are many factors that impede a students ability to achieve academic success such as friendships, family issues, learning disabilities, poverty, discrimination and many other factors. School counselors need to work with students and school personnel to identify these factors and help alleviate them through direct and indirect services.

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                          Career Development

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                          Career Development

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Definition:  School Counselors help students make the connection between interests, goals and career opportunities. School counselors help students navigate plans to pursue  a career through post-secondary opportunities and acquire the necessary mindset and behaviors to accomplish the students post-secondary plans. School Counselors help students match attributes, interests and abilities to career opportunities and create knowledge around what it takes to achieve their self-directed goal. Career Development is a process that begins in primary school and gradually increases in opportunities to directly experience the world of work in middle and high school. School counselors focus on providing students with hands on activities that increase student motivation and exposure to different post-secondary opportunities (i.e. trade school, four-year university, military etc....) to gain real-world experiences ( ASCA, 2024).

Importance for School Counselors:  School Counselors have a responsibility to help students, regardless of socioeconomic status or culture factors, acquire knowledge and skills necessary to obtain their post-secondary dreams. A general goal as a counselor is to help students obtain self-efficacy and the general belief that each student is able to be successful in their endeavors. We are responsible to helping students break down barriers that prevent them from accomplishing their goals.  Students need to know what post-secondary options are available and how to access them. This takes careful planning and collaboration with community partners especially to expose students to the world outside of school.

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                Social/Emotional Development

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                Social/Emotional Development

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Definition: School Counselors focus on three major domains when defining, managing and assessing a program, one which is the social and emotional development of students. Social/Emotional development skills are those that help students learn interpersonal communication, manage emotions and learn how to identify feelings that lead to better communication skills and a reduction in problematic behavior outcomes. Teaching students social/emotional skills help students manage emotions that enhance their learning and lead to further career development skills. Managing  Social/ Emotional skills could be doing referrals to outside agencies for support; identifying emotional and social barriers that impede a students focus; collaborating with school staff to create a safe school culture for students; teaching lesson plans in schools; running small support groups; providing a multi-tiered approach to meet the various intensive and whole school needs of students and using an evidence-based, trauma informed approach to create a positive and inclusive school environment ( ASCA, 2023).

Importance for School Counselors: Social/Emotional development is a primary concern for school counselors to address in a school setting. Many disciplinary, academic and mindsets arebased on the social/emotional development of students. Students have difficulty learning if their mental health is not taken care of, and often times the mental and emotional health can impede a student’s ability to concentrate on academic and career development. Students need to feel safe in their learning environment and learn important mindset and behaviors to help them achieve in school and throughout their post-secondary career. Having a strong social/emotional development program that integrates concepts from SEL into the classroom and are collaborative in nature will promote the overall health and wellbeing of students and teachers.  Schools that implement counseling interventions in the social and emotional domain have seen an increase in stress tolerance, curiosity and positive peer relationships, executive functioning, academic achievement and reduction of stress ( ASCA, 2023).

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                 ASCA Mindset and Behaviors

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                 ASCA Mindset and Behaviors

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ASCA Mindset and Behaviors

Definition: The ASCA Mindset and Behaviors are a set of research-based standards that include the knowledge, attitude and skills students in primary and secondary education will need to acquire to achieve success in academic, social/emotional and career development outcomes (ASCA, 2021).   The two categories – Academic and Behavior- list specific learning objectives for school counselors to strive for when helping students set goals and acquire skills in the areas of academic, social/emotional and career development.  The mindset standards are geared toward the pscyo-social attitudes students have about themselves in terms of academic achievement and ability while the behavior standards are general skills that may indicate how successful a student  will be overall in life when encountering challenging academic, social, career and emotional situations.

Importance for School Counselors: The ASCA Mindset and Behavior standards help school counselors use the objectives when providing direct and indirect services. These 36 standards are research based and can be applied to each area of a school counselors program development in the domains of academic, social/emotional and career development. School counselors can also use these standards to consult with teachers, school personnel and parents to be reinforced because they are not exclusive to a school setting but can be applied to situations outside of the school environment.

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                       ASCA Ethical Standards

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                       ASCA Ethical Standards

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Definition:  The ASCA Ethical Standards contain the preamble and purpose of the document that help school counselors uphold the values and principles of the profession when navigating challenging issues that inevitably arise when working in the school system. The Preamble is the pledge that School Counselors take when embarking on a career working with students and it The document serves as a universal guide for best practices in decision-making and implementation processes within a school. The Code of Ethics outline the various rights that students are entitled to such as upholding their confidentiality, promoting autonomy in decision-making, honoring identity and culture and the belief that students can achieve success in the major domains of school counseling program. The Code of Ethics establishes the professional conduct standards of a school counselor to uphold when it comes to outlining the responsibility to students; academic and social emotional growth; advocacy and referrals;  consultation with parents; colleagues and district employees; performance self-assessment and appraisal; communities and stakeholders; legal issues; and program implementation amongst many other categories.

Importance for School Counselors: Ethical Standards for School Counselors are extremely important because they keep counselors and students safe, as well as preserve the integrity, dignity, fidelity and professional responsibilities of the school counseling role. If there is a conflicting decision to be made, or a school counselor is unsure of how to navigate certain issue that arises, the ASCA Code of Ethics is the primary resource school counselors have to guide decision making. While it sometimes leaves the decision-making up to the counselor, most issues that we face can be found in the Code of Ethics in how to navigate.

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ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies

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ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies

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Definition: The ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies are designed for school counselors to utilize to establish a professional foundation as well as the mindset and behaviors school counselors need to embody to manage and implement a school counseling program that effectively meet the needs of students.  The mindset standards are how the school counselor school counselor perceives a students ability to achieve academic, social/emotional and career success.  The mindset standards are harder to assess than the behavior standards. The behavior standards is how a school counselor plans to execute a program through direct and indirect services; interactions with school personnel and stakeholders; relationships formed with families and students; self-assessment and program assessments; and professional skills needed to plan, implement, manage and assess a school counseling program.

Importance for School Counselors:  A School Counselors mindset towards students can contribute to the well-being of that student and distinguishes the counseling profession from all other professions in the school. The mindset standards require an inclusive perception of all students and encourages students to succeed by promoting positive, productive and hopeful thoughts toward and about students. The Mindset standards help shape how a school counselor perceives its responsibility to help students and serve the community. The Behavior standards are action based and puts the guiding principles of the mindset into action. There are three components to behavior standards: Professional foundation, Direct and Indirect student services and planning and assessments ( ASCA, 2019). Within these standards are tangible and applicable components that school counselors use to build, manage and assess a successful counseling program.

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                                 Direct Services

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                                 Direct Services

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Definition: Direct services are in-person or virtual interactions between school counselors and students. Direct services are the implementation and action of the counseling program which can also include assessments. These serves include classroom instruction, one-on-one sessions, counseling and career or class advising for students. Direct services are designed to help students with social/emotional support, student planning, a promotion of mindsets, behaviors, skills and attitudes and to acquire knowledge about resources that help with academic, career and social/emotional support.

Importance for School Counselors: Direct Services are the foundation of building relationships with students and helping support their academic, social/emotional and career development goals. Direct services are what school counselors spend most of their time doing and take precedence over most of their other  professional duties. Direct services can include things like providing one-on-one support for students; teaching lessons in classrooms; running small groups; helping students navigate post-secondary options; helping students establish the appropriate mindset and behaviors to be successful and help with career navigation and development. Direct services are also giving assessments and making observations to further collaboration efforts with school personnel to provide the necessary support to students.

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                            Indirect Services

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                            Indirect Services

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School Counseling Indirect Services

Definition: Indirect services are those which are provided on behalf of the student but not directly to the student and typically involve interactions with community partners, stakeholders, school personnel and families. Indirect services are the program build and design.  Indirect services involve consultation about the student’s academic, social/emotional, behavioral, mental and career needs; collaboration with school staff to meet needs; and referrals to community partners to support the needs that school counselors, staff and family members do not have the capacity to support.

Importance for School Counselors: Indirect services is the foundation for building a school counseling program. This is where the planning stage happens and data is assessed to see what areas of growth the students and school could benefit in. Although most of a counselors time is spent on direct services, indirect services fills in the rest. In the ASCA School Counselor Competencies and Standards, one of the Standards mentioned is Indirect and Direct services, making it part of the professional development that school counselors need. Indirect services provide school counselors with additional support to help students access resources and opportunities in and out of school.

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Core Beliefs ( Based off ASCA Standards and Competencies, 2019)

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Core Beliefs ( Based off ASCA Standards and Competencies, 2019)

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1.       Every student can learn, and every student can succeed.

2.       Every student should have access to and opportunity for a high-quality education.

3.        Every student should graduate from high school prepared for postsecondary opportunities.

4.        Every student should have access to a school counseling program.

5.       Effective school counseling is a collaborative process involving school counselors, students, families, teachers, administrators, other school staff and education stakeholders.

6.        School counselors are leaders in the school, district, state and nation.

School counseling programs promote and enhance student academic, career and social/emotional outcomes.

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Professional Philosophy of School Counseling

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Professional Philosophy of School Counseling

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To honor each student's personal strengths and effort to overcome barriers and help students set personal goals that will lead to overall academic achievement, emotional and social well-being and post-secondary success. We believe each student can reach their personal goals regardless of their belief system, gender identity, special needs, ethnicity and race. Our focus is to create a learning environment that is conducive to exponential growth and embraces diversity as a strength to building a positive school culture. We will uphold the fidelity of the school counseling relationship by upholding the dignity, integrity and principals outlined in our ASCA Professional Code of Ethics ( ASCA, 2022).  Our goal is to advocate for and with students to help them acquire the necessary tools and resources to be successful throughout their school experience and thereon after. We believe each student can build confidence and self-efficacy through encouragement, trauma informed practices, data-driven interventions, collaboration, communication and engagement with stakeholders to create the safest, most productive learning environment possible.

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       Personal Approach to School  Counseling                  

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       Personal Approach to School  Counseling                  

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My personal approach to each student comes from Carl Rogers which is client-centered therapy that uses unconditional positive regard to form non-judgmental and holistic approach to individuals. A humanistic approach to school counseling entails the counselor helping to facilitate a student’s development and self-actualization, as well as having complete trust in the individuals ability to grow in cognitive, academic, emotional and social domains ( Purswell, 2019). Each student has the potential to accomplish self-directed goals with the use of encouragement, compassion and education that provide the language, tools and direction that will help facilitate the achievement of those goals. Through a collaborative effort, the counselor can use therapy techniques that help students recognize their ability to become the individual they desire to be, but may not know how.

In the ASCA Ethical standards (2022), it states that school counselors are “leaders, advocates, collaborators and consultants” that work to ensure each student has equitable access to a quality learning environment as well as create systemic change to ensure outcomes are achieved. School Counselors identify a need in students and the school and work with stakeholders to meet that need. School Counselors approach each student with a belief that they are autonomous and able to meet academic goals, social, emotional and post-secondary goals.  An advocate is someone who not only shows students how to be resourceful in meeting needs through communication and collaboration, but also teaches students the skill of self-advocacy.

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Lesson Plan Standard: Social/ Emotional Learning

Target Grade: Middle School- 6th Grade

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The goal of this lesson is based off the following ASCA Mindset and Behaviors:

M 4: Self-confidence in ability to succeed

M 5: Belief in using abilities to their fullest to achieve high-quality results and outcome

B-SS 8: Advocacy skills for self and others and ability to assert self, when necessary

B-SMS 1: Responsibility for self and actions

B-LS 7: Long- and short-term academic, career and social/emotional goals.

The goal is for students to understand what courage means and how it can be applied in each domain of academics, social/emotional learning and career development. Students will develop self-confidence in their ability to succeed in hard situations. Courage is a value that is accessible to everyone and at many points in our life will it be necessary to use and understand. This overall goal is to create a positive school culture and build self-efficacy within the student to stand up for what they believe in and not be afraid to fail or attempt something out of fear of failure or discrimination.

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                                        Reflection

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                                        Reflection

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The challenge to implement this lesson will be time. This is a big subject that may take more than one day to complete, so scheduling a time for counselors to go into the ELA classroom and complete this lesson for all 6th graders. The other challenge could be with students who have disabilities in writing or comprehension, so adapting this lesson for students to show ways they use courage. Having a para pro present to help students take the assessment, as well as reading the assessment out loud.

Accommodations such as participation in lesson or drawing a way to display courage are necessary. This topic is also one that will need to be reiterated throughout the school year- it's not a one and done subject. One other component to this lesson to engage parents at home is to keep a courage log that both student and family can complete together.

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                          Program Assessment

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                          Program Assessment

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The purpose of the ASCA Program Assessment is to provide school counselors with an ongoing tool to ensure that the ASCA National Model  components of design, manage, deliver and assess  are being implemented to determine the progress in student achievement, discipline, ASCA student Mindsets and Behaviors and attendance outcomes( ASCA, 2019).  Additionally, the program assessment is used to inform the school counselor of improvements to components of the programs implemented, as well as assist school counselors in compliance to data collection for annual results reports, appraisal and school counselor professional standards ( ASCA, 2021). The made of two components: one which assesses the program itself and the other which assesses the school counselor’s professionalism, growth and performance standards ( ASCA, 2021). An effectively managed program includes a vision and mission statement; data and goal-oriented outcomes; action and lesson plans; master calendar of monthly and annual , there needs to be a vision, mission statement

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                          Annual Results Report

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                          Annual Results Report

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The Annual Results report is a collection, analyzation and showcase of data through the use of graphs and charts that is used as an evaluation tool for the counseling curriculum, small group responsive services and action plans that is produced on an annual basis ( Kurantz and Griffith, 2018). These reports are useful to show stakeholders, administrators and school personal a summation of how well the program goals and outcomes correlate as well as communicate the results to garner feedback and support to determine what improvements can be made to the program. Kurantz and Griffith (2018) suggest that when assessing a school counseling program, start small by analyzing one component of the program i.e. goals, small group perception and feedback or effectiveness of the lesson plans and create a data story for feedback.

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School Counselor Assessment and Appraisal

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School Counselor Assessment and Appraisal

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The purpose of a School Counselor Assessment and Appraisal is to analyze ways the school counselor demonstrates competency, collaboration, professionalism, effectiveness and growth in their role of designing, managing and implementing the school counseling program. The School Counselor assessment is useful to show the high-impact the school counselor has on students growth as well as how the program adheres to the schools mission statement and demonstrates the counselor’s growth and performance ( ASCA 2019a). The School Counselor Appraisal is a series of evaluation questions based on professional standards of practice that are defined by the school and the state which contain a self-evaluation, evaluation of administration and assessment of goal attainment ( ASCA, 2019a). It is highly recommended that each year school counselors and administrators agree to do assessment and appraisals and the administrators doing the assessment and appraisal of the school counselor performance is highly knowledgeable in the ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies as well as use the Counselor Performance Appraisal template ( ASCA, 2019).  The overall goal of the appraisal is to show the positive impact that school counselors have on students, school culture and adherence to professional standards in collaborating with administration and stakeholders to create a highly effective program.

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Middle School: 8th Grade Social Emotional Learning Skills

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Middle School: 8th Grade Social Emotional Learning Skills

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Result Report level: Unit of Classroom Lessons

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COUN 6111S Middle School Lesson Plan and Results Report (1)

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In what ways did the selected Mindsets and/or Behaviors match the lesson topic? List one additional Mindsets and/or Behaviors that you would have selected for the lesson and why.  

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In what ways did the selected Mindsets and/or Behaviors match the lesson topic? List one additional Mindsets and/or Behaviors that you would have selected for the lesson and why.  

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The lesson named three standards from the ASCA Mindset and Behaviors to target in this lesson. The Mindset Standard from Category one is M1:  Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/ emotional and physical well-being ( ASCA, 2021). Two standards listed were from Category 2: Behavior standards which were: B-SMS7 (Effective coping skills) and B-SMS 1 ( Responsibility to self and others) The mindset matched the goal which is to promote self-respect and self-efficacy within each individual so they believe in their ability to communicate issues effectively, without inviting conflict and distress into their mental, emotional, social and physical well-being. The behaviors are specific to developing skill sets that reduce potential  escalation of issues between peers by teaching effective coping and communication skills.  Additionally,  establishing a healthy community is done through showing respect to self and others through accountability and willingness to hold self and others to a higher standard of operation.

A behavior that could be added is B-SMS 2: Self-Control and Self-Discipline because there are alternative ways to react to situations that promote successful outcomes. The goal is to reduce escalation, conflict and outbursts which are reactionary and ineffective for learning more productive communication skills. Practicing self-control will target the outbursts and impulsivity to react rather than respond rationally. Practicing self-discipline will lead to more successful outcomes and less disciplinary referrals to choose a more humble and logical way to respond.

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 In what ways do the ASCA Student Standards Pre- and Post-Assessment Items align and not align with the Mindsets and/or Behaviors and topic? 

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 In what ways do the ASCA Student Standards Pre- and Post-Assessment Items align and not align with the Mindsets and/or Behaviors and topic? 

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The ASCA Student Standards Pre-Test narrow down a student’s self-awareness of their feelings and whether their feelings are problematic. The question of knowing how to calm down when feelings are going to affect behavior aligns with coping strategies. The Mindset standards correlate with their ability to identify if any emotion is out of balance and how it impacts their mental and physical health. The responsibility to self and others also correlates with how feelings out of balance can disrupt the learning and potential safety of others.

The Pre-Assessment is supposed to gauge how to recognize ways that feelings relate to actions and build self-awareness of ways negative feelings overwhelm a student and their counterparts’ whole self. There is no pre-test question that mentions having accountability for reactions or impact towards others which is part of taking responsibility for self and others. For instance, there could be a question such as “ I understand how my feelings impact others”.  Furthermore,  the response of ‘Not Sure” is vague and hard to collect data on. I would stick to a likelihood scale which answers are more “ Like me, Not like me” or use the Likert Scale responses listed without “Not Sure”.

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Did the lesson content/materials match the selected Mindsets and/or Behaviors skill? Why or why not?

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Did the lesson content/materials match the selected Mindsets and/or Behaviors skill? Why or why not?

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The content matched most of the Mindset and Behaviors standards that were listed.  The content of the lesson prompted the students to describe what feelings are; analyze how feelings impacted behavior; discuss what happens when intense emotions happens in various settings and how different settings evoke different emotions. The Mindset goal for students is to achieve  a balanced self in all aspects: the emotional, social, mental and physical.  The students were able to witness how all these components are intertwined through the video they watched about an individual’s feelings, behavior and reactions.

For the behavior standards, the students were to learn effective coping skills and responsibility for self and action.  The students completed  a feelings check in system and watched a story of a person whose feelings impacted their behavior.  The students were to think critically about a time when they felt intense feelings, how they reacted and the outcome. This exercise brought personal awareness to the student on alternative ways to respond, as well as taking responsibility for how their feelings and behavior impacted others. The only criticism is that there weren’t any new coping skills introduced, but rather a reflection of the coping skills students already know.

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Timing can be important for delivering lessons and holding small group sessions. Yet, timing can also be limited for school counselors when it comes to working with students. Based on your opinion, how do you think that timing may have impacted the results of the lesson?

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Timing can be important for delivering lessons and holding small group sessions. Yet, timing can also be limited for school counselors when it comes to working with students. Based on your opinion, how do you think that timing may have impacted the results of the lesson?

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This lesson was covering two different topics which could’ve been split up into two different lessons to be more effective. This lesson was more focused on responsibility for self and actions rather than coping skills. The identification of feelings is important for both behavior standards, but the lesson could’ve been rushed to address both behaviors without being effective in students acquiring new information. Sometimes keeping things simple is better than trying to put too much information into one lesson.

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School counselors often share lesson plans amongst each other when they might experience similar student challenges or topics. But schools, populations, cultures, developmental levels, and school counselors are unique. What are some ways you would modify the lesson plan to align with your creativity, knowledge of the ASCA National Model, and skillset?

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School counselors often share lesson plans amongst each other when they might experience similar student challenges or topics. But schools, populations, cultures, developmental levels, and school counselors are unique. What are some ways you would modify the lesson plan to align with your creativity, knowledge of the ASCA National Model, and skillset?

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Rather than watching a video at this age, I would have had the students role-play to act out different responses to real life situations so gauge where they were at. I would assign a group of three students a scenario and give them an allotted amount of time to come up with the feeling and reaction.  Additionally, I would’ve used the behavior standards B-LS 2. Creative approach to learning, tasks and problem solving and B-LS 9. Decision-making informed by gathering evidence, getting others’ perspectives and recognizing personal bias for the behaviors in this particular lesson.

Students at this developmental level care about what their peers think, so having the students work together to problem solve; different tasks; and witness their peer’s perspective on how to react to certain situations is appropriate. The lesson provided felt more elementary than middle school level.

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American School Counseling Association. (2022). Asca ethical standards for school counselors. ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/44f30280-ffe8-4b41-9ad8-f15909c3d164/EthicalStandards.pdf

American School Counselor Association (2021). ASCA Student Standards; Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success. Alexandria, VA: Author.

American School Counselor Association (2019). ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies. Alexandria, VA: Author.

A. (2023). The School Counselor and Academic Development. The School Counselor and Academic Development - American School Counselor Association (ASCA). https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Academic-Development

Curry, J & Milsom, A. (2021). Career and College Readiness Counseling in P-12 Schools (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing LLC. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780826186744

The school counselor and Career Development. The School Counselor and Career Development - American School Counselor Association (ASCA). (2024). https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Career-Development

The School Counselor and School Counseling Programs. The School Counselor and School Counseling Programs - American School Counselor Association (ASCA). (2023). https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-School-Counseling-Program

American School Counselor Association (2019). ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies. Alexandria, VA: Author.

American School Counselor Association (2021). ASCA Student Standards; Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success. Alexandria, VA: Author. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/7428a787-a452-4abb-afec-d78ec77870cd/Mindsets-Behaviors.pdf

Purswell, K. E. (2019). Humanistic learning theory in counselor education. The Professional Counselor, 9(4), 358–368. https://doi.org/10.15241/kep.9.4.358

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In the ASCA Ethical standards (2022), it states that school counselors are “leaders, advocates, collaborators and consultants” that work to ensure each student has equitable access to a quality learning environment as well as create systemic change to ensure outcomes are achieved. School Counselors identify a need in students and the school and work with stakeholders to meet that need. School Counselors approach each student with a belief that they are autonomous and able to meet academic goals, social, emotional and post-secondary goals.  An advocate is someone who not only shows students how to be resourceful in meeting needs through communication and collaboration, but also teaches students the skill of self-advocacy

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School Counselors Consult and Collaborate with Stakeholders

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School Counselors Consult and Collaborate with Stakeholders

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For example, if a student is struggling in a class, the school counselor may coordinate a meeting with the teacher to gain information about the student’s academic habits. The school counselor would also help the student realize and develop communication skills that help them meet their own need (i.e. teaching student to talk to teacher about missing work). If the student is struggling in multiple classes, there may be a learning disability that is present and the counselor could advocate for a potential 504/IEP observation. The school counselor may notice that many students are failing this class and advocate for an additional paraprofessional to assist students in class or talk with the administrator about concern. Even yet, the school counselor may contact the principal from a school within the same district, say at the high school level, to incorporate student tutors to assist younger students with academic work as a dual enrollment to get an Education for Employment credit for the student tutoring. This creates a symbiotic relationship between students and schools and all students benefit.  On a systemic level, school counselors could collaborate with an after-school program that helps students practice educational, social and emotional material.  Additionally, there may need to be a reevaluation of the curriculum, teaching practices or investigate whether the students struggling are having trouble in multiple subjects. Another option is to utilize parents as tutors and incorporate a parent engagement opportunity for parents to volunteer.

School counselors collaborate with teachers, parents, community members, and specialty faculty to support the student and educator in best practices. Teachers will often reach out to counselors about a student who they notice is struggling and request the counselor to do an observation. The counselor could provide an observation of both student and teacher. If there appears to be a significant barrier reoccurring with the student obtaining success, then the counselor will reach out to the parent to discuss personal values on how to help the student achieve. Community resources are especially important because school counseling is both broad and limited to the services we can provide. The student may need intensive cognitive, emotional or behavioral health help that requires a referral to outside agencies.

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The Ethical Standards provide a framework for safe decision-making that aims to maintain the dignity of the student, program, school and staff as well as reduce or prevent any harm from occurring with the student, their information and the counseling program. The ASCA Ethical Standards honor the school counseling profession by guiding school counselors on best practices and how to respond to difficult situations.  According to ASCA, the purpose of the ASCA Code of Ethics is for counselors to uphold the profession by adhering to principles that maintain the highest levels of integrity, leadership and professionalism ( ASCA, 2022).  Students and counselors often discuss sensitive and confidential information which can illicit vulnerability, shame, embarrassment, and other uncomfortable emotions. Additionally, stakeholders such as teachers, principals, family members, community members and other individuals may have expectations of the school counselor to disclose information or perform duties outside of their professional scope.

Therefore, the ASCA Ethical standards help counselors make decisions that honor the fidelity of the school counseling relationship while also making data informed decisions of best practices.  ASCA Ethical standards describe the purpose of the document to provide directions for counselor duties, responsibilities and roles, as well as information on how to respond to certain situations and people outside of the counselor-student relationship.