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Elementary School Counselors’ Collaboration With Community Mental Health Providers 

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Elementary School Counselors’ Collaboration With Community Mental Health Providers 

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This article that I have provided goes over school counselors collaboration with mental health providers through a phenomenological study. Throughout their interview process they came up with the idea that collaboration is an effective way to increase services to students and their families. In this there were six themes that were discussed and examined. The study in this article was only a small sample of elementary school counselors in one geographical region.
The study in this article was conducted for us to begin to comprehend elementary school counselor's perceptions and experiences through collaborative endeavors with community mental health members. The article suggests that there is plenty research done on collaboration as a whole but that there is limited research to this type of collaborative effort. Overall, the outcomes show us a clearer picture of collaborative endeavors between school counselors and community mental health providers. Collaboration is pertinent to meet the needs of student's and no one person or school can solve any issues and/or gaps alone.

Moran, K., & Bodenhorn, N. (2015). Elementary School Counselors’ Collaboration with Community Mental Health Providers. Journal of School Counseling, 13(4). Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1062935&site=eds-live&scope=site

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Advocacy, School Counselors, and Equal Opportunities

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Advocacy, School Counselors, and Equal Opportunities

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As a professional school counselor advocating for student success begins with monitoring student's academic records that they can succeed academically on every level. For example, an advocate that's focused on the success of every student will be willing to collaborate with teachers, monitor closely the student's needs, develop curriculum and action plans. By doing this, the school counselor thriving as an advocate for the students will be able to promote school reform on every level, academic, career, and personal/social. In addition, counselor advocates must commit to every opportunity being afforded to each student through support and guidance that they succeed in school. Equal opportunity this way can be achieved through the identification of allies, targeted intervention, and through trusting and or encouraging the student ASCA (2012).

Reference
American School Counselor Association (2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Third Edition. Alexandria, VA: Author.

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School Counselors that are advocates for students have a primary focus according to the ASCA National Model (2003) to create a safe school environment for every student. In doing so, school counselors that advocate for for students in this way will work to close achievement gaps as well as gaps that block opportunities. These gaps make for a poor school environment as the students will not be able to reach higher heights for a successful career and a college education. In addition, advocacy involving school counselors for the students and a safe environment involve the counselor putting his or her voice out loud enough to be heard on the subject of institutional oppression and systems that have left students defenseless down through time.

Reference:
American School Counselor Association ( 2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Third Edition. Alexandria, VA: Author.

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This "infographic" shows how school counselors have an impact on academic outcomes at all levels, including the elementary school level. It shows that attendance rates increased, discipline rates decreased, and failing grades improved.

Counseling@NYU. (2016, April 15). School counselors: Key to student success [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://counseling.steinhardt.nyu.edu/blog/school-counselor-student-success/

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The American School Counselor Association (ASCA)'s National Model: Framework for School Counseling Programs defines the role of school counselors as school professionals who design and deliver comprehensive school counseling programs that promote student achievement. However, school counselor's impact on student achievement is only the tip of the iceberg - the role of school counselors impacts the social, emotional and developmental outcomes of today's preK-12 students.

Why We Need School Counselors

School counselors aren't just in your high schools - they are the unsung heroes of today's school system, agents of social change.

At its most fundamental level, school counseling programs promote and enhance the learning process for all students - ensuring the academic, career and personal/social development of students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. The goal of school counselors and their programs is to ensure that today's students are tomorrow's learners - turning their classrooms, schools and districts into positive learning environments.

To gain a deeper understanding of school counselors' multifaceted impact on today's students, Counseling@NYU has created School Counselors: Key to Student Success - an infographic in support of NYU's new online master's in school counseling degree.

This graphic demonstrates the impact that school counselors have on K-12 student success: college readiness, academic outcomes, and social-emotional learning. Learn more below:

Share our graphic on social:

Embed our graphic on your site:

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School Counselors: Key to Student Success [Infographic]

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The American School Counselor Association (ASCA)'s National Model: Framework for School Counseling Programs defines the role of school counselors as school professionals who design and deliver comprehensive school counseling programs that promote student achievement. However, school counselor's impact on student achievement is only the tip of the iceberg - the role of school counselors impacts the social, emotional and developmental outcomes of today's preK-12 students.

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This brochure talks about the effect that school counselors have on the academic success of their students. Specifically, for elementary school students, it has been shown that guidance activities have a positive influence on academic achievement and that, in one study, 83% of elementary students who were failing showed an improvement in grades after participating in small group counseling activities.

American Counseling Association. (2007). Effectiveness of school counseling [PDF file]. Retrieved from https://wvde.state.wv.us/counselors/administrators/Effectiveness+of+School+Counseling.pdf

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Collaboration: Equal Opportunity to Succeed

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Collaboration: Equal Opportunity to Succeed

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Collaborative School Teams educate others about their important roles in order to promote the overall comprehensive school counseling program. School teams are part of something big and by working together, all performance can improve for positive outcomes and equal opportunities to succeed. Elementary school counselors help students to achieve academic success through educating, prevention, early identification, intervention and etc. They help to provide the level of understanding in many aspects. School counselors can collaborate with teachers to ensure that all student's are getting the proper education that they need. There are a lot of scenarios where students from low socioeconomic backgrounds may have attendance issues due to their home situations... It is up to school teams consisting of counselors, principals, teachers, and etc to collaborate with one another to assure equal opportunity for students to make it to school and learn. We all know that many students come from different backgrounds and we have to build a bridge and close gaps in education.

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Briefing: Role of the School Counselor in Creating a Safe and Supportive School Environment

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Briefing: Role of the School Counselor in Creating a Safe and Supportive School Environment

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This lengthy video brings together school counseling professionals to discuss the importance of a safe and supportive school environment. The video opens up with school counselor of the year speaking on her journey and experiences dealing with crisis and trauma in schools. Overall this video goes over the role school counselors in providing a safe and supportive school environment. The setting of this video is at a congressional briefing presenting the 2019 School Counselor of the Year and finalists.

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Briefing: Role of the School Counselor in Creating a Safe and Supportive School Environment

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Learn more about the role of the school counselor in creating a safe and supportive school...

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This article explains how school counselors not only need to be leaders preparing for the "big one" crisis that could happen at anytime, but also need to be aware of the "mini" crises (bullying, dating violence, etc.) that occur on an everyday basis. You never know how someone in distress may react if they feel all alone in the world. It goes on to state that, as leaders, school counselors must bring people together (teachers, administrators, parents, etc.) to work collaboratively. School counselors must be "unifiers" that reach out to everyone who could help in anyway. Finally, when it comes to students, school counselors must create a safe learning environment where they can build rapport with all students.

Bray, B. (2016). The counselor’s role in ensuring school safety. Counseling today. Retrieved from https://ct.counseling.org/2016/08/counselors-role-ensuring-school-safety/

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This article explains how school counselors are leaders when it comes to creating a safe school environment. They play key roles before, during, and after a crisis arises at their school(s).

American School Counselor Association . (2013). The school counselor and safe schools and crisis response [PDF file]. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/PositionStatements/PS_SafeSchools.pdf

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Collaboration: Create a Safe School Environment

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Collaboration: Create a Safe School Environment

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Collaboration can go a long way in terms of school safety. Collaborating with local fire departments is a prime example of ways that collaboration can create a safe school environment. In elementary school is around the time when we learn about "stop, drop, and roll," and what to do in case of a fire. School counselors and administrators can collaborate and come up with a program that will educate and benefit these elementary school students in regards to their safety.
Another example of a way that a school counselor can collaborate to create a safe school environment would be with local police departments. Although we are looking at it through an elementary school lens and we don't want to think that they would have any dealings with the police, it is still highly possible. For example, if a student is in danger at home they can confide in their school counselor for needed help. A school counselor could then contact the local authorities and/or child services as well.

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School Safety and Student Success
(Collaboration)

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School Safety and Student Success
(Collaboration)

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This video explains the range of roles that a school counselor does to help students be more successful in school and ultimately in life.  Some roles range from helping students connect to resources, and community supports, implementing programs to address the needs etc.

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This brief video is about how there is a need for school counselors in all schools systems. School counselors are liaisons between students, school personnel, stakeholders such as parents and etc. This video stresses the importance of school counselors and how they utilize their comprehensive school counseling programs.

(n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2019, from https://videos.schoolcounselor.org/school-counselors-making-a-difference

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Share this brief video with your stakeholders to show the difference a good school counseling...

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Collaboration: Coming together for Constructive Meetings!

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Collaboration: Coming together for Constructive Meetings!

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https://www.smore.com/yy25h-lcps-school-counseling-news

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Among traditional students are those with delays and special needs.
This article is about how elementary school counselors collaborate with stakeholders to better serve special needs and/or delayed elementary students. Because elementary school is the foundation for children to succeed further in education, it is imperative that these elementary school students have many resources. This article also discusses how school counselors collaborate with speech language pathologists, Occupational therapists and student's families. School counselors work to remove barriers in learning and development.

https://speech.steinhardt.nyu.edu/blog/speech-language-pathologists-in-special-education/

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Collaboration: Make Connections Around the World

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Collaboration: Make Connections Around the World

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https://www.onslow.k12.nc.us/domain/3856

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According to the ASCA National Model Themes, "ASCA incorporates the four themes of leadership, advocacy, collaboration and systemic change as part of the framework of the ASCA National Model (The Education Trust, 1997). In the ASCA National Model graphic, the four themes are repeated around the frame to indicate the importance of school counselors’ work within these areas (see page vi). School counselors play a significant part in improving student achievement and are uniquely positioned to be student and systems advocates. Through application of leadership, advocacy and collaboration skills as a part of a comprehensive school counseling program, school counselors promote student achievement and systemic change that ensures equity and access to rigorous education for every student and leads to closing achievement, opportunity and attainment gaps (Dahir & Stone, 2009; Martin & House, 2002)." (p. 1, para 2)

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In order to have an effective comprehensive school counseling program, professional school counselors work with stakeholders both internally and externally. With the collaboration of school professionals/personnel, families and community leaders, school counselors have access to a lot of needed support. Collaboration enhances student achievement and development, that school counselors alone cannot handle.
There are many ways that a school counselor can collaborate with these stakeholders. Internally, school counselors can organize a team and encourage collaboration between one another. Administrative staff, teachers, other school staff, and even students can come together towards common goals in order to enhance academic success, career planning/development and social/emotional well-being and success.

Elementary school counselors are essential to the comprehensive school counseling program. They provide a productive program through many aspects, collaboration being a major one. They collaborate with all school personnel, community/family members in order achieve success. According to the ASCA, "Elementary school counselors also collaborate with teachers and parents on early identification and intervention of children’s academic and social/emotional needs, which is essential in removing barriers to learning and developing skills and behaviors critical for academic achievement." (ASCA)

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School Safety and Student Success
(Advocacy)
A school counselor is an advocate for all students. To address this advocacy for all student, a school counselor may provide parents with a website link on transitioning from elementary school to middle school. A school counselor may also utilize “Back to School Night” or Open House to inform parents of upcoming events that are designed to help students succeed academically and stay safe. 
Another example is for a school counselor to ensure that pertinent literature is translated to the languages represented at his/her school.  

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School Safety and Student Success
(Advocacy)
A school counselor is an advocate for all students. To address this advocacy for all student, a school counselor may provide parents with a website link on transitioning from elementary school to middle school. A school counselor may also utilize “Back to School Night” or Open House to inform parents of upcoming events that are designed to help students succeed academically and stay safe. 
Another example is for a school counselor to ensure that pertinent literature is translated to the languages represented at his/her school.  

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School Safety and Student Success (Systemic Change)

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School Safety and Student Success (Systemic Change)

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In order for mindsets and behaviors to change, the members of the system have to be ready for the types of changes that needs to be made. Focus should be placed on the mission or purpose of the system.  To help support the changes, school counselors should identify a support system and communicated to key stakeholders and stress how the change supports the overall mission of the school. Examples of systemic changes address efforts such as anti-bullying, LGBTQ advocacy, and suicide prevention

Moe, J. L., Leggett, E. S., & Perera-Diltz, D. (2011). School counseling for systemic change: Bullying and suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth. Retrieved from http://counselingoutfitters.com/ vistas/vistas11/Article_81.pdf

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School Safety and Student Success (Leadership)

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School Safety and Student Success (Leadership)

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School counselors design and deliver comprehensive school counseling programs that promote student achievement.  These programs are comprehensive in scope, preventive in design, and developmental in nature.  (ASCA National Model: A framework for School Counseling Programs 3rd ed.)

School counselors collaborate inside and outside of school to create a school climate that is rich with opportunities to increase learning.

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School Safety and Student Success (Collaboration)

Over the past few decades, the ratio of school counselor to students has significantly increased. It is impossible for school counselors to reach every student and give them the attention that is needed individually without any assistance and support. A more effective way to ensure that the majority of the students are getting needs met is for school counselors to collaborate with community partners, parents, teachers.  
The article “The Transformed School Counselor in Action supports the need for increased collaboration with outside agencies and support personnel. It states, the number of students who come to school with social or emotional problems has increased over the last decade. Counselors could spend their time counseling these children, but this would allow them to see only 30–35 students a week. 
Some school counselors do carry a caseload of students with serious problems and often see the same students repeatedly. Yet counselors were not placed in schools to provide counseling services to only a handful of students.  
Musheno, Sue & Talbert, Mary. (2002). The Transformed School Counselor in Action. Article, Vol. 41 (Issue 3), p 186. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4103_7

An article published in the Elementary School Journal describes that a study was done on school and community-based organization partnerships, Adger (2001). Lack of funding was found to be a significant obstacle to successful collaborations. The article further stated that “changing or improving the ways schools, families, and communities work together to improve children’s achievement may require resources to support staff, training, reorganization, and flexibility.”
Jerry, Mellin; Elizabeth A.; Herbert, James T. (2008) Closing Achievement Gaps: Roles and Tasks of Elementary School Counselor. Elementary School Journal, Vol. 108 (Issue 5), p407-421, 15p; doi: 10.1086/589470,  
Research shows the implementation of a comprehensive school counseling program, as outlined by “The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs,” has a positive impact on student achievement. The development and implementation of these programs requires leadership from welltrained, highly competent elementary school counselors and includes a collaborative effort with school administrators, classroom teachers, school staff and community stakeholders.
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Careers-Roles/WhyElem.pdf

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School Safety and Student Success (Collaboration)

Over the past few decades, the ratio of school counselor to students has significantly increased. It is impossible for school counselors to reach every student and give them the attention that is needed individually without any assistance and support. A more effective way to ensure that the majority of the students are getting needs met is for school counselors to collaborate with community partners, parents, teachers.  
The article “The Transformed School Counselor in Action supports the need for increased collaboration with outside agencies and support personnel. It states, the number of students who come to school with social or emotional problems has increased over the last decade. Counselors could spend their time counseling these children, but this would allow them to see only 30–35 students a week. 
Some school counselors do carry a caseload of students with serious problems and often see the same students repeatedly. Yet counselors were not placed in schools to provide counseling services to only a handful of students.  
Musheno, Sue & Talbert, Mary. (2002). The Transformed School Counselor in Action. Article, Vol. 41 (Issue 3), p 186. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4103_7

An article published in the Elementary School Journal describes that a study was done on school and community-based organization partnerships, Adger (2001). Lack of funding was found to be a significant obstacle to successful collaborations. The article further stated that “changing or improving the ways schools, families, and communities work together to improve children’s achievement may require resources to support staff, training, reorganization, and flexibility.”
Jerry, Mellin; Elizabeth A.; Herbert, James T. (2008) Closing Achievement Gaps: Roles and Tasks of Elementary School Counselor. Elementary School Journal, Vol. 108 (Issue 5), p407-421, 15p; doi: 10.1086/589470,  
Research shows the implementation of a comprehensive school counseling program, as outlined by “The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs,” has a positive impact on student achievement. The development and implementation of these programs requires leadership from welltrained, highly competent elementary school counselors and includes a collaborative effort with school administrators, classroom teachers, school staff and community stakeholders.
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Careers-Roles/WhyElem.pdf

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As a School Counselor students could always be able to self-refer themselves and the counselor should practice having an open door policy.

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This is a well rounded video that highlights things about the client's life from health and wellness, academic, success, social skills, strengths and limits, and where help can be find within the career field counseling.
Buscher, K., Neihoff, O., & Pickus, C. (n.d.). Advocacy video:Elementary School Kids

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The creator of this blog is a mental health counselor turned school counselor and curriculum writer. Her hope is to spark social, emotional, and academic growth and deliver fresh ideas to help counselors provide the best programs for their school. This link gives fifteen ideas of clubs that school counselors could lead in an elementary school to help school safety and student success.

Keri, C. (2017, December). Clubs for School Counselors to Lead. Retrieved March 3, 2019, from https://www.counselorkeri.com/2017/12/11/clubs-for-school-counselors-to-lead/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Pinterest

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School counselors are often asked to lead clubs or after school activities. This is a great way for counselors to get to know students on a more personal level and also make connections with students they might not normally see outside of classroom guidance lessons. If you're looking for ways to make clubs meaningful and engaging for all students, check out these 15 clubs for school counselors to lead that address all areas of development!

Clubs for School Counselors to Lead
In addition to 15 ideas for clubs school counselors can lead, this post contains affiliate links to retailers such as Amazon.
Kindness Club

I know so many counselors who are doing some variation of this activity. While a club by this name might draw in students who are already great at being kind, this is an awesome opportunity to invite both those students and students who may struggle in this area to create a positive modeling opportunity.

Start by giving your students weekly "secret missions" for kindness, and have them keep a journal to reflect on how it feels to spread kindness. Eventually transition into a student-led initiative for recognizing opportunities and creating kindness projects to impact the school and community.

Mindfulness Club

A fellow counselor recently shared some pictures with me from the mindfulness club that she runs and it really got my wheels turning. This is a great opportunity to engage students who struggle with self regulation or who need additional support in developing coping skills. Because of the immense benefits of mindfulness, this club will pay dividends in behavior, academic, and personal/social results!

Begin each session with a mindfulness exercise and a reflection on the experience. Use this as an opportunity to discuss how these mindfulness exercises could be beneficial in the classroom, while working on homework, or managing strong feelings or hard situations at home.

You'll love these mindfulness activities:
Mindfulness from A to Z Zen Zoo Friends Mindfulness Centers
Game Group

Grab some board games or materials for movement-based games and you've got a fun club where students can learn important social skills. This is a great way to have fun while practicing turn-taking, sharing ideas, encouraging others, and being a good winner/loser. Directly teach the skills before the games begin and offer feedback and encouragement throughout.

Girls on the Run

Girls on the Run is a fantastic organization whose mission statement says they "envision a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams." That's a program I can definitely get behind! Check out their website to read more about this awesome organization and how to get started with this club.

I read about this club on Counseling Today and love the premise. The counselors created a club for high school students who took a pledge to abstain from drugs and alcohol. In the club, they focus on "paying it forward" by engaging in service projects in the school and community and taking on volunteer roles with organizations such as the Special Olympics.

Book Clubs

I love book clubs because they work at all grade levels. In elementary school, you can grab some read-aloud titles so that your emerging readers can still be active participants. Pick up your favorite social emotional learning titles and pair them with meaningful crafts and reflection activities for a club that's focused on growth. Find some great titles for your club over in the Books I Love section of my blog.

Community Helper Club

Use this club to expose students to careers they might not already know about! Invite a different community helper to come to your meetings and explain his or her career, and then have your club members create a school-wide project they can complete that involves this career. For example, if you invite a dental hygienist, students could create posters about oral health to hang at school or create a commercial for the morning announcements. If you can't invite community helpers to the meetings, there are lots of videos on Youtube introducing various community helpers and games to expose your students to a wide variety of careers. Use this club as an opportunity to increase exposure to non-typical careers and get students thinking about education levels and how they relate to goals!

Study Skills Club

So many of our students need to be directly taught these vital skills, and there are so many ways to make this fun! Do binder organization races, practice organizing information into meaningful infographics and more. Take learning style assessments and find study strategies that are effective and aligned to those learning styles. This group counseling program has lots of activities that teach study skills in a fun way that could also be used in a club setting!

Self Care Club

What better way to ensure students have self care skills than to gather and practice together? Teach students to recognize when they are feeling overwhelmed by looking for triggers. Then, practice self care activities and let students choose what works for them. You can teach students to journal, meditate, or even practice having hard conversations when they need help from a parent or teacher.

Buddy Club

Gather a group and train students to be peer mentors! Learn about their strengths and interests and pair them with younger students in the school to be buddies or mentors. Invite the younger students to the club for mentor activities like playing board games, reading together or simply talking!

Expressive Arts Club

There are so many activities you can do in this kind of club! Explore dance, drama, poetry, and visual art to help students find meaningful ways to express themselves. Partner with your art or music teacher and the possibilities are endless!

New Student Welcome Committee

Bring together your kind, welcoming students who love to be includers to form a welcome committee! In the club, students can write welcoming letters to new students, create brochures for new students to fill them in on important school information, and make plans to really embrace new students when they arrive. Having a group already formed will make it easier to pair up new students with positive peers when they arrive mid-year.

Yoga Club

For a calming club that promotes physical and mental health, start a yoga club! You don't even have to be a yoga master to lead this club; grab a yoga card deck, a yoga spinner game, or use Cosmic Kids yoga videos from Youtube! For a take-away activity, students can make yoga lap books to have their own set of yoga cards at home!

Gardening Club

Grab some gloves, tools, and seeds, and get digging with your students! Gardening has lots of benefits for students: it's a stress reliever, it builds STEM skills, it positively impacts mood, and it encourages students to eat healthier! Plant a garden at school and then prepare a snack with the harvest. While your students work with their hands in the soil, meaningful conversations are sure to bloom!

Character Club

Invite students to learn about different character traits each week and then go forth in the school and demonstrate the traits! Spend time each week reflecting on character and the ways in which it affects the school community.

Have you implemented any of these clubs in your school? What activities did your students do? What other clubs are you leading? Let me know in the comments!

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Clubs for School Counselors to Lead: Get Students Engaged in Meaningful Clubs!

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School counselors are often asked to lead clubs or after school activities. This is a great way for counselors to get to know students on a more personal level and also make connections with students they might not normally see outside of classroom guidance lessons.

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The American School Counselor Association defines systemic change as "Change affecting the entire system; transformational; change affecting more than an individual or series of individuals; focus of the change is upon the dynamic of the environment, not the individual," (p. 143).

American School Counselor Association. (2012). ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.

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The Essential Role of
Elementary School Counselors

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The Essential Role of
Elementary School Counselors

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This document explains the value of the elementary school counselor's role in building a foundation for the youngest students in a given school system. It talks about the school counselor's role in collaborating with teachers, parents, etc. to identify and intervene early when there are suspected "special needs." Finally, the document provides a list of direct and indirect services that the elementary school counselor may provide to students.

American School Counselor Association. (2017). The essential role of elementary school counselors [PDF file]. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/CareersRoles/WhyElem.pdf

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The Counselor in the Principal’s Leadership Circle

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The Counselor in the Principal’s Leadership Circle

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This video, created by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), is geared toward showing principals "best practices" when it comes to working with school counselors. It encourages principals to look at school counselors as building-level leaders, and incorporate them into the day-to-day decision-making and operation of the school building.

National Association of Secondary School Principals. [NASSPtv]. (2014, December 16). Mod 9 video 1: The counselor in the principal’s leadership circle [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/cjbV4l_t3gs

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Mod 9 Video 1: The Counselor in the Principal’s Leadership Circle

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School counselors should collaborate with other school professionals, parents, and/or the larger community in order to achieve systemic change  to address school safety and student success. There are numerous ways in which this collaboration can be made. The following are examples:
*Work with teachers to create an academic excellence award program
*Implement new student orientation and transition programs for students and their family
*Set up career days with members of the community
*Involve parents and community members in advisory councils and curriculum committees
*Work with teachers and administrators to identify at-risk students and help create academic or behavioral modification plans
*Coordinate evaluations of the school climate for violence, racism, sexual harassment, and gang activity

Dollarhide, C. T, & Saginak, K. A. (2017). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K–12 delivery systems in action (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

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Examples of How Systemic Change can be utilized to create a safe school environment.

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Examples of How Systemic Change can be utilized to create a safe school environment.

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*Create clear guidelines for addressing inappropriate behavior such as bullying and harassment
*Increase awareness of school safety issues
*Promote knowledge and skills for working in a diverse and multicultural work setting
*Model inclusive language
*Create an environment that encourages any student of group to feel comfortable to come forward with problems

American School Counselor Association. (2012). ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.

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Examples of how systemic change can be utilized to ensure that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed academically.

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Examples of how systemic change can be utilized to ensure that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed academically.

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*Remove barriers to access to rigorous courses and learning paths for college and career readiness for all students
*Increase access to educational opportunities
*Address over- or under-representation of specific groups in programs such as special education, honors, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate
*Create an environment that encourages any student or group to feel comfortable to come forward with problems

American School Counselor Association. (2012). ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.

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This article describes how the role of a school counselor has evolved since the early 1900's. It goes in-depth to explain how models have changed as well, in response to students needs. Finally, it also includes steps one could taking to become a leader, and puts an emphasis on continuing professional development activities to be an effective leader.

Wingfield, R. J., Reese, R. F., & West-Olatunji, C. A. (2010). Counselors as leaders in schools. Florida journal of educational administration & policy, 4(1), 114–130. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ911435&site=eds-live&scope=site

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School counselors are advocates for every student assisting them with meeting academic, career, personal and social goals. According to the American School of Counseling Association (ASCA, 2003), school counselors can advocate for student on a micro-level to a macro-level. Services performed include instruction to group activities to individual appraisals and advisement to counseling both individual and small groups to crisis response. These services fall up under direct services that are provided to the students. Indirect services that are rendered include referrals, consultation, collaboration, school data profile, closing-the-gap and small-group action plans which are considered services on the micro-level. On a macro-level, services that are considered indirect include collaboration with community groups, beliefs, vision statement, mission statement, advisory council, results reports, school committees, and sharing results (Ratts, DeKruyf, & Chen-Hayes (2007). From a social standpoint, school counselors work as advocates for social change by expanding cultural proficiency and commitment to social justice advocacy, knowledge, and skills, developing cultural proficiency as educational leaders who acknowledges how prejudice, power, and many forms of oppression affect students, dis- aggregate attendance, behavior, grades, course-taking patterns, and data on other accomplishments narrowing in on diverse populations, the addressing of inequitable policies, procedures that can impeded academic achievement, college access, career readiness of students. According to the foundation of the ASCA National Model, school programs that are socially just to implement advocacy for equity and access for all students that they succeed.

Ratts, J.M., DeKruyf, L., & Chen-Hayes, S. F. (2007). The ACA advocacy competencies: A social justice advocacy framework for professional school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 11, 90-97

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According to Northouse (2017): "Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal" (as cited in American School Counselor Association, 2012, p. 1).

American School Counselor Association. (2012). ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.