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"Work with other educators, parents and the community to support student achievement."

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Careers-Roles/WhyElem.pdf

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Why counselors are needed to ensure that there is a safe environment-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2qYEPOQ8ds

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Why counselors are needed to ensure that there is a safe environment-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2qYEPOQ8ds

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This video contains a real-life occurrence in which the presence of a counselor or crisis team could have been beneficial. We can see here that the absence of counselors could and in this case has resulted in many student's lives being in danger. In simple terms, the school system will never be safe if there isn't someone in place to listen and intervene in our students lives.

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America's school counseling crisis: A TEGNA Investigation

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Two examples of how collaboration can be utilized to create a safe school environment                                                                                       1. Crisis Intervention Team-In many school systems there are crisis teams in place to respond to situations that may have an affect on themselves or others. Usually this team is comprised of resource officers, teachers, members of child study team, and school counselors. The reason for this group to be diverse is because each person can contribute in different ways to diffuse the situation. The process involves finding solutions and rebuilding relationships in order to continue their education without repeating or escalating the problem.                                                                                           2. Maintaining great rapport with staff for communication purposes-  Having great rapport with staff members is key because of the fact that many issues can be prevented if the information is shared with the proper people. School counselors need to be a part of the inner circle of students and staff because there will be a safe learning environment if we are all on the same page. 

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Two examples of how collaboration can be utilized to create a safe school environment                                                                                       1. Crisis Intervention Team-In many school systems there are crisis teams in place to respond to situations that may have an affect on themselves or others. Usually this team is comprised of resource officers, teachers, members of child study team, and school counselors. The reason for this group to be diverse is because each person can contribute in different ways to diffuse the situation. The process involves finding solutions and rebuilding relationships in order to continue their education without repeating or escalating the problem.                                                                                           2. Maintaining great rapport with staff for communication purposes-  Having great rapport with staff members is key because of the fact that many issues can be prevented if the information is shared with the proper people. School counselors need to be a part of the inner circle of students and staff because there will be a safe learning environment if we are all on the same page. 

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The blog post below describes the many important people that need to be working together in order to provide our students with the best opportunity to be successful. Each of these members have something to offer, but we must never lose sight of our responsibility to our student. School counselors establish the connection of all members with a focus on our student's success. Also, it is very important to be very active in this process. We are very valuable and need to prove ourselves.

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School counselors will wear many professional hats throughout each school year. A very important role is engendering collaboration between a child's parents/guardians and the staff of the school. Creating a collaborative environment is vital to building student success within your school and critical in regards to establishing yourself as a school counselor. Working With Teachers Successful school counselors are able to build effective relationships with the school's teaching staff. Always remember to include teachers within a discussion when the outcome will affect their classroom. If you don't want to be viewed as an outsider in their classroom, don't act like one. You may not always agree with the teacher but they should be respected as a professional in the same manner you wish to be. Working With Parents How many times do we hear our co-workers say, "They are uninvolved parents?" It may be possible those parents are saying, "They are uninvolved school counselors!" Don't be bashful when it comes to establishing and maintaining relationships with the parents of your students. They can be your greatest resource when working with your caseload. Take the lead and initiate conversations about minor issues. Perhaps, even make a phone call home or send an e-mail complimenting their child. Identify yourself as the "go to" person for many of their questions and explain how you can help them communicate with their children and the staff of the school. Working With Administrators Work with your building administrators to clearly identify when and how you would like to be contacted. It will be often that you will be involved in meetings with administrators regarding negative topics. Your role is to be a collaborative member of the school staff, but you are also a student advocate. Pick and choose your battles as needed, but be sure to navigate your path carefully. Going too far can be detrimental to both yourself and the student. Working With Athletic Coaches When it comes to student-athletes, coaches should be viewed as a valuable stakeholder in that student's future. This is especially true at the high school level. Coaches can be the influential force needed to finally "get through" to a student and can provide valuable assistance during the college search process. The daily routine of a school counselor can be as hectic as they come. It is important that our professional routine does not limit our ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships with other people who play essential roles in developing student success. The more you keep others involved, the more you will be kept involved by others!
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The School Counselor as a Collaborative Leader

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School counselors will wear many professional hats throughout each school year. A very important role is engendering collaboration between a child's parents/guardians and the staff of the school. Creating a collaborative environment is vital to building student success within your school and critical in regards to es

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"School Counselors believe, support and promote every student's opportunity to achieve success in school."

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

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The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) identifies five SEL competency areas; self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. These five areas help students learn essential skills to be successful in the classroom and on. At the elementary level, these skills include emotion recognition, emotion management, recognizing how their behavior affects others, empathy, and respect and an array of others. These skills lead to a safer school environment by creating an environment where all students feel welcomed and valued. This is why as school counselors, it is important to advocate for SEL to be integrated into the school system.

J. Duffel. (2017 December, 19).

Forging the Connection Between Social-Emotional Learning and Education Equity

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A recent Kappan article suggests seven ways the secretary of education can encourage, support, and reward systematic school-based efforts to promote students' social-emotional development (also known as social-emotional learning). According to CASEL (the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning), social-emotional learning, or SEL, is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

Advocates point to research demonstrating the impacts of SEL on positive student development. The Kappan article suggests the following steps for the secretary of education to take with regard to SEL: establish senior leadership, encourage state technical assistance, encourage teacher certification, establish accountability options, honor students' accomplishments beyond academics, foster collaborative support structures for those implementing SEL, and allocate sufficient funding.

When schools commit to promoting students' social-emotional learning, they become positioned to engage all education stakeholders and create a safe, equitable, and engaging school climate, so each student acquires and enhances the knowledge, skills, and dispositions they need for interpersonal and life success. Similar to reading, assessment of and expertise in SEL involves an evidence-based, comprehensive, and cross-curricular set of approaches that permeate the school. Yet the Kappan article omits one critical element we would like to point out here: the importance of integrating SEL with education equity.

When schools commit to promoting students' social-emotional learning, they become positioned to engage all education stakeholders and create a safe, equitable, and engaging school climate, so each student acquires and enhances the knowledge, skills, and dispositions they need for interpersonal and life success.

What Is Education Equity?

The National School Boards Association describes education equity as being achieved when all public schools provide equivalent access to resources and ensure that all students have the knowledge and skills to succeed as contributing members of a rapidly changing global society, regardless of factors such as race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background, English proficiency, immigration status, socioeconomic status, or disability.

As we look to the future and what our students will need for success in life, it's time to ask ourselves: what is the real value of SEL if not to improve outcomes for all children? How do we integrate the reality that for all of students' efforts to build strong social-emotional competencies, there are forces working relentlessly against their success in the form of implicit and explicit bias, underfunded schools, and unsafe neighborhoods? In other words, to quote our SEL colleague Alice Ray, "Social-emotional learning in the absence of social justice-simply isn't."

How Can We Effect Change and Implement Education Equity?

Within the schoolhouse walls and in the wider community, we face critical, immediate equity issues-such as the belief that some students are incapable of high intellectual/cognitive performance-and other forms of institutional and structural racism that lead to differential rates of mass incarceration, income inequality, and health outcomes. It's time we grounded development of students' social-emotional competence in the goal of effecting real social change in the form of dedicated, informed, and discerning social, civic, and community participation. The opportunities are both rich and right in front of us:

Building students' and educators' awareness of their own implicit biases

Teaching students to exercise growth mindset

Setting a welcoming school context, focusing on inclusiveness and acceptance of all students and families

Supporting teachers in expanding their own mindsets regarding their students' capabilities

Using SEL as a foundation for restorative practices

Building student agency beyond exercising grit and self-determination, to recognize injustice in current and historical contexts while building school climates that make it safe for students to employ SEL-empathy, perspective-taking, self-regulation, and social problem-solving skills-to humanely and effectively address injustice when they encounter it

Harnessing young people's innate sense of justice and activism, enabling them to build their (and our!) capabilities to address inequities in their schools, communities, and broader society

Examples in Schools

At Kellis High School (AZ), student engagement that blends the elements of SEL and social justice is integrated into courses, student leadership, sports, and extracurricular activities. School administrators support faculty to engage special and general education students to develop relationships with students different from them, feel and show empathy, and work together to build social-emotional skills by focusing on social inclusion within the school environment. Students report many personal gains from their social justice efforts, including patience, friendship, and feelings of self-efficacy. There is an intentional focus on engaging students, SEL competencies, social justice outcomes, and sustaining a socially inclusive school climate.

At New Brunswick Middle School (NJ)-a priority school recently named a State and National School of Character-every student is engaged in ongoing action-linked conversations about how to improve the school, community, and wider world. These conversations, which are built into their SEL curriculum and occur daily during advisory periods, help kids learn social-emotional skills to carry out positive actions and give them an opportunity to use the skills.

What Is an Equitable School Climate and How Do We Achieve It?

At its foundation, equity in education requires a physically and emotionally safe and positive school climate in which students are respected and encouraged by adults who hold high expectations. This culture of achievement saturates all aspects of the school, featuring an environment for learning that is culturally responsive and that challenges adults and students to have a strong sense of self-efficacy. In addition, such school climates encourage students and teachers to bring thoughtful debate, listen to and learn from others' perspectives, and disagree with one another (as well as adults) without fear of reprisal or recrimination. This process is neither clean nor straightforward; inviting students to engage in justice issues can be messy and fraught with difficulty for students and adults alike. But when student agency is unlocked, including providing students with the skills to follow up with their newfound voices, authentic engagement is usually the result.

SEL cannot solve the social inequities that affect our students. These are structural issues to which all educators must be attentive and about which strong advocacy is needed. While this is taking place at a wider ecological level, by linking SEL to equity in schools now, every day, we and our students hone the skills to become the architects of a better world.

About the Authors

Joan Cole Duffell is executive director of Committee for Children, a US-based nonprofit organization focused on research, program development, and policy advocacy in the areas of social-emotional learning and child protection. She can be reached at jduffell@cfchildren.org.

Maurice J. Elias, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Rutgers University, director of the Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab, writes a blog for Edutopia, and is the co-author of The Other Side of the Report Card: Assessing Students' Social, Emotional, and Character Development. He can be reached at Maurice.Elias@rutgers.edu.

Terry Pickeral is president of Cascade Educational Consultants, a research fellow at the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, writes a blog, and is the co-author of Weaving Student Engagement into the Core Practices of Schools. He can be reached at t.pickeral@comcast.net.

Learn more about social-emotional learning, the research behind it, and how it benefits students in the classroom, at home, and in their daily lives.

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Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Education Equity

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A recent Kappan article suggests seven ways the secretary of education can encourage, support, and reward systematic school-based efforts to promote students' social-emotional development (also known as social-emotional learning).

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Multi-Tiered System of Supports For a Safe School Environment

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Multi-Tiered System of Supports For a Safe School Environment

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This article by Ziomek-Daigle, Goodman-Scott, Cavin & Donohue (2016) describes what a multi-tiered system of supports is and how its use in public schools can lead to positive academic and behavior outcomes, as well as safe and favorable school environments. PBIS or, Positive Behavior Incentive System, is a multi-tiered system used to promote positive behavior and social outcomes. At the primary level, all students receive education on behavior and academic expectations at school., as well as prevention education. At the secondary level, small group education classes may be put in place for those needing improvement or assistance and at the tertiary level, outside referrals may be necessary.  The school counselors role in advocating for a safe school environment, could be taking a leadership role on a PBIS team, to implement classroom prevention education or at the secondary level, facilitating a small group session for students who may need extra support services.

Ziomek-Daigle, J., Goodman-Scott, E., Cavin, J., & Donohue, P. (2016). Integrating a Multi-Tiered System of Supports with Comprehensive School Counseling Programs. Professional Counselor, 6(3), 220–232. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1115900&site=eds-live&scope=site

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Below is a picture of a PBIS matrix being utilized in an elementary school to promote a safe school environment for all students. This would be an example of PBIS at tier 1 level.

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As school counselors, we have a responsibility to ensure our students succeed academically. One way that school counselors contribute to the academic success of the students they serve is by learning more about their students lives and understanding what barriers their students may be facing that are preventing them from being successful in the classroom, and removing those barriers. Below is a video of students, a principal and parent expressing how their counselor assists them in being successful in the classroom by being a resource for support.

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Virginia School Counselors: The Bridge to Student Success

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"School counselors must become leaders of their programs, advocates for counseling and for students, and representatives of the profession."

Dollarhide, C. T. (2003). School Counselors as Program Leaders: Applying Leadership Contexts to School Counseling. ASCA Professional School Counseling, 304-308. Retrieved from ASCA Professional School Counseling: https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/LeadershipSpecialist/Dollarshide.pdf

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The number of students requiring specialized education services are rising. In the following article, the roles of how school counselors can advocate for these students and parents during Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings are discussed. Including examples of leading the meeting to be strength-based, using plain language in place of jargon for parents, and helping the parent's perspective be heard. Acting as an advocate and liaison during an IEP meeting is an excellent way for school counselors to help ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed academically.

Geltner, J. A., & Leibforth, T. N. (2008). Advocacy in the IEP Process: Strengths-Based School Counseling in Action. Professional School Counseling, 12(2), 162–165. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ880367&site=eds-live&scope=site

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School counselors have a unique opportunity to collaborate with students, teachers and administrators. Having an environment where everyone feels safe and welcomed is a key to preventing violence. In the article titled "The Counselor's Role in Ensuring School Safety," Bray (2016) discusses how school counselors should advocate for violence prevention programs to be implemented in schools, work with administrators to conduct climate surveys, and create advisory boards that include students, administrators, parents, teachers and community members to have a  better understanding of the school environment.

Bray, B. bbray@counseling. or. (2016). The counselor’s role in ensuring school safety. Counseling Today, 59(3), 28–35. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=117957506&site=eds-live&scope=site

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Bray (2016) mentions making the school counselor's face one that everyone knows in the building. This reminds adults and students that they are here to help. One way to remind students that you are there to help is by collaborating with a local agency such as the police station, violence prevention agency, or other counseling services to promote a safety campaign in your school. This photo is an example of a campaign titled "See something, Say something" to encourage students to help keep their school safe.

Bray, B. bbray@counseling. or. (2016). The counselor’s role in ensuring school safety. Counseling Today, 59(3), 28–35. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=117957506&site=eds-live&scope=site

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Creating a Safe School Enviornment Through Leadership:

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Creating a Safe School Enviornment Through Leadership:

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The ASCA, along with several other organizations and groups, have determined a framework for safe and successful schools which includes several best practices.  Two practices, in particular, that are relevant to an elementary environment are to integrate ongoing positive climate and safety efforts with crisis prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery to ensure that crisis training and plans: (a) are relevant to the school context, (b) reinforce learning, (c) make maximum use of existing staff resources, (d) facilitate effective threat assessment, and (e) are consistently reviewed and practiced.  A second example of how leadership can be utilized to create a safe school environment is to consider the context of each school and district and provide services that are most needed, appropriate, and culturally sensitive to a school’s unique student populations and learning communities.  Additionally, effective school safety efforts allow school leaders to deploy human and financial resources in a manner that best meets the needs of their school and community while providing a team-based framework to facilitate effective coordination of services and interventions.

Cowan, K. C., Vaillancourt, K., Rossen, E., & Pollitt, K. (2013). A framework for safe and successful schools [Brief]. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

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Academic Success Through School Leadership:

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Academic Success Through School Leadership:

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Rita Pierson taught for over 40 years and offeres advice through this TED talk to any individual in education who wants to see their students be successful.  She once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids."  Her response was, "Kids don't learn from people they don't like.'"

As an elementary teacher for over ten years, I could not agree more with Ms. Pierson that relationship building with students can make or break the outcome of a school year and the overall success of a student.  I whole-heartedly agree with Ms. Pierson that the leadership of an elementary counselor can offer an inspiring call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level that allows them to experience the success they deserve.

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Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson

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Leadership Collaboration for School Safety and Student Success:

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Leadership Collaboration for School Safety and Student Success:

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Leadership is an essential skill for school counselors as they develop and mangage a comprehensive school counseling progam.  Leadership may be the foundation of the other essential skills needed for program implementation (ASCA, 2012).

With the need for effective leadership and collaboartion in school counselors never being greater, the article below describes eleven way in which school counselors serve as leaders in schools by collaboarting with students, staff, administation, parents, and other stakeholders (Lindberg, 2017)

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

Lindberg, S. (2017, May 26). 11 Ways Your School Counselors Serve as Leaders. Retrieved from School Leaders Now: https://schoolleadersnow.weareteachers.com/school-counselors-as-leaders/

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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students! Here are 11 ways school counselors serve as leaders in your building.

1. School counselors recognize and showcase diversity.

In many buildings, school counselors are considered the "heart" of the school. They help create an inclusive environment that is respectful, welcoming, kind, and open to all.

2. School counselors develop community partnerships.

Counseling staff work collaboratively with universities, community colleges, technical schools, local unions, military reps, and apprentice programs to provide a variety of opportunities for students. They are especially vital in ensuring underserved and first-generation students have access to and the tools to reach all possible post-high school options.

3. School counselors help during difficult situations.

Strengths such as listening, reflecting, and high emotional intelligence make school counselors valuable allies when trying to get buy-in from staff or the greater community on difficult issues. Counselors foster a culture of change via strong lines of communication and valuing input from all parties involved.

4. School counselors maintain strong home-school connections.

Counselors tend to be the liaison for parents when it comes to communicating with the school. This leadership role is especially important when assisting families who are not familiar with the school setting or have issues trusting staff.

5. School counselors maximize educational success.

School counselors can help to maximize the educational attainment of all students by providing students with mental health services (school or community-based) and developmental guidance that takes a proactive approach in helping students set and reach academic goals.

6. School counselors lead staff trainings.

Administrators who use their counseling staff (rather than outside contractors) to lead building-wide trainings can save a lot of money and gain quicker buy-in from staff. School counselors are experts on topics such as student engagement, positive discipline, suicide/self-harm, students-as-leaders, peer mentoring programs, and academic/social interventions for low-performing students.

7. School counselors protect and advocate for disadvantaged students.

Counselors identify and amend policies and practices that negatively impact disadvantaged students and advocate for equitable services for all students.

8. School counselors use expertise to bring data to life.

Like administrators, counselors are trained in data collection and analysis. They are skilled at using this information to drive decisions about placement, intervention, and overall student health and wellbeing.

9. School counselors mediate difficult situations between parents/students and staff.

Counselors are consistently looking for ways to support the relationship between school staff and parents. Acting as a mediator when one or both parties are upset about a situation is a critical way in which school counselors serve as leaders.

10. School counselors organize and lead crisis response.

Counselors are on the front lines after a tragedy has happened in a school or community. Staff, students, parents, and community members look to the counselors for guidance and support immediately following an event. Because of their training in emotional/mental, the counseling staff is critical in advocating for and teaching self-care to staff, parents, and students during a crisis.

11. School counselors empower and inspire.

School counselors inherently believe in people and work tirelessly to communicate that. By being visible and accessible at all times, their calming, caring, and encouraging presence helps support and empower staff in the building.

School counselors serve as leaders in many ways and we need to value their perspectives and strengths. They are vital to building positive learning environments in which students thrive.
Join our Facebook group Principal Life for more conversation about and insights into the challenges of school leadership.

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11 Ways Your School Counselors Serve as Leaders - WeAreTeachers

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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students!

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"Social change refers to any significant alteration over time in behavior patterns and cultural values and norms."

Cliff Notes. (2016). Social Change Defined. Retrieved from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/social-change-and-movements/social-change-defined

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Creating Safe Schools Through Social Change:

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Creating Safe Schools Through Social Change:

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Schools are a system, just like a family is a system.  When a significant event occurs that has the potential to disrupt or have an impact on part of the sytem, changes are it will affect other parts as well.  School counselors are in a unique position to identify  systemic barriers and work to remove them to ensure safety and success for all students.  The following ten keys provide a framework for planning and implementing a school safety plan that involves and empowers youth and adults in creating safer schools.

Community Matters. (2019). Ten Keys to Safer Schools. Retrieved from Community Matters.

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School Safety Interventions and Best Practices:

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School Safety Interventions and Best Practices:

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The following journal article describes how first-hand knowledge in regards to school violence and programs that have been supported by research is essential for the successful revision of school violence prevention programs.  It also details the importance of balancing research-supported programs and creating programs that support the uniqueness of each individual school system.

Astor, R. A., Meyer, H. A., Benbenishty, R., Marachi, R., & Rosemond, M. (2005). School Safety Interventions: Best Practices and Programs. Children & Schools, 27(1), 17–32. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ724841&site=eds-live&scope=site

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How might a school counselor collaborate with the community, parents, and school professionals with social change in order to address school safety and student success?

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How might a school counselor collaborate with the community, parents, and school professionals with social change in order to address school safety and student success?

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School counselors have the ability and creativity to come up with various social events with a focus on school safety and the success of our students. For example, a school counselor could form an organization that gives free presentations to families on the many factors that have a negative affect on our students. Following the presentation, there will also be a solution based activity as to how to overcome or change the result into a positive affect. These types of organizations start very small and eventually grow into a large movement that could change many people lives. The idea is that it will take a village to make any major change in student's lives. It will take everyone working together in order to reach our goals. An example of this is shown below.

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District/Family Resource Center Safe & Healthy Kids Fair - ENTIRE COMMUNITY INVITED! | Rowland Unified School District

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Pre-K-12 and adult education district serves the communities of Rowland Heights, Walnut, La Puente, City of Industry and West Covina.

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School counselors often dis-aggregate data to create programs and interventions to best serve their students needs. One example of an intervention could be looking at a policy that may be disproportionately affecting one group of students over others. (ASCA, 2012, pg. 15).

Below, you will find a discipline sample plan for an elementary school. One of the behaviors that a student could receive disciplinary action for is "inappropriate clothing." If a school counselor were to notice that this referral reason was disproportionately affecting lower income students versus their peers with a higher socioeconomic status, the school counselor could work with teachers and administrators to possibly allow for certain clothing items to be made acceptable, could work with an outside agency to collect clothing for a clothing drive at the school, have extra clothing for students to change in to so that they are not sent home and missing education, or could work with stakeholders to discuss possibly implementing a school uniform to prevent the clothing from being an issue in the learning environment.

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"School counselors implementing the the ASCA National Model work toward socially just outcomes by acting on the themes of the ASCA National Model as leaders, advocates, collaborators and systemic change agents"( ASCA, 2012, pg. 14). One way that school counselors can become better advocates for socially just outcomes is through cultural competence. The American School Counselor Association offers training for school counselors to expand their cultural knowledge. Attatched is a link to a cultural competency training. The description of the training is as follows:

"School counselors are in a position to improve cultural responsiveness by collaborating with stakeholders to create a school and community climate that embraces cultural diversity and helps to promote students’ academic, career and social/emotional success. Learn how you can foster increased awareness, understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity in the school community through culturally responsive school counseling."

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

American School Counselor Association. (n.d.). Cultural Competency Specialist. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/school-counselors/professional-development/asca-u-specialist-trainings/cultural-competency-specialist