Role of the Professional School Counselor
Foundation
Heritage Elementary School Counseling Program Mission Statement:
Heritage Elementary School Counseling Department has High Expectations for Students where they are motivated, challenged, and expected to reach their maximum potential: academically, socially, and emotionally.
Heritage Elementary School Counselors' Statement of Philosophy:
The counselors at Heritage Elementary School believe:
-All students have the right to participate in the school counseling program that will be consistent with expected developmental stages of learning and differences in learning styles.
-All student's ethnic, cultural, and racial differences and special needs are considered in the planning and implementation of the school counseling program.
- Learning involves the education of the whole person and is a continuous lifelong process.
The Comprehensive School Counseling Program should:
-Be student-centered. The program will be based on specified goals and developmental student competencies for all students.
-Engage students in classroom, group and/or individual activities to enhance student learning.
-Include education that extends beyond the classroom environment and allows students to develop lifelong skills that can assist them in the pursuit of their life goals.
-Be fostered by the community and school counselors in coordination with other schools, families, and other community stakeholders.
All counselors at Heritage Elementary School:
- Abide by the professional school counseling ethics as advocated by the American School Counselor Association.
-Shall participate in professional development essential to maintain a quality school counseling program.
Delivery
School counselors provide culturally competent services to students, parents/guardians, school staff and the community in the following areas:
• School Guidance Curriculum – This curriculum consists of structured lessons designed to help students achieve the desired competencies and to provide all students with the knowledge and skills appropriate for their developmental level. The school guidance curriculum is delivered throughout the school's overall curriculum and is systematically presented by professional school counselors in collaboration with other professional educators in K-12 classroom and group activities.
• Individual Student Planning – Professional school counselors coordinate ongoing systemic activities designed to help students establish personal goals and develop future plans.
• Responsive Services – Responsive services consist of prevention and/or intervention activities to meet students’ immediate and future needs. These needs can be necessitated by events and conditions in students’ lives and the school climate and culture, and may require any of the following:
• System Support – System support consists of management activities establishing, maintaining, and enhancing the total school counseling program. These activities include professional development, consultation, collaboration, supervision, program management and operations. Professional school counselors are committed to continual personal and professional development and are proactively involved in professional organizations promoting school counseling at the local, state and national levels.
Management
Professional school counselors incorporate organizational processes and tools that are concrete, clearly delineated, and reflective of the school’s needs. Processes and tools include:
Accountability
Professional school counselors develop and implement data/needs-driven, standards-based and research-supported programs, and engage in continuous program evaluation activities. They also create results reports that demonstrate immediate, intermediate, and long-range effectiveness of comprehensive school counseling programs. Professional school counselors analyze outcome data to guide future action and improve future results for all students. The performance of the professional school counselor is evaluated using an instrument based on the School Counselor Performance Standards found in the ASCA National Model, and the ASCA School Counselor Competencies. These standards of practice are expected of professional school counselors when implementing a school counseling program.
Summary
Professional school counselors are certified/licensed educators with the minimum of a master’s degree in school counseling and are uniquely qualified to address the developmental needs of all students through a comprehensive school counseling program addressing the academic, career and personal/social development of all students.
Heritage Elementary School Counseling Program Mission Statement:
Heritage Elementary School Counseling Department has High Expectations for Students where they are motivated, challenged, and expected to reach their maximum potential: academically, socially, and emotionally.
Heritage Elementary School Counselors' Statement of Philosophy:
The counselors at Heritage Elementary School believe:
-All students have the right to participate in the school counseling program that will be consistent with expected developmental stages of learning and differences in learning styles.
-All student's ethnic, cultural, and racial differences and special needs are considered in the planning and implementation of the school counseling program.
- Learning involves the education of the whole person and is a continuous lifelong process.
The Comprehensive School Counseling Program should:
-Be student-centered. The program will be based on specified goals and developmental student competencies for all students.
-Engage students in classroom, group and/or individual activities to enhance student learning.
-Include education that extends beyond the classroom environment and allows students to develop lifelong skills that can assist them in the pursuit of their life goals.
-Be fostered by the community and school counselors in coordination with other schools, families, and other community stakeholders.
All counselors at Heritage Elementary School:
- Abide by the professional school counseling ethics as advocated by the American School Counselor Association.
-Shall participate in professional development essential to maintain a quality school counseling program.
Delivery
School counselors provide culturally competent services to students, parents/guardians, school staff and the community in the following areas:
• School Guidance Curriculum – This curriculum consists of structured lessons designed to help students achieve the desired competencies and to provide all students with the knowledge and skills appropriate for their developmental level. The school guidance curriculum is delivered throughout the school's overall curriculum and is systematically presented by professional school counselors in collaboration with other professional educators in K-12 classroom and group activities.
• Individual Student Planning – Professional school counselors coordinate ongoing systemic activities designed to help students establish personal goals and develop future plans.
• Responsive Services – Responsive services consist of prevention and/or intervention activities to meet students’ immediate and future needs. These needs can be necessitated by events and conditions in students’ lives and the school climate and culture, and may require any of the following:
- individual or group counseling
- consultation with parents, teachers and other educators
- referrals to other school support services or community resources
- peer helping
- psycho-education
- intervention and advocacy at the systemic level
• System Support – System support consists of management activities establishing, maintaining, and enhancing the total school counseling program. These activities include professional development, consultation, collaboration, supervision, program management and operations. Professional school counselors are committed to continual personal and professional development and are proactively involved in professional organizations promoting school counseling at the local, state and national levels.
Management
Professional school counselors incorporate organizational processes and tools that are concrete, clearly delineated, and reflective of the school’s needs. Processes and tools include:
- agreements developed with and approved by administrators for each school year addressing how the school counseling program is organized and what goals will be accomplished
- advisory councils include: students, parents/guardians, teachers, counselors, administrators and community members to review school counseling program goals and results and to make recommendations
- the use of student data to effect systemic change within the school system so every student receives the benefit of the school counseling program
- action plans for prevention and intervention services defining the desired student competencies and achievement results
- allotment of the professional school counselor's time in direct service with students as recommended in the ASCA National Model
- the use of annual and weekly calendars to keep students, parents/guardians, teachers, administrators, and community stakeholders informed and to encourage active participation in the school counseling program.
Accountability
Professional school counselors develop and implement data/needs-driven, standards-based and research-supported programs, and engage in continuous program evaluation activities. They also create results reports that demonstrate immediate, intermediate, and long-range effectiveness of comprehensive school counseling programs. Professional school counselors analyze outcome data to guide future action and improve future results for all students. The performance of the professional school counselor is evaluated using an instrument based on the School Counselor Performance Standards found in the ASCA National Model, and the ASCA School Counselor Competencies. These standards of practice are expected of professional school counselors when implementing a school counseling program.
Summary
Professional school counselors are certified/licensed educators with the minimum of a master’s degree in school counseling and are uniquely qualified to address the developmental needs of all students through a comprehensive school counseling program addressing the academic, career and personal/social development of all students.