New Mexico Comprehensive School Counseling Program Guide

Foundation
Beliefs and Benefits | Mission Statement | Local/State/National Standards | New Mexico Policy

Beliefs and Benefits

The foundation of a comprehensive school counseling program provides a solid ground upon which the rest of the program is built. The foundation consists of the beliefs and philosophies of the program, the mission statement and the ASCA National Standards for student academic, career and personal/social development and ethical and legal directives. Through the implementation of a comprehensive school counseling program “ What” every student will obtain is core skills such as these:

SELF-KNOWLEDGE: Professional School Counselors who implement a Comprehensive School Counseling Program are able to assist students through specific self-appraisal and self-improvement activities. This will enable students to effectively plan to meet educational and career goals, assume responsibility for their personal behavior, improve their interpersonal relationships, and become responsible and productive citizens.

DECISION MAKING: Decision making skills are critical to the future success of New Mexico Public School 's students. Comprehensive School Counseling Programs ensure that students have mastery of decision making skills, and be able to then apply these skills in life and career planning. The skills relevant to the decision-making process are:

• being able to apply personal values;
• gathering and using relevant information;
• understanding the relationship between planning and eventual outcomes;
• being aware of the need to adapt plans in response to changes in time and circumstances; and
• to identify the steps needed to make personal decisions.

• Personal changes: As students face changes and challenges within themselves, their family, peer, school and community situations, they often experience a sense of powerlessness. This sense of powerlessness can be transformed to empowerment through the effective use of counseling and guidance activities in the school.
• Changes in the world of work: With the technological and scientific advances and shifts in society, students are not acquainted with many of the career options available to them. Once they are out in the world of work they will be expected to assume more roles, and function in a diverse setting. Additionally, they will experience more unique life events than in any previous generation. They will need to be familiar with the effects of change.

• Knowledge of the spectrum of educational courses and programs;
• Understand the relationships of courses and programs to personal and societal needs and goals;
• skill development in using a wide variety of information and resources;
• understanding of the pathways and linkages between secondary and postsecondary courses and programs; and
• skill development in writing resumes, searching for jobs and interviewing for jobs.

There is a vast array of options available to our students both during their secondary school experience, and even more options available to them post-secondary. It is therefore critical that they have access to knowledgeable counselors who will assist them in planning for and making connections in their pathway to success.

BELIEFS OF NEW MEXICO PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELORS

PHILOSOPY OF PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELORS

A COOPERATIVE EFFORT

Professional School Counselors collaborate with many stakeholders to ensure a quality school counseling program. Through this cooperative effort, school counseling programs become an integral part of the total school mission.

Professional School Counselors

• Manage the school counseling program and ensure effective strategies are employed to meet stated student success and achievement.
• Provides proactive leadership, which engages all stakeholders in the delivery of activities and services to help students achieve success in school.
• Provide direct services to every student.
• Follow the ASCA National Model for One Vision, One Voice for student's academic success.
• Are multi-culturally competent.

The Role of the Professional School Counselor

The professional school counselor is a certified/licensed educator trained in school counseling. Professional School Counselors address the needs of students through the implementation of a comprehensive, standards-based, developmental school counseling program. They are employed in elementary, middle/junior high, and senior high schools, and in post-secondary settings. Their work is differentiated by attention to age-specific developmental stages of student growth, and the needs, tasks and student interests related to those stages. Professional School Counselors work with all students, including those who are considered at-risk and those with special needs. They are specialists in human behavior and relationships who provide assistance to students through four primary interventions: counseling (individual and group), large group guidance, consultation, and coordination.

ASCA

For the full document on the Role of the Professional School Counselor, go to: http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=240

Teachers

• Work in a partnership role with school counselor, developing and infusing guidance activities into the instructional program.
• This partnership with Professional School Counselors can be used to extend the attainment of student achievement through collaborative classroom guidance experiences.

Administrators

• Provide support for the organization, development and implementation of the school counseling program.
• Encourage counselors and teachers to work cooperatively and allow time, facilities and resources to facilitate the process.
• Recognizes and supports school personnel and community members' important roles in the implementation of the school counseling program.
• Minimize the non-school counseling related tasks assigned to Professional School Counselors, as fair share responsibilities, to no more than 10%.

Parents/guardians

• Work in partnership with Professional School Counselors to help their students be successful in school.
• They may also serve on advisory or other site committees.
• Encouraged by school educators to collaborate with school personnel to become involved as advocates for the success of every student.

Students

• Are active participants in the school counseling program and assume responsibility for their success in school.
• Work with Professional School Counselors to ensure academic success.

Community

• Businesses, labor and community agencies partner with schools in a variety of ways by volunteering, mentoring and providing sites for student service learning experiences and placements for school-related work programs and field trips.

BENEFITS OF SCHOOL COUNSELING PROGRAMS

 There are many benefits to a Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance Program. Benefits that have been reported by schools across the country that are implementing a Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance Program are summarized below.

Benefits for students

• Guarantees equitable access of guidance services to all students
• Ensures equitable access to educational opportunities
• Monitors data to facilitate student improvement
• Promotes a challenging academic curriculum for every student
• Promotes a commitment to learning
• Provides strategies for closing the gap in achievement
• Promotes a developmentally and multi-culturally appropriate approach to sequencing of guidance activities
• Fosters advocacy for al students
• Promotes peer facilitation skills
• Supports development of skills to increase student success

•  Benefits for Parents

• Provides parents with training, information, support and resources for their child's personal/social, academic and career development
• Establishes a system for students to create and implement long range personal, academic and career planning
• Increases opportunities for parents and counselor to become partners in the student's success
• Invites parents to have access to school and community resources
• Provides parents with data for continuous information on student's progress

•  Benefits for Teachers

• Encourages an interdisciplinary, positive and collaborative team approach in working for student success and educational goals
• Promotes a team effort to address developmental skills and core competencies necessary for student success
• Supports the development of classroom-management skills
• Increases teacher accessibility to the counselor as a resource and classroom presenter
• Gives teachers the opportunity to analyze data to improve the school climate and student achievement

•  Benefits for Administrators

• Aligns the school counseling program with the school's academic mission
• Monitors data for school improvement
• Creates a pro-active guidance and counseling program with specific guidance curriculum and content to promote student success
• Provides a means for monitoring and measuring effectiveness of the guidance program
• Provides useful data for grant applications and funding sources
• Enhances the community's image of the guidance program and the school

•  Benefits for local Boards of Education

• Presents the rationale for incorporating a comprehensive Guidance and Counseling program in the school system
• Ensures equity and access to a quality school counseling program for every student
• Articulates appropriate credentials and staffing ratios for academic success
• Establishes a basis for determining counseling and guidance funding allocations
• Provides the district patrons with current data regarding the student competencies that are being addressed through the guidance program efforts
• Provides data about the improvement of student achievement

•  Benefits for Post-Secondary Education

• Ensures equity and access to post-secondary education for every student
• Enhances articulation and transition of students into post-secondary institutions
• Prepares every student for advanced educational opportunities
• Motivates every student to seek a wide range of substantial, post-secondary options, including college
• Encourages and supports rigorous academic preparation

•  Benefits for the Community: businesses, labor and industry

• Provides increased opportunity for collaboration and active participation with the school counseling program
• Increases accessibility to the counselor, allowing for collaboration, which will enhance a student's post secondary success
• Connects business, industry and labor to students and families
• Prepares students, the potential work force, with decision-making skills, pre-employment skills, and increased worker maturity

•  Benefits for Professional School Counselors

• Supports equal access to every student
• Defines clear roles and functions of the Guidance Counselor
• Reduces (to less than 10%) or eliminates non-guidance counselor functions and revitalizes and supports a professional identity
• Provides Guidance Counselors with a tool for program management, implementation, and accountability
• Recognizes Professional School Counselors a leaders, advocates and change agents for student success

Effectiveness of School Counseling Programs:

For reviews of the research on school counseling, and how the services of Professional School Counselors have a positive effect on children, go to:

http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=241

SUMMARY

New Mexico Public Schools ' Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program is reflective of the American School Counseling Model for School Counseling Programs. It is multi-culturally appropriate, comprehensive in its scope, preventative in its design, developmental in its nature, and an integral part of the total educational program. The Program focuses upon the three domain areas, (1) academic development, (2) career development, and (3) personal/social development. It ensures that New Mexico Public Schools meets the needs of our students, from pre-kindergarten through 12 th grade and emphasizes academic success for every student.

REFERENCES

American School Counseling Association Website: www.schoolcounselor.org

Competencies for Professional School Counselors , Adopted by the State Board of Education, November 30, 1992 . Effective Date: July 1, 1993 .

American School Counselor Association. (2003). The ASCA National Model: A Framework For School Counseling Programs . Alexandria , VA : Author.

American School Counselor Association. (2004). The ASCA National Model Workbook . Alexandria , VA : Author.

The New Mexico School Counseling Services Program Guide: A Technical Assistance Handbook for School Counseling Programs, The New Mexico State Department of Education (Winter, 1995).

National Consortium for State Guidance Leadership. (2000). A National Framework for State Programs of Guidance and Counseling; A Foundation for Student Academic and Life Long Success. Columbus , OH : Center on Education and Training for Employment.

National Consortium for State Guidance Leadership. (2000). A State Guidance Leadership Implementation and Resource Guide; A Companion to the National Framework for State Programs of Guidance and Counseling. Columbus , OH : Center on Education and Training for Employment.

New Mexico Statutes Annotated http://www.conwaygreene.com/nmsu/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&2.0

US Department of Education website: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

Public Education Department Website: http://www.ped.state.nm.us/cilt/programs/counseling/downloads.html

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