The State of School Counseling
As National School Counseling Week draws to a close, it seems fitting to reflect on the state of the profession in our nation.
School counselors are highly trained individuals who help students improve their academic achievement, their personal and social development and their career planning. Their services help students resolve emotional and behavioral issues, often improving the climate of a school. And they help students develop a clearer focus or sense of direction, which can improve student achievement. Research over the past several decades shows the positive impact of school counselors.
But for all the evidence, the work of school counselors can be underappreciated and is rarely acknowledged in discussions of school improvement. And in times of tough budgets, it is often the school counselor (or other support staff) whose role is cut.
As Valerie Strauss pointed out back in January, school counselors in America are expected to help an extremely large number of students. It is recommended that there be one school counselor for every 250 students. In 2008, nationwide there was one counselor for every 457 students – and that was before school budgets were slashed. In California there were 814 students per counselor. In Arizona, Minnesota and Utah there were more than 700 students per counselor. (Of course, there were also states that met the recommendation – Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming.)
And with the economic downturn, counseling positions across the country have been eliminated. In Hastings, Michigan, for example (the state had an average 638 students per counselor in 2008). In Steamboat Springs, Colorado (2008 state average: 387 students per counselor). In Belmont, Massachusetts (2008 state average: 432 students per counselor). And the list goes on.
But despite the struggles that their profession is facing, school counselors all over the country are doing great things every day. And this week we celebrate Barbara Micucci (2010 School Counselor of the Year), Randy McPherson (2011 School Counselor of the Year) and their hundred thousand colleagues across the country. Their work gives students strength – and we would be wise to remember that every day of the year!
Image found on Wikimedia Commons.
SIGN UP
Visionaries
Click here to browse dozens of Public School Insights interviews with extraordinary education advocates, including:
- 2013 Digital Principal Ryan Imbriale
- Best Selling Author Dan Ariely
- Family Engagement Expert Dr. Maria C. Paredes
The views expressed in this website's interviews do not necessarily represent those of the Learning First Alliance or its members.
New Stories
Featured Story
Excellence is the Standard
At Pierce County High School in rural southeast Georgia, the graduation rate has gone up 31% in seven years. Teachers describe their collaboration as the unifying factor that drives the school’s improvement. Learn more...
School/District Characteristics
Hot Topics
Blog Roll
Members' Blogs
- Transforming Learning
- The EDifier
- School Board News Today
- Legal Clips
- Learning Forward’s PD Watch
- NAESP's Principals' Office
- NASSP's Principal's Policy Blog
- The Principal Difference
- ASCA Scene
- PDK Blog
- Always Something
- NSPRA: Social School Public Relations
- AACTE's President's Perspective
- AASA's The Leading Edge
- AASA Connects (formerly AASA's School Street)
- NEA Today
- Angles on Education
- Lily's Blackboard
- PTA's One Voice
- ISTE Connects
What Else We're Reading
- Advancing the Teaching Profession
- Edwize
- The Answer Sheet
- Edutopia's Blogs
- Politics K-12
- U.S. Department of Education Blog
- John Wilson Unleashed
- The Core Knowledge Blog
- This Week in Education
- Inside School Research
- Teacher Leadership Today
- On the Shoulders of Giants
- Teacher in a Strange Land
- Teach Moore
- The Tempered Radical
- The Educated Reporter
- Taking Note
- Character Education Partnership Blog
- Why I Teach
Maybe it is time to rethink
Maybe it is time to rethink the role of teachers and counselors. School models like Big Picture Learning blend the teacher role and counselor role into an advisory capacity. I volunteer teach at a high school of 1100 students that has 65 instructors. I tried to get the faculty to consider the advisory model but was told that their job description did not allow them to counsel students. Amazing.
The role of the school
The role of the school counsellor is essential in all schools as the position forms an integral part of the Welfae System / Team of any school, supporting the learning needs of students in many varied ways from testing, counseling, accessing outside agency support etc... Without an effective Welfare Team and Welfare System / platform that supports the learning platform student learning outcomes will be affected in a detramental way.
Teachers implicitly and explicitly are a part of the Welfare System in any school and provide mentoring, informal counselling etc.. to students. However, the critical role teachers play is in the delivery of quality teaching and learning. To perform this effectively it is too much to ask them to increase their already extended capacity to be formally taking over the role of school cousellors.
Tim M. - I think that the
Tim M. - I think that the advisory model is a good one, in some instances. My concern with completely blending the role of teacher and counselor is in the specialized knowledge that both need to do their job well. Example: When I was teaching, I had a student who confided in me that she was suicidal. I had NO IDEA how to handle that situation. But I was able to talk to the school counselor about it, and he knew how to handle the situation and get her the help that she needed. Of course, I could have taken counseling courses and learned how to handle such situations, but that would have detracted from the time I had available to take other courses that helped improve my teaching. And like Tim L. pointed out, my role was to teach the kids (in my case, math and science).
Now, I could have handled a bigger role in helping my homeroom students fill out SAT/ACT registration forms, chose their courses for the following year, etc. as an adviser (which is one way I have heard of the advisory model being implemented). But I think there ALWAYS needs to be a dedicated (and well-trained) counselor on staff to handle serious issues students can have.
I believe School Counselors
I believe School Counselors are essential/crucial/invaluable at the High School level, when kids are preparing for college/careers, have an extraordinary anount of pressure put on them, have jobs, have dating and identity issues... However, I do not believe for a minute that a ratio of 1:250 is needed for School Counselors at the elementary and middle school levels, where their role is very different and, I'm sorry to say, much less needed. In Grades K-8, the ratio could be drastically increased, with counselors even serving more than one school. ANYONE can register kids for class; ANY educated person can discuss behavioral/bullying issues with kids/parents; ANYONE can administer tests, and ANYONE can assign tutorial or other help. It doesn't take a masters-educated person to do these things. Again, I want to stress that in HS, School Counselors are invaluable (probably even starting at Grade 8, because they need to choose their HS courses carefully) but below that, it's just babysitting. I have first-hand experience with trying to get an 8th grade counselor involved with a child failing in school. This person had every excuse in the world for not meeting with me, from having to attend a week-long training program to I can only meet with you in the morning to We're having a guest speaker that week. Earliest she could meet with me? 8 weeks from the day I called. Baloney. Stay late one evening or come in early or meet with me over lunch. She could've cared less that my child was failing.
Post new comment