School Counseling

Comprehensive School Guidance and Counseling Programs

In rising to the challenges of serving large caseloads of clients—the ASCA recommended ratio is 250:1; the current range across the states is 222:1 to 1301:1—with developmental and circumstantial issues, school counseling professionals have reached consensus about the means for delivering school counseling to students. Initially conceptualized by Gysbers and Moore, the comprehensive school guidance and counseling program model is endorsed in the ASCA National Model and in the models of a majority of the states.

The four elements of a comprehensive school guidance and counseling program are those of content; organizational framework; resources; and development, management, and accountability. The content element describes standards for student competency development. To guide meaningful practice, competencies must be specified for each grade level or grade grouping. There are national content standards published by ASCA. Many state and local school district models include content competencies appropriate to their schools' missions and communities.

The organizational framework element describes structure, activities, and time parameters that support program delivery. The structural components present the definition of, the assumptions behind, and the rationale for the program and its implementation design. The program activity components define activities as guidance curriculum, individual student planning, responsive services, or system support. The time portion of the element describes examples (as in the National Model and the text), or recommendations, guidelines, or rules (as in state models) for appropriations of school counselor time for each of the program activity components.

The resources element describes the personnel and financial and political resources needed to fully implement a program. The development, management, and [Page 382]accountability element describes a systematic process for schools and school districts to use to tailor their programs to best assist their students' development that make wisest use of the allocated resources. The five phases of this process are planning, designing, implementing, evaluating, and enhancing.

Six Changes for the 21 st Century

Even in states and school districts with well-described programs, and even with research that documents the value added to students' development within fully implemented programs, program implementation is uneven at the present time. A legitimate goal on behalf of equitable services for all students is to have fully implemented programs in all schools. This entry identifies six goals for changes that may lead more schools to fuller implementation of their

...