School Counseling & Advisement
Why School Counselors?
Students with access to school counselors and comprehensive school counseling programs are more likely to achieve academically and behaviorally; particularly students in high-poverty schools (Lapan, Gysbers, Bragg, & Pierce, 2012)
School counseling programs support the Standards of Learning by providing guidance to students in their academic, career, and social-emotional development. School counselors collaborate with parents, teachers, administrators and others to promote learning and help students establish and achieve their education, career, and personal goals. School counselors provide leadership to ensure that students benefit from effective strategies and services aligned with the Standards for School Counseling Programs in Virginia Public Schools. The standards are organized by grade level under the following goals:
- Academic Development – Students will acquire the academic preparation essential to choose from a variety of educational, training, and employment options upon completion of secondary school.
- Career Development – Students will investigate the world of work in order to make informed career decisions.
- Social/Emotional – Students will acquire an understanding of, and respect for, self and others, and the skills to be responsible citizens.
School counselors are trained to provide counseling services through eight different types of delivery methods:
- Counseling Curriculum
- Small Group Counseling
- Individual Counseling
- Crisis Response
- Individual Student Planning
- Consultation
- Collaboration
- Referral
The Virginia School Counselor Association (VSCA)
and Virginia Department of Education are collaboratively working to clearly define these services because we know that, by providing direct services that include individual and small group counseling sessions and evidence-based classroom lessons dealing with conflict resolution, bullying prevention, self-regulation, personal responsibility, frustration tolerance and more, school counselors have the ability to significantly impact the lives of all students, including students who have become disengaged and disenfranchised.
Advocacy Presentation
The VSCA has released an advocacy Power Point presentation to better explain the role of the school counselor and how a comprehensive school counseling program is essential to meeting the needs of the student, school, division, and state.
Are School Counselors Being Effectively Utilized in Your School and Division?
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) provides resources and professional development opportunities to school divisions across the country to address the role of the school counselor.
ASCA provides information and documents detailing the roles of a school counselor. For information on the school counselor role at elementary, middle, and high school, as well as school counselor roles, duties, and competencies, please visit the Careers/Roles webpage of the ASCA Web site.
ASCA also provides Position Papers to explain the school counselor’s role for a range of critical topics.
Standards & Regulations
- Standards for School Counseling Programs in Virginia Public Schools (K-12) (PDF)
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Regulations Regarding School Guidance and Counseling Services in the Public Schools of Virginia
-
Virginia Licensure Regulations for School Counselors preK-12
- Virginia Graduation Requirements
School Counselor Summative Performance Report: A Tool for Evaluating Professional School Counselors
Comprehensive school counseling programs are driven by data, based on standards in academic, career, and social/emotional development, and promote and enhance the learning process of all students. It is important that school counselors are utilized and evaluated on standards and competencies directly related to the work for which they have been trained. Professional school counselors should be an integral part of your overall school mission and vision and a comprehensive and developmental school counseling program, aligned to state and national standards, can improve student achievement and outcomes.
- Play School Counselor Summative Performance Report Introduction Video
- School Counselor Summative Performance Report Document (Word)
Resources
Academic Development
- Academic and Career Plan
- Standards of Accreditation
- Graduation (Diploma) Seals of Achievement
- Board of Education Approved Courses to Satisfy Graduation Requirements for the Standard, Standard Technical, Advanced Studies, Advanced Technical, and Modified Standard Diplomas in Virginia Public Schools (Effective with Ninth-Grade Class of 2010-2011)-This is a Word document. (Word)
- Secondary School Transcript Regulations (PDF)
- Sample Secondary School Transcript Template (Word)
- Student Records
Career Development
- Virginia Wizard
- Virginia Career View
- Career & Technical Education
- Virginia Scholarships
- State Council for Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV)
- Virginia’s College Guide for Students with Disabilities (PDF)
- Career Planning Guide
Social/Emotional
- Prevention Strategies and Programs
- Student and Family Services
- Student Conduct and Discipline
- Safety and Crisis Management
- Comprehensive Services Act for At-Risk Youth and Families
- Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC)