School counseling for the 21st Century: challenges and opportunities.

The history of school counselling as a specialty of the counselling professional has been well documented in the literature (Baker, 2000; Gysbers & Henderson, 2000; Herr, 2001; Myrick, 1997; Paisley & Borders, 1995). The specialty was initially shaped by the social reform movement during the late 19th Century and has evolved from an early focus on career and moral development to today's comprehensive, developmental, and collaborative school counseling programs. During the intervening years, school counseling programs and their particular areas of emphases have alternated based on the social, political, economic, and psychological issues facing schools, communities, families, children, and adolescents. At times, school counselors have worked more exclusively in educational and career arenas while at other times, much more attention has been paid to the personal and social development of students.

Most recently, the National Standards for School Counseling Programs (Campbell & Dahir, 1997) adopted by the American School Counselor Association have outlined a balanced approach to school counseling, including support for student development in three domains: academic, career, and personal/social. Programs based on the National Standards employ several intervention strategies, including individual counseling; small group counseling; classroom interventions; consultation with parents, teachers, and outside agencies; and coordination of certain related whole-school activities. These strategies may be appropriate as crisis interventions or for remediation as well as for preventative purposes or to promote healthy development. In addition, programs based on the National Standards are clearly anchored in the mission and needs of the school, and school counselors in such programs serve as advocates for all students. School counselors working with the National Standards also understand the need to collaborate with all stakeholders in order to effectively meet the needs of school-aged children.

Currently, discussions concerning appropriate roles and areas of focus for school counseling are taking place in the professional literature, through conference presentations, and informally through professional collaboration. As the specialty continues to evolve, school counselors and school counselor educators and supervisors will need to continue to engage in these important discussions. As the 21st Century unfolds, there is a need to consider the context in which school counselors practice as well as the corresponding challenges and opportunities that this context presents. Some of these challenges and opportunities have been debated throughout the evolution of the specialty; others are new based on changes in society, educational expectations, and the issues facing schools, communities, families, and students. This article identifies a number of the challenges facing school counselors and school counseling programs, and attempts to respond to these challenges as opportunities to better meet the needs of students as well as to strengthen the professional specialty.

Challenge for school counselors and School Counseling Programs

School counseling programs are developed and implemented within school systems located within communities. Community members often have different expectations for the outcomes of school counseling programs. This means that school counselors often find themselves attempting to meet the demands of multiple stakeholders in an increasingly complex and political environment. Entering the 21st Century, counselors will need to address these challenges with commitment and creativity. First, however, professionals need to consider some of the challenges that need to be addressed.

Ambiguous Role Definition

Perhaps, the most significant challenge for school counselors rests in the ongoing debate over role definition. Although the current focus is on program rather than person or services (Gysbers & Henderson, 2001), individual counselors still struggle with priorities. As school counselors attempt to prioritize, there have been simultaneous calls for reexamination of both school counselor preparation and practice (Education Trust, 1996; Hayes, Dagley, & Horne, 1996; Keys, Bemak, & Lockhart, 1998). These calls for reexamination have ranged in motivation from the need for an active response to educational reform to concern for the neglected, yet extensive, needs of at-risk students to the belief that school counselors are neither being prepared nor utilized in ways that best meet the needs of all students. National agendas focused on academic achievement and school violence encourage school counselors to be involved in both educational and mental health initiatives. While in many ways, counselor involvement in this discussion represents the professional responsibility of self-reflection, it also leaves many counselors questioning the focus of school counseling programs. Attending to all demands for time and programming can place counselors in the unrealistic position of trying to be all things to all people.

Combining appropriate program and role, school counselors are asked to:

1. Provide individual and small group counseling sessions

2. Conduct classroom guidance interventions

3. Consult with parents, teachers, administrators, and community agency representatives

4. Advocate for all students to enhance educational experiences and outcomes

5. Build partnerships and teams within and outside of the school

6. Be a member of school leadership and policy-making groups

7. Provide individualized, focused, and intensive interventions for at-risk students

8. Be the developmental specialist in the school setting

9. Be the mental health specialist in the school setting

10. Provide family counseling interventions

11. Coordinate school-wide programs including peer helping, peer mediation, conflict resolution, violence prevention, character education, and teacher advisory programs

12. Prevent suicides, pregnancies, dropouts, drug use, and general moral decay

13. Maintain the necessary levels of expertise in all of the above areas to ensure quality in all interventions and programs.

Even with the most ideal counselor-to-student ratio, fulfilling all of these expectations would be incredibly difficult. In reality, the average ratio in the United States ranges from 1 to 313 in Vermont to 1 to 1,182 in California (American Counseling Association, 1999). Asking school counselors facing such student loads to perform the full range of associated and appropriate functions may be beyond the scope of what is possible. When these tasks are also layered with often-assigned yet professionally inappropriate roles, the ability to design and implement effective programs is even less likely.

Increasingly Diverse Student Populations

A second challenge facing school counselors involves the increasingly diverse student populations in the schools. The changing demographics of society have been widely noted (e.g., Lee, 2001). As these changes are realized in school settings, counselors may find that psychological and educational theories and practices, developed largely from a Eurocentric perspective, may not represent the worldviews of or be the best approaches for their students and families (D'Andrea & Daniels, 2001; Lee, 2001; Murphy, DeEsch, & Strein; 1998; Skovholt, Cognetta, Ye, & King, 1997). Considerable progress has been made in the area of addressing multiculturalism within schools, but statistics continue to show gaps in academic achievement along racial and ethnic lines (Education Trust, 1996) as well as differences in those individuals who actually seek counseling services (Sue & Sue, 1999).

An additional factor increasing the level of complexity of this issue is that diversity in schools today is not limited to race and ethnicity. The term diversity actually describes a far broader range including socioeconomic status, students with disabilities (Carpenter, King-Sears, & Keys, 1998; Scarborough & Deck, 1998; Tarver-Behring, Spagna, & Sullivan, 1998), urban/suburban lifestyle differences (Omizo, Omizo, & Honda, 1997), and sexual orientation (Cooley, 1998; Lipkin, 1999; Marinoble, 1998). In fact, diversity can be used to describe any differences in the behavioral styles, attitudinal orientations, and value systems of students (Lee, 2001).

School counselors will need to be culturally competent and culturally responsive (Lee, 2001) to a wide range of students in order to effectively attend to their needs. Unfortunately, however, the wide adoption of multicultural counseling as a key part of school counselor preparation is fairly recent, and the effectiveness of the preparation is still being evaluated. The Multicultural Counseling Competencies and Standards (Sue, Arredondo, & McDairs, 1992), adopted by the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD), presents a model of a culturally skilled counselor in which three dimensions of counseling (belief, knowledge, and skill areas) are examined across three counselor characteristics (awareness of one's own assumptions, values, and biases; understanding the worldview of culturally different clients; and developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques). While the competencies and standards seem to be a key piece in the preparation of many school counselors, many preparation programs offer only one semester of a cross-cultural counseling course with few if any opportunities for continued development of skills. This limited exposure may well be inadequate both in time and scope to develop culturally competent counselors. In addition, many school counselors who have been practicing in the field for some time may have had no formal cross-cultural preparation. Thus, school counselors may feel inadequate in meeting the needs of the full range of students in their schools.

Increasing Reliance on Technology

A third challenge for school counselors involves the increasing reliance on technology. Technological advances provide a wide array of opportunities to make the world of work operate more efficiently and effectively, and there is ample opportunity for school counseling to take advantage of technology in delivery of preventative and developmental school counseling programs as well (Baker & Gerler, 2001). Yet while computers and the Internet have the potential to be used to help a variety of counseling tasks, most counselors either have limited technology skills or, even with skills, only use their computers for basic duties such as recordkeeping, scheduling, and word processing (Owen & Weikel, 1999). Many practicing school counselors report a lack of comfort and expertise in working with computers and specifically the Internet (Owen & Weikel, 1999). In fact, preparation programs have only recently begun to require technology competence, and in-service programs are rarely available focused specifically on school counseling applications.

The financial investment required for technological advances presents an additional challenge for using technology in school settings. Many school counselors report that the computers or the software provided to them by their school systems are inadequate (Owen & Weikel, 1999). Considering the price of computer systems and the rate at which technology becomes obsolete, attempting to update systems throughout a school in order to maintain currency regarding technology is a significant expense, and one that many schools simply cannot afford. Likewise, becoming dependent on technology for counseling services may further differentiate the "digital divide" which already separates families who can afford computers and Internet access from those who cannot (Sampson & Bloom, 2001).

In addition to financial concerns, there are a variety of ethical concerns regarding the use of technology for counseling services. One concern has to do with the effects technology could have on the personal relationship between counselor and student. In an era when so much is done without human interaction, the human interaction that a counselor models becomes even more important. There is not enough evidence yet to fully understand how technology affects developing counselor-client relationships, and until more is known, technology should be employed in such situations with caution (Sampson, 2000). Another concern is that counselors will allow students to take career exploration and other self-directed assessments without proper supervision or instruction (Sampson, 2000). Confidentiality is another important issue raised by reliance on technology. Storing and transmitting such important information electronically brings into question the degree to which the confidentiality of the information can be guaranteed (Owen & Weikel, 1999; Sampson & Bloom, 2001; Sampson, Kolodinsky, & Greeno, 1997).

Calls for Accountability within Educational Systems

School counselors are also being challenged to demonstrate in measurable terms the effectiveness of their work. Baker (2000) noted:

   Accountability means demonstrating that something worthwhile is happening.
   In a public school setting, this principle may be manifested in procedures
   used to show the taxpayers that they are getting their money's worth. In
   such situations, counselors are challenged to develop evaluations of their
   efforts and of the opinions of their consumers while also being accountable
   for the use of their time. (p. 31)

Baker (2000) also noted some of the reasons counselors may be resistant to conducting program evaluation. These included the amount of time and money required for thorough evaluation, the belief that such data collection requires sophisticated statistical skills, and the lack of appropriate role models. Recent discussions in which the first author has been involved have also pointed to the lack of adequate frameworks for comprehensive accountability.

Conceptually, school counseling programs have historically been linked to desired student outcomes (Lapan, 2001). Today, as administrators, policymakers, and legislators require increased evidence that supports effectiveness of a variety of funded programs, counselors are not immune. Instead, they are being asked to show data that demonstrates positive student outcomes associated with the school mission. Increasingly this includes information related to grades, course-taking patterns, test scores, attendance, and behavior referrals.

Lapan (2001) suggested that "the continuing development of the profession depends upon the ability to improve answers to such questions as":

1. How can counselor roles, duties, functions, and interventions be transformed to be of greater benefit and impact for all students?

2. How can counselor time on task be redistributed to maximize benefits for all students?

3. How can a program be tailored to better meet the needs of each school?

4. How can the program become central to the overriding mission of each school?

5. How can better partnerships between school personnel, parents, and business and community leaders be established?

6. How can counselors better advocate for their programs with local, state, and national policymakers? (p. 291)

These are complex questions that challenge school counselors to develop their own plans for holding themselves and their programs accountable, not only for consumer satisfaction, but also for more effectively meeting the needs of students and enhancing and facilitating learning.

Reframing Challenges as Opportunities

While the previous section on challenges does not provide an exhaustive list, it does indicate the complexity of issues facing school counselors in the 21st Century. These challenges, however, must not be allowed to overshadow the opportunities that these issues and this particular time in the profession's development provide. In reality, the history of school counseling provides a rich backdrop of transition to today's comprehensive, developmental, and collaborative programs.

Having organizational frameworks in place that anticipate and incorporate change also points to the potential for a bright future (Gysbers & Henderson, 2001). This hopefulness is echoed in a recent editorial in Professional School Counseling by Hughey (2001) in which he stated the following: "from my perspective, comprehensive guidance and counseling programs have provided a framework for more clearly defining such programs. While there continue to be challenges, positive movement has been and continues to be made" (p. ii).

By meeting the challenges, the school counseling profession has an opportunity to ensure that school counselors obtain the skills necessary to meet the changing needs of students, develop stronger professional identities, implement more appropriate school counseling programs, and become more accountable for their programs. Individual school counselors and the profession at large will need to face the challenges with confidence, optimism, commitment, and creativity in order to ensure school counselors continue to feel productive in their careers and to ensure that students develop the skills and acquire the knowledge they need to succeed in school and in life. Transforming these challenges into opportunities will require that school counselors and school counselor educators and supervisors collaborate in order to: (a) determine appropriate roles and areas of program focus, (b) design and engage in necessary professional development, and (c) demonstrate accountability for outcomes.

Determining Appropriate Roles and Areas of Program Focus

Professional school counseling has a rich history of recognizing societal changes, assessing changing needs, and altering services to meet those perceived needs. There is no reason to believe this trend will change; rather, it seems that society is changing more rapidly than ever before. School counselors, then, must be ready to adapt their priorities and interventions to meet society's changing needs while maintaining the sound base of their purpose and mission (Herr, 2001). This means part of the school counselors' professional identity must accept that roles will change over the years, be aware of and responsive to the changing needs, and continue to grow as professionals in order to maintain quality programs. School counselors and school counselor educators must work collaboratively in order to effectively identify and respond to students' needs. Perhaps the greatest favor school counselors, counselor educators, and supervisors can do for the profession is to consider this collaboration a professional responsibility, and to embrace rather than struggle with the ongoing dialogue concerning the appropriate focus of school counseling programs.

Actually, today the profession has a rather stable yet flexible notion of what school counseling is. Currently, school counseling programs are increasingly anchored in proactive interventions associated with comprehensive, developmental, and collaborative approaches. These frameworks are broad enough to anticipate changes in content as well as emphasis, and flexible enough to incorporate variations in rationale, assumptions, activities, procedures, and even use of counselor time (Gysbers & Henderson, 2001). The addition of the National Standards for School Counseling Programs (Campbell & Dahir, 1997) further strengthens the position that school counseling has a widely accepted agreement concerning program priorities. The standards, as well as other programmatic efforts, at the very least, provide a common vocabulary across models to articulate the purpose, content, and scope of school counseling for a variety of stakeholders.

Partnerships for change. In order to effectively determine priorities to meet the needs of today's students, collaborative efforts between school counselors and other stakeholders are a necessary component of school counseling programs. As school counselors shape their programs for the 21st Century, there will be many exciting, interesting and appropriate interventions and components that could be implemented. It will be critical, however, for school counselors to realize that they cannot do it all, and they can do very little of it alone. One of the most exciting aspects of current initiatives in school counseling has to do with the emphasis on partnerships for change (e.g., Fall & VanZandt, 1997; Hayes, Paisley, Phelps, Pearson, & Salter, 1997; Murphy et al., 1998; Osborne & Collison, 1998; Walsh, Howard, & Buckley, 1999). Collaboration is not new to school counseling; however, it seems to have been vastly underutilized. School counselors, like many human service professionals, were prepared in isolation, with an emphasis on differences between professions and specialties (Osborne & Collison, 1998). While this artificial separation may help prospective counselors to conceptualize differences, it is not a very efficient or effective practice in the real world.

With the ratios that school counselors face, most quickly recognize that they cannot do the work alone. In schools today, there are simply not enough school counselors to handle all the needs of the students (Walsh et al., 1999), and there is no reason to assume this trend will change in the near future. Through collaborative working relationships, school counselors can connect with other school personnel, counselor educators, parents, and community counselors and leaders so that they may combine their efforts and collectively meet the needs of the students.

Boundary setting. An additional consideration for school counselors in developing effective programs is the necessity of setting appropriate professional boundaries within school systems. With the increasing demands placed on school counselors, it is crucial that school counselors focus their role within the school to effectively and efficiently meet the academic, career, and personal/social needs of students. This means school counselors must educate and reeducate those with whom they work concerning the appropriate and inappropriate roles and tasks of school counselors and be able to limit time spent performing noncounseling duties and participating in ineffective or inefficient interventions. As part of this educational process, school counselors must demonstrate to school administrators the cost effectiveness of spending more time performing duties related to counseling and student development. School counselors can utilize systematic and intentional program planning that is supported by data to help clarify those roles and priorities that best meet students' needs. In addition, school counselors will need their best human relations and assertiveness skills to maintain these professional boundaries within what is often a political environment.

Professional Development

A second critical component in transforming challenges into opportunities will be professional development for practicing school counselors. Professional development is not something that happens during graduate school; in fact, graduate school is just a beginning. Becoming a master school counselor is a lifelong process. Across disciplines, professional development is considered to be a process that continues after formal education as professionals identify with their jobs; yet, there has been little focus on post-graduate professional development either in the professional literature or in policy (Brott & Myers, 1999). In order for school counselors to continue to adapt to the needs of the community and to continue to develop professionally, school counselors must take part in two types of continuing education: specific skill development and supervision.

Professional skill development is necessary for school counselors to learn more about specific skills that will help them to more effectively meet the needs of students, but which they may not have acquired during their formal education. These skills may include counseling-related skills such as cultural competency training (D'Andrea & Daniels, 2001; Lee, 2001), understanding DSM-IV classifications (Hinkle, 1999), or updating their understanding of presenting issues such as sexual orientation (Marinoble, 1998). Preparation may also include skills that are not directly related to counseling but which may make their jobs easier. These may include utilizing technology (Hohenshil, 2000; Owen & Weikel, 1999) or building collaborative relationships with other educational service personnel (e.g., Murphy et al., 1998), with community counselors (Keys, Bemak, Carpenter, & King-Sears, 1998; Lockhart & Keys, 1998; Ponec, Poggi, & Dickel, 1999), or with counselor educators (Hayes et al., 1997). Although the American School Counselor Association encourages this type of continuing education, there is no effective means by which to ensure that such professional development is taking place (Crutchfield & Borders, 1997). In addition, the time demands on school counselors and the pressure from school administration for direct service hours may prevent school counselors from seeking opportunities for professional growth as often as they would like. The profession must encourage school counselors to seek opportunities for personal and professional growth, not just in areas of interest, but also in the areas in which counselors may need the most growth. School counselor educators and supervisors as well as seasoned school counselors can facilitate the process by helping administrators to see the value of such experiences and by providing formal opportunities for professional growth experiences (Brott & Myers, 1999).

Skill building alone will be inadequate, however. School counselors must also participate in continued clinical supervision in order to enhance their professional development. Receiving supervision in addition to participating in skill-building experiences can help reinforce new skills and help to generalize the skills to school counselors' daily routines. Supervision can also help school counselors identify school-wide issues and develop plans to address these concerns (Brott & Myers, 1999). Further, by providing someone to listen to and understand school counselors' on-the-job concerns, supervision can help alleviate job stress and fight burnout (Baker & Gerler, 2001). Finally, supervision can play an important role in the continued evolution of school counselors' professional identity (Brott & Myers, 1999).

In spite of the advantages of clinical supervision, data show that school counselors, in general, do not participate in ongoing clinical supervision (Crutchfield & Borders, 1997). Reasons for the low number of school counselors in supervision may include limited funding, increasing concern about time spent in direct service (Crutchfield et al., 1997), or simply a lack of awareness of the benefits of supervision. Several models of supervision for school counselors have been developed with the financial and time concerns of school counselors in mind. Benshoff and Paisley (1996) developed a model of peer consultation for use with practicing school counselors as a method for providing supervisory feedback and support. Crutchfield et al. (1997) presented a model for group supervision of school counselors, which seems to be beneficial for supervisors as well as counselors. It provided camaraderie and shared experience that many school counselors reported as being helpful. While efforts to determine specific professional benefits of such supervision have yet to yield significant results, school counselors consistently report they feel the experience is helpful (Benshoff & Paisley, 1996; Crutchfield et al., 1997). Hopefully, future research will be conducted looking at effects after longer periods of supervision and at the effects of different models of supervision.

Professional development and supervision are necessary generally, yet can also be focused in particular areas of concern. Two such critical areas for specific education and supervision, which were previously identified as challenges, focus on cultural and technological competence.

Becoming a culturally responsive school counselor. In order for school counselors to work effectively, and ethically, with diverse populations, they will need to become culturally responsive (D'Andrea & Daniels, 2001; Lee, 2001), but many practicing school counselors need to enhance their cross-cultural skills and receive supervision regarding cultural competence. Given the diversity that exists across so many dimensions in students today, what steps can be taken to ensure that school counselors have the attitudes, knowledge, and skills to effectively work with their increasingly diverse populations and to provide leadership in creating culturally responsive schools? First, school counseling preparation programs must study the effectiveness of the current model of cross-cultural education to ensure that the school counselors entering the workforce meet or exceed the criteria outlined by the AMCD. In addition, school counselors in the field must motivate themselves to seek additional education and supervision in order to meet the needs of their diverse student population. Counselor educators can help this process by developing collaborative working relationships with school counselors.

Although skills specific to cultural competence are important in building an effective counseling relationship, a school counselor's job in the multicultural arena includes far more than counseling. As D'Andrea and Daniels (2001) stated, counselors must "contribute to the evolution of a more just, democratic, accepting, and respectful society" (p. 539). Nowhere is this more true than in schools, where school counselors must promote the development of all students and enhance the school climate to make the school a place where all children can and want to learn. Lee (2001) described the characteristics of a "culturally responsive school," as based on two fundamental premises: (a) all students can and want to learn, and (b) cultural differences are real and cannot be ignored. In addition, Lee described five essential functions of culturally responsive schools, including:

* Promoting the development of positive self-identification

* Facilitating the development of positive interpersonal relationships among students from diverse backgrounds

* Promoting academic achievement Promoting attitudes and skills necessary for school success

* Facilitating career exploration and choice process among young people

With appropriate pre-service and in-service professional development and ongoing supervision, school counselors can play a major role in the development and maintenance of culturally responsive schools by advocating for and leading the change process. Only through this model of acknowledging and celebrating both differences and similarities among students will schools begin to meet the academic, career, and social needs of its students (Lee, 2001).

Using technology to support the school counseling program. School counselors could also enhance their professional development by learning how to utilize technology within their school counseling programs. Although working with technology may be seen as a challenge for some school counselors, advances in technology also present an opportunity to meet the needs of students more efficiently and effectively. Using technology to build more effective and efficient school counseling programs will require extensive and specialized professional skill development and supervision. Such professional development activities will need to include a variety of topics such as:

* Using the Internet for assessment purposes and to gather information (Sampson, 2000)

* Becoming familiar with numerous software packages or Web sites that help streamline college and career counseling activities (Sampson, 2000; Schack, 1998)

* Accessing student information such as grades, test scores, attendance, and discipline referrals (Sampson et al., 1997)

* Analyzing school wide data such as graduation rates, dropout rates, course-taking patterns, and discipline patterns (Stone & Turba, 1999)

* Using data to support counselor interventions with individual students and to advocate for all students at the system level (Hohenshil, 2000)

* Using all forms of technology to support counselor role in consultation with teachers, parents, and students and to network with other professionals (Sampson et al., 1997)

Professional development and supervision concerning the use of technology within school counseling programs will be necessary to provide support for using new skills and addressing related ethical issues. To maximize the impact that skill development and supervision can have on programs and student outcomes, school counselors will also need to advocate with their business and community partners to enhance opportunities for all students and their parents to have access to technology outside of the school setting.

Answering the Call for Accountability

As counselors refine their own professional identity and competence and as responsive programs are developed, outcomes will have to be evaluated. Many school counselors as well as the specialty at large have felt intimidated or overwhelmed by the recent focus on accountability. This focus, however, may provide the very opportunity needed for solidifying the advancement of the profession. As Lapan (2001) suggested, clearly defining school counseling programs and assuming responsibility for student outcomes places school counselors in the position of shaping more effective school environments and providing students unique development-enhancing opportunities. For school counselors and school counselor educators and supervisors, developing accountability models and frameworks may also provide the most effective vehicle for clearly defining site-based school counseling programs and setting related boundaries.

Site-based accountability will require that school counselors, in collaboration with other stakeholders

* Clearly understand the needs of students within the school through review of qualitative and quantitative data

* Design the school counseling program based on those needs, the mission of the school, and student competencies

* Determine relevant factors (e.g., test scores, grades, attendance, course-taking patterns, satisfactions survey results, etc.) to be monitored

* Implement the program as intentionally designed

* Evaluate the program based on targeted factors

* Revise the program as needed based on review of appropriate data

As noted by Baker (2000), accountability involves evaluating programs and demonstrating that something worthwhile is happening. At the state or national level, a clearinghouse for site-based program evaluation results could provide stronger support, through metaanalysis, for school counseling programs and school counselor positions. More significantly, intentionally designing and evaluating programs and using those results to improve programming will likely improve the quality of experiences and outcomes for students.

A Snapshot of the Ideal School Counselor: Personal Reflections

As former practicing school counselors who are now involved in graduate preparation, we have an ideal vision of the professional who will lead school counseling in the next stage of development. If we had a magic wand (something we wished for often as school counselors and still wish we had as counselor educators!), the description that follows would be the school counselors that would work with the children we love; in fact, all children.

They would have completed an extended program accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs and be well versed in the foundations of the field of counseling and the specialty of school counseling. They would also be familiar with content from the larger school community (e.g., educational leadership, motivation, learning styles). They would be committed to lifelong learning including personal and professional development. This commitment would be based on the understanding that graduate education is only a beginning to the professional journey. They would be employed in systems that encourage and provide opportunities for specific skill development and supervision.

They would be equally grounded in the three domains of student development: academic, career, and personal/social. In addition, they would resist the temptation to make one more important than the others. They would, in fact, reject false dichotomies in which attending to academic development means abandonment of personal/social. Or caring about personal issues means ignoring systemic issues. These ideal counselors would have strong clinical skills as they are often the first experience the general public has with counselors of any description and the only one in the school setting with this type of expertise. They would understand both normal development and pathology.

They would understand individuals within their family, school community, and cultural context. They would be effective group leaders, understanding the principles of facilitating groups and classroom interventions for children and adolescents as well as team building and collaborating with the adults in children's lives. They would be advocates for all children and adolescents, not just some. They would be willing to step out of the counselor's office to be a part of school leadership and policy making to help create a just and effective learning environment. They would be committed to principles of social justice and educational equity.

As these ideal counselors design and implement school counseling programs, they would involve multiple stakeholders. In addition, they would clearly articulate their rationale, assumptions, mission, and program components. They would integrate the school counseling program with the mission and activities of the whole school. The program would be based upon the needs of the students in the specific school determined through assessment rather than assumption. They would use data to understand individual and system problems. These counselors would understand that the school counseling program belongs to the school and that it is not their responsibility alone. They would collaborate with other school personnel, parents, students, community representatives, and school counselor educators.

These school counselors would be both culturally and technologically competent and responsive. They would use their cross-cultural competency in challenging systems and in relating personally to a wide range of individuals. They would seek enhanced educational and personal experiences and outcomes for all students. They would use technology to streamline processes to minimize administrative duties and maximize time for students and for coordinating the program.

In sum, they would intentionally and collaboratively design responsive school counseling programs. They would hold themselves accountable rather than wait for someone else to. They would evaluate their programs and share the results with the school community, and use the results to enhance the programs to more effectively meet student needs and support student learning.

In the midst of all this, they would remember that they cannot do it all. They would also remember to laugh often and to take care of themselves. And even if they forget to take care of themselves, as long as they have been smart enough to build a collaborative network of counseling colleagues and professional associations, someone would remind them.

So are we being totally idealistic? Perhaps, but we do not believe so. We believe that we work with school counselors who are already very much like these ideal practitioners, and we believe that we are currently teaching graduate students who have the potential of being better than anything we could imagine--even with our magic wands. We know the challenges are real and are often discouraging, but we also know many counselors who, despite all difficulties, love what they do for a living. We also know that this is only a snapshot because the social, political, economic, and educational realities will shift and that school counselors, as the responsive professionals they are, will also adapt. As school counselors and school counselor educators, it is imperative to keep paying attention and continue to stay engaged in professional conversations in order to further the specialty and more effectively meet the needs of students.

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Pamela O. Paisley, Ed.D., is a professor and coordinator of the School Counseling Program. H.

George McMahon is a doctoral student. Both are in the Department of counseling and Human Development Services, University of Georgia, Athens. E-mail: [e-mail]