School counseling in the academic domain: transformations in preparation and practice.

Historically, as well as currently, school counselors have been involved in promoting development in three domains--academic, career, and personal/social (Baker 2000; Gysbers & Henderson, 2001; Herr, 2001; Myrick, 1997; Paisley & McMahon, 2001). The emphasis has varied over time based on a variety of factors (Paisley & Borders, 1995), but the legitimacy of these domains for counselor involvement has remained consistent. Recently, the academic domain has received particular attention. School counselors have been asked to consider their contribution to educational experiences and outcomes for all students and to connect their programs to the overall mission of the school. The purpose of this article is to provide background for and descriptions of the transformations in school counselor preparation and practice related to the academic domain of student development.

AMERICAN EDUCATION AS THE CONTEXT FOR SCHOOL COUNSELING TRANSFORMATION

American education is undergoing significant change. No longer content to accept "effort" as a substitute for "evidence," today's public demands that educators make observable differences in the lives of every child. In this era of educational reform, greater emphasis is being placed upon making school personnel accountable for bringing all students to high levels of academic performance (Eriksen, 1997; Fields & Hines, 2000). Making educators accountable for helping all students meet high levels of academic achievement has necessitated that the very mission of public schooling shift from "teaching" to "learning." This shift from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered curriculum means that "student outcomes" have replaced "teacher activities" as the accepted measure of educational excellence.

This shift in mission comes at a time when globalism, multiculturalism, and rapid changes in technology create the demand for a differently skilled and more knowledgeable workforce and foster the need for a literate citizenry of life-long learners. Clearly, meeting the demands of living in a global society and America's status as a world leader are increasingly dependent on the development and better use of all of our human resources (Elam, 1993). Increasing diversity has necessitated an increased sensitivity to cultural differences through changes in educational programs, policies, and procedures. National educational priorities include ensuring that every student remain in school until graduation and that all students are educated to high standards.

Under such mandates, all school personnel and educational policy makers are responsible for establishing responsive policies and initiating new strategies to prevent students from leaving school prior to graduation and assisting them in meeting higher standards. Ensuring that every student is successful is the responsibility not only of teachers and administrators, however, but also of school counselors, psychologists, social workers, staff, students, parents, business people, and the community at large (House & Hayes, 2002). Clearly, school counselors have a significant role to play in ensuring student success. Because they have a school-wide perspective on serving the needs of every student, school counselors are in an ideal position to serve as advocates for all students and as agents for removing systemic barriers to academic success.

Educational reform has been focused on accountability for student performance by setting more rigorous academic standards, devising new assessment strategies, and restructuring pre-service and in-service training for teachers and administrators (Mohrman & Lawler, 1996). Despite the recent emphasis upon a radical transformation of schooling, however, practicing counselors and the educators who prepare them have been largely absent from school reform efforts (Aubrey, 1985; House & Martin, 1998). Critically, the majority of school counselor education programs have adopted a mental health orientation that reflects little concern for how school counselors address the academic achievement of students (Collison et al., 1998; Education Trust, 1997). Although considerable change in school counseling was already being discussed in schools and universities in 1996, a national assessment of school counselor preparation and practice conducted by The Education Trust found little substantive change under consideration that was reflective of the dominant reform movement underway in education. In particular, there was no single or unifying vision for transforming the profession, curricular changes generally amounted to "adding on courses," counselor educators generally lacked experience as school counselors nor were they in regular contact with practicing school counselors, and the core counselor preparation curriculum was focused primarily on generic counseling courses better suited to the preparation of mental health counselors. The picture in the schools was hardly better with "large numbers of practicing school counselors functioning as highly paid clerical staff, quasi administrators and/or inadequately trained therapeutic mental health providers with unmanageable client loads" (Martin, 2002, p. 150).

A Legacy of Social Action

Borne along by the social reforms that marked the beginning of the 20th century, "guidance" arose as one of several movements that addressed the turmoil created by the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. Committed to improving the health and safety of an American workforce fueled by unprecedented immigration and the demand for human capital created by mass production technology, early guidance workers believed that sweeping social reform could be achieved through education (Aubrey, 1986). Just as guidance arose in response to rectifying the exploitation of workers in the new industrial work-place of 20th century America, today's counseling profession is faced with preparing a new kind of worker for participation in the global society of the new millennium. At the dawn of a new century, we are witnesses to a strikingly similar revolution that challenges contemporary counseling professionals to address themselves to improving the lives of America's citizens through education.

Simultaneously, the emergence of multicultural counseling at the end of the 20th century increased both the counselor's awareness of the diversity of client concerns and capacity to be effective across cultures. A culturally more sensitive profession now acknowledges those who have been marginalized by the notion that some are closer to a "central vision." Nonetheless, women, persons of color, persons with disabilities, gays and lesbians, children raised in poverty, and yet others find they still must demand to be regarded and treated as individuals. Those living in the new millennium must face their obligation to the Other as a person and be willing to extend their full support to those who have been marginalized in becoming full citizens and active participants in American society.

A (Re-)Newed Vision for School Counseling

Accepting the challenge to raise the educational attainment of every student to enable full citizenship participation presents a significant role shift for today's school counselor. It means moving from service provider to program and student advocate, from promoting individual adjustment and control to fostering social emancipation and personal empowerment. Today's school counselor is envisioned to be a school leader who advocates for the academic, career, social, and personal success of every student. In so doing, the new vision school counselor demonstrates a fundamental belief in the capacity of all students to achieve at high levels on rigorous and challenging academic course content when provided with the necessary encouragement and supports to ensure their success.

Consistent with the new mission of education, the contributions of the new vision school counselor to the academic success of all students are evaluated against a set of performance standards. Rather than document counselor actions in meeting stated program objectives, however, assessment is focused upon systems as well as individual change in enhancing the overall improvement of student achievement. Rather than focus on what school counselors do, the focus has shifted to assessing how students are different as a result of what counselors have done (Wong, 2002). Just as the pioneers who gave life to the guidance movement were inspired to translate professed beliefs into deliberate actions, the new vision school counselor is committed to realizing documented outcomes that affirm a belief in the capacity of every child to become an effective and contributing citizen.

Contrary to some interpretations, this new vision school counselor does not represent an abandonment of concern for the personal and social development of children and adolescents. Instead, it reflects the requirement that school counselors link interventions to the mission and purposes of schooling while holding themselves accountable for their contributions to student outcomes. Such new vision counselors have a fundamental and profound commitment to social justice and recognize that they are often in the best position to assess the school for systemic barriers that hinder success in all domains of student development.

Issues of equity, access, and lack of supporting conditions come to rest on the counselor's desk in the form of data files, referrals, and academic and social reports of whole school and individual student progress. This new vision school counselor uses this information to serve as an assertive advocate, to remove systemic barriers, to design supportive programs, and to assist all students in their academic, career, and personal/social development. They serve as leaders as well as effective team members working with teachers, administrators, other school personnel, and parents to make sure that each child succeeds. Most significantly, these counselors help students by nurturing their dreams and defining pathways for fulfilling those dreams.

For school counselors to become this type of contributor to educational reform and student success requires transformation of both preparation and practice. Although models for preparing school counselors date back to the early 1920s (Aubrey, 1986), the development of new preparation and service delivery models are clearly needed that can be responsive to the developmental needs of every student within a multicultural, technologically sophisticated, and rapidly changing global society (Hayes, Dagley, & Home, 1996). In fact, during the last 5 to 10 years, several initiatives have occurred simultaneously within school counseling that move the specialty in new directions and that also position school counselors as critical players in educational reform. These initiatives have several components in common. They are each efforts to acknowledge the unique characteristics of the practice of counseling within an educational setting. These initiatives are also grounded in principles of social justice and represent interest in tying school counseling program development to the central premises and purposes of schooling. Examples of transformative initiatives are apparent in both preparation and practice.

TRANSFORMATION IN SCHOOL COUNSELOR PREPARATION

One of the most significant examples of new directions in school counselor preparation is reflected in activities associated with the Transforming School Counseling Initiative funded by DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest. Additionally, the 2001 revised standards for school counselor preparation by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) are another excellent example of a shift in paradigm.

The Transforming School Counseling Initiative (TSCI)

The DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund's National Initiative for Transforming School Counseling (www.edtrust.org) has been a multistage, multiyear initiative to improve school counseling by focusing on the graduate-level preparation of school counselors. The initiative was based on a series of assumptions related to the potential role school counselors could play in student outcomes and their previous lack of training and support for doing so. Specifically, school counselors were seen to have an enormous impact on the choices students make and their postsecondary options. Furthermore, school counselors were seen as being ideally positioned in schools to serve as advocates who create opportunities for all students to define, nurture, and accomplish high academic aspirations. This particular initiative required that issues of educational equity, access, and support for student success become central to the role of the school counselor. Although such assumptions and goals are in keeping with the current educational reform efforts, it was equally apparent that school counselors had been in large part left of out of all reform programs. Additionally, graduate level preparation programs offered very little to prepare pre-service students fully to become effective advocates for all students, particularly those that had traditionally been underserved by the educational and social systems.

In 1996, DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest, in collaboration with The Education Trust, began phase ! of TSCI by identifying what school counselors needed to know and be able to do to help all students succeed academically. In phase II, 10 school counselor preparation programs from institutions of higher education and their K-12 district partners were awarded planning grants to develop new models for school counselor preparation. In phase III, 6 of the 10 partnerships were selected to implement the designed programs. Grant recipients were required to review admissions processes and policies, their curricula, field experiences, relationships with all stakeholders, and the professional development needs of faculty members. Coordination of the TSCI and technical assistance were provided across the process by consultants from The Education Trust. Although there were variations in the designed models, all implemented programs were committed to principles of social justice and to preparing school counselors who were: (a) knowledgeable about schools and schooling; (b) equipped to assist students in meeting their educational and personal goals; and (c) proactive advocates for system change, working to remove barriers that impede the academic success of poor and minority students. All programs also used components identified as critical in school counselor development by The Education Trust: educational leadership, advocacy, team-building and collaboration, counseling and coordination, and use of assessment data to improve practice and support student advocacy.

This initiative also sought to disseminate information about the need for change and the directions that change should take as well as create fertile ground for discussion about the revision of school counselor preparation. Twenty-six companion institutions and partnerships have joined in the work. Summer school counseling academies, sponsored by The Education Trust and coordinated with the six sites, have grown in size from approximately 50 participants the first summer (2000) to over 150 in the third (2002). (See www.edtrust.org)

The 2001 CACREP Standards for School Counselor Preparation

In 2001, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) adopted new standards for the pre-service preparation of all counselors (www.cacrep.org). Revisions were particularly apparent in the school counseling specialty standards. Revisions reflected the unique context of school-based practice and the specialized skills required of counselors in that setting. The language of the standards point to similar skills and content areas as those specified in TSCI. In addition to the common core curricular experiences required of all counselors, CACREP required curricular experiences and demonstrated knowledge and skills of all students in a school counseling program that relate specifically to the foundations and contextual dimensions of school counseling. Knowledge and skill components for school counselors include program development, implementation, and evaluation; counseling and guidance; and consultation. As with the other specialty areas for CACREP, school counseling graduate students are also required to complete a 600-clock-hour internship in a school setting, under the supervision of a site supervisor. The requirement includes a minimum of 240 direct service hours.

TRANSFORMATION OF SCHOOL COUNSELOR PRACTICE

As TSCI and CACREP focused on the preparation of school counselors, parallel initiatives were undertaken related to practice. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) developed standards for school counseling programs and conducted training to familiarize participants with the expectations. ASCA has also developed and is disseminating its National Model for school counselor practice. Simultaneously, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company funded professional development activities for school counselors based upon the TSCI program components.

The American School Counselor Association

In 1994 as part of general educational reform, most academic disciplines developed national standards to influence how teachers teach and how students learn (Dahir, Sheldon, & Valiga, 1998). These standards established expectations for what students would learn and what they would be able to do as a result of a K-12 education. In 1997, ASCA examined and established similar standards indicating what students should know and be able to do as a result of participating in a school counseling program. The standards and the supporting printed materials (Campbell & Dahir, 1997; Dahir et al.) provided practicing counselors with a common vocabulary and framework for program development as well as a process for involving other stakeholders and building support. The standards incorporated expectations related to academic development, career development, and personal/social development.

In 2001, ASCA expanded these efforts to develop a National Model for school counseling programs (ASCA, 2003). This Model reflects a comprehensive approach to program foundation delivery, management, and accountability. It provides the mechanism with which school counselors and school counseling teams will design, coordinate, implement, manage, and evaluate their programs for students' success. It provides a framework for the program components, the school counselor's role in implementation, and the underlying philosophies of leadership, advocacy, and systemic change. ASCA advocates implementing the National Model in which school counselors switch their emphasis from providing a set of services for selected students to offering a program designed to meet the needs of every student. Such a program would not only answer the question, "What do school counselors do?" but also would require school counselors to respond to the more significant question, "How are students different as a result of what we do?"

Metropolitan Life Professional Development for School Counselors

As the processes and products of TSCI were disseminated, one of the recurring questions involved how practicing school counselors, outside of the partnership districts, could become familiar with the new Model. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company funded the development and dissemination of four modules to be used in a series of workshops for school counselors (Stone & House, 2002). MetLife also funded a training of trainers from across the United States to facilitate dissemination of the modules. The four modules were designed to teach school counselors that they could connect themselves to school reform and become an integral part in creating an equitable education system. Each of the four modules was designed as a one-day workshop. Thus, school districts that opt to have their counselors participate in this training are required to allow the time for 4 days of professional development over a period of time. In the four modules, participants are expected to acquire and apply skills in leadership, advocacy, teaming and collaboration, and the use of data--all directed toward systemic change designed to provide access and equity for all students. Participants also are required to develop an action plan to be implemented in their building or district. The four modules are: (1) Connecting School Counseling to the Mission of Schools; (2) Working as Advocates for Systemic Change; (3) Transforming School Counseling through Teaming and Collaboration; and (4) Taking Action: Putting It All Together. Each module has specific objectives for the day of training. The following overall goals for the workshop series are used to inform school districts of the nature and intent of the workshop series:

* Establish how counselors can be critical participants in educational reform and effective contributors to the central mission of schools--to educate all students to high levels.

* Challenge the belief systems of participants.

* Provide skills that will assist participants to work systemically as well as individually in leadership, advocacy, teaming and collaboration, and use of assessment data to help schools and school systems achieve educational equity and excellence for all students.

The MetLife Initiative emphasizes principles of social justice, addresses the inequities in systems, and requires a commitment to diversity, technological competence, and a focus on accountability.

THE UGA MODEL: A PARTNERSHIP FOR TRANSFORMATION

Many of these initiatives related to school counseling in recent years have involved partnerships between school counseling preparation programs and local school districts to simultaneously transform both preparation and practice. One example of such a co-reform partnership is available in the collaborative relationship between the school counseling program at The University of Georgia (UGA) and the school counselors from the Clarke County School District (CCSD) in Athens, Georgia. This partnership was one of six sites to receive both planning and implementation grants from the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund to engage in the transformation process.

The Preparation Program

The school counseling program at The University of Georgia is housed within the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services in the College of Education (www.coe.uga.edu/echd). The program is 48-semester-hours, is nationally accredited by CACREP, and meets the standards for certification of the Professional Standards Commission for the State of Georgia.

Currently, the mission of the program is to prepare and re-train counselors in elementary, middle, and secondary schools who are educational leaders and self-reflective practitioners, who serve as advocates for all students, who understand and apply principles of group work in building school and community partnerships, and who accept responsibility for improving educational practices through an active program of research and evaluation. This particular model is based on five program components with three overlapping strands. The five program components are counseling and coordination, educational leadership, advocacy, team building and collaboration, and use of assessment data. Three related program strands are addressed across these components: (a) awareness, knowledge, and skills related to multiculturalism; (b) the use of technology to improve educational practice; and (c) the application of the ASCA National Standards for School Counseling Programs.

The Partnership with Local Counselors

The Clarke County Counselors Collaborative (CCCC) was founded in 1991 to provide mutual support and professional development opportunities for school counselors and counselor educators in the county. Since its initial meetings with high school counselors and faculty at The University of Georgia, the CCCC has grown to include school counselors at all levels within the Clarke County School District. The name was changed in 2001 to the Classic City Counselors Collaborative as this group prepared to host the Georgia School Counselors Association (GSCA) Fall Conference in Athens, known as the Classic City. The CCCC meets one Friday morning each month at UGA to engage in ongoing dialogue and professional development. These meetings have provided a venue for the development of ongoing research projects and grant-related activities. Counselors in the Collaborative regularly serve as supervisors for practica and internships, guest lecturers, adjunct faculty, program consultants, as members of the admissions committee, and co-authors of presentations and publications disseminating the outcomes of the collaboration. Descriptions of the Collaborative including sample projects and activities and a listing of relevant presentations and publications are available through the departmental website (www.coe.uga.edu/echd).

Key Activities

The planning and implementation grants from the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and the technical assistance provided by The Education Trust allowed this partnership to extend their work begun in 1991. Key activities or components in the collaboration have included:

1. Monthly meetings between counselors, counselor educators, and graduate students

2. Best Practices Conferences--an annual conference for local counselors, graduate students, and alumni that updates participants and provides opportunities for sharing successes from the field

3. Counselor Academy--an annual summer professional development opportunity for partnership counselors, graduate students, and counseling program faculty on topics related to the new role for school counselors

4.Community Caucus--an annual gathering of counselors, graduate students, program faculty, other school system and university personnel, and community leaders to consider issues facing children. and adolescents in our county

5. Counseling and Performance Assessment Lab--a technology lab to support counselor, faculty, and student development related to the use of applications to support the new vision for school counseling and to promote student achievement

Accomplishments

In working together in a partnership between the university and the school district, UGA and CCSD have conducted numerous activities and, over time, have accomplished a great deal. Counselors, counselor educators, and graduate students have published and made presentations to professional audiences together, have received substantial grant funding, and have conducted significant research studies that were addressed to improving the educational experiences of local students. Together, these groups of professionals: (a) have improved the curriculum at the university and have challenged the practice of counseling in the district; (b) have completed a document for the school district superintendent outlining what every child can expect from participating in a K-12 school counseling program; and (c) most recently, have been successful in advocating for the designation and hiring of a lead counselor in the district. Perhaps, most significanfly, the collaboration informs and enhances the quality of what graduate students receive in their preparation program and what K-12 students are provided through comprehensive programming.

IN SUMMARY

Rapid economic, social, and technological change on a global scale has necessitated significant reform in school counselor preparation and practice if all students are to meet high academic standards that prepare them to be effective participants in the emerging global society of the 21st century. In meeting this demand, university faculty and professional school counselors and their colleagues have responded to the demands of professional organizations (with significant financial and organizational support from private foundations) to design, implement, and evaluate programs that provide a new vision for school counseling. This new vision proposes that the school counselor is an educational leader who serves as an advocate for all students. Through the provision of a comprehensive, developmental counseling program, the 'new vision school counselor is committed to advancing the personal, social, and career development of every student in promoting their academic success. With a century of significant contributions to the human welfare of school-age children, the profession of school counseling has re-discovered its heritage in social action. In transforming the preparation and practice of today's school counselor, an extensive partnership of committed educators is making a significant contribution to the central task of preparing all of America's children for full participation as global citizens in the new millennium.

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Pamela O. Paisley, Ed.D., NCC, is a professor, and Richard L. Hayes, Ph.D., is a professor. Both are with Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia, Athens. E-mail: [e-mail].