School counselor


A school counselor works in primary schools and/or secondary schools to provide academic, career, college access/affordability/admission, and social-emotional competencies to all students through a school counseling program.

Academic, career, college, and social-emotional interventions and services

The four main school counseling program interventions include school counseling curriculum classroom lessons and annual academic, career/college access/affordability/admission, and social-emotional planning for every student; and group and individual counseling for some students. School counseling is an integral part of the education system in countries representing over half of the world's population and in other countries it is emerging as a critical support for elementary, middle, and high school learning, post-secondary options, and social-emotional/mental health.
An outdated term for the profession was guidance counselor; school counselor is used as the school counselor's role is advocating for every student's academic, career, college access/affordability/attainment, and social-emotional competencies and success in all schools. In the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific, some countries with no formal school counseling programs use teachers or psychologists to do school counseling emphasizing career development.
Countries vary in how a school counseling program and services are provided based on economics, social capital, and school counselor certification and credentialing movements in education departments, professional associations, and local, state/province, and national legislation. School counseling is established in 62 countries and emerging in another seven.
An international scoping project on school-based counseling showed school counseling is mandatory in 39 countries, 32 USA states, one Australian state, 3 German states, 2 countries in the United Kingdom, and three provinces in Canada. The largest accreditation body for Counselor Education/School Counseling programs is the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. International Counselor Education programs are accredited through a CACREP affiliate, the International Registry of Counselor Education Programs.
In some countries, school counseling is provided by school counseling specialists. In other cases, school counseling is provided by classroom teachers who either have such duties added to their typical teaching load or teach only a limited load that also includes school counseling activities. The IAEVG focuses on career development with some international school counseling articles and conference presentations. Both the IAEVG and the Vanguard of Counsellors promote school counseling internationally.

History, school counselor-to-student ratios, and mandates

Armenia

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet Psychologists of Armenia and the government developed the School Counselor position in Armenian Schools.

Australia

While national policy supports school counseling, only one Australian state requires it. The school counselor-to-student ratio ranges from 1:850 in the Australian Capital Territory to 1:18,000 in Tasmania. School counselors play an integral part in the Australian schooling system; they provide support to teachers, parents, and students. Their roles include counseling students and assisting parents/guardians to make informed decisions about their child's education for learning and behavioral issues. School counselors assist schools and parents/guardians in assessing disabilities and they collaborate with outside agencies to provide the best support for schools, teachers, students, and parents.

Austria

Austria mandates school counseling at the high school level.

Bahamas

The Bahamas mandate school counseling.

Belgium

Although not mandated, some school counseling occurs in schools and community centers in three regions of the country.

Botswana

Botswana mandates school counseling.

Brazil

School Counselors in Brazil have large caseloads.

Canada

The roots of school guidance counselling stemmed from a response to the conditions created by the industrial revolution in the early 1900s. Originally, school counselling was often referred to as vocational guidance, where the goal of the profession was to help individuals find their path in a time where individuals previous ways of making a living had been displaced. As people moved towards industrialized cities, this guidance was required to help students navigate these new vocations. With a great discrepancy between the rich and the poor, vocational counselling was initiated to help support disadvantaged students After World War II, vocational guidance began to shift towards a new movement of counselling, which provided a theoretical backing. As the role of school counsellors progressed into the 1970s, there has become more uncertainty as to what the role entails. This role confusion continues into the 21st century, where there is a lack of clear consensus between counsellors, other teachers, administration, students and parents on what school counsellors should be prioritizing.
Throughout Canada, the emerging trend among school counselling programs is to provide a comprehensive and cohesive approach. These programs address the personal, social, educational and career development of students. A comprehensive program consists of 4 components, including developmental guidance, individual student planning, responsive services and school and community support.
The process to become a school counsellor varies drastically across each province, with some requiring a graduate level degree in counselling while others require a teaching certification or both. Some provinces also require registration with the relevant provincial College of Registered Psychotherapists. These differences highlight the vast range of expertise required within the role of a school counsellor. Regardless of the professional requirements, all school counsellors are expected to guide students within the realm of mental health support, course choices, special education and career planning. The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, Canada's leading association for counselling and psychotherapy, is working towards alignment among the provinces through partnership and collaboration between provinces. Recent conferences share information on the differences and similarities within each province and how progress is being made to ensure proper regulations are in place at a national level.
In the province of Ontario, Canada, school guidance counsellors are found in both elementary and secondary settings, to varying degrees. The Greater Toronto Area, the largest metropolis in the country, have school counsellors in 31% of elementary schools, however the remainder of the province averages 6%. Additionally, in the elementary schools that have a school guidance counsellor, they are scheduled for an average of 1.5 days per week. These counsellors are generally classroom teachers for the remainder of the time. In secondary schools in Ontario, Canada, the average ratio of students to school guidance counsellors is 396:1. In 10% of Ontario schools, this average increases to 826:1. There is concern among administration that these staffing levels are not sufficient to meet the needs of students. This has been proven in recent articles appearing in the news featuring student stories of frustration as they prepare for graduation without the support they expected from school counsellors. Considering the extensive expectations placed on school counsellors, future research needs to address whether or not they can be met within one profession while effectively equipping students with support and information.
School counselors reported in 2004 at a conference in Winnipeg on issues such as budget cuts, lack of clarity about school counselor roles, high student-to-school counselor ratios, especially in elementary schools, and how using a comprehensive school counseling model helped clarify school counselor roles with teachers and administrators and strengthened the profession. More than 15 years later, the profession is continuing to evolve and meet the changing needs of 21st century students in Canada.

China

China has put substantial financial resources into school counseling with strong growth in urban areas but less than 1% of rural students receive it; China does not mandate school counseling.
In China, Thomason & Qiong discussed the main influences on school counseling as Chinese philosophers Confucius and Lao-Tzu, who provided early models of child and adult development who influenced the work of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.
Only 15% of high school students are admitted to college in China, so entrance exams are fiercely competitive. Students entering university graduate at a rate of 99%. Much pressure is put on children and adolescents to study and attend college. This pressure is a central focus of school counseling in China. An additional stressor is that there are not enough places for students to attend college, and over one-third of college graduates cannot find jobs, so career and employment counseling and development are also central in school counseling.
In China, there is a stigma related to social-emotional and mental health issues; therefore, even though most universities and many primary and secondary schools have school counselors, many students are reluctant to seek counseling for issues such as anxiety and depression. There is no national system of certifying school counselors. Most are trained in Western-developed cognitive methods including REBT, Rogerian, Family Systems, Behavior Modification, and Object Relations. School Counselors also recommend Chinese methods such as qi-gong and acupuncture, as well as music therapy. Chinese school counselors work within a traditional Chinese world view of a community and family-based system that lessens the focus on the individual. In Hong Kong, Hui discussed work moving toward comprehensive school counseling programs and eliminating the older remediation-style model.
Middle school students are a priority for school counseling services in China.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica mandates school counseling.

Croatia

School counseling is only available in certain schools.

Cyprus

In 1991 Cyprus mandated school counseling with a goal of a 1:60 school counselor-to-student ratio and one full-time school counselor for every high school but neither of these goals has been accomplished.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic mandates school counseling.

Denmark

Denmark mandates school counseling.

Egypt

School counseling services are delivered by elementary school psychologists with a ratio of 1 school psychologist to every 3,080 students.

Estonia

School counseling is only available in certain schools.

Finland

In Finland, legislation has been passed for a school counseling system. The Basic Education Act of 1998 stated that every student must receive school counseling services. All Finnish school counselors must have a teaching certificate, a master's degree in a specific academic subject, and a specialized certificate in school counseling. Finland has a school counselor-to-student ratio of 1:245.

France

France mandates school counseling in high schools.

Gambia

Gambia mandates school counseling.

Georgia

The school counselor-to-student ratio in Georgia is 1:615.

Germany

Two German states require school counseling at all education levels; high school counseling is established in all states.

Ghana

Ghana mandates school counseling

Greece

There are provisions for academic and career counseling in middle and high schools but school counseling is not mandated. Social-emotional and mental-health counseling is done in community agencies. The National Guidance Resources Center in Greece was established by researchers at Athens University of Economics & Business in 1993 under the leadership of Professor Emmanuel J. Yannakoudakis. The team received funding under the European Union : The establishment of a national occupational guidance resources center in 1993–94. The team organized seminars and lectures to train the first career counselors in Greece in 1993. Further research projects at Athens University of Economics & Business were implemented as part of the European Union A pilot project on the use of multimedia for career analysis, 1995–1999, b) guidance toward the future, 1995–1999, c) On the move to a guidance system, 1996-2001 and, d) Eurostage for guidance systems, 1996–1999.

Netherlands

School counseling is present in high schools.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong mandates school counseling.

Iceland

Iceland mandates school counseling.

India

In India, the Central Board of Secondary Education guidelines expect one school counselor appointed for every affiliated school, but this is less than 3% of all Indian students attending public schools.

Indonesia

Indonesia mandates school counseling in middle and high school.

Iran

Middle school students are the priority for school counseling in Iran. It is mandated in high schools but there are not enough school counselors particularly in rural areas.

Ireland

In Ireland, school counseling began in County Dublin in the 1960s and went countrywide in the 1970s. However, legislation in the early 1980s severely curtailed the movement due to budget constraints. The main organization for the school counseling profession is the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, which has a code of ethics.

Israel

In Israel, a 2005 study by Erhard & Harel of 600 elementary, middle, and high school counselors found that a third of school counselors were delivering primarily traditional individual counseling services, about a third were delivering preventive classroom counseling curriculum lessons, and a third were delivering both individual counseling services and school counseling curriculum lessons in a comprehensive developmental school counseling program. School counselor roles varied due to three elements: the school counselor's personal preferences, school level, and the principal's expectations. Erhard & Harel stated that the profession in Israel, like many other countries, is transforming from marginal and ancillary services to a comprehensive school counseling approach integral in the total school's education program. In 2011–12, Israel had a school counselor-to-student ratio of 1:570.

Italy

School counseling is not well developed in Italy.

Japan

In Japan, school counseling is a recent phenomenon with school counselors being introduced in the mid-1990s and often part-time focused on behavioral issues. Middle school students are the priority for school counseling in Japan and it is mandated.

Jordan

Jordan mandates school counseling with 1,950 school counselors working in 2011–12.

Latvia

School counseling was introduced in Latvia in 1929 but disappeared in World War II.

Lebanon

In Lebanon, the government sponsored the first training of school counselors for public elementary and middle schools in 1996. There are now school counselors in 1/5 of the elementary and middle schools in Lebanon but none in high schools. School counselors have been trained in delivering preventive, developmental, and remedial services. Private schools have some school counselors serving all grade levels but the focus is individual counseling and remedial. Challenges include regular violence and wartime strife, not enough resources, and a lack of a professional school counseling organization, assigned school counselors covering two or more schools, and only two school counseling graduate programs in the country. Last, for persons trained in Western models of school counseling there are dangers of overlooking unique cultural and family aspects of Lebanese society.

Lithuania

School counseling was introduced in 1931 but disappeared during World War II.

Macau

Macau mandates school counseling.

Malaysia

Malaysia mandates school counseling in middle and high school.

Malta

In Malta, school counseling services began in 1968 in the Department of Education based on recommendations from a UNESCO consultant and used these titles: Education Officer, School Counsellor, and Guidance Teacher. Through the 1990s they included school counselor positions in primary and trade schools in addition to secondary schools. Guidance teachers are mandated at a 1:300 teacher to student ratio. Malta mandates school counseling.

Nepal

Nepal mandates school counseling.

New Zealand

New Zealand mandates school counseling but since 1988 when education was decentralized, there has been a decline in the prevalence of school counselors and the quality and service delivery of school counseling.

Nigeria

In Nigeria, school counseling began in 1959 in some high schools. It rarely exists at the elementary level. Where there are federally funded secondary schools, there are some professionally trained school counselors. However, in many cases, teachers function as career educators. School counselors often have teaching and other responsibilities that take time away from their school counseling tasks. The Counseling Association of Nigeria was formed in 1976 to promote the profession, but there is no code of ethics. However, a certification/licensure board has been formed. Aluede, Adomeh, & Afen-Akpaida discussed the over-reliance on textbooks from the US and the need for school counselors in Nigeria to take a whole-school approach, lessen individual approaches, and honor the traditional African world view valuing the family and community's roles in decision-making as paramount for effective decision-making in schools.

Norway

Norway mandates school counseling.

Oman

There are some school counseling services at the high school level.

Philippines

The Philippines mandates school counseling in middle and high school. The Congress of the Philippines passed the Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004 with a specific focus on Professional Practice, Ethics, National Certification, and the creation of a Regulatory Body, and specialists in school counseling are subject to this law.

Poland

School counseling was introduced in 1918 but disappeared during World War II.

Portugal

Portugal mandates school counseling at the high school level.

Romania

Romania mandates school counseling.

Rwanda

School counseling focuses on trauma-based counseling
It focuses on academic performance, preventiong and intervention with HIV/AIDS, and establishing
peace-building clubs

Saudi Arabia

School counseling is developing in Saudi Arabia. In 2010, 90% of high schools had some type of school counseling service.

Serbia

School counseling is available in certain schools.

Singapore

Singapore mandates school counseling.

Slovakia

Slovakia mandates school counseling.

South Korea

In South Korea, school counselors must teach a subject besides counseling, but not all school counselors are appointed to counseling positions, even though Korean law requires school counselors in all middle and high schools.

Spain

Spain provides school counseling at the high school level although it is unclear if mandated. There was around one counselor for every 1,000 primary and secondary students as of 2018.

St. Kitts

St. Kitts mandates school counseling.

Sweden

Sweden mandates school counseling.
In Sweden, school counselors' work was divided into two work groups in the 1970s. The work groups are called "kurator" and "studie -och yrkesvägledare." They worked with communication methodology but the kurator's work is more therapeutic, often psychological and social-emotional issues, and the studie-och yrkesvägledare's work is future-focused with educational and career development. Studie- och yrkesvägledaren work in primary, secondary, adult education, higher education and various training centers and most have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Study and Career Guidance.

Switzerland

School counseling is found at the high school level.

Syria

School counseling has focused on trauma-based counseling of students. Prior to the war it was done in schools but it is now found in either a school club or refugee camp sponsored and staffed by UNICEF.

Taiwan

In Taiwan, school counseling traditionally was done by "guidance teachers." Recent advocacy by the Chinese Guidance and Counseling Association pushed for licensure for school counselors in Taiwan's public schools. Prior to this time, the focus had been primarily individual and group counseling, play therapy, career counseling and development, and stress related to national university examinations.

Tanzania

Tanzania mandates school counseling

Thailand

The Thai government has put substantial funding into school counseling but does not mandate it.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago mandate school counseling.

Turkey

Turkey mandates school counseling and it is in all schools.

Uganda

Uganda mandates school counseling.

United Arab Emirates

There is some school counseling at the high-school level in the United Arab Emirates.

United Kingdom

School counseling originated in the UK to support underachieving students and involved specialist training for teachers. Heads of Year are school staff members, usually teachers, who oversee a year group within a secondary school. These Heads of Year ensure students within the year cohort behave properly within the school, but these Heads also support students in their social and emotional well-being and course and career planning options. Wales and Northern Ireland require school counseling.

United States

In the United States, the school counseling profession began with the vocational guidance movement in the early 20th century now known as career development. Jesse B. Davis was the first to provide a systematic school counseling program focused on career development. In 1907, he became the principal of a high school and encouraged the school English teachers to use compositions and lessons to relate career interests, develop character, and avoid behavioral problems. Many others during this time focused on what is now called career development. For example, in 1908, Frank Parsons, "Father of Career Counseling" established the Bureau of Vocational Guidance to assist young people transition from school to work.
From the 1920s to the 1930s, school counseling grew because of the rise of progressive education in schools. This movement emphasized personal, social, and moral development. Many schools reacted to this movement as anti-educational, saying that schools should teach only the fundamentals of education. Combined with the economic hardship of the Great Depression, both challenges led to a decline in school counseling. At the same time, the National Association for College Admission Counseling was established as the first professional association focused on counseling and advising high school students into college. In the early 1940s, the school counseling movement was influenced by the need for counselors to help assess students for wartime needs. At the same time, researcher Carl Rogers' emphasized the power of non-directive helping relationships and counseling for all ages and the profession of counseling was influenced to shift from directive "guidance" to non-directive or person-centered "counseling" as the basis for school counseling.
In the 1950s the government established the Guidance and Personnel Services Section in the Division of State and Local School Systems. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I. Out of concern that the Russians were winning the space race and that there were not enough scientists and mathematicians, the government passed the National Defense Education Act, spurring growth in vocational and career counseling through larger funding. In the 1950s the American School Counselor Association was founded as one of the early divisions of what is now known as the American Counseling Association.
In the 1960s, new legislation and professional developments refined the school counseling profession. The 1960s continued large amounts of federal funding for land-grant colleges and universities to establish Counselor Education master's and doctoral programs. School counseling shifted from a primary focus on career development to adding social-emotional issues paralleling the rise of social justice and civil rights movements. In the early 1970s, Dr. Norm Gysbers's research and advocacy helped the profession shift from school counselors as solitary professionals focused on individual academic, career, and social-emotional student issues to a comprehensive developmental school counseling program for all students K-12 that included individual and group counseling for some students and classroom lessons and annual advising/planning and activities for every student. He and his colleagues' research evidenced strong correlations between fully implemented school counseling programs and student academic success; a critical part of the evidence base for the school counseling profession was their work in Missouri. Dr. Chris Sink & associates showed similar evidence-based success for school counseling programs at the elementary and middle school levels in Washington State.
School counseling in the 1980s and early 1990s was not influenced by corporate educational reform efforts. The profession had little evidence of systemic effectiveness for school counselors and only correlational evidence of the effectiveness of school counseling programs. In response, consulted with elementary, middle, and high school counselors and created the American School Counselor Association Student Standards with three core domains, nine standards, and specific competencies and indicators for K-12 students. There was no research base, however, for school counseling standards as an effective educational reform strategy. A year later, Whiston & Sexton published the first systemic meta-analysis of school counseling outcome research in academic, career, and personal/social domains and individual counseling, group counseling, classroom lesson, and parent/guardian workshop effectiveness.
In the late 1990s, former mathematics teacher, school counselor, and administrator Pat Martin, was hired by corporate-funded educational reform group The Education Trust to focus the school counseling profession on equity issues by helping close achievement and opportunity gaps harming children and adolescents of color, poor and working class children and adolescents, bilingual children and adolescents, and children and adolescents with disabilities. Martin, under considerable heat from Counselor Educators who were not open to her equity-focused message of change, developed focus groups of K-12 students, parents, guardians, teachers, building leaders, and superintendents, and interviewed professors of School Counselor Education. She hired Oregon State University School Counselor Education professor emeritus Dr. Reese House, and after several years of work in the late 1990s they created, in 2003, the National Center for Transforming School Counseling.
The NCTSC focused on changing school counselor education at the graduate level and changing school counselor practice in state and local districts to teach school counselors how to help recognize, prevent, and close achievement and opportunity gaps. In their initial focus groups, they found what Hart & Jacobi had indicated years earlier—-too many school counselors were gatekeepers for the status quo instead of advocates for the academic success of every child and adolescent. Too many school counselors used inequitable practices, supported inequitable school policies, and were unwilling to change.
This professional behavior kept many students from non-dominant backgrounds from receiving challenging coursework and academic, career, and college access/affordability/admission skills needed to successfully graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary options including college. In 1998, the Education Trust received a grant from the DeWitt Wallace/Reader's Digest to fund six $500,000 grants for Counselor Education/School Counseling programs, with a focus on rural and urban settings, to transform School Counselor Education programs to teach advocacy, leadership, teaming and collaboration, equity assessment using data, and culturally competent program counseling and coordination skills in addition to counseling: Indiana State University, the University of Georgia, the University of West Georgia, the University of California-Northridge, the University of North Florida, and, the Ohio State University were the recipients. Over 25 additional Counselor Education/School Counseling programs nationwide became companion institutions in the following decade with average grants of $3000. By 2008, NCTSC consultants had worked in over 100 school districts and major cities and rural areas to transform the work of school counselors nationwide.
In 2002, the American School Counselor Association released Dr. Trish Hatch and Dr. Judy Bowers' work: the ASCA National Model: A framework for school counseling programs comprising key school counseling components: ASCA National Standards, and the skill-based focus for closing achievement and opportunity gaps from the Education Trust's new vision of school counseling into one document. The model drew from major theoreticians in school counseling with four key areas: Foundation ; Delivery ; Management. In 2003, Dr. Jay Carey and Dr. Carey Dimmitt created the Center for School Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst as a clearinghouse for evidence-based practice with regular research briefs, original research projects, and eventual co-sponsorship of the annual Evidence-Based School Counseling conference in 2013.
In 2004, the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors was revised to focus on issues of equity, closing achievement and opportunity gaps, and ensuring all K-12 students received access to a school counseling program. Also in 2004, an equity-focused entity on school counselors' role in college readiness and admission counseling, the National Office for School Counselor Advocacy emerged at The College Board led by Pat Martin and Dr. Vivian Lee. NOSCA developed scholarships for research on college counseling by K-12 school counselors taught in School Counselor Education programs.
In 2008, the first NOSCA study was released by Dr. Jay Carey and colleagues focused on innovations in selected College Board "Inspiration Award" schools where school counselors collaborated inside and outside their schools for high college-going rates and strong college-going cultures in schools with large numbers of students of non-dominant backgrounds. In 2008, ASCA released School Counseling Competencies focused on assisting school counseling programs to effectively implement the ASCA National Model.
In 2010, the Center for Excellence in School Counseling and Leadership at San Diego State University co-sponsored the first of four school counselor and educator conferences devoted to the needs of lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender students in San Diego, California. ASCA published a 5th edition of the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors.
In 2011, Counseling at the Crossroads: The perspectives and promise of school counselors in American education, the largest survey of high school and middle school counselors in the United States with over 5,300 interviews, was released by Pat Martin and Dr. Vivian Lee by the National Office for School Counselor Advocacy, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the American School Counselor Association. The study shared school counselors' views on educational policies, practices, and reform, and how many of them, especially in urban and rural school settings, were not given the chance to focus on what they were trained to do, especially career and college access and readiness counseling for all students, in part due to high caseloads and inappropriate tasks.
School counselors suggested changes in their role to be accountable for success of all students and how school systems needed to change so school counselors could be key advocates and leaders for every student's success. Implications for public policy and district and school-wide change were addressed. The National Center for Transforming School Counseling released a brief, Poised to Lead: How School Counselors Can Drive Career and College Readiness, challenging all schools to utilize school counselors for equity and access for challenging coursework for all students and ensuring college and career access skills and competencies as a major focus for school counselors K-12.
In 2012, CSCORE assisted in evaluating and publishing six statewide research studies assessing the effectiveness of school counseling programs based on statewide systemic use of school counseling programs such as the ASCA National Model and published their outcomes in the American School Counselor Association research journal Professional School Counseling. Research indicated strong correlational evidence between fully implemented school counseling programs and low school counselor-to-student ratios provided better student academic success, greater career and college access/readiness/admission, and reduced social-emotional issue concerns included better school safety, reduced disciplinary issues, and better attendance.
Also in 2012, the American School Counselor Association released the third edition of the ASCA National Model.
From 2014–16, the White House, under the Office of the First Lady Michelle Obama, partnered with key school counselor educators and college access professionals nationwide to focus on the roles of school counselors and college access professionals. Their collaboration resulted in a series of national Reach Higher/School Counseling and College Access convenings at Harvard University, San Diego State University, the University of North Florida, and American University. Michelle Obama and her staff also began the Reach Higher and Better Make Room programs to focus on college access for underrepresented students, and she began hosting the American School Counselor Association's School Counselor of the Year awards ceremony at the White House. The initiatives culminated in an unprecedented collaboration among multiple major professional associations focused on school counseling and college access including the American Counseling Association, the American School Counselor Association, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the College Board, and ACT raising the profile and prominence of the role of school counselors collaborating on college access, affordability, and admission for all students.
In 2015, ASCA replaced the ASCA National with the evidence-based ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success: K-12 College and Career Readiness Standards for Every Student, created from meta-analyses done by the University of Chicago's Consortium on Educational Reform showing key components of raising student academic success over multiple well-designed research studies. While an improvement over the lack os research in the ASCA student standards that they replaced, school counselors have shared feedback that they do not go into enough depth for career, college access/admission/affordability, and social-emotional competencies.
In 2016, ASCA published a newly revised sixth version of the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors using two rounds of feedback from practicing school counselors in all 50 states; it also included, for the first time, a Glossary of ethical terms for heightened clarity.
In 2018, in response to a call from a report issued from the Reach Higher initiative, American University created the Center for Post-Secondary Readiness and Success, a national research center charged with identifying new and effective models to strengthen post-secondary pathways for all students, especially low-income and first-generation students. The Center is directed by School Counseling Research professor Dr. Laura Owen.
In 2019, ASCA released the 4th edition of the ASCA Model, a Framework for School Counseling Programs. Changes included fewer templates and combined templates from the 3rd edition after school counselor feedback that the 3rd edition had become too complex and onerous. The four outside-the-diamond skills from the first three editions: advocacy, leadership, teaming and collaboration, and systemic change are now incorpated throughout the model and no longer part of the diamond graphic organizer. The four quadrants of the model have been changed to verbs and action-oriented words to better clarify the key components:
1. Define
2. Deliver
3. Manage
4. Assess.
The three types of data collected by school counselors in school counseling programs have shifted in name to
1. Participation data
2. Mindsets & Behaviors data
3. Outcome data
The 4th edition, while easier to read and use than prior editions, does not cover the history of how the model has changed over time and neglects any mention of the original authors, Drs. Trish Hatch and Judy Bowers.

Venezuela

School counseling is mandated in Venezuela and it has focused on cultural competency.

Vietnam

School counseling is mandated in Vietnam.

Roles, school counseling programs, ethics, and school counseling professional associations

Professional school counselors ideally implement a school counseling program that promotes and enhances student achievement.
A framework for appropriate and inappropriate school counselor responsibilities and roles is outlined in the ASCA National Model. School counselors, in most USA states, usually have a master's degree in school counseling from a Counselor Education graduate program. China requires at least three years of college experience. In Japan, school counselors were added in the mid-1990s, part-time, primarily focused on behavioral issues. In Taiwan, they are often teachers with recent legislation requiring school counseling licensure focused on individual and group counseling for academic, career, and personal issues. In Korea, school counselors are mandated in middle and high schools.
School counselors are employed in elementary, middle, and high schools, and in district supervisory settings and in counselor education faculty positions, and post-secondary settings doing academic, career, college readiness, and personal/social counseling, consultation, and program coordination. Their work includes a focus on developmental stages of student growth, including the needs, tasks, and student interests related to those stages.
Professional school counselors meet the needs of student in three basic domains: academic development, career development, and social-emotional development with an increased emphasis on college access. Knowledge, understanding and skill in these domains are developed through classroom instruction, appraisal,, counseling, :wikt:coordination|coordination, and collaboration. For example, in appraisal, school counselors may use a variety of personality and career assessment methods to help students explore career and college needs and interests.
Schools play a key role in assessment, access to services, and possible referral to appropriate outside support systems. They provide intervention, prevention, and services to support students academic and career education as well as personal and social growth. The role of school guidance counsellors is expansive. As outlined in publicly accessible provincial guidelines for Canadian school counsellors, on top of providing classroom guidance curriculum, Canadian counsellors are providing counselling services, addressing mental health issues, crisis intervention, and support for course selection. The guidelines suggest that counsellors should consult with all stakeholders to support student needs. In Ontario's education policies, counsellors also play a key role in other forms of experiential learning, such cooperative education, as well as supporting students in Specialist High Skills Majors programs.
School counselor interventions include individual and group counseling for some students. For example, if a student's behavior is interfering with his or her achievement, the school counselor may observe that student in a class, provide consultation to teachers and other stakeholders to develop a plan to address the behavioral issue, and then collaborate to implement and evaluate the plan. They also provide consultation services to family members such as college access, career development, parenting skills, study skills, child and adolescent development, and help with school-home transitions.
School counselor interventions for all students include annual academic/career/college access planning K-12 and leading classroom developmental lessons on academic, career/college, and social-emotional topics. The topics of character education, diversity and multiculturalism, and school safety are important areas of focus for school counselors. Often school counselors will coordinate outside groups that wish to help with student needs such as academics, or coordinate a program that teaches about child abuse or drugs, through on-stage drama.
School counselors develop, implement, and evaluate school counseling programs that deliver academic, career, college access/affordability/admission, and social-emotional competencies to all students in their schools. For example, the ASCA National Model includes the following four main areas:
The school counseling program model is implemented using key skills from the National Center for Transforming School Counseling's Transforming School Counseling Initiative: Advocacy, Leadership, Teaming and Collaboration, and Systemic Change.
Many provinces in Canada offer a career pathway program, which helps to prepare students for the employment market and support a smooth school-to-work transition. In a Canadian wide study, 46% of school guidance counsellors suggest that there is a mandatory career education course provided in their schools. Ontario is the highest province with a mandatory course, which is provided at the secondary level
School Counselors are expected to follow a professional code of ethics in many countries. For example, In the US, they are the American School Counselor Association School Counselor Ethical Code, the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics., and the National Association for College Admission Counseling Statement of Principles of Good Practice.
There is much research to suggest that school counsellors experience role confusion, given the many tasks they are expected to perform. A potential contributor to this role confusion stems from the demands on the counsellor to be a generalist who performs roles in leadership, advocacy, essential services and curriculum development. Additionally, Canadian counsellors find that they are stretched too thin to provide mental health support on top of their other duties and that they oftentimes experience a lack of resources. They are burdened by a workload that negatively impacts their ability to meet students needs.
The role of a school counselor is critical. The roles of school counselors are expanding and changing with time As roles change, school counselors help students prosper in academics, career, post-secondary, and social-emotional domians. School counselors reduce and bridge the inequalities facing students in educational systems.
School Counselors around the world are affiliated with various national and regional school counseling associations, and must abide by their guideline. These associations include:
counselors provide academic, career, college access, and personal and social competencies and planning to all students, and individual and group counseling for some students and their families to meet the developmental needs of young children K-6. Transitions from pre-school to elementary school and from elementary school to middle school are an important focus for elementary school counselors. Increased emphasis is placed on accountability for closing achievement and opportunity gaps at the elementary level as more school counseling programs move to evidence-based work with data and specific results.
School counseling programs that deliver specific competencies to all students help to close achievement and opportunity gaps. To facilitate individual and group school counseling interventions, school counselors use developmental, cognitive-behavioral, person-centered listening and influencing skills, systemic, family, multicultural, narrative, and play therapy theories and techniques. released a research study showing the effectiveness of elementary school counseling programs in Washington state.

Middle school counseling

counselors provide school counseling curriculum lessons on academic, career, college access, and personal and social competencies, advising and academic/career/college access planning to all students and individual and group counseling for some students and their families to meet the needs of older children/early adolescents in grades 7 and 8.
Middle School College Access curricula have been developed by The College Board to assist students and their families well before reaching high school. To facilitate the school counseling process, school counselors use theories and techniques including developmental, cognitive-behavioral, person-centered listening and influencing skills, systemic, family, multicultural, narrative, and play therapy. Transitional issues to ensure successful transitions to high school are a key area including career exploration and assessment with seventh and eighth grade students. Sink, Akos, Turnbull, & Mvududu released a study in 2008 confirming the effectiveness of middle school comprehensive school counseling programs in Washington state.

High school counseling

counselors provide academic, career, college access, and personal and social competencies with developmental classroom lessons and planning to all students, and individual and group counseling for some students and their families to meet the developmental needs of adolescents. Emphasis is on college access counseling at the early high school level as more school counseling programs move to evidence-based work with data and specific results that show how school counseling programs help to close achievement, opportunity, and attainment gaps ensuring all students have access to school counseling programs and early college access activities. The breadth of demands high school counselors face, from educational attainment to student social and mental health, has led to ambiguous role definition. Summarizing a 2011 national survey of more than 5,330 middle school and high school counselors, researchers argued: "Despite the aspirations of counselors to effectively help students succeed in school and fulfill their dreams, the mission and roles of counselors in the education system must be more clearly defined; schools must create measures of accountability to track their effectiveness; and policymakers and key stakeholders must integrate counselors into reform efforts to maximize their impact in schools across America".
Transitional issues to ensure successful transitions to college, other post-secondary educational options, and careers are a key area. The high school counselor helps students and their families prepare for post-secondary education including college and careers by engaging students and their families in accessing and evaluating accurate information on what the National Office for School Counselor Advocacy calls the 8 essential elements of college and career counseling: College Aspirations, Academic Planning for Career and College Readiness, Enrichment and Extracurricular Engagement, College and Career Exploration and Selection Processes, College and Career Assessments, College Affordability Planning, College and Career Admission Processes, and Transition from High School Graduation to College Enrollment. Some students turn to private college admissions advisors but there is no research evidence that private college admissions advisors have any effectiveness in assisting students attain selective college admissions.
Lapan, Gysbers & Sun showed correlational evidence of the effectiveness of fully implemented school counseling programs on high school students' academic success. Carey et al.'s 2008 study showed specific best practices from high school counselors raising college-going rates within a strong college-going environment in multiple USA-based high schools with large numbers of students of nondominant cultural identities.

Education credentials, certification, and accreditation

The education of school counselors around the world varies based on the laws and cultures of countries and the historical influences of their educational and credentialing systems and professional identities related to who delivers academic, career, college readiness, and personal/social information, advising, curriculum, and counseling and related services.
In Canada, the educational requirements to become a school guidance counsellor vary by province. Below is an overview of the general provincial requirements for school counsellors:
Province/
Territory		Educational Licensing AuthorityTeaching License Required?Counselling Training Required?Practicum Training Required?Masters Required?
ABMinistry of EducationYes
BCCollege of TeachersYesYesYesYes
MBMinistry of Advanced Education and LiteracyYesYesYesYes
NBDepartment of EducationYesYesYes
NLDepartment of EducationYesYes
NWTTeacher Qualification Service
NSMinistry of EducationYesYes
NUDepartment of EducationYes
ONCollege of TeachersYes
PEIDepartment of EducationYes
QCL’Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d’orientation du QuébecYes
SKMinistry of EducationYesYes
YTDepartment of EducationYes

In China, there is no national certification or licensure system for school counselors.
Korea requires school counselors in all middle and high schools.
In the Philippines, school counselors must be licensed with a master's degree in counseling.
Taiwan instituted school counselor licensure for public schools through advocacy from the
In the US, a school counselor is a certified educator with a master's degree in school counseling with school counseling graduate training including qualifications and skills to address all students’ academic, career, college access and personal/social needs. Once you have completed your master's degree you can take one of 2 certification options in order to become fully licensed as a professional school counselor.
Over half of all Counselor Education programs that offer school counseling are accredited by the Council on the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs and all in the US with one in Canada. In 2010 one was under review in Mexico. CACREP maintains a current list of accredited programs and programs in the accreditation process on their website. CACREP desires to accredit more international counseling university programs.
According to CACREP, an accredited school counseling program offers coursework in Professional Identity and Ethics, Human Development, Counseling Theories, Group Work, Career Counseling, Multicultural Counseling, Assessment, Research and Program Evaluation, and Clinical Coursework—a 100-hour practicum and a 600-hour internship under supervision of a school counseling faculty member and a certified school counselor site supervisor.
When CACREP released the 2009 Standards, the accreditation process became performance-based including evidence of school counselor candidate learning outcomes. In addition, CACREP tightened the school counseling standards with specific evidence needed for how school counseling students receive education in foundations; counseling prevention and intervention; diversity and advocacy; assessment; research and evaluation; academic development; collaboration and consultation; and leadership in K-12 school counseling contexts.
Certification practices for school counselors vary internationally. School counselors in the USA may opt for national certification through two different boards. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards requires a two-to-three year process of performance based assessment, and demonstrate content knowledge in human growth/development, diverse populations, school counseling programs, theories, data, and change and collaboration. In February 2005, 30 states offered financial incentives for this certification.
Also in the US, The National Board for Certified Counselors requires passing the National Certified School Counselor Examination, including 40 multiple choice questions and seven simulated cases assessing school counselors' abilities to make critical decisions. Additionally, a master's degree and three years of supervised experience are required. NBPTS also requires three years of experience, however state certification is required. At least four states offer financial incentives for the NCSC certification.

Job growth and earnings

The rate of job growth and earnings for school counselors depends on the country that one is employed in and how the school is funded—public or independent. School counselors working in international schools or "American" schools globally may find similar work environments and expectations to the USA. School counselor pay varies based on school counselor roles, identity, expectations, and legal and certification requirements and expectations of each country. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the median salary for school counselors in the US in 2010 was $53,380 or $25.67 hourly. According to an infographic designed by Wake Forest University, the median salary of school counselors in the US was $43,690. The USA has 267,000 employees in titles such as school counselor or related titles in education and advising and college and career counseling. The projected growth for school counselors is 14-19% or faster than average than other occupations in the US with a predicted 94,000 job openings from 2008–2018. In Australia, a survey by the Australian Guidance and Counseling Association found that school counselor salary ranged from the high 50,000s to the mid 80,000s.
Among all counseling specialty areas, public elementary, middle and high school counselors are paid the highest salary on average of all counselors. Budget cuts, however, have affected placement of public school counselors in Canada, Ireland, the United States, and other countries. In the United States, rural areas and urban areas traditionally have been under-served by school counselors in public schools due to both funding shortages and often a lack of best practice models. With the expectation of school counselors to work with data, research, and evidence-based practice, school counselors who show and share results in assisting to close achievement, opportunity, and attainment gaps are in the best position to argue for increased school counseling resources and positions for their programs.

Notable school counselors

Abilities, disabilities, gifts, talents, and special education in school counseling

American school counseling for developing a Korean school counseling model. Korean Journal of Counseling Psychology, 19, 539-567.

Rural school counseling

School-family-community partnerships; parenting interventions for academic success