Big changes expected in school counseling programs

On Board Online • March 16, 2015

By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer

How many guidance counselors work in your school district? The answer may be zero. The term "guidance counselor" has been retired by leaders in the field, and directors of "school counseling" programs say they are in the process of reinventing their office operations.

While the term "guidance" implies the function is one of steering students toward college and vocational choices, counselors say they are focusing on three main areas: academic progress, social-emotional development and college and career planning.

The State Education Department is drafting new regulations on counseling based on a national model, and counselors say an update is badly needed. New York last updated its school guidance and counselor certification regulations in the 1970s.

For instance, the state currently requires virtually no ongoing professional development for school counselors to retain their certification. Regular professional development and training for counselors is expected to be among New York's regulatory changes.

There also are opportunities to make sure best practices are more widely used, said Gloria Jean, president of the New York State School Counselor Association. "School counselors in too many districts are not working with the support of a well-developed program," said Jean, a retired counselor. "They end up working more-or-less in isolation because there is no curriculum or organized program to bring them to the same page. They're working very hard, but not necessarily very effectively."

Jean said she is looking forward to statewide adoption of policies that mirror the American School Counselor Association's "National Model," which is already being used in some school districts in New York State. The model looks at the work of school counselors as part of an overall educational program to help support district goals. The idea is that counselors should be resources for all students, not just those selecting a college or dealing with a personal crisis.

"The National Model provides a well-researched and supported, organized framework, so school counselors don't have to re-invent the wheel every time they are asked to address more and more different needs every year," Jean said.

Since changes are afoot, now is an ideal time for school board members to review counseling programs in their districts, said Linda Bakst, NYSSBA deputy director for policy services.

Some questions Bakst recommends board members ask:

• How many students are served by each counselor?
• How are counselors spending their time?
• Ideally, what should counselors be doing?

In presentations to the Regents, State Education Department staff members have reported that student-to-counselor ratios in New York schools routinely exceed recommended caseloads.

The American School Counselor Association recommends a maximum of 250 students per counselor, and the ideal ratio is closer to 100 students per counselor. With a K-12 student population of 2.7 million in New York and some 6,375 school counselors on the job during the 2012-13 school year, the statewide ratio is about 424 students per counselor.

Among administrators and counselors who responded to an SED survey last year, more than half (54 percent) reported student ratios of 300 to 400 per counselor. Nearly 8 percent said counselors were responsible for 500 to 600 students each, and some respondents said the ratios per counselor were as high as 900 students or more. Less than a third, 29 percent, said the ratios were within the range of 100 to 200 students per counselor.

Another issue is whether staff are being used effectively. Several New York districts using the National Model, sometimes called a "comprehensive" model, report better efficiency and better results.

For instance, graduation rates have improved in Middletown, a small city district in Orange County. Last year 370 of last year's graduates were admitted to college, said Ann Hall, the district's director of counseling. That's up from 232 in 2006, before a new counseling framework was rolled out.

Middletown's college and career center has been expanded, and high school orientation has been revamped. Now, incoming ninth-graders come in on a Wednesday before school opens to learn the ropes, and counselors hold small-group sessions with parents to discuss academic expectations and other topics. Since the changes, typical parent participation has grown from 100-200 to more than 600, Hall said, and students are far more prepared for their first day of high school.

Regular evaluations provide "a good way for us to see what is working well and what we need to improve," Hall added. "That saves us a whole lot of time guessing about what the needs of the community are."

At the Somers school district in Westchester County, Deborah Hardy, director of K-12 school counseling, describes the shift to the comprehensive counseling approach as "a change of culture."

For instance, counselors at Somers work closely with teachers to spot academic or social issues affecting individual students, and they collaborate on curriculum decisions.

Somers school counselors interact with students in an array of settings. They attend school plays and sporting events, greet children as they step off buses and generally make themselves visible and familiar.

Hardy said a counselor might present a classroom lesson on good study habits or the college application process, plan a small "lunch bunch" group session about SUNY college websites or schedule a one-on-one office session with a student sharing personal concerns about going away to college.

Hardy noted that a Somers health teacher is piloting a new curriculum focused on empathy, mindfulness and decision-making.

At Beekmantown in Clinton County, School Counselor Jennifer Duffy said the process of implementing the national model began about seven years ago. It started, she said, with educating administrators and school board members about what modern-day school counselors can do. "They thought they knew, but they didn't," she said.

Jean, the counseling association president, said board members and administrators need to understand how counselors can be integrated with the academic program to provide value to all students.

"It's about bringing counselors back from the edges and putting them right in the middle of the educational program," she said.