K-12 Guidance Curriculum

Gothenburg Schools Guidance Program

Beliefs, Benefits & Mission Statement

The Gothenburg School District supports the guidance and counseling program as an integral part of the educational process. It is recognized that students must develop socially and emotionally to fully benefit from the academic opportunities provided by our school district. Consequently, the guidance program must address the issue of growth and development in the affective areas.

The Gothenburg Public Schools Guidance Program is based on the following beliefs and benefits:

Beliefs:Effective school counseling programs –

  • Teach life skills

  • Are for students

  • Are developmental, proactive and rehabilitative

  • Are competency based and goal oriented

  • Provide a safe place for problem solving

  • Help children develop in to successful adults

  • Are an integral part of a total school program

  • Understand and value the students’ capabilities

  • Facilitate and support integration of curriculum

  • Include career, academic, personal and social issue and are age appropriate in nature

  • Promote a healthy school culture which is supportive and collaborative among parents, students and staff

  • Learning is lifelong

  • All students can learn

  • Students who believe in themselves are more open to learning

  • Society as a whole benefits from a comprehensive school counseling program

Benefits:

An effective school counseling program will benefit –

Students:

  • Guarantees services to all students

  • Focuses on students’ needs

  • Develop proactive skills for all students

  • Assists students with remediation and /or intervention issues

Parents:

  • Encourages parental involvement in students’ learning environment

  • Provides services and resources when needed

  • Increases opportunities for parent,student, and counselor interaction

Teachers:

  • Promotes a team effort when working with personal, social, academic, and career issues

  • Serves as a liaison between parents, student, and teacher

  • Provides timely resources and support to classroom teachers

Administrators:

  • Creates a structured program with specific school counseling competencies

  • Provides accountability to school counseling program

  • Facilitates a team approach between administration and school counseling program

  • Encourages better understanding of the role of counselors and the total guidance program

Board of Education:

  • Provides rationale for the counseling program being an integral part of the total school system

  • Serves as a source of data on issues related to school climate and guidance issues

  • Creates greater school-communityinteraction

Community:

  • Increased opportunity for collaboration among counselors, students, and local business

  • Provides a potential workforce with necessary career, human relations, and decision making skills

  • Enhances the role for the counseloras a community resource

Gothenburg Public Schools Guidance Program Mission Statement

The mission of GPS Guidance Program is to empower all students to reach their maximum potential in the areas of career, academic, personal, and social development.

Guidance Program Standards/Competencies & Indicators

GPS Guidance Curriculum closely follows the national and state models. The curriculum is divided into 3 domains: Career, Academic, Personal/Social. Each domain has 3 standards. Each standard had 1 to 3 competencies. Competencies are knowledge, attitudes, or skills that are observable and / or measurable. Each competency has a number of indicators- examples that show the student has received and understands the competency.

The grade level listed in parenthesis shows when the indicator should be demonstrated by a student.

Career Domain

Standard A – Students will acquire the skills to investigate the world of work in relation to knowledge of self and to make informed career decisions.

Competency 1 – Develop Career Awareness

Indicators –

  • Develop and awareness of personal abilities, skill interests, and motivations (2)

  • Learn about the variety of traditional and nontraditional occupations(6)

  • Develop skills to locate, evaluate,and interpret information (8)

  • Understand the importance of planning(8)

  • Pursue and develop competency in areas of interest (10)

Competency 2 – Develop Employment Readiness

Indicators –

  • Acquire employment skills such as working on a team, problem solving, and organizational skills (6)

  • Develop a positive attitude toward work and learning (7)

  • Apply job readiness skills to seek employment (10)

  • Demonstrate knowledge of the changing work place (9)

  • Understand the importance of responsibility,dependability, punctuality, integrity, and effort in the workplace (9)

  • Learn how to write a resume (9)

Standard B – Students will employ strategies to achieve future career goals with success.

Competency 1 – Acquire Information

Indicators –

  • Apply decision making skills to career planning, course selection, and career transitions(8)

  • Identify personal skills, interests,and abilities and relate them to careers (8)

  • Learn to use the internet to access career information (8)

  • Use research and information resources to obtain career information (8)

  • Demonstrate knowledge of career planning process (10)

Competency 2 – Identify Career Goals

Indicators –

  • Select course work that is related to career interests (8)

  • Assess and modify their educational plan to support career goals (9)

  • Demonstrate internship, mentoring,shadowing, and /or other work experiences (10)

Standard C – Students will understand the relationship between personal qualities, education, training, and the world of work.

Competency 1 – Acquire knowledge to Achieve Career Goals

Indicators –

  • Understand the relationship between educational achievement and career success (8)

  • Identify personal preferences and interests which influence career choices and success (8)

  • Explain how work can help to achieve personal success and satisfaction (10)

  • Understanding that the changing workplace requires lifelong learning and acquiring new skills (10)

Competency 2 – Apply Skills to Achieve Career Goals

Indicators –

  • Learn how to use conflict management skills with peers and adults (4)

  • Learn to work cooperatively as a team member (K-3)

  • Apply academic and employment skills in work-based learning situations such as shadows internships (10)

Academic Domain

Standard A – Students will acquire attitudes, knowledge, and skills that will contribute to effective learning in school across the life span.

Competency 1 – Improve Academic Self-Concept

Indicators –

  • Identify attitudes and behaviors which lead to successful learning (K-3)

  • Display a positive interest in learning(K)

  • Take pride in work and achievement(K)

Competency 2 – Acquire Skills for Improving Learning

Indicators –

  • Use communication skills to know when and how to ask for help (K-3)

  • Demonstrate how effort can positively affect learning (K-3)

Standard B – Students will complete school with the academic preparation essential to choose from a wide variety of post secondary options, including college.

Competency 1 – Improve Learning

Indicators –

  • Demonstrate the motivation to achieve individual potential (2)

  • Seek information and support from faculty, family, and peers (K-3)

  • Learn to apply critical thinking skills (4)

  • Apply the study skills necessary for academic success (4)

  • Organize and apply academic information from a variety of sources (4)

  • Become self-directed independent learners(9)

Competency 2 – Plan to Achieve Goals

Indicators –

  • Use assessment results in educational planning (K-3)

  • Apply knowledge of aptitudes and interests in goal setting (4)

  • Establish challenging academic goals(4)

  • Develop and implement an annual plan of study to maximize academic achievement (9)

  • Use problem solving and decision making skills to assess progress toward educational goals (9)

  • Identify post-secondary options consistent with interests, achievement, aptitudes, and abilities (11)

Standard C – Students will understand the relationship of academics to the world of work and to life at home and in the community

Competency 1 – Relate to Life Experiences

Indicators –

  • Understand how school success and academic achievement enhance future career opportunities (6)

  • Demonstrate the ability to balance school, studies, extracurricular activities, leisure time and family life (7)

  • Seek co-curricular and community experiences to enhance the school experience (7)

  • Understand the relationship between learning and work (7)

Personal / Social Domain

Standard A – Students will acquire knowledge, attitudes, and skill to help them understand and respect self and others.

Competency 1 – Acquire Self-Knowledge

Indicators –

  • Develop a positive attitude toward self as unique and worthy (K-3)

  • Identify and express feelings (K-3)

  • Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors (K-3)

  • Recognize personal boundaries (K-3)

  • Understand need for self-control (K-3)

  • Demonstrate cooperative behavior (K-3)

  • Identify personal strengths and assets(2)

  • Identify and recognize changing family roles (4)

  • Learn the goal setting process (3)

Competency 2 – Acquire Interpersonal Skills

Indicators –

  • Learn how to make and keep friends(K-3)

  • Learn about effective ways to communicate with others (K-3)

  • Recognize that everyone has rights and responsibilities (K-3)

  • Respect alternate points of view (K-3)

Standard B – Students Will Make Decisions, Set Goals, And Take Necessary Action To Achieve Goals.

Competency 1 – Self-Knowledge Applications

Indicators –

  • Use a decision making and problem solving model (2-3)

  • Understand consequences of decisions and choices (K-3)

  • Know how to make an apology (2-3)

  • Know how to make an alternate choice (2-3)

  • Know how to apply conflict resolution skills (K-3)

  • Know when peer pressure is influencing a decision (6)

  • Identify long and short – term goals (7)

Standard C – Students will understand safety and survival skills

Competency 1 – Acquire Personal Safety Skills

Indicators –

  • Demonstrate knowledge of personal information (ie., telephone number, address) (K)

  • Learn the difference between appropriate and inappropriate physical contact (K-3)

  • Learn techniques for managing stress and conflict (3)

  • Learn about the relationship between rules, laws, safety, and the protection of an individual’s rights (4)

  • Learn about the physical and emotional dangers of substance use and abuse (4)

  • Reporting and knowing how to seek help (K-3)

  • Learn how to cope with peer pressure (6)

  • Differentiate between kid sized problems and adult sized problems (K-3)

  • Demonstrate the ability to assure boundaries,rights, and personal privacy (7)