The Role of a School Counselor
Who are School Counselors?
School counselors provide solutions to help curb rates of school failure and dropout by addressing broader contexts that include personal, social, emotional, and career development. --An Investigation of a Model of Academic Motivation for School Counseling, M. Scheel and J. Gonzalez, Professional School Counseling, October 2016.
The school counselor is an integral system support for the school-family-community relationship that meet the personal/social, academic, and career needs of a large number of students through collaboration, coordination, and consultation with school and community stakeholders. --An Examination of School Counselor Involvement in School-Family- Community Partnerships, J. Bryan, C. Holcomb-McCoy, Professional School Counseling, June 2015.
What does a School Counselor do?
The most important role of the Counselor is to be an advocate for students. In addition to that responsibility, School Counselors' role is:
To provide assistance to all students with their social, emotional, and intellectual growth
To provide developmentally appropriate counseling for students regarding social, emotional, personal, family, behavioral, or peer difficulties, which may be interfering with their educational or personal growth
To provide support for teachers with students receiving special education services
To provide teachers, parents, and students with referral resources in various areas such as: child development, academic abilities, parenting challenges, outside counseling services, grief and loss, family change and dynamics, suicide awareness, and various other mental health issues
Assist with the formulation of the IEP (individual educational plan) and 504 Plans
Assist parents, teachers, and students with the use and interpretation of tests results and student records
Maintain confidentiality at all times, unless a need to know situation arises, during that time, the counseling will collaboratively work with the principal, teachers, parents, and students regarding the well-being of the student
