HHS Mission Statement

The Hudson Independent School District will provide experiences that will enable students to become literate, self-disciplined, independent, and responsible learners.

One of my goals as counselor is to see that our school counseling program's mission reflects the school's mission.

The Role of a School Counselor

According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), the role of the school counselor is to help students focus on academic, personal/social and career development so they achieve success in school and are prepared to lead fulfilling lives as responsible members of society. To create a more unified vision of the school counseling profession, ASCA created a framework for the program components which includes the school counselor's role in implementation and the underlying philosophies of leadership, advocacy and systemic change. The School Counselor Competencies is a continuation of the effort for a unified vision. These competencies are necessary to better ensure that our future school counselor workforce will be able to continue to make a positive difference in the lives of children.

In January of 2007, various experts met over a period of two days to begin discussing and developing a set of competencies necessary and sufficient for effectively doing the work of a professional school counselor. Represented were leaders and members from ASCA, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES), the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), The Education Trust, district school counseling supervisors, practicing school counselors and counselor educators from across the country.

The School Counselor Competencies document is unique in several ways. First, this set of competencies is organized around and consistent with the ASCA National Model, a guideline for the school counseling profession. Second, the competencies are comprehensive in that they include skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for meritoriously performing the range of school counselor responsibilities (e.g., counseling, coordination, consulting, etc.) over all four domains of comprehensive school counseling programs (i.e., foundation, management, delivery and accountability). These competencies have been identified as those that will equip the school counselor with the skills to establish, maintain and enhance the developmental school counseling programs in all three domains (i.e., academic, personal/social, and career).

Professional school counselors could use the School Counselor Competencies as a checklist to self-evaluate their own competencies and , as a result, formulate an appropriate professional development plan. School administrators may find these competencies useful as a guide for seeking and hiring highly competent school counselors and for developing meaningful school counselor performance evaluations. Also, the School Counselor Competencies include the necessary technological competencies needed for performing effectively and efficiently in the 21st century.

School Counselor Competencies

A. Plans, organizes, delivers and evaluates the comprehensive school counseling program that aligns with the ASCA National Model.

B. Advocates, leads, collaborates and acts as a system change agent for student success.

C. Develops the beliefs and philosophy of the school counseling program that align with current school improvement and student success initiatives at the school, district and state level

D. Develops a school counseling mission statement that aligns with the school, district and state mission

E. Utilizes student standards (ASCA Standards for Student Competencies, state standards or district standards) to drive the implementation of a comprehensive school counseling program

F. Applies the ethical standards and principles of the school counseling profession and adheres to the legal aspects of the role of the school counselor

G. Implements the school guidance curriculum

H. Facilitates individual student planning

I. Provides responsive services

J. Implements system support activities for the comprehensive school counseling program

K. Negotiates with the administrator to define the management system for the comprehensive school counseling program

L. Establishes and convenes an advisory council for the comprehensive school counseling program

M. Collects, analyzes and interprets relevant data to monitor and advantage student behavior and achievement

N. Organizes and manages time to implement an effective program

O. Develops calendars to ensure the effective implementation of the school counseling program

P. Implements data-driven action plans that align with school and school counseling program goals

Q. Uses data from results report to evaluate program effectiveness and to determine program needs

R. Understands and advocates for appropriate school counselor performance appraisal process

S. Conducts a program audit

Reference: http://www.schoolcounselor.org