JMU School Counseling GRIP
Goal: First year school counseling graduate students will acquire knowledge in the key areas of school counseling, including ethics, laws, role and responsibility of the school counselor, community resources, accountability, and measurement and evaluation of counseling programs in the school setting.
Course Objectives: Explain the history and rationale for counseling in schools; describe the unique role of school counselors in the daily activities and crisis situations at the school; describe how to work with unique and diverse student populations; examine legal and ethical issues; demonstrate how to plan, implement, maintain, and evaluate a comprehensive school counseling program; and become members of national and state counseling professional organizations.
Results:
Based on a 14 question self-assessment given at the beginning and end of the semester, all students showed a high level of improvement in the basic core areas of school counseling as specified in the goal and objectives of the class.
Program Implications:
Course Objectives: Explain the history and rationale for counseling in schools; describe the unique role of school counselors in the daily activities and crisis situations at the school; describe how to work with unique and diverse student populations; examine legal and ethical issues; demonstrate how to plan, implement, maintain, and evaluate a comprehensive school counseling program; and become members of national and state counseling professional organizations.
Results:
- One-Hundred percent of the students participated in all aspects of the school counseling class requirements.
- At the conclusion of the semester, school counseling students were knowledgeable in 95% of the categories measured.
Based on a 14 question self-assessment given at the beginning and end of the semester, all students showed a high level of improvement in the basic core areas of school counseling as specified in the goal and objectives of the class.
Program Implications:
- All students were knowledgeable in 13 of the 14 key areas tested on the self-assessment compared to just two students on two of the key areas on the pre-test self-assessment.
- As discussed after the post-test self-assessment was complete, all students were given the materials to conduct a school counseling program audit but only two of the six students were aware of this, evidently because the materials were presented within a larger handbook.
- Current students will review resources available before starting practicum and internship placements and future students will be reminded of all the resources available in the VSCA Professional Program Manual.