6164.2 6164.2Instruction
Comprehensive School Counseling Program/Guidance Services
The District shall provide and maintain a comprehensive school counseling and guidance program in which students are systematically, actively, and purposely assisted in acquiring personal human skills. They also shall be provided with the assistance and guidance to effectively identify, select, plan, and prepare for post secondary education or a career of choice.
The "Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance Program" is designed to assist students through specific self-appraisal and self-improvement activities, to enable effective planning to meet their personal education and career goals.
The specific goals of the school counseling program are:
1. Help students in developing a knowledge of self, including family relationships and the understanding of others.
2. Assist students with emotional growth, including family relationships and the understanding of others.
3. Assist students in the development of social skills and civic responsibilities.
4. Assist students in problem-solving, decision-making and coping skills.
5. Assist students in their career development and support partnerships between school and community.
6. Assist staff as resource/consultant in student-teacher relationships, behavior management, student evaluation and parent/guardian contacts.
7. Provide assistance to students and families during crisis situations.
8. Form relationships with parents/guardians to provide support as needed.
9. Assist in referrals to other student services personnel in the District and with out-of-school agencies serving youth.
Pursuant to the Comprehensive School Counseling Guide prepared and distributed by the Connecticut Department of Education, each District school shall make reasonably available, within available resources, to all students, the following guidance and counseling services:
1. Academic Guidance to help students and their parents/guardians to acquire knowledge of the curriculum choices available to students, to plan a program of studies, to arrange and interpret academic testing, and to seek postsecondary academic opportunities.
2. Career Guidance to help students acquire information to plan for postsecondary education and career opportunities.
3. Personal or Social Counseling to help students develop an understanding of themselves and the rights and needs of others, resolve conflict, and define individual goals that reflect their interests and aptitudes. Such counseling may be provided either in groups (e.g., all fifth graders) in which generic issues of social development are addressed or through structured individual or small group multisession counseling that focuses on the specific concerns of the participant(s) (e.g., social skills, grief or anger management).
The major program components of the District's Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance Program shall contain the following:
1. Guidance Curriculum which is delivered through classroom presentations and activities, and structured group activities.
2. Individual Planning which is a process that includes activities to assist students and their parents/guardians in the planning, monitoring, and managing of the student's learning as well as his/her personal, educational, and career goals.
3. Responsive Services which meet the immediate concerns and needs of students, usually with a prevention focus, such as, but not limited to, drop out prevention, peer leadership, and drug and alcohol prevention.
4. System Support which focuses on program development, implementation, and management, and connects the guidance program to existing family and community support and to school improvement and student achievement.
It is expected that the collection and use of data that support and link the school counseling program to student academic success be an integral part of the program. Data collection provides the counseling program with the information needed to evaluate the program as it relates to student progress. This information ensures that the program is carried out as planned, serving every student and that program effectiveness is analyzed, and improvements made as necessary. Essentially the accountability system shall measure the school counseling program's progress toward and impact on such things as, but not limited to, academic achievement, graduation rates, post-secondary options, school climate and attendance.
Parents/guardians shall be provided notification annually about the academic and career guidance and the personal or social counseling programs that are available to students.
The District shall not discriminate in the methods, practices, and materials used for counseling students on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, religion or disability. This does not, however, prohibit the use of special counseling materials or techniques to meet the individualized needs of students.
Legal References: Connecticut General Statutes
Comprehensive School Counseling, A Guide to Comprehensive School Counseling Program Development, 2008, State Board of Education
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) 20 U.S.C.
Policy adopted: