Welcome to Student Career Planning, the ninth course in the series The Role of the School Counselor.
Career guidance and counseling is a mandatory activity for the school counselor. Some states have developed college and career readiness counseling programs that extend into the elementary grades, providing state and district-level support and training. They recognize the importance of a whole-school approach. Accountability measures are built into the system. Academic and social activities are specific to grade levels, and the guidance curriculum “is a specific plan with identified lessons in an appropriate form and sequence for directing teaching” (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998, p. 4). Personal plans of study are developed with students and by students beginning in middle school.
While the goal is to provide students with the knowledge and skills required for career readiness, school counselors are called on to do more than participate in and support career readiness programs. The effective counselor strives to help students find purpose and direction in their education and their future lives (Gysbers, 2007). Students “of all circumstances, backgrounds, and conditions have the right” to access comprehensive career guidance and counseling (ASCA, 2003).
This course examines the relationship between student counseling and graduation rates, proficiency test outcomes, and under-prepared graduates. It provides strategies for assisting students with college and career readiness through a variety of processes involving both the school and the community.
This course should take 10-16 hours of study time to complete all assignments and the reflection questions as directed. There are three written assignments including the reflection questions at the end of the course.