Board Policy No. 2140, Advising and School Counseling, recognizes the importance of advising and school counseling, prohibits discrimination in these programs, requires the development of a comprehensive school counseling program, and authorizes the Superintendent to create procedures for the program consistent with state laws and regulations, ethical standards, and district policies and procedures.

This procedure serves as the written plan for implementing the district’s Comprehensive School Counseling Program as required under Board Policy No. 2140 and state law (RCW 28A.320.600). The program aligns with guidance from the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). 

Comprehensive School Counseling Program Delivery 

This section describes how the school counselor or designated Educational Staff Associate (ESA) staff will lead the development and delivery of the Comprehensive School Counseling Program through implementation of school-wide plans that utilize district-developed templates covering required program components, direct and indirect services, and time-use requirements. As described later in this procedure, state law also requires professional collaboration to support program implementation, program alignment with the data driven Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), and regular review of the program.

A. School Counselors and Educational Staff Associates

Under state law, a school counselor is a professional educator who holds a valid school counselor certification as defined by the Professional Educator Standards Board (RCW 28A.410.043). School counselors serve a vital role in the comprehensive school counseling program. The school counselor plans, develops, organizes, and leads delivery of a comprehensive school counseling program that focuses on the academic, career, and personal and social development for all students, based on the national standards for school counseling programs of the American School Counselor Association and state standards. School counselors align supports with the district’s vision, mission, and school improvement goals. In addition to school counselors, all ESA staff, in collaboration, serve to support the implementation of a comprehensive, multi-tiered system of student supports.

B. Components of the Comprehensive School Counseling Program

Annually, each school’s counselor or designated ESA staff will create a school-based Comprehensive School Counseling Program using the annual plan and calendar template provided by College and Career Readiness. The Comprehensive School Counseling Program designed and implemented using district templates by school counselors (or designated ESA staff) at all K-12 levels must include:

• Programing aligned with learning standards, such as the American School Counselor Association’s Student Mindsets and Beliefs.
• Programing aligned with related state and national frameworks, such as Washington’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Framework, described in section II below, and the American School Counselor Association Framework, which includes the following domains:
  • Academic Development
    • Students will acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills to contribute to effective learning in school and throughout their lives.
    • Students will complete school with the academic preparation essential to choose from a wide range of post-secondary options.
    • Students will understand the relationship between academic, life and career skills and the world of work.
  • Career Development
    • Students will acquire the skills to investigate the world of work in relation to their knowledge of self and to make informed career and future planning decisions.
    • Students will employ strategies to achieve future career goals.
    • Students will understand the relationship between personal qualities, education, training, and the world of work.
  • Personal and Social Development
    • Students will acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to help them understand and respect themselves and others.
    • Students will make decisions, set goals, and take necessary action to achieve goals, persist, and be resilient.
• An Annual Comprehensive School Counseling Plan with student outcome goals, an Annual Calendar, and an Annual Results Report, developed with district templates, which will include:
  • Use-of-time data
  • Data on family and school community communications

C. Comprehensive School Counseling Program Delivery and Management

School counselors and other ESA staff deliver the state-required Comprehensive School Counseling Program through direct services, indirect services, and program management. Washington State requires that school counselors assigned to implement the Comprehensive School Counseling Program allocate 80% of their contracted time to providing direct and indirect services to benefit students, as aligned with standards developed by the American School Counselor Association, and no more than 20% of their contracted time on program planning and school support activities. 

The following developmentally appropriate direct and indirect services will be delivered by school counselors as part of their schools’ Comprehensive School Counseling Programs:

• Delivery Model
  • Direct Services are in-person interactions between comprehensive school counseling program staff and students that help students improve achievement, attendance, and discipline. Direct services will include the following:
    • Instruction
      • The purpose of the school counseling curriculum is to provide all students with knowledge and skills appropriate for their developmental level.
      • Lesson plans are designed to assist students in achieving specific competencies through classroom and group activities.
      • School counselors teach, team with teachers, and/or support teachers with materials and classroom activities to provide access to American School Counselor Association and College and Career Readiness standards and competencies.
      • These direct services may be coupled with indirect services described below, such as conducting workshops and informational sessions with parents/guardians/caregivers.
    • Appraisal and Advising 
      • Appraisal is the process by which school counselors work with students to analyze and assess their interests, skills, and achievements.
      • Advising is how school counselors and other school staff help students explore academic, career, college, and social/emotional opportunities or requirements.
      • The two-part appraisal and advising process occurs in classroom, large group, small group, Individualized Education Program (IEP) Transition planning or 504 Plan meetings, and/or individual settings.
      • Appraisal and advising serve to inspire students to realize their maximum potential and meet personal goals.
        • Elementary advising prepares students for career and education planning in middle and high school, and reinforces the development of interpersonal skills, decision-making skills, academic skill building, self-concept development, resilience, and career awareness and exploration.
        • Middle school advising helps students move from awareness to application of the elementary topics listed above. Students begin to assess their own interests and abilities. Students understand how their skills may change as they gain more knowledge and experience. Students begin their state-required “High School and Beyond Plan” and Individualized Education Program (IEP) Transition Plans.
        • High school advising supports student planning through development of career decision-making, goal setting, and planning skills. Students continue to revise their High School and Beyond and IEP Transition Plans on an annual basis. School counselors assist students in planning academic, career, and personal/social goals. Example topics may include the process towards graduation, annual course selection, job shadowing, financial aid, credit recovery, and academic skills.
    • Responsive Services – The following are services offered to students identified as needing interventions for support:
      • Counseling is the professional assistance and support provided to a student or small group of students during a time of transition, heightened stress, critical change, or other situation impeding student success.
      • It is short-term and based on counseling theories and techniques that are effective in a school setting to promote academic, career, and college success, and personal and social development.
      • Parental permission and Informed Consent are required.
      • Individual or small-group goal-focused counseling is delivered in no more than 6-10 sessions.
    • Other Services 
      • Other services include crisis response designed to meet immediate student needs and concerns. Crisis response serves as an intervention for students whose problems put their immediate academic and/or person at risk.
      • The school counselor may intervene with students who are unable to cope with a situation, who are at risk of choosing unhealthy or unsafe situations, or who have already made such choices.
      • These direct services may be coupled with indirect services described below, such as sharing resources with parents and guardians to community services for long-term mental health counseling needs, housing, prevention or intervention, and support for crises, behavioral health, or other challenges.
  • Indirect Services are provided on behalf of students to enhance student achievement and promote equity and access for all students. Indirect services will include the following:
    • Consultation  
      • School counselors share expertise when asked with parents/guardians, teachers, or administrators on strategies and ideas to support student academic, career, and personal/social success.
      • School counselors request expertise from parents/guardians, teachers, district staff, administrators, community organizations, etc. to support student academic, career, and personal/social success.
    • Collaboration 
      • School counselors collaborate with families, administrators, business and community organizations, and others to provide them with ideas to support student success, provide opportunities to students, and generate support for the school counseling program.
      • School counselors provide outside community, mental health, or other resource options to students and families
      • School counselors provide sample lists of local resources (sometimes called referrals) when a student’s needs extend beyond the training, and competency and/or responsibilities of the school counseling role. Outside resource information provided may include academic support such as tutoring; career support such as college planning websites, employment training, or connections with college representatives; and social and emotional support such as community agencies, mental health service providers, housing or food resources, or connecting with school-based services such as Special Education, Advanced Learning, or other district services.
      • State-required collaboration opportunities are described below.
• Program Planning and School Support Activities – School counseling programs must be efficient and effectively managed. School counselors and designated ESA staff will intentionally plan their programs to address students’ needs based on data and evaluate the program’s effectiveness. Additionally, as a member of the school staff community they participate in fair share and other school duties.
  • Program Planning  
    • School counselors’ multi-level review and analysis process aligns with MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support).
    • School counselors use data to define, manage, and assess the Comprehensive School Counseling Program and to determine student needs and planning to provide relevant activities, interventions, and services within their area of expertise.
  • School Support Activities
    • State law describes  duties, tasks, or activities that fall outside of the American School Counselor Association national model, or that assume a role or duty that individuals from other fields or specialties are equally qualified to perform in the work environment, are activities done to support the schools’ systems or operations and are not done in direct support of the Comprehensive School Counseling Program.
    • Examples such as monitoring testing, supervising students at lunch and recess, and assuming the duties of other non-counseling staff are not direct or indirect services of the Comprehensive School Counseling Program.
  • Annual Program Review
    • Each school’s school counselor team or designated ESA will provide their administrator and the College and Career Readiness team their comprehensive school counseling program using district-provided templates, such as the Annual Program Plan and Results Report. School counselors will be provided collaboration time and professional development to prepare their Annual Program Plans and Results Reports.

Use of Data and Multi-Tiered System of Supports Alignment

The Comprehensive School Counseling Program utilizes a three-tiered data driven Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) model that provides increasingly intensive, data-driven intervention structures in response to student need consistent with Board Policy No. 2163, Supports and Interventions. MTSS also aligns with the Response to Intervention (RTI) and Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) frameworks. Career development will be included in the MTSS model at all grade levels.

School counselors use district-directed data, templates, and tools (included as part of the Annual Comprehensive School Counseling Program Plan Template) to select students for increased Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions. Data sources include use-of-time data, program results data, and other district data. School counselor practices are MTSS-aligned in the following tiers:

• Tier 1 is prevention oriented. All students in Tier 1 receive high-quality, evidence-based services and school counseling curricular resources. Examples of activities and interventions aligned with Academic Success, Career and College Readiness, and Personal/Social Development for Tier 1 include:
  • Academic Domain
    • Classroom lessons on study skills; organization skills
    • Classroom lessons on test-taking strategies
    • Classroom lessons on graduation/college entrance requirements
    • Classroom lessons on scholarships and financial aid
  • Career Domain
    • Administration/interpretation of career interest/aptitude surveys for High School and Beyond Plan development
    • Career fairs
    • Implementation of Career Guidance WA or other career guidance curricula
  • Personal/Social Domain
    • Classroom Lessons on Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention and intervention
    • Classroom lessons on Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug prevention and intervention
    • Classroom lessons on goal setting, perseverance, resilience, decision-making
    • Classroom lessons on problem solving, navigating relationships  
    • Peer Conflict Mediation Programs
•  Tier 2 is intervention. In Tier 2, a smaller number of students (approximately 20–40 students) are identified to receive additional services and school counseling curriculum to meet individual needs. Examples of activities and interventions aligned with Academic Success, Career and College Readiness, and Social/Emotional Development for Tier 2 include:
  • Academic Domain
    • Small group instruction/support with study skills
    • Small group peer tutoring with struggling students
    • Adult mentoring/peer mentoring assistance with academics
    • Content area study and support groupsIndividual intervention focused on academic concerns
    • Individual intervention focused on academic concerns
    • Small group of individual assistance with test anxiety coping strategies
  • Career Domain
    • Small group assistance with apprenticeship/college/scholarship applications
    • Small group assistance identifying strengths and interests
    • Career/job-related adult mentoring programs
  • Personal/Social Domain (with parent/guardian permission)
    • Small group support/instruction with social skills development
    • Small group support with grief and loss issues
    • Small group support/intervention with alcohol, tobacco, and drug prevention
    • Small group/individual follow-up with depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideation
    • Facilitate student connection to school groups, clubs and community organizations as part of building students support system
    • Peer conflict mediation programs
• Tier 3 is intensive intervention. In Tier 3, a smaller number of students (approximately 12-24 students) are identified to receive highly focused interventions that often require collaboration with or provide information on community-based services, resources or outside providers. Examples of activities and interventions aligned with Academic Success, Career and College Readiness, and Social/Emotional Development for Tier 3 include:
  • Academic Domain
    • Referral to intervention team for intensive assessment
    • Referral for IEP or 504 assessments
    • Individual planning to address academic deficiencies
    • Individual assessment of strengths
    • Develop individualized academic intervention plan
  • Career Domain
    • Letters of recommendation or support for individuals, subject to district policy
    • Individual assessment of strengths, interests, and deficits or barriers
    • Individual planning to support transition to post-secondary readiness
    • Provide resource lists to career and college access providers
  • Personal/Social Domain
    • Referral to Student Intervention Team or similar team for intensive academic or behavioral assessment
    • Provide lists of resources to mental health professionals for counseling or therapy
    • Solution-focused brief counseling with school counselor, only with parent/guardian permission
    • Provide list of resources to inpatient/outpatient alcohol, tobacco, and drug treatment
    • Referral for IEP or 504 assessment

Administrative Procedures

The K-12 School Counseling Manual will serve as administrative procedures to further implement this programming.

Policy Cross References

• 2140 – Advising and School Counseling

Revisions

• August 25, 2023

Approved by the Board

• December 7, 2011