Portola High’s counselors applied for the American School Counselor Association credential in October to demonstrate their dedication to addressing the needs of students. An ASCA credential shows a counselor’s skills in creating and assessing effective school counseling programs.
“I think that a big thing is accountability because the same way there are standards for teachers, there are standards for school counselors,” counselor Ryan Itchon said. “In terms of looking at the data, [we] figure out what the needs of our school are and then take action to shift the data in a positive way.”
When asked about the importance of obtaining the ASCA credential, counselor Ryan Itchon highlighted the significance of having pieces of data to build an effective counseling program out of. The ways that counselors address issues will show improvement following the conclusion of the ASCA program.
Signing up for the ASCA program will allow counselors to network with others and find ways to close the gap between student achievements. To be eligible for this program, counselors must have completed a master’s degree in school counseling, educational counseling or psychology.
ASCA certified counselors are trained to use data to analyze student behavior and performance. Counselors are taught to improve speaking techniques when addressing groups of students on tough issues. This can involve maintaining a supportive language when addressing issues like mental health and struggles academically to encourage trust among the students.
The ASCA has a model called the ASCA National Model which provides an outline for a school counseling program that impacts student achievements positively. This model encourages school counselors to regularly assess their program to see if it’s effective and improvement of students during the program. Portola counselors, like Itchon, are planning to improve their current counseling actions to include more direct encouragement and focused advice
According to ASCA Research, 45.9% of counselors nationwide find it hard to collect and report data for programs like ASCA where they can get accredited. In this case, our school is taking an active step towards making improvements in making more effective usages out of the counseling curriculum.
“I would be okay with [the counseling program] because it would improve the type of counseling by a lot,” freshman Alexis Lai said. “With the type of data they use, [the counseling] would be more personalized and fit for your needs.”
Students can be sure to find changes in the counseling program following the conclusion of this project. ASCA credential results will be released in early February of next year.
