ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors
The purpose of this document is to serve as a guide for the ethical practices of all individuals serving in a school counseling capacity, provide support and direction for self-assessment, peer consultation and performance appraisal, and inform all educational stakeholders regarding the ethical practices, values and expected behaviors of the school counseling professional.
Publication Date: Revised 2022
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies
The standards and competencies outline the mindsets and behaviors school counselors need to meet the rigorous demands of the school counseling profession and the needs of pre-K–12 students. These standards and competencies help ensure new and experienced school counselors are equipped to establish, maintain and enhance a school counseling program addressing academic achievement, career planning and social/emotional development.
Publication Date: 2025
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
ASCA Student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success
The student standards describe the knowledge, attitudes and skills students need to achieve academic success, college and career readiness and social/emotional development. The standards are based on a survey of research and best practices in student achievement from a wide array of educational standards and efforts.
Publication Date: 2021
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
Building a Culture of Staff Wellness Through Multi-Tiered System of Supports
The purpose of this brief is to provide recommendations to district and school leadership teams on how the components of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) can be used to prioritize staff health and well-being.
Authors: Susan Barrett, Kimberly Yanek, Catherine Raulerson, Ami Flammini, and Nicholas Scheel
Publication Date: March 2021
Publisher: Center on PBIS, University of Oregon
College and Career Readiness: A Primer for School Counselors
This paper serves as an orientation to the process and addresses ways to: define college and career readiness, explore developmental needs, examine legal, ethical and state obligations, and summarize the role of school counselors in college and career readiness. Strategies specified include direct, indirect, and collaborative actions.
Authors: Elizabeth Hooper and Kathryn Watkins Van Asselt
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
College and Career Readiness: Developmental Needs, Classroom Management, and Lesson Plans
This paper summarizes developmentally appropriate ideas for school counselors to lead robust college and career readiness classroom guidance. The importance of incorporating college and career readiness by discussing classroom management techniques will enable school counselors to lead an effective program. Three examples of lesson plans at the elementary, middle, and high school level are also provided.
Authors: Whitney Cowan Britton and Kathryn Watkins Van Asselt
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
CTE Resources for School Counselors
This slide deck explains Career and Technical Education (CTE) is an educational option that provides learners with the knowledge, experiences, and skills they need to be prepared for college and career. It offers information on CTE Program Sheets designed to help school counselors and educators guide students into CTE programs that align with interests.
Publication Date: May 2025
Publisher: Arizona Department of Education
Empirical Research Studies Supporting the Value of School Counseling
This document presents journal articles that describe research examining the impact of school counselors and school counseling programs on K-12 student outcomes. The research articles support the value of school counseling for students in the domains of academic development, college and career readiness, and social/emotional development. All the articles are data-based and drawn from national peer-reviewed journals and research reports.
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
Guiding the School Counselor: An Overview of Roles and Responsibilities
This module offers an overview for school counselors and includes definitions of counselors' various roles and responsibilities when working with students with disabilities. Those viewing the module can learn about how counselors may participate in IEP team meetings, how to determine the need for group or individual counseling, how to assist with transition planning, and how to pursue referrals to other professionals when appropriate.
Publication Date: 2022
Publisher: IRIS Center Vanderbilt University
Integrating a Trauma-Informed Approach within a PBIS Framework
This brief describes how district and school leaders can incorporate trauma-informed practices within a PBIS framework. This ensures investments in training school personnel about trauma can be integrated into a system that links these efforts to student outcomes.
Authors: Lucille Eber, Susan Barrett, Nicholas Scheel, Ami Flammini, and Katie Pohlman
Publication Date: May 2021
Publisher: Center on PBIS, University of Oregon
Making the Time: Relationships Among the School Specialists
This study examined the relationships among school specialists; specifically, special education teachers; Child Study Team members, school psychologists and school social workers; and school counselors, who provide support to students with specific learning needs and their families.
Authors: Meredith Drew and Michelle Gonzalez
Publication Date: 2021
Publisher: School Community Journal
PBIS High School Implementation: Leveraging Features of the PBIS Framework to Support College and Career Readiness
The purpose of this brief is to provide guidance and concrete examples to school personnel of how schools can leverage an existing PBIS framework to support College and Career Readiness efficiently and effectively.
Authors: Jennifer Freeman, Laura Kern, Allison Lombardi, Mary Morningstar, and Valerie Mazzotti
Publication Date: March 2021
Publisher: Center on PBIS, University of Oregon
School Counselors: Facilitating Transitions for Students with Disabilities from High School to Post-School Settings
This module covers responsibilities of the counselor as they relate to transition planning, major adult-life activities to which youth will transition and provide examples of school-based approaches to prepare for those activities, and the importance of collaboration among programs and funding agencies to support smooth transitions to adult activities for students with disabilities.
Publisher: IRIS Center, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Student Perceptions of College Readiness
This study explored college readiness through the lens of current college students. Utilizing an on-line survey, students reported a need to increase the rigor of their course work and to begin to transition toward a collegiate environment. The paper concludes with suggestions for school counselors on improving college readiness to ensure all students have equal access to ensure future success.
Authors: Jeff Cranmore, Laura Isbell, Jennifer Akins, and Mitch VandenBoom
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
Suicide Protective Factors: Utilizing SHORES in School Counseling
In this manuscript, SHORES is introduced as a way for school counselors to address protective factors against suicide. In addition, the authors review the literature on comprehensive school suicide prevention and suicide protective factors; describe the relevance of a suicide protective factors mnemonic that school counselors can use; and illustrate the mnemonic’s application in classroom guidance, small-group, and individual settings.
Authors: Diane M. Stutey, Jenny L. Cureton, Kim Severn, and Matthew Fink
Publication Date: March 2021
Publisher: The Professional Counselor
Supporting PBIS Implementation Through Phases of Crisis Recovery
This practice brief provides strategies to guide implementation efforts through the various phase of crisis recovery for schools and districts that are getting started or strengthening and maintaining current implementation.
Authors: Steve Goodman, Jen Freeman, Brandi Simonsen, and Susan Barrett
Publication Date: February 2021
Publisher: Center on PBIS, University of Oregon
Talking to Children about Terrorist Attacks and School and Community Shootings in the News
This guide offers advice on how to talk to children about tragic events, such as shootings and terrorist attacks, that they are likely to hear about at school and/or on the news.
Publication Date: August 2020
Publisher: National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement
The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs
The framework outlines the components of a school counseling program integral to the school’s mission. This fifth edition provides a continued focus on school counselors’ use of data to identify student needs and measure student success and more information on the alignment between the school counseling program and a multitiered system of supports (MTSS) framework.
Publication Date: 2025
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
The School Counselor and Safe Schools and Crisis Response
School counselors are leaders in safe school initiatives and actively engage themselves in fostering safety and responding to critical response situations in schools. School counselors are a vital resource in preventing, intervening, and responding to crisis situations.
Publication Date: Revised 2025
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
The School Counselor and Student Mental Health
This article explains the American School Counselor Association position for recognizing and responding to the need for mental health services that support the positive mental health development of each and every student. School counselors provide short-term counseling and referral services to students and families as part of their comprehensive school counseling program.
Publication Date: Revised 2025
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
The School Counselor and Students with Disabilities
This position statement establishes school counselors are aware of current research and seek to implement best practices in working with students presenting with any disability category and will provide direct and indirect services to students in the least restrictive environment.
Publication Date: Revised 2022
Publisher: American School Counselor Association
Why Prioritize Behavior Support?
This brief describes why it is critical to continue to prioritize behavior support in addition to academic, social, and emotional supports. With effective behavior support implemented within a PBIS framework, rigorous research has demonstrated that students and educators experience positive outcomes.
Publication Date: March 2021
Publisher: Center on PBIS, University of Oregon