Record: 1 Title: Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Programs: A Rich History and a Bright Future. Authors: Gysbers, Norman C. Henderson, Patricia Source: Professional School Counseling; Apr2001, Vol. 4 Issue 4, p246, 11p Document Type: Article Subject Terms: *EDUCATIONAL counseling *VOCATIONAL guidance Geographic Terms: UNITED States NAICS/Industry Codes624310 Vocational Rehabilitation Services Abstract: Traces the evolution of guidance and counseling in schools in the United States from a position to a service to a comprehensive program. Description of the prevailing organizational structure; Conceptual foundation and elements of existing comprehensive guidance and counseling programs; Vocational guidance. Full Text Word Count: 6657 ISSN: 10962409 Accession Number: 4305632 Persistent link to this record (Permalink): http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db= aph&an=4305632&site=ehost-live Cut and Paste: <A href="http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true &db=aph&an=4305632&site=ehost-live">comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Programs: A Rich History and a Bright Future.</A> Database: Academic Search Premier COMPREHENSIVE GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING PROGRAMS: A RICH HISTORY AND A BRIGHT FUTURE
How did guidance and counseling in the schools begin and then evolve to where it is today? How is guidance and counseling in the schools organized and practiced currently and what is its future? In answering these questions we first describe the evolution of guidance and counseling in the schools from a position to a service to a comprehensive program. Then we turn our attention to the present and describe the prevailing organizational structure, the comprehensive guidance and counseling program. Finally, we look into the future and briefly describe what we think is a bright future for comprehensive guidance and counseling programs in our nation's schools. A Rich HIstory By the beginning of the 20th Century, the United States was deeply involved in the Industrial Revolution. It was a period of rapid industrial growth, social protest, social reform, and utopian idealism. Social protest and social reform were being carried out under the banner of the Progressive Movement, a movement that sought to change negative social conditions associated with the Industrial Revolution. Guidance was born during the height of this movement as "but one manifestation of the broader movement of progressive reform which occurred in this country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries" (Stephens, 1970, p. 5). Its beginnings can be traced to the work of a number of individuals and social institutions. People such as Frank Parsons, Meyer Bloomfield, Jessie Davis, Anna Reed, E. W. Weaver, and David Hill were instrumental in formulating and implementing early conceptions of guidance--working through a number of organizations and movements such as the settlement house movement, the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, and schools in Grand Rapids, Seattle, New York, and New Orleans. A Position The implementation of guidance and counseling in the schools during the first two decades of the 20th Century was accomplished by appointing teachers to the position of vocational counselor, often with no relief from their teaching duties and with no additional pay (Ginn, 1924). They were given a list of duties to perform in addition to their regular teaching duties. No organizational structure other than a list of duties was provided for vocational guidance, as it was called then. As a result, guidance and counseling in the schools was being carried out by persons in positions without formal organizational structures in which to work. In the 1920s and 1930s, concern was beginning to be expressed about the position orientation to guidance and counseling and the lack of a unified program. In a review of the Boston system, Brewer (1922) stated that the work was "commendable and promising" (p. 36). At the same time, however, he expressed concern about the lack of effective centralization. Myers (1923) made the same point when he stated "that a centralized, unified program of vocational guidance for the entire school of a city is essential to the most effective work" (p. 139). This situation presented a serious problem. If there were no agreed-upon centralized structure to organize and direct the work of vocational counselors, then other duties as assigned could become a problem. As early as 1923 this problem was recognized by Myers (1923) when he stated that:
Another tendency dangerous to the cause of vocational guidance is the tendency to load the vocational counselor with so many duties foreign to the office that little real counseling can be done. The principal, and often the counselor himself, has a very indefinite idea of the proper duties of this new office. The counselor's time is more free from definite assignments with groups or classes of pupils than is that of the ordinary teacher. If well chosen he has administrative ability. It is perfectly natural, therefore, for the principal to assign one administrative duty after another to the counselor until he becomes practically assistant principal, with little time for the real work of a counselor (p. 141). The concern about the position orientation expressed by Myers (1923) was echoed in later decades as it continued to be an issue. For example, Fitch (1936) stated that: The dominance of the principal in the field of guidance has also resulted in some cases in an undesirable expansion of the tasks assigned to the counselor. Where the principal has an intelligent and sympathetic interest in the practice of vocational guidance this is less likely to occur, but there is always danger that the counselor may come to be regarded as a handy man on whom may be unloaded any sort of task that no one else has time to do. Thus we often find counselors performing the function of visiting teacher, director of lunch room, substitute teacher, counselor of problem pupils, etc. They may be called upon to act in all sorts of roles from that of chairman of the committee on social activities to that of assistant principal (p. 762). A Service One solution for the lack of structure for the guidance and counseling in the schools was an organizational framework called pupil personnel work. What was pupil personnel work? According to Myers (1935), "pupil personnel work is a sort of hand-maiden of organized education. It is concerned primarily with bringing the pupils of the community into the educational environment of the schools in such condition and under such circumstances as will enable them to obtain the maximum of the desired development" (p. 804). In his article, Myers (1935) listed eight activities he would include in pupil personnel work in schools and the personnel who would be involved including attendance officers, visiting teachers, school nurses, school physicians, as well as vocational counselors. In his discussion of the activities involved in pupil personnel work and the personnel involved, he stated that "Probably no activity in the entire list suffers so much from lack of coordinated program as does guidance, and especially the counseling part of it" (p. 807). As the decades of the 20th Century unfolded, the influences of educational reform movements, the work of theorists and practitioners, and various social, political, and economic events, all combined to continue to shape the nature and structure of guidance and counseling in schools. The vocational focus remained, but it was often overshadowed by a more psychological/clinical perspective with an emphasis on counseling and by testing. Federal legislation, including the Vocational Education Act of 1946 (George-Barden Act) and the National Defense Education Act in 1958, also played a part in shaping guidance and counseling in the schools.
In the decade of the 1960s, partly as a result of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, guidance and counseling in the schools was being provided more and more by full-time personnel. Teacher counselors of previous years were being replaced by full-time school counselors. The concept of pupil personnel work, now called pupil personnel services, continued to be the preferred organizational system. Professionals filling positions such as school psychologists, nurses, social workers, and school counselors were brought together under the banner of pupil personnel services. For school counselors, the term services also was used to describe their work. Usually six services of guidance were identified--orientation, assessment, information, counseling, placement, and follow-up. One result of this organizational system for guidance and counseling was to continue to emphasize the position of counselor, not the program of guidance and counseling. As a result, guidance and counseling often was seen as ancillary-support service in the eyes of many people. This pattern placed school counselors mainly in remedial-reactive roles; roles that are not seen as mainstream in education. What was worse, this pattern reinforced the practice of school counselors doing many administrative-clerical duties because these duties could be defended as being "of service to somebody." A Comprehensive Program Beginning in the 1970s, the concept of guidance and counseling for development began to emerge. During this period the call came to reorient guidance and counseling from what had become an ancillary set of services delivered by a person in a position, school counselor to a comprehensive, developmental program. The call for reorientation came from diverse sources, including (a) a renewed interest in vocational-career guidance (and its theoretical base, career development), (b) a renewed interest in developmental guidance and counseling, (c) concern about the efficacy of the prevailing approach to guidance and counseling in the schools, and (d) concern about accountability and evaluation. The work of putting comprehensive guidance and counseling programs into place in the schools continued in the 1980s and 1990s. Increasingly sophisticated models began to be translated into practical, workable programs to be implemented in the schools. And as we enter the 21st Century, comprehensive guidance and counseling programs are rapidly replacing the traditional position-service orientation. Comprehensive guidance and counseling programs are becoming the major way of organizing and managing guidance and counseling in the schools across the country (Sink & MacDonald, 1998). Programs Today: The Conceptual Foundation and Program Elements The perspective of human development that serves as the foundation for comprehensive guidance and counseling programs and as a basis for identifying the guidance knowledge, skills, and attitudes (competencies) that students need to master is called life career development. "Life career development is defined as self-development over a person's life span through the integration of the roles, settings, and events in a person's life" (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000, p. 49). The word life in the definition indicates that the focus of this conception of human development is on the total person--the human career. The word career identifies and relates the
many and often varied roles that individuals assume (student, worker, consumer, citizen, parent); the settings in which individuals find themselves (home, school, community); and the events that occur over their lifetimes (entry job, marriage, divorce, retirement). The word development is used to indicate that individuals are always in the process of becoming. When used in sequence, the words life career development bring these separate meanings together, but at the same time a greater meaning evolves. Life career development describes total individuals; unique individuals with their own life styles (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000; Gysbers & Moore, 1975, 1981). The meaning of the word career in the phrase life career development differs substantially from the usual definition of the term. Career focuses on all aspects of life as interrelated parts of the whole person. The term career, when viewed from this broad perspective, is not a synonym for occupation. People have careers; their lives are their careers. Finally, the words life career development do not delineate and describe only one part of human growth and development. Although it is useful to focus at times on different developmental areas (e.g., physical, emotional, and intellectual), it is also necessary to integrate these areas. Life career development is an organizing and integrating concept for understanding and facilitating human development. A comprehensive guidance and counseling program consists of three elements--content, an organizational framework, and resources (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000; see Figure). The content element identifies competencies considered important by school districts for students to master as a result of their participation in the district's comprehensive guidance and counseling program. The organizational framework contains three structural components (definition, rationale, assumptions), four program components (guidance curriculum, individual planning, responsive services, system support), along with a suggested distribution of school counselor time by grade levels across the four program components. The resource element consists of the human, financial, and political resources required to fully implement the program. Content The content element of the program identifies the competencies that students achieve through their participation in the activities of the program components of a school district's guidance and counseling program. Competencies are usually displayed by grade level (K12) or grade-level groupings (elementary, middle, and high school). They are often organized around domains such as career, academic, and personal/social. The American School Counselor Association (Campbell & Dahir, 1997) uses these domains under which are listed student learnings (competencies) presented as standards: 1. Academic Development Standards A. Students will acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that contribute to effective learning in school and across the life span. B. Students will complete school with the academic preparation essential to choose from a wide range of substantial post secondary options, including college.
C. Students will understand the relationship of academics to the world of work and to life at home and in the community (p. 17). 2. Career Development Standards A. Students will acquire the skills to investigate the world of work in relation to knowledge of self and to make informed career decisions. B. Students will employ strategies to achieve future career success and satisfaction. C. Students will understand the relationship between personal qualities, education and training, and the world of work (p. 17). 3. Personal/Social Development Standards A. Students will acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and interpersonal skills to help them understand and respect self and others. B. Students will make decisions, set goals, and take necessary action to achieve goals. C. Students will understand safety and survival skills (p. 17). Organizational Framework Structural Components Definition. The program definition includes the mission statement of the guidance and counseling program and its centrality within the school district's total educational program. It delineates who delivers the program, what competencies students will possess as a result of their involvement in the program, who the clients of the program are, and how the program is organized using the program components of guidance curriculum, individual planning, responsive services, and system support. Rationale. The rationale discusses the importance of guidance and counseling as an equal partner in the educational system and provides reasons why students need to acquire the competencies that will accrue to them as a result of their involvement in a comprehensive guidance and counseling program. The rationale suggests that the guidance program is designed to help all students develop their potential through provision of developmental assistance for all students and of specialized assistance for individuals with unique needs. Although the purpose of the rationale is to express the needs for the program, it also provides direction to implementation of the program by including the conclusions drawn from the student, school, and community needs assessments and other clarifications of goals of the local and state educational system and those of the nation as a whole. Assumptions. Assumptions are the principles that shape and guide the program. They include statements regarding the contributions that school counselors and guidance and counseling programs make to students' development, the premises that undergird the comprehensiveness and the balanced nature of the program, and the relationships between the guidance and counseling
program and other educational programs. Assumptions also include statements of basic expectations for professional school counselors and others who staff the program under the supervision of school counselors. Organizational Framework Program Components Guidance curriculum. The guidance curriculum component contains structured activities K-12 that provide all students with opportunities to master guidance and counseling competencies drawn from the content element of the program. In order for this to happen, school counselors are involved in teaching, team teaching, or serving as resources to those who teach a guidance curriculum. This is not a new idea; the notion of a guidance curriculum has deep, historical roots. What is new, however, is the array of guidance and counseling techniques, methods, and resources currently available that work best as a part of an organized curriculum. The guidance curriculum typically consists of competencies (organized by domains) and structured activities presented systematically K-12 through such strategies as: Classroom activities. School counselors teach, team teach, or support the teaching of guidance curriculum activities or units in classrooms. Teachers also may teach such units. The guidance curriculum is not limited to being a part of only one or two subjects, but is included in as many subjects as possible throughout the total school curriculum. These activities may be conducted in the classroom, guidance center, or other school facilities. School-wide activities. School counselors organize and conduct large group sessions such as career days and educational/college/vocational days. Other members of the guidance team, including teachers and administrators, may be involved in organizing and conducting such sessions. Although school counselors' responsibilities include organizing and implementing the guidance curriculum, the cooperation and support of the entire faculty are necessary for its successful implementation. Individual planning. Concern for individual student development in a complex society has been a cornerstone of the guidance movement since the days of Frank Parsons (1909). In recent years, the concern for individual student development has intensified as society has become more complex. This concern is manifested in many ways, but perhaps is expressed most succinctly in a frequently stated guidance goal: Helping all students become the persons they are capable of becoming. To accomplish the purposes of this component of the comprehensive guidance and counseling program, activities and procedures are provided to assist students in understanding and periodically monitoring their career, academic, and personal/social development. Students learn about their goals, values, abilities, aptitudes, and interests (competencies) so they can continue to progress educationally and occupationally. Individual planning focuses on assisting students, in close collaboration with parents, to develop, analyze, evaluate, and carry out their educational, occupational, and personal goals and plans. Individual planning is implemented through such strategies as:
Appraisal. Counselors and other trained advisors assist students to assess and interpret their abilities, interests, skills, and achievements. The use of test information and other data about students is an important part of helping them develop immediate and long-range goals and plans. Advisement. Counselors assist students to use self-appraisal information along with personalsocial, educational, career, and labor market information to help them plan for and realize their personal, educational, and occupational goals. Placement and follow-up. Counselor and other educational personnel assist students to make the transition from school to work or to additional education and training. Responsive services. Problems relating to academic learning, personal identity issues, drugs, and peer and family relationships are increasingly a part of the educational scene. Personal counseling, diagnostic and remediation activities, and consultation and referral must continue to be included as ongoing parts of a comprehensive guidance program. In addition, a continuing need exists for a guidance and counseling program to respond planfully to the current information-seeking needs of students, parents, and teachers. The responsive services component organizes guidance and counseling techniques and methods to respond to these concerns and needs; it is supportive of the guidance curriculum and individual planning components as well. Although school counselors have special training and possess skills to respond to students' current needs and concerns, the cooperation and support of parents and the entire faculty are necessary for this component's successful implementation. Responsive services are implemented through such strategies as: Consultation. School counselors consult with parents, teachers, other educators, and community agency personnel regarding strategies to help students manage and resolve personal/social, educational, and career concerns. Personal counseling. Small-group and individual counseling are provided for students who have problems or difficulties dealing with relationships, personal concerns, or normal developmental tasks. The focus is on assisting students to identify problems and causes, alternatives, possible consequences, and to take action when appropriate. Referral. Counselors use other professional resources of the school and community to refer students when appropriate. These referral sources may include: mental health agencies, employment and training programs, vocational rehabilitation, juvenile services, social services, and special school programs (special or compensatory education). System support. The administration and management of a comprehensive guidance and counseling program require an ongoing support system. That is why system support is a major program component. Unfortunately, it is often overlooked or only minimally appreciated. And yet, the system support component is as important as the other three components. Without continuing support, the other three components of the guidance program are ineffective. This component is implemented through such activities as:
Research and development. Guidance and counseling program evaluation, follow-up studies, and the continued development and updating of guidance curriculum activities are some examples of the research and development work of school counselors. Professional development. School counselors must regularly update their professional knowledge and skills. This may include participation in school professional development activities, attendance at professional meetings, completion of postgraduate coursework, and contributions to the professional literature. Staff/community public relations. The orientation of staff, parents, and the community to the comprehensive guidance and counseling program through the use of newsletters, local media, and the school and community presentations are examples of public relations work. Committee/advisory boards. Serving on departmental curriculum committees and community committees or advisory boards are examples of activities in this area. Community outreach. Included in this area are activities designed to help school counselors become knowledgeable about community resources, employment opportunities, and the local labor market. This involves school counselors visiting local businesses, industries, and social services agencies. Program management. This area includes the planning and management tasks needed to support the activities of a comprehensive guidance and counseling program. Fair-share responsibilities. These are the routine "running of the school" responsibilities that all members of the school staff take equal turns doing to assure the smooth operation of the school. Program time. School counselors' use of their professional time is critical. How should school counselors spend their time? How should their time be spread across the total program? The four program components provide the structure for making judgments about appropriate allocations of school counselors' time. One criterion is the concept of program balance. The assumption is that school counselor time should be spread across all program components, but particularly the first three. Another criterion is that different grade levels require different allocations of school counselor time across the program components. For example, at the elementary level more school counselor time is spent working in the guidance curriculum with less time spent in individual planning. In the high school, these time allocations are reversed. In the middle/junior high school, school counselors' time is more evenly distributed between the guidance curriculum and individual planning components. The time allocated to responsive services and system support is usually fairly constant across all three levels. How school counselors in a school district or school building plan and allocate their time depends on the needs of their students and their community and on the school's goals. Once chosen, time allocations are not fixed forever. The purpose for making them and adjusting them periodically is to provide direction to the program and to the administrators and school counselors involved.
Since the program is a "100 percent program," 100 percent of school counselors' time must be spread across the four program components. Time allocations are changed as needs arise, but nothing new can be added unless something is removed. The assumption is that school counselors spend 100 percent of their time on task, implementing the guidance and counseling program. Resources Human. Human resources for the guidance and counseling program include such individuals as school counselors, teachers, administrators, parents, students, community members, and business and labor personnel. All have roles to play in the guidance and counseling program. While school counselors are the main providers of guidance and counseling activities and are the coordinators of the program, the involvement, cooperation, and support of teachers and administrators is necessary for the program to be successful. The involvement, cooperation, and support of parents, community members, and business and labor personnel also is critical. A school-community advisory committee is recommended to bring together the talent and energy of school and community personnel. This committee acts as a liaison between the school and community and provides recommendations concerning the needs of students and the community. A primary duty of this committee is to advise those involved in the guidance and counseling program. The committee is not a policy or decision-making body; rather, it is a source of advice, counsel, and support and is a communication link between those involved in the guidance and counseling program and the school and community. The committee is a permanent part of the guidance and counseling program. Its use will vary according to the needs of the program and the community. It is important, however, that membership be more than in name only. Members will be particularly helpful in developing and implementing the public relations plan for the community. Financial. For a guidance and counseling program to function effectively, adequate financial support is crucial. This means that there is a budget for the program to provide for materials and equipment. This also means that appropriate facilities are provided by the district to house the personnel of the program. The kind of facilities available for a guidance and counseling program is of particular importance. Traditionally, guidance facilities have consisted of an office or suite of offices designed primarily to provide one-to-one counseling or consultation assistance. Such arrangements have frequently included reception or waiting areas that serve as browsing rooms where students have access to displays or files of educational and occupational information. Also, this space has typically been placed in the administrative wing of the school so that the counseling staff can be near the records and the administration. The need for individual offices is obvious because of the continuing need to carry on individual counseling and consultation. A need also exists, however, to open up guidance facilities and make them more accessible to all students, teachers, parents, and community members. One way
to make guidance facilities more usable and accessible is to reorganize traditional space into a guidance center. A guidance center brings together available guidance information and resources and makes them easily accessible to students. The center is used for such activities as group sessions, student selfexploration, and personalized research and planning. At the high-school level, students receive assistance in areas such as occupational planning, job entry and placement, financial aid information, and postsecondary educational opportunities. At the middle-school and elementaryschool levels, students and their parents receive information about the school, the community, and parenting skills; they also can read books about personal growth and development. Political. Education is not simply influenced by politics, it is politics. The mobilization of political resources is key to a successful guidance and counseling program. Full endorsement of the guidance program by the board of education as a "program" or a "framework" of the district is one example of mobilizing political resources. Another example is a clear and concise school district policy statement that highlights the integral and central nature of the school district's comprehensive guidance and counseling program to other programs in the school district (Gysbers, Lapan, & Jones, 2000). A Bright Future As we enter the 21st Century, the United States continues to undergo substantial and rapid changes industrially, occupationally, socially, and economically. These changes are reflected in the personal lives of students across the country. Uncertainty about the future; a highly competitive work world and school environment; an increasingly pluralistic and global society; changing structures of families and divorce; social isolation; violence in homes, schools, and communities; suicide among teenagers and children; substance and physical abuse; and sexual experimentation and threats of sexually transmitted diseases are some of the challenges faced by students. These challenges are real and have an impact on the healthy academic, personal, social, and career development of students. Given these ongoing societal changes and personal challenges, can comprehensive guidance and counseling programs developed in the 20th Century be responsive to the needs of students, parents, and school staff in the 21st Century? Our answer is, "Yes!" We believe that the organizational structure for guidance and counseling programs will continue to flourish. The content priorities may change with the fluctuations in society. The rationale and assumptions that support the program may change. The activities and procedures will change and improve. The allocations of school counselors' time may be altered. The basic organizational structure, however, will remain the same. It provides the means and language for school counselors to apply their talents to address the needs of students in ways desired by a school community. Some of the trends in these changes that we see include more widespread adoption of the comprehensive guidance and counseling program in schools; convergence of elementary and secondary schools' excellence and inclusivity goals; integration of the mission of guidance and counseling programs into those of schools; provision of increased human resources to better ensure adequate guidance for all students and counseling for the students who need it; continuing
advancement of the science and art of school counseling; use of the program's organizational structure as a foundation for the accountable use of augmented resources; and assignment of guidance program and staff leaders to ensure effective and efficient delivery of guidance and counseling programs. Widespread Adoption of the Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program Model Currently, it is estimated that more than half of the states promote the use of the comprehensive guidance and counseling program (Sink & MacDonald, 1998). As program and results evaluation data continue to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program, increased numbers of schools and school districts will adopt it. Program evaluation data show that, when comprehensively organized, professional school counselors and other guidance and counseling providers are accountable for the use of their time in activities designed to make cost-efficient use of their talents. Evaluation data regarding student results show program effectiveness in helping students succeed in school and achieve other goals determined to be important to carrying out the mission of schools. For example, when middle school classroom teachers in Missouri rated guidance and counseling programs in their schools as more fully implemented, seventh graders in these schools reported that they had earned higher grades, school was more relevant for them, they had positive relationships with teachers, and they felt safer in school (Lapan, Gysbers, Petroski, in press). Excellence and Inclusivity Goals Currently, elementary and secondary educators are challenged to provide an academically excellent education, one that ensures college preparedness of all students. This goal has resulted in the standardization of curricula, attempting to guarantee developmentally appropriate acquisition of academic content to achieve the college-preparedness goal. Standardized tests are used to assess students' academic progress and, in some states (e.g., Texas), to mandate remediation before students are allowed to continue their advancement through the grade levels. Striving to attain this goal has made elementary-secondary education lock step. At the same time, elementary and secondary educators are challenged to provide an inclusive education, ensuring each learner's education is tailored with consideration of his or her diverse academic, social, language, emotional, behavioral, and/or physical/medical needs. This goal has resulted in systems and approaches for ensuring individually appropriate education, carefully planned to meet learners where they are and help them make progress in their learning. Striving to attain this goal has made elementary-secondary education highly individualized. Convergence of these two primary but somewhat incongruent goals will result when recognition of the value of developmental assistance for all students is coupled with recognition of the need for personalized assistance for each student. Schools will need to organize themselves so that all students receive developmentally appropriate assistance, hold high standards and seek lofty goals for themselves, and are served in ways that match their individual needs and wants. The comprehensive guidance and counseling program provides the vehicle for this convergence in guidance program delivery. Developmentally appropriate guidance assistance for students is
provided through guidance curriculum activities. Individually tailored guidance and counseling assistance for students is provided through individual planning and responsive services activities. This organizational structure matches that of the schools of the future. Integration of the Guidance Program and Total School Mission The comprehensive guidance and counseling program recommends continuous program planning, designing, implementing, evaluating, and enhancing. Such ongoing program management causes guidance and counseling program managers to keep their fingers on the pulse of students' needs and a school's mission and goals. Whether a school's mission is narrowly focused on helping all students achieve academic success or is more broadly focused on helping all students achieve academic success and enjoy healthy personal and social development, the goals of a comprehensive guidance and counseling program reflect those of the school in which it operates. A guidance and counseling program focus that is consonant with the focus of the school is a program in the mainstream. Increased Human Resources for Guidance The more integrated a program is into the mainstream of a school, the more it is recognized that substantial person-power is required to provide adequate guidance and counseling for all students. Such recognition leads to efforts to expand the human resources applied to the program. One way this happens is in the form of school-wide acceptance of guidance responsibilities. Teachers highlight guidance content objectives across their curricula. Student advisory programs are developed and installed to ensure the appropriate provision of meaningful educational and career advisement (National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1996). Schoolwide teams of professionals coordinate school-wide testing programs and use of resulting data. Paraprofessionals are hired to fill roles that do not require a master's degree in guidance and counseling. Related social and mental health professionals--school-based social workers, psychologists, licensed counselors--are brought into collaborative, programmatic relationships with professional school counselors. Expanded human resources applied to comprehensive guidance and counseling programs place professional school counselors into roles of coordinating the various aspects of the program and supervising the broader group of "guidance program staff members" (Henderson & Gysbers, 1998, p. 222). They ensure that individuals fulfill roles that are appropriate to their competencies. They provide the common language that facilitates students' attainment of guidance program goals. In addition to school-based professionals, expanded human resources applied to the guidance program are available from an ever-broadening "school-community." Parents, good corporate citizens, local employers, and other volunteers recognize society's stake in and responsibility for education's product. They accept responsibilities in program implementation as volunteers (from speakers to secretarial help), as partners in working with their children in educational and career planning, and in helping children obtain needed special services. They participate in program design as members of school-community advisory committees and reviewers of materials.
Community-based social workers, psychologists, and licensed counselors consult with school counselors about and on behalf of shared clients. Opening the schoolhouse doors wider also results in more people being deeper involved with children's schooling. More parent involvement in helping schools achieve their goals is accompanied by more parents having information and opinions about the proper role for schoolbased guidance and counseling. This continues to bring to the forefront political resources, both knowledgeable supporters and constituents who are critical of the program (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000). Advancement of the Science and Art of Counseling The continuing development of the profession of counseling enhances the work of all professional counselors, including school counselors. The knowledge base that supports counseling theory and the range of skills and strategies that support counseling practice grow deeper and broader. For school counselors at the end of the 20th and moving on to the 21st Century, this has led to a clear definition of the job of school counselors and the associated competencies required. In turn, this is leading to the modernization of school counselor certification standards. Most states are requiring continuing education for professional development of educators. The development of standards and methods for counseling supervision has enriched such ongoing development for school counselors (Henderson & Gysbers, 1998). Accountability for Resource Use Twenty-first Century society will continue to respond to the needs of its young people by offering more human, financial, and political resources. The organizational structure for delivery of comprehensive guidance and counseling programs provides a foundation for accountable use of these resources. New guidance and counseling activities that new resources support are augmentations to existing program activities. Indeed, if they are not logical extensions that fit within the program components, then perhaps they are not appropriate guidance and counseling activities. By way of example, additional resources are currently augmenting the guidance curriculum through school-wide learning initiatives such as those promoting character development, anger management, conflict resolution, and education for self-responsibility. Truly personalized individual planning assistance for each student is made more feasible through mentor programs. Mentors (and advisors) are trained to provide fact-based, nondirective assistance to help students plan and monitor their own growth and development. Responsive services are augmented through a variety of ways. Teachers are trained to lead mediations. Volunteer mentors offer caring adult role models to at-risk students. Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act monies nurture linkages between school services and community-based social work and mental health agencies. Community-funded medical assistance is provided through school-based clinics. Finally, augmentation of system support is occurring though advances in technology. Available technology supports program management and program delivery.
Program and Staff Leadership At the end of the 20th Century, it was clear that leadership of a special program requires special knowledge and skills. Someone knowledgeable in the specialty and of the specialists can best provide the leadership needed. Additionally, the financial resources appropriated to guidance and counseling programs in most school districts are relatively substantial. The largest percent of these appropriations are for school counselors' salaries. As the 21st Century begins, the need for designating individuals to be responsible for providing direction to and evaluating the results of guidance and counseling programs and school counselors performance has been recognized. In order to be accountable, training in relevant leadership competencies is required for guidance program staff leaders (Henderson & Gysbers, 1998). A Final Note These end-of-the-20th-century trends suggest that the strengths of the comprehensive guidance and counseling program will continue to enhance professional school counselors' work in the 21st Century. The program's organizational structure not only provides the means and a common language for ensuring guidance for all students and counseling for the students that need it, it also provides a foundation for the accountable use of an ever-broadening spectrum of resources. It provides the means for matching school counselors' talents with the needs of students to help them achieve results desired by a school-community. The program supports accountability for content priorities through evaluation of student results, for program relevance through continuous reconsideration of the contents of the structural and program components, for program delivery through evaluation in light of locally established program standards, and for school counselors' performance through assessment of their use of time and evaluation of their competence based on professional school counseling standards. References Brewer, J. M. (1922). The vocational guidance movement: Its problems and possibilities. New York: Macmillan. Campbell, C. A., & Dahir, C. A. (1997). Sharing the vision: The national standards for school counseling programs. Alexandria, VA: American School Counselor Association. Fitch, J. A. (1936). Professional standards in guidance. Occupations, 14, 761-762. Ginn, S. J. (1924). Vocational guidance in Boston Public Schools. The Vocational Guidance Magazine, 3, 3-7. Gysbers, N. C., & Henderson, P. (2000). Developing and managing your school guidance program (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Gysbers, N. C., & Moore E. J. (1975). Beyond career development life career development. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 53, 647-652.
Gysbers, N. C., & Moore, E. J. (1981). Improving guidance programs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Gysbers, N. C., Lapan, R. T., & Jones B. (2000). School board policies for guidance and counseling: A call to action. Professional School Counseling, 3, 349-355. Henderson, P., & Gysbers, N. C. (1998). Leading and managing your school guidance program staff. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Lapan, R. T., Gysbers, N. C., & Petroski, G. (in press). Helping 7th graders be safe and academically successful: A statewide study of the impact of comprehensive guidance programs. Journal of Career Development. Myers, G. E. (1923). Critical review of present developments in vocational guidance with special references to future prospects. The Vocational Guidance Magazine, 2, 139-142. Myers, G. E. (1935). Coordinated guidance: Some suggestions for a program of pupil personnel work. Occupations, 13, 804-807. National Association of Secondary School Principals. (1996). Breaking ranks: Changing an American institution. Reston, VA: Author. National Defense Education Act of 1958, Pub. L. No. 85-864, 70 Stat. 1580-1605 (1959). Parsons, F. (1909). Choosing a vocation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Sink, C. A., & MacDonald, G. (1998). The status of comprehensive guidance and counseling in the United States. Professional School Counseling, 2, 88-94. Stephens, W. R. (1970). Social reform and the origins of vocational guidance. Washington DC: National Vocational Guidance Association. Vocational Education Act of 1946, Pub. L. No. 79-586, 60 Stat. 775-778, (1947). ~~~~~~~~ By Norman C. Gysbers and Patricia Henderson Norman C. Gysbers, Ph.D., is a professor with the University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO. E-mail: gysbersn@missouri.edu Patricia Henderson, Ed.D., is a director of Guidance, Northside Independent School District, San Antonio, TX.
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