Title and Role

Title and Role Confusions for School Counselors: Food for Thought and Discussion

By Cynthia A. Esielionis, M.Ed., Governing Board Member and School Counselor, Ayer Shirley Regional Middle School

A Short History: Norman C. Gysbergs, Ph.D wrote School Counseling Principles Remembering the Past, Shaping the Future A History of School Counseling in 2010 (ASCA). He chronicled the ebbs and flows of the profession over about a century. It is amazing that he identified one of the issues as “varied and confusing terminology” (p. 27) and quoted Payne who said in 1925 “… In all of the divisions of education there is more or less difficulty with terminology. This is particularly true of vocational guidance.” (Organization of Vocational Guidance, New York: McGraw- Hill 1925, p. 34). Despite the many articles over time and in recent years, in various publications on the topic of guidance counselor vs. school counselor, this confusion and debate over terminology continues today. Over the years, legislation has had a significant impact on the definition of the school counselor and the various iterations of title and role that evolved over decades: from the National Defense Education Act (NDEA, 1958), the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (EDEA, 1965), the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, 1974), the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES, 2020) to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER, 2021) to name a few. Through these decades, it became apparent that school counselors, could have a great impact providing proactive services to all students with the delivery of comprehensive, developmental, vertically aligned curriculum.

As Gysbergs details, there have been significant debates and philosophical shifts defining the difference in roles and responsibilities as well as

Cynthia Esielionis the profession expectations of, what is now, the school counselor, over the last century. Despite this history and the national and local efforts over the last 30 years to shift to the American Counselor Association’s (ASCA) vision of One Vision One Voice, there are still those opposed to using the title School Counselor.

There are many factors that continue to contribute to the persistent use of the title guidance counselor as well as the role confusion between school social workers and school counselors. Some believe that the title change is so insignificant that the titles are interchangeable. They include a misunderstanding of the difference between the titles, the significance of that difference, the perceptions people have based on their experiences with professions while they were in school, the continued use of the term guidance counselor in a variety of written documents as well as confusion between the roles of school counselor and adjustment counselor/school social worker.

Evolutions: Guidance counselors of the mid twentieth century grew from the origins of the vocational counselor which was often a duty for experienced teachers. These professionals were primarily housed in the high school setting and tended to the post-secondary pursuits of students either guiding the college bound to appropriate schools or others to the military or workforce. These professionals were often given other administrative tasks that were not direct student services. As the needs of students changed, title and role debates continued, and legislation influenced the counseling role. Guidance counselor duties expanded, covering a broader range of issues. The responsive manner in which services had been delivered to some students, needed to change. The school counselor title was adopted by ASCA in the 1990s when they determined that guidance counselors could and should use a systems approach to proactively address all students’ growth in the domains of social/emotional, academic and career development. Through delivery of comprehensive, developmental (or vertically aligned) curriculum to all students, school counselors would be able to proactively give all students the opportunity to develop competencies in these areas and identify students who need more targeted interventions to achieve academic success. This multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) across all three domains assists every child in developing their best self.

Title Clarification The titles are not interchangeable. The school counselor title was instituted by our professional organizations, ASCA and MASCA, in the 1990s. The title school counselor denotes that the professional has a recognized skill set including the approved subject matter knowledge and professional degree

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title. The term guidance counselor is perceived to be narrower in scope and skill set, therefore not truly defining expanded role of the professional 21st century school counselor. One connotes the outdated, mid twentieth century role of responsive service delivery, when a need is identified. The other, a modern professional role title dedicated to the proactive service to all students aligned to student learning standards in clearly defined domains.

When school counselors teach their curriculum, it qualifies as Time on Learning. This is achieved through independently instructing the approved, standards based benchmarks and/or cross curricular instruction and co-teaching. School counselors teach DESE approved frameworks and benchmarks and DESE supports The MA Model for Comprehensive School Counseling 3.0. Define Ourselves! When other professionals write about us, their choice of title ascribed to us can add to the role confusion and/or influence perceptions of the role of the school counselor. The Massachusetts Acceleration Roadmap: Pathway to an Equitable Recovery doesn’t mention school counselors or school social workers. How is it that school counselors are not part of “an equitable recovery”? The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Programs and Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Programs documents use both school counselor and guidance counselor interchangeably. Protecting Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory consistently uses the terms school counselor and social worker and advocates for expanding both the number of these professionals in schools. When there is inconsistency at the highest levels, it is no wonder the confusion trickles down. Efforts at the Massachusetts state level continue to advocate for incorporation of MyCAP (My Career and Academic Plan) into grades 6-12 as a part of DESE’s College and Career Readiness initiatives to empower all students to connect their skills and interests into course planning and, ultimately, appropriate, achievable post-secondary goals with the assistance of a “school mentor”. MyCAP is directly tied to the MA Career Development Education Benchmarks in the aforementioned school counseling domains.

Legislation continues to influence on our profession. There are currently bills at the Massachusetts state level: H555 An Act relative to school counselors and H.351 An Act expanding licensure opportunity for school counselors. One of these bills is for the implementation of the Ma Model as a pilot program and the other provides for an alternate pathway for school counselors to obtain license as a mental health counselor. It seems there is adequate data available through the Massachusetts Accountability Report Card (M.A.R.C.) and MARC Jr. awards to demonstrate the efficacy of a well implemented program. Will the additional license add to the role confusion, create more mental health resources in school, or both? Collaborative Partners: The role of mental health professionals in schools is also complicated by individuals’ personal perceptions of what school adjustment counselors and school counselors is or should be. While there are certainly overlapping tasks, there are generally distinct differences in training and, therefore, expertise. School counselors typically earn a Masters of Arts, Masters of Science or a Masters of Education with a school counseling concentration. Most states require a Masters in social work to hold a school social work license through the department of education. However, Massachusetts allows the school adjustment certification through alternate degrees in counseling or a Master degree in social work. Many colleges and universities in Massachusetts are now giving graduate students the opportunity to get concurrent school counselor and school adjustment counselor certifications through additional coursework. In some cases this difference between the certifications is as narrow as three courses with important distinctions and a few (300) extra practicum hours. Other programs add significant practicum hours (900) in addition to added courses. The fidelity with which each college or university distinguishes the roles and responsibilities aids or hinders the understanding the professional ultimately has of their role. Administrators that hire professional school counselors, adjustment counselors or social workers that are not aware of the differences in training and routes to certification and are likely to be unsure of what specific skills and knowledge an individual has to bring to the district and meet identified needs. Both the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) and the School Social Work Association of America have both clearly defined the roles of these professionals:

“School counselors are certified/licensed educators who improve student success for ALL students by implementing a comprehensive school counseling program… …School counselors design and deliver school counseling programs that improve student outcomes. They lead, advocate and collaborate to promote equity and access for all students by connecting their school counseling program to the school’s academic mission and school improvement plan.” (The Role of The School Counselor) “School Social Workers are trained mental health professionals with a degree in social work who provide services related to a person’s social, emotional and life adjustment to school and/or society. School So-

cial Workers are the link between the home, school and community in providing direct as well as indirect services to students, families and school personnel to promote and support students’ academic and social success.” (Who are school social workers?)

Moving forward: In this pandemic, we know that there are increased mental health needs of students as evidenced in the national data showing a rise in emergency room visits and hospitalizations for behavioral health issues, and the demand for professional counseling services in and outside of school. The question is how to support all students. If a multitiered system of support (MTSS) is used, it seems tier one interventions for all students by school counselors in the classroom can quickly identify students requiring tier two and three services prior to crisis or hospitalization. There needs to be adequate numbers of school counseling staff in addition to those tier two and three interventions for the system to function with fidelity. As the tasks assigned to school counselors are considered, and those tasks still need to be completed, accurate data collection will guide districts to provide the appropriate types of professionals to meet their local needs. Please reference another article in this issue that discusses the School Counselor role and responsibilities for further discussion. Likely ESSER grants have been approved with resources already determined. However, school counselors are encouraged to discuss the foregoing with their colleagues and administrations to clarify roles and goals. School counselors are further encouraged to use the MASCA and ASCA resources to help collect and focus on what local data show that their district and schools need and use that information to support positions as we approach the start of the budget season for next school year.