Final Blog

I can say without hesitation that I learned a lot from creating this Comprehensive School Counseling Program. At the beginning of the semester it seemed so overwhelming and such a big project to complete that I was not even sure where to start to try to break it down but as we moved through the process and understood the model better it began to make more sense. While I would not call myself and ASCA National Model expert, I do feel as though I have a solid understanding of the model and the different components needed to make an effective program.

I think that the biggest barrier to carrying out this program is getting the buy-in from the different stakeholders in being able to implement this program effectively. The administrators must believe that this program is valuable to this school and support it in order for you to put all of the pieces in place and I think that may be really difficult to accomplish at some schools.

The first piece that I will take with me to practicum and use are the lesson plans that we developed as a group and the resources that we found for other lessons. I think we compiled a solid list that encompasses many different areas and I can really see myself using them. The second piece that I would like to use during my practicum experience is the tier process and being able to reach all students at some level and then working with small groups that need the extra help and going a step farther and working one on one with a student who needs the help at the individual level. The third piece that I will take with me to practicum is the assessments that our group used because I think they are a great way to gauge how the different stakeholders are feeling in the school. The assessments are a critical piece of the comprehensive program and in doing my practicum it will be nice to get a feeling of how the students and teachers are feeling.

I feel like my preparation to implement this program is at a good place. I do not feel totally comfortable with every aspect of the program; however, I do feel prepared with most of it. I think that with something as big as this program is it is nearly impossible to feel totally prepared, but I think I am at a good place and my experience in practicum will help me feel even more prepared.

The article reading for this week was a nice ending to the semester and pulling a lot of what we have discussed in this class together. The one thing in the article that I found interesting is that “middle school counselors appear to be most closely aligned with the goals of the State Plan and the ASCA National Model” (Dahir, Burnham, & Stone, 2009, p. 190). In the interviews and shadowing of school counselors that I have done over the last year I felt as though elementary school counselors were more closely aligned with the model so it is interesting that the article shows middle school counselors to be more aligned with the model.

Dahir, C. A., Burnham, J. J., and Stone, C. (2009). Listen to the voices: School counselors and comprehensive school counseling programs. Professional School Counseling, 12(3), 182-192.