Pyne, Jaymes

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ColleaguesVolume 2 | Issue 1 Article 64-8-2011School Counselors Linked to Student SuccessJaymes PyneFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/colleaguesThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colleagues by an authorizedadministrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gvsu.edu.Recommended CitationPyne, Jaymes (2007) "School Counselors Linked to Student Success," Colleagues: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 6.Available at: http://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/colleagues/vol2/iss1/6COLLEAGUES8TR E N D S IN ED U C AT I O NContent is the crucial point of attendingschool.  But if students are not address-ing issues in their personal life, howcan we begin to expect them to sit down andlearn for seven hours a day?  Because of the realities of today’s schools,students need an advocate that will addresstheir various needs.  Social workers areeffective support staff members, but dealmostly with at-risk students, and students donot need to be at-risk to have personal issuesthat need resolving.  Teachers are feeling theheat from high-stakes testing and contentstandards, and although they act as advocates,they can’t realistically resolve all students’issues alone.  School counselors are in theposition to advocate for all students.School counselors are in the unique positionof addressing the personal and social issues ofstudents, and connecting that with academicachievement and planning for the future.  TheAmerican School Counselor Association(ASCA) recommends a counseling programthat works with teachers, administrators,support staff, parents, and the community tofoster healthy, safe, and educational schoolenvironments for students.  Research indicates that students with accessto inclusive and fully-implemented counselingprograms feel better about going to school, aremore likely to enroll in higher-level courses,and on average will perform better on theACT test.  Such programs also positivelyeffect academic achievement and schoolsafety.  Counselors may address such issues asbullying, depression, study skills, datingrelationships, career planning, ACTpreparation, and substance abuse.  This maybe done one-on-one, in small groups, or at anassembly.  Counselors also teach in theclassroom and work with teachers to integratecritical issues into course content.  But even given all of the above reasons, thebenefits of school counseling programs inMichigan have not been fully recognized bythe state.  There is no mandate for districts toemploy school counselors, so even having aprogram is optional.  In Michigan there are 648 students for everyschool counselor. Compared to other states,that’s high—and 2.6 times higher than theASCA recommended ratio of 250:1.Nationally, lower ratios correlate with higherachievement rates.In the Midwest, for example, Illinois andMichigan have the highest student tocounselor ratios (685:1 and 648:1,respectively), and also perform the worst onNAEP math and reading tests, compared toWisconsin and Ohio who have the lowestratios (461:1 and 500:1) and also the highestachievement rates on the same tests.  School counseling programs are vital in thedevelopmental growth of all students.Claudia Sowa Wojciakowski, currentPresident of the Michigan School CounselorAssociation (MSCA) and Grand Valley StateUniversity professor, along with MSCAlobbyist David Ladd, are spearheading theissue legally, and are currently working on awhite paper that will address this issue tolegislators in the coming year.  The white paper refers to national trends aswell as ratio comparisons both in-state andnationwide. This writer and Paul Mannes ofthe Community Outreach Office at GVSU’sCollege of Education, working with MSCA,gathered the information used in the whitepaper and in this article.  The white paper wasapproved by the MSCA board and endorsedby the Association of Michigan SchoolCounselors.  For more information on school counselingor to view a copy of the white paper, visithttp://www.mich-sca.org/ or call (616) 365-0322.School Counselors Linked to Student Successby Jaymes PyneColleagues SP07_7:Colleagues SP07  4/6/07  10:27 AM  Page 81Pyne: School Counselors Linked to Student SuccessProduced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2007

School Counselors Linked to Student Success

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