Postsecondary Planning Ethics
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Author(s): A. Greiner, Ph.D.; C. Hatton, Ph.D.; and F. Sabens
November 1, 2023
I’m a high school counselor with several seniors on my caseload who have 504 plans and IEPs. One student has been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia and is planning to apply to a four-year college. His parents are concerned about his ability to be successful in college and are recommending he transition directly into the workforce after graduation. How can I ethically meet my student’s needs without dismissing his parents’ plans for his future?
According to the ASCA Ethical Standards, school counselors have a primary obligation to students, supporting their academic, career and social/emotional development. However, school counselors must also carefully balance their obligation to students while honoring the inherent rights and responsibilities of parents/guardians. School counselors can achieve this balance by working collaboratively with parents/guardians to advocate for students to meet their full potential.
Although this scenario focuses on a high school senior, it’s important to remember that career development starts at the primary level. In other words, don’t wait until high school to begin having postsecondary conversations with students and their families. Encourage parents/guardians to be part of this process by ensuring they stay up to date on their child’s career interests and postsecondary plans throughout the K–12 years.
For example, after delivering an elementary classroom lesson on careers within the community, consider sharing a newsletter or blog post with parents/guardians highlighting the classroom lesson. Suggest questions parents/guardians can ask to continue the discussion at home. Share additional career exploration resources, and provide your contact information should parents/guardians have follow-up questions. At the secondary level, consider offering individualized academic and career planning meetings and inviting parents/guardians to be part of the meetings. During the meetings, have students share their grades, standardized test scores, results from their career assessments/inventories, potential electives based on their career interests and possible postsecondary plans. By doing so, you can ensure parents/guardians have an integral role in their child’s postsecondary plans. Furthermore, these steps open the lines of communication between you and the parents/guardians, which can foster a collaborative relationship as both parties work to support their child’s development.
ASCA’s position statement on The School Counselor and Students with Disabilities indicates that school counselors have a responsibility to assist with “developing academic, transition and postsecondary plans for students with IEPs and 504 plans as appropriate.”
For students with IEPs and 504 plans, you can use individualized academic and career planning meetings to work collaboratively with students and parents/guardians to develop transition plans so students meet their maximum potential at the postsecondary level. If individualized academic and career planning meetings aren’t an option for all students, advocate for an IEP/504 transition meeting during the spring of students’ senior year.
You can also connect students and families with the Disability Support Services Office at their future college. Regardless of whether you have an individualized academic and career planning meeting or an IEP/504 transition meeting, you can educate students and parents/guardians on services and/or accommodations available at the postsecondary level. Specifically, it’s important to explain to parents/guardians that although IEP accommodations don’t transition to the college level, students may continue to receive accommodations and services as permitted by law. However, similar to transitions from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school, it is imperative to remind students and parents/guardians that the accommodations may look different at the college level, and they may need to explore alternative accommodations.
During these meetings, also explain that receiving support at the postsecondary level will require a greater commitment to self-advocacy. Students should advocate for themselves by meeting with the Disability Support Services Office before classes begin to share a copy of their IEP/504 plan, familiarize themselves with the procedures for receiving accommodations and identify services the college offers that they may want to use throughout the academic year (e.g. writing center, counseling services, etc.). This will help ease the transition and ensure students have the tools to meet their full potential beyond high school.
When school counselors provide opportunities for parents/guardians to come alongside them as they support student development, they foster a collaborative relationship that advocates for all students, including students with IEP and 504 plans, to meet their maximum potential beyond high school. Furthermore, if parents/guardians express concerns about their child’s postsecondary plans, the school counselor can bridge the gap by opening the lines of communication and seeking to objectively understand factors contributing to parents’/guardians’ preferences for their child’s postsecondary plans.
This year my school is hosting a college and career fair for the first time since the pandemic hit in 2020. As a new school counselor, I was excited to take the lead on this event and collaborate with parents/guardians and community members. When the school administration reviewed the list of presenters for the fair, they asked why I hadn’t invited more “people with professional careers” to attend. They explained that our school is in a high-income area, and many of the students will probably go to college because their parents/guardians can afford it. How can I explain to them that I have an ethical obligation to ensure that the career fair is for all students, not just those who are on the track for college or a “professional career”?
Attending college and career fairs throughout the K–12 years exposes students to a variety of postsecondary options, so it’s wonderful that you are incorporating this event within your school counseling program. School counselors have an ethical obligation to address gaps in college and career access and identify intentional and unintentional biases within postsecondary and career counseling. In this particular case, it seems as though school personnel have some preconceived notions about students’ postsecondary plans and interests based on their parents’ jobs and income levels. They are assuming that students have plans to attend college and pursue certain careers. While this may be the case for some students, it wouldn’t be appropriate to apply this thinking to all students. We can’t assume students will follow the same postsecondary paths their parents/guardians took or choose to attend college just because they can afford to do so. Moreover, we must remember students can pursue various postsecondary options throughout their lifetime. Thus, we must be careful not to limit their opportunities to learn or explore due to our own biases and assumptions.
In addition to identifying biases affecting students’ access to postsecondary options, it’s also important to remember that school counselors have an ethical obligation to ensure all students, including those who have been marginalized by the school system, have equitable access to a school counseling program that promotes academic, career and social/emotional development. Focusing on just one group of students, such as those who are on the path to a “professional career,” can cause others to feel marginalized, isolated and even devalued when their needs and interests are unmet and overlooked. Furthermore, school counselors have an ethical obligation to support students from all backgrounds regardless of factors including but not limited to their social class, economic status or family type. The ASCA Ethical Standards also state that school counselors should support all students’ career awareness, exploration and postsecondary planning and decision-making by supporting their right to choose from various options including but not limited to college/university, career and technical school, military or workforce.
As a school counselor, you also have an ethical obligation to address any inequitable systemic policies and practices affecting students’ postsecondary choices. If your school has a history of only focusing on specific postsecondary options while negating others, it’s your ethical obligation to address this disparity and advocate for those students who are being overlooked or left out due to this practice.
One way to ensure students’ voices are heard in the planning process is by gathering data from them to determine their career interests. By doing so, you can present postsecondary options representing all students’ interests. Also, after the career fair, you can have students complete an exit survey to capture relevant details about their experience. The exit survey also serves as an opportunity to collect and analyze data to determine the event’s effectiveness. Share this data with your stakeholders to drive their decision making and program planning. Lastly, discuss your concerns with administrators to help them understand your ethical obligation and rationale for providing diverse postsecondary options to all students.
My school counseling department is required to invite all parents/guardians and students to attend an individual academic planning meeting with the school counselor. Although we reach out to parents/guardians, often we don’t get a response and are left to host the meeting with just the student. Is it wrong or unethical to host the meeting with just the student without inviting parents/guardians?
You are acting in an ethical manner when you reach out to parents/guardians and invite them to attend postsecondary planning meetings with their child. In terms of student development, the ASCA Ethical Standards reveal that school counselors should acknowledge the vital role and rights of parents/guardians and families, respect their belief systems and avoid imposing personal biases. The Ethical Standards also charge school counselors to “recognize, honor and respect the importance of parents and guardians when providing services to students” and seek to collaborate with them as appropriate. By inviting parents/guardians to the postsecondary planning meeting, you are demonstrating a good-faith effort to collaborate with them and walk alongside them to support their child. On the other hand, if parents/guardians aren’t invited to the meetings, it sends a message that their input is not needed, valued or considered in the postsecondary planning process.
As a school counselor, you also have an ethical obligation to advocate for equitable, anti-oppressive and anti-bias policies, procedures or practices to meet students’ needs. So, in this case, it would be important to determine why parents/guardians aren’t attending meetings and adjust policies, procedures or practices accordingly to ensure you don’t further marginalize or oppress students and their families. For example, if you are only hosting postsecondary meetings during the school day, some families may not be able to attend due to their work schedule. Providing an opportunity for families to attend meetings outside of school hours or holding meetings at a neutral location (i.e., community library or recreation center) may yield more participation. Alternately, consider offering parents/guardians the chance to connect with you via video or phone instead of in-person meetings. Also ensure meeting invitations and other correspondence are sent home in families’ language of origin to ensure communication gaps don’t hinder their participation. Families should also have access to interpreters to foster a smooth communication process.
When it comes to postsecondary planning, there is so much research on the topic, and schools often operate differently based on their resources. What are some best practices my school counseling team can implement based on the ASCA Ethical Standards?
As school counselors, it’s our duty to recognize each student possesses unique interests and abilities, which will lead to various future life and career opportunities. When approaching our work around postsecondary planning, adopting ethical practices and being culturally sensitive is paramount as we collaborate with families, educational staff and the surrounding community. We must also ensure students develop an academic and career plan reflecting their interests, abilities and goals, including rigorous, relevant coursework and experiences appropriate for the student.
Here are some best practices to consider as you approach your work around postsecondary planning:
Angelica Greiner, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Liberty University, serves on ASCA’s Ethics Committee, and is an ASCA U Legal and Ethical Specialist. Crystal Hatton, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Liberty University, serves on ASCA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee; Position Statements Committee; and is an ASCA U Legal and Ethical Specialist. Franciene Sabens is a school counselor at Herrin High School in Herrin, Ill., serves on ASCA’s Ethics Committee, and is an ASCA U Legal and Ethical Specialist. Submit your ethics questions to ethics@schoolcounselor.org.
According to the ASCA Ethical Standards, school counselors have a primary obligation to students, supporting their academic, career and social/emotional development. However, school counselors must also carefully balance their obligation to students while honoring the inherent rights and responsibilities of parents/guardians. School counselors can achieve this balance by working collaboratively with parents/guardians to advocate for students to meet their full potential.
Although this scenario focuses on a high school senior, it’s important to remember that career development starts at the primary level. In other words, don’t wait until high school to begin having postsecondary conversations with students and their families. Encourage parents/guardians to be part of this process by ensuring they stay up to date on their child’s career interests and postsecondary plans throughout the K–12 years.
For example, after delivering an elementary classroom lesson on careers within the community, consider sharing a newsletter or blog post with parents/guardians highlighting the classroom lesson. Suggest questions parents/guardians can ask to continue the discussion at home. Share additional career exploration resources, and provide your contact information should parents/guardians have follow-up questions. At the secondary level, consider offering individualized academic and career planning meetings and inviting parents/guardians to be part of the meetings. During the meetings, have students share their grades, standardized test scores, results from their career assessments/inventories, potential electives based on their career interests and possible postsecondary plans. By doing so, you can ensure parents/guardians have an integral role in their child’s postsecondary plans. Furthermore, these steps open the lines of communication between you and the parents/guardians, which can foster a collaborative relationship as both parties work to support their child’s development.
ASCA’s position statement on The School Counselor and Students with Disabilities indicates that school counselors have a responsibility to assist with “developing academic, transition and postsecondary plans for students with IEPs and 504 plans as appropriate.”
For students with IEPs and 504 plans, you can use individualized academic and career planning meetings to work collaboratively with students and parents/guardians to develop transition plans so students meet their maximum potential at the postsecondary level. If individualized academic and career planning meetings aren’t an option for all students, advocate for an IEP/504 transition meeting during the spring of students’ senior year.
You can also connect students and families with the Disability Support Services Office at their future college. Regardless of whether you have an individualized academic and career planning meeting or an IEP/504 transition meeting, you can educate students and parents/guardians on services and/or accommodations available at the postsecondary level. Specifically, it’s important to explain to parents/guardians that although IEP accommodations don’t transition to the college level, students may continue to receive accommodations and services as permitted by law. However, similar to transitions from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school, it is imperative to remind students and parents/guardians that the accommodations may look different at the college level, and they may need to explore alternative accommodations.
During these meetings, also explain that receiving support at the postsecondary level will require a greater commitment to self-advocacy. Students should advocate for themselves by meeting with the Disability Support Services Office before classes begin to share a copy of their IEP/504 plan, familiarize themselves with the procedures for receiving accommodations and identify services the college offers that they may want to use throughout the academic year (e.g. writing center, counseling services, etc.). This will help ease the transition and ensure students have the tools to meet their full potential beyond high school.
When school counselors provide opportunities for parents/guardians to come alongside them as they support student development, they foster a collaborative relationship that advocates for all students, including students with IEP and 504 plans, to meet their maximum potential beyond high school. Furthermore, if parents/guardians express concerns about their child’s postsecondary plans, the school counselor can bridge the gap by opening the lines of communication and seeking to objectively understand factors contributing to parents’/guardians’ preferences for their child’s postsecondary plans.
This year my school is hosting a college and career fair for the first time since the pandemic hit in 2020. As a new school counselor, I was excited to take the lead on this event and collaborate with parents/guardians and community members. When the school administration reviewed the list of presenters for the fair, they asked why I hadn’t invited more “people with professional careers” to attend. They explained that our school is in a high-income area, and many of the students will probably go to college because their parents/guardians can afford it. How can I explain to them that I have an ethical obligation to ensure that the career fair is for all students, not just those who are on the track for college or a “professional career”?
Attending college and career fairs throughout the K–12 years exposes students to a variety of postsecondary options, so it’s wonderful that you are incorporating this event within your school counseling program. School counselors have an ethical obligation to address gaps in college and career access and identify intentional and unintentional biases within postsecondary and career counseling. In this particular case, it seems as though school personnel have some preconceived notions about students’ postsecondary plans and interests based on their parents’ jobs and income levels. They are assuming that students have plans to attend college and pursue certain careers. While this may be the case for some students, it wouldn’t be appropriate to apply this thinking to all students. We can’t assume students will follow the same postsecondary paths their parents/guardians took or choose to attend college just because they can afford to do so. Moreover, we must remember students can pursue various postsecondary options throughout their lifetime. Thus, we must be careful not to limit their opportunities to learn or explore due to our own biases and assumptions.
In addition to identifying biases affecting students’ access to postsecondary options, it’s also important to remember that school counselors have an ethical obligation to ensure all students, including those who have been marginalized by the school system, have equitable access to a school counseling program that promotes academic, career and social/emotional development. Focusing on just one group of students, such as those who are on the path to a “professional career,” can cause others to feel marginalized, isolated and even devalued when their needs and interests are unmet and overlooked. Furthermore, school counselors have an ethical obligation to support students from all backgrounds regardless of factors including but not limited to their social class, economic status or family type. The ASCA Ethical Standards also state that school counselors should support all students’ career awareness, exploration and postsecondary planning and decision-making by supporting their right to choose from various options including but not limited to college/university, career and technical school, military or workforce.
As a school counselor, you also have an ethical obligation to address any inequitable systemic policies and practices affecting students’ postsecondary choices. If your school has a history of only focusing on specific postsecondary options while negating others, it’s your ethical obligation to address this disparity and advocate for those students who are being overlooked or left out due to this practice.
One way to ensure students’ voices are heard in the planning process is by gathering data from them to determine their career interests. By doing so, you can present postsecondary options representing all students’ interests. Also, after the career fair, you can have students complete an exit survey to capture relevant details about their experience. The exit survey also serves as an opportunity to collect and analyze data to determine the event’s effectiveness. Share this data with your stakeholders to drive their decision making and program planning. Lastly, discuss your concerns with administrators to help them understand your ethical obligation and rationale for providing diverse postsecondary options to all students.
My school counseling department is required to invite all parents/guardians and students to attend an individual academic planning meeting with the school counselor. Although we reach out to parents/guardians, often we don’t get a response and are left to host the meeting with just the student. Is it wrong or unethical to host the meeting with just the student without inviting parents/guardians?
You are acting in an ethical manner when you reach out to parents/guardians and invite them to attend postsecondary planning meetings with their child. In terms of student development, the ASCA Ethical Standards reveal that school counselors should acknowledge the vital role and rights of parents/guardians and families, respect their belief systems and avoid imposing personal biases. The Ethical Standards also charge school counselors to “recognize, honor and respect the importance of parents and guardians when providing services to students” and seek to collaborate with them as appropriate. By inviting parents/guardians to the postsecondary planning meeting, you are demonstrating a good-faith effort to collaborate with them and walk alongside them to support their child. On the other hand, if parents/guardians aren’t invited to the meetings, it sends a message that their input is not needed, valued or considered in the postsecondary planning process.
As a school counselor, you also have an ethical obligation to advocate for equitable, anti-oppressive and anti-bias policies, procedures or practices to meet students’ needs. So, in this case, it would be important to determine why parents/guardians aren’t attending meetings and adjust policies, procedures or practices accordingly to ensure you don’t further marginalize or oppress students and their families. For example, if you are only hosting postsecondary meetings during the school day, some families may not be able to attend due to their work schedule. Providing an opportunity for families to attend meetings outside of school hours or holding meetings at a neutral location (i.e., community library or recreation center) may yield more participation. Alternately, consider offering parents/guardians the chance to connect with you via video or phone instead of in-person meetings. Also ensure meeting invitations and other correspondence are sent home in families’ language of origin to ensure communication gaps don’t hinder their participation. Families should also have access to interpreters to foster a smooth communication process.
When it comes to postsecondary planning, there is so much research on the topic, and schools often operate differently based on their resources. What are some best practices my school counseling team can implement based on the ASCA Ethical Standards?
As school counselors, it’s our duty to recognize each student possesses unique interests and abilities, which will lead to various future life and career opportunities. When approaching our work around postsecondary planning, adopting ethical practices and being culturally sensitive is paramount as we collaborate with families, educational staff and the surrounding community. We must also ensure students develop an academic and career plan reflecting their interests, abilities and goals, including rigorous, relevant coursework and experiences appropriate for the student.
Here are some best practices to consider as you approach your work around postsecondary planning:
- Listen to students and advocate for their plans and interests.
- Collaborate with parents/guardians to provide students with the best network of support.
- Evaluate policies, procedures and practices to ensure they are equitable for all students and families.
- Establish community partners (e.g., career cafe speakers, invested partners).
- Connect students to community resources (e.g., internships, work-based learning, volunteer opportunities).
- Expose students to a variety of postsecondary options.
- Conduct classroom lessons to help students understand the connection between coursework and life experiences.
- Administer appropriate career assessments annually, and use the results for program planning and student support.
- Require students to set annual SMART goals related to postsecondary plans.
- Plan small groups to support students’ postsecondary exploration and planning.
- Encourage students to select courses aligning with their postsecondary interests.
- Use ASCA Student Standards to assist students in ensuring they have strategies to achieve future postsecondary success.
- Support students as they develop a portfolio to highlight their strengths and interests.
Angelica Greiner, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Liberty University, serves on ASCA’s Ethics Committee, and is an ASCA U Legal and Ethical Specialist. Crystal Hatton, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Liberty University, serves on ASCA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee; Position Statements Committee; and is an ASCA U Legal and Ethical Specialist. Franciene Sabens is a school counselor at Herrin High School in Herrin, Ill., serves on ASCA’s Ethics Committee, and is an ASCA U Legal and Ethical Specialist. Submit your ethics questions to ethics@schoolcounselor.org.