The 3 A’s of Leadership in School Counseling
By Nicole G. DeRonck | February 2020
School counseling in Connecticut is on the precipice of change. Advocacy efforts by the Connecticut School Counselor Association have brought school counseling to the forefront of education. New legislation will require school counselors to implement and deliver a comprehensive school counseling framework and will be accompanied by the release of a new comprehensive framework model this July. School counselors were noted in updated state legislation on Student Success Plans and proposed changes to national legislation on career readiness. School counselors have been called upon by the manufacturing industry to up the ante in representing the trades in postsecondary planning and counselors are learning to reimagine the delivery of services in a multitiered model. If school counselors ever needed to be leaders, now is the time!The ASCA National Model and the Connecticut school counseling framework have always emphasized leadership skills as a means to successfully impact achievement for all students. However, both the ASCA and Connecticut models have narrowly defined leadership to a set of tasks like aligning mission and vision to district goals, or using leadership skills to build a comprehensive school counseling program. But how? What leadership tools must school counselors possess to make these things happen? In response, I propose the 3 A’s of Leadership in School Counseling: Accountability, Affiliation and Advocacy (a separate ASCA National Model theme, but one that is impossible without leadership!).
1. Accountability
School counselors must have a clear vision of the needs in their districts to design a comprehensive framework that will address those needs. To accomplish this, data is required. Needs assessments, pre- and post-tests, annual program evaluations and program feedback sheets provide plenty of data, but just collecting that data is not enough. As leaders, school counselors need to analyze the data to understand how their interventions and lessons have impacted student achievement and use it to make informed decisions about the fit of the framework compared to the needs of stakeholders. Data gives direction for change.
2. Affiliation
Leaders know that the relationships forged in the school community are paramount to any real change or work done on behalf of students. Good relationships make it easier to advocate for students and make faculty members and families more willing to collaborate to help children achieve. Affiliations provide opportunities to network, gather resources and build support for school counseling programs. Strong community affiliations create opportunities for students to expand learning beyond the classroom through job shadows, internships and part-time employment. Professional affiliations help school counselors stay current on trends in our field and offer resources to help develop the capacity to lead.
3. Advocacy
Leadership has a symbiotic relationship with advocacy. All leaders need a cause and without leadership, no cause can move forward. To be a compelling leader, school counselors must possess advocacy skills. Excellent communication skills, patience and strength in the art of negotiation are all requirements to advocate effectively. Advocacy is also linked to Affiliation and Accountability. Without first establishing good relationships with school community stakeholders, attempts to advocate for students may fail. Hard data is difficult to dispute but can be effectively employed to lead the charge to get students the resources needed to achieve.
School counselors also advocate for the profession. Misconceptions of what school counselors do undermine the value of school counselors and school counseling services. Grassroots leadership through CSCA is a great example of how effectively advocating for school counseling at the political level has strengthened the position of school counseling in Connecticut by mandating all student have access to a comprehensive school counseling framework.
The 3 A’s – Accountability, Affiliation and Advocacy – are the tools school counselors need to be effective leaders. Ready to take a risk and give leadership a try? Here’s how to get started:
- Be proactive
- Collaborate
- Collect and use data. It can help you improve student achievement and support your program.
- Advocate for equity on behalf of your students and for your profession.
- Get involved in new initiatives aimed at improving schools, career readiness and school counseling.
- Join professional organizations to stay informed.