President’s Letter: Take Advantage of ASCA Tools to Evaluate, Advocate and Elevate

I hope this message finds you well and inspired as we continue our shared mission of supporting Georgia’s students through comprehensive and equitable school counseling programs. As we reflect on the impact of our work, I want to remind you of the powerful resources available through the ASCA National Model^® templates and tools and how they can help you not only strengthen your own program but also advocate for fellow school counselors and work toward earning Recognized ASCA Model Program^® (RAMP^®) designation.
 
The ASCA resources include a comprehensive collection of ASCA National Model Fifth Edition templates designed to guide you through each of the four components: Define, Manage, Deliver, and Assess. (Find these resources on the ASCA website.) These tools help you plan, implement and evaluate a data-informed, equitable school counseling program that demonstrates measurable impact.
 

A Closer Look at What’s Available

The ASCA Templates & Tools web page provides ready-to-use, downloadable documents that can be customized for your school or district, including the following. (Go directly to the Templates & Tools web page.)
 

Program Assessments and Planning Tools

• School Counseling Program Assessment: Evaluate your program’s alignment with the ASCA National Model.
• ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies Assessment: Reflect on your personal strengths and growth areas.
• School Counselor Performance Appraisal: Support data-based, professional evaluations aligned to ASCA standards. 

Annual Program Management Resources

• Annual Administrative Conference Template: Guide your yearly planning discussion with administrators.
• Advisory Council Agendas (first and second semester): Keep stakeholders informed and engaged.
• Annual Calendar Template: Map out your year with clear focus and structure.

Data-Driven Tools for Delivery and Reflection

• Use-of-Time 5-Day Calculator: Document how you spend your time and advocate for appropriate duties.
• Lesson Plan & Data Report Template: Design lessons and measure learning outcomes.
• Small-Group Plan & Data Report Template: Track progress and impact for small-group interventions.
• Closing-the-Gap Plan and Data Report Template: Identify and close achievement or opportunity gaps.

Additional Resources

• Examples of all templates: View completed samples to see how other counselors have implemented each tool.
• ASCA National Model^® Diamond Graphic: Visualize how all model components connect. 

All of these resources are free to ASCA members and downloadable in Microsoft Office format, making them easy to customize for your school’s unique needs.
 

Using ASCA Tools to Advocate and Elevate

These tools are not just templates; they are powerful advocacy instruments. When you use ASCA’s official formats, you present your program in a way that communicates professionalism, consistency and impact.
 
Using the use-of-time calculator, for example, provides clear data showing how your time is allocated to direct and indirect student services. This data can help you advocate for appropriate duties or additional counseling staff. The Annual Administrative Conference Template ensures your goals and role are clearly defined with your principal, while the Closing-the-Gap Report allows you to demonstrate exactly how your interventions improve student outcomes.
 
When we use consistent, data-driven templates, we speak a common professional language – one that administrators, district leaders and policymakers understand and respect. These data points become your strongest evidence when advocating for more school counselors, more resources or better recognition of our impact.
 
Even more importantly, your mastery of these tools allows you to advocate for others. When a colleague faces challenges in defining their role or earning administrative support, your ability to share and model these ASCA-aligned practices helps elevate their credibility and confidence. You become a mentor, a model and a voice for the profession.
 

A Pathway to RAMP^® Recognition

For schools aspiring to earn the RAMP designation, these tools are indispensable. Every section of the RAMP application aligns directly with the ASCA National Model framework, and these templates streamline the process ensuring clarity, alignment and consistency.
 
Schools that use these tools throughout the year often find that their RAMP documentation is already in place when it’s time to apply. The templates not only guide you through program implementation but also help you collect the data and evidence needed for national recognition.
 

A Call to Action

By fully engaging with the ASCA tools, you are not only strengthening your program, you are building a foundation for advocacy, collaboration and excellence across Georgia. I encourage you to visit the ASCA Templates & Tools web page, explore the examples and commit to implementing at least one new tool this semester.
 
Use these resources to tell your story, support your colleagues and lead your school toward recognition. When we use our ASCA tools with purpose, we elevate ourselves, our programs and our profession. Together, we can model what excellence in school counseling looks like – one data point, one student and one school at a time.
 
Gabrielle S. Brundidge is the Georgia School Counselor Association president and a professional school counselor.