Back-to-School Resources
Start Strong, Stay Focused
When the new school year begins this fall, you'll return to buildings that are both familiar and changing. Student needs remain complex, while expectations for impact and accountability continue to grow.
The good news? Your ASCA community has got you. You’re surrounded by smart, generous school counselors who are always willing to share what’s working, offer a new perspective or just help you think something through – and you bring that same value to the community, too.
The pros say that success starts with clarity: Clarity about your role, your program and how your time connects directly to student achievement.
Here are some suggestions to jumpstart your year and ensure clarity in your work and your program.
Check Your Foundation
We sometimes hear from school counselors that they don’t have time to implement the ASCA National Model®, but a program aligned with the ASCA National Model can actually save time by bringing focus and structure to your work. If you’re already there, you’ve seen how that clarity helps you stay purposeful and impactful day to day.
If you need help getting started or to continue to refine your school counseling program, check out these resources:
Let's start with the most obvious solution: the ASCA National Model® Fifth Edition, the foundational framework for designing and implementing a school counseling program. The ASCA National Model® is your foundational guide to align your school counseling program with school goals and create plans that help each and every student improve life-readiness and academic success. The ASCA National Model® also shows you how a school counseling program naturally aligns with the MTSS process.
If you're new to the ASCA National Model®, refer to the Phased Implementation Plan. This practical roadmap helps you build or refine your program over time. You can prioritize next steps without becoming overwhelmed. And, for more in-depth information, pick up the "The ASCA National Model®: A Step-by-Step Guide" to reinforce your work to design, implement and assess your school counseling program.
The ASCA National Model templates offer all the ready-to-use tools you need to create or update key aspects of your program, including the school counseling data priorities, ASCA Student Standards delivery plan, use-of-time calculator, lesson plans, small-group plans and goal plans to support implementation and organization. Download a completed example of each template, including notes about purpose and tips or implementation.
Focus on Student Impact
Use the ASCA Student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success to plan Tier 1 and Tier 2 strategies and interventions. Use these standards to guide instruction, interventions and assessment of student growth.
Read about how RAMP® schools are closing gaps in student achievement. RAMP® Stories: Closing the Gap offers evidence-based models of how school counselors use data to identify gaps and implement targeted interventions that improve student achievement and contributing actors to achievement.
Pick up ASCA's newest books to support your efforts to ensure student success: “Making MTSS Work, second edition," "Making Small Groups Work" and "School Counselor Resource Series: Choice Theory second edition." Visit the ASCA Store.
Watch the webinars MTSS in Action: Practical Tier 1 and Tier 2 Strategies, Use Data-Informed Protocols and Individual Career and Academic Plans for up-to-date advice.
Read about the research that validates the impact of your work. The recently updated Empirical Research Studies Supporting the Value of School Counseling, as well as other research reports, demonstrate how school counseling programs improve student outcomes.
Have Your Say
Follow ASCA's advocacy efforts and engage with your state/territory school counselor association about the issues that matter to you. ASCA's Advocacy Toolkit has ideas to get you started. In addition to participating in your state school counselor association advocacy events, school counselors can always initiate contact with lawmakers as private citizens to share information about the profession. Get tips for setting up an appointment with your state legislators.
Submit a proposal for #ASCA27. Submit your presentation ideas by Aug. 23, 2026.
Engage with your peers in the ASCA Member Community. This is your protected space to ask and answer questions, share your challenges and network with other ASCA members. You can also use our AI tool, ASCAroo, to find resources that might be helpful to your particular issue.
Get Inspired and Level Up
Before summer ends, take some time to get inspired about your career and the important work you do. Listen to the ASCA I Hear You Say podcasts Opening Doors: The 2026 School Counselor of the Year on Using Data to Help Each and Every Student Succeed and The Power of School Counseling: 2026 School Counselor of the Year Finalists Share Their Impact. Read about the School Counselor of the Year stories in ASCA School Counselor magazine
Next, consider taking your career to the next level with ASCA U Specialist trainings (you even get a frameable certificate) and ASCA-Certified School Counselor® certification.
We Are Here for You
If you need to know more about the ASCA community, just reach out. The only thing the ASCA staff loves more than creating programs for you is engaging with you. You can always find us right here.