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With the introduction of the new national policy on education in 1977, guidance and counseling became an important issue in our schools system. Since then, guidance and counseling has been a regular topic in our dailies conferences and seminars. For example, Nnadi (1984). Stressed its importance in our educational system and the priority that should be given to it in out schools because of its usefulness in transition in the various stages of education. Also, Nwabuisi (1984), emphasized on the necessity of proper guidance programme in schools if the current national policy on education is to have the desired impact. Perhaps, Durojaiye's (1972), Stand on the issue of guidance and counseling in our schools was one of the factors that influenced the formulation of the aspect of the new national policy on education that deals with guidance programme in schools today. Taking into consideration, our rapid educational and economic growth, he emphasized on the need for guidance and counseling in our educational policy. In his words; "We can see that the need for guidance and counseling in Nigeria becomes increasingly pressing as economic and educational strides are being made in the country. Each student needs to be helped to strengthen his abilities to make nice choices and to face problems encountered in society. Those who fall by the way side because of physical, intellectual or emotional inadequacy particularly need guidance"(p.72). In the above statement, Durojaiye points out clearly the fact that guidance and counseling is very important in our schools as it helps students to face the challenges of life and be useful to themselves and the society in which they live. School counseling programs in Tennessee have always played an important role in the total educational process for our children and youth. School counselors work with students, families, communities, faculties and staff addressing the issues that have a substantial impact on student academic, personal/social and career development. Wherever counselors serve, be it in rural, urban or suburban areas, they strive to meet the needs of all students. There is a general belief that our public schools are at a critical point and that priorities must change if our schools are to provide the education that will enable our youth to function successfully in our complex society. Across the nation, school counselors are responding to the challenges and expectations by changing traditional position-centered (counselor-centered) services to data-driven, student-centered services. The Tennessee Model for Comprehensive School Counseling represents what a school counseling program should contain and serves as an organizational tool to identify and prioritize the elements necessary for program implementation. Such programs are vital to the school improvement process. School counselors work strategically as part of an instructional team to promote student success. They are specially trained educators in a position to call attention to situations within our schools that impact student learning. Serving as leaders and advocates, school counselors work collaboratively to provide services in a proactive, developmental and preventative manner.

School counselors provide mental, emotional, social, developmental and behavioral services to students. The three domains of responsibility of the school counselor are categorized as: academic, career, and personal/social. Effective counseling programs are important to the school climate and a crucial element in improving student achievement. School counselors are trained professionals, licensed or certified by law and/or regulation in all 50 states. School counselors are required to obtain graduate education in counseling as an entry-level prerequisite for state licensing. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing notes that the complex needs of today’s pupils emphasize the need for comprehensive counseling and guidance programs in schools. The foundation of the school counseling

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knowledge of the laws and ethics of counseling specific to children in California schools. Effective school counseling is further supported by knowledge of state and national standards for school counseling and by familiarity with models of effective comprehensive school counseling and guidance programs. In many cases, there is a lack of understanding about how the work of school counselors impacts student outcomes. Historically, school counselors were trained under the mental health provider model with an emphasis on 1:1 counseling. This trend is changing as counselors are gaining the necessary training to expand their services to provide a broader impact on students’ academic, career as well as personal and social domains. Services provided by school counselors may include the following: • Academic skill development • Violence prevention initiatives (e.g. Second Step, Peace Builders) • Group counseling • Peer counseling • Individual counseling • Career development • Academic course selection and scheduling • College planning assistance It has been suggested that the role of school counselors must continue to evolve and develop if it is to remain a critical component of a school’s focus on student achievement. For example, one author suggests, “Many counseling programs are still operating under a student services model. The focus of counselors’ work is related to career planning and placement, problem solving, and class scheduling. Under this model, counselors are spending the majority of their time providing services to a small number of students who have the greatest needs. They are providing individual counseling services to the most needy students and are reacting to crisis situations as they arise.

Legislative initiatives, including “No Child Left Behind” are leading school systems across the country to focus on accountability and specifically, student achievement. School counseling has great potential to on administrators, teachers and counselors to be involved in the process of increasing student achievement, reducing the achievement gap, improving school attendance and graduation rates, and ensuring adequate levels of safety within school systems. There is a need to consider the evidence that addresses the question of whether school counselors have a significant impact on students in order to guide policy decisions on the provision of quality, comprehensive school guidance programs. Numerous studies have been undertaken to identify the outcomes of school counseling practices and their impacts on student achievement, behavior and other factors: • A broad and comprehensive qualitative review of the K-12 school counseling outcome literature, including 50 school counseling outcome studies published between 1988 and 1995 suggested that one can cautiously conclude that a broad range of activities school counselors perform often result in positive changes for students. • A review of 19 studies over 25 years considered whether counselor interventions with low achieving students and their parents are effective in boosting academic achievement, as measured by GPA. Summary information suggested that counseling interventions can have positive effects on academic achievement. • A review of the school counseling outcome literature that focused specifically on classroom guidance produced a number of studies that demonstrated that comprehensive curriculums about career, academic and personal/social development can positively impact student knowledge in each of these domains. • A large-scale research study considered whether school-counseling interventions in elementary schools with comprehensive guidance programs foster higher academic achievement test scores in students. Study results indicated that early elementary-age students who attend the same school for three or more years do better academically when there is a comprehensive program than students who attend schools without such programs. • In a study, considered by many to be extremely well-designed, researchers examined whether the combination of curriculum-based and group-based interventions with a focus on cognitive and metacognitive skills, social skills, and self-management skills known to be related to school success would have a measurable impact on students’ test scores on a standardized state achievement test. Study results showed that these

• School counseling programs have been found to have significant influence on discipline problems. Baker and Gerler found that students who participated in a school-counseling program had significantly less inappropriate behaviors and more positive attitudes toward school than those students who did not participate in the program. Another study found that group counseling provided by school counselors significantly decreased participants aggressive and hostile behaviors. • A study found that the efficacy of school counselors is influenced by the school climate. In schools with effective counseling programs, principals generally provided enthusiastic support for the programs and encouragement to the counselors. Another common element was a clear understanding between counselors and administrators as to the goals of the school counseling programs. These conditions were generally not present in failing programs. • Research shows that school counseling interventions have a substantial impact on students’ educational and personal development. Individual and small-group counseling, classroom guidance and consultation activities seem to contribute directly to students’ success in the classroom and beyond, and school counselors should spend the majority of their time performing these interventions. • A study on the effects of counseling on classroom performance found that the underachieving students who received counseling improved significantly on the Self-Rating Scale of Classroom behavior and in mathematics and language arts grades. • Counselor-led, developmental guidance units presented in ninth grade classrooms have the potential to improve students’ expressed behavior and general school attitudes, while addressing their developmental needs. A developmental, preventative guidance approach may help to assist students in coping with the overwhelming nature of the transition to high school.

1) provides career development and educational and occupational information 2) provides primary prevention instruction in areas such as sexual abuse and substance abuse at appropriate grade levels 4) uses teacher and student participation in the implementation of the guidance and counseling program

In addition to the empirically-supported benefits, bulleted below are sample ways in which District and School-level stakeholders benefit from the implementation of a comprehensive and developmental counseling program:

• Participate in relevant curriculum, individual student planning, and responsive services. • Participate in proactive strategies and responsive interventions to minimize and eliminate educational barriers. • Receive multiple opportunities to develop skills in the three counseling domains: academic, personal/social, and career.

• Enjoy collaborative and positive relationships with school counselors, students, parents, and teachers. • Receive direct support in the classroom in order to improve student achievement.

• Receive support from school counselor as a critical stakeholder and leader in the educational process. • Gain data to inform the School Improvement Plan and strengthen school climate and student performance/achievement. • Receive input regarding opportunities for professional development.

• Participate in educational and informational sessions.

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• Enjoy increased access to school and community resources.

The nine school counseling program standards are identical to the American School Counselor Association National Standards (ASCA, 1997) and support the Counseling Department's mission and vision. The standards are statements of what students should know and be able to do as a result of participating in a school counseling program (ASCA, 1997) and follow the three universally accepted domains of counseling programs: academic, career, and personal/social development. Student competencies, which help to identify student knowledge and skills, follow each of the standards. Priorities were established based on the district strategic priorities and school improvement and are delineated by the Pre-K, Elementary, Middle, or High school levels. The developmental organization for the acquisition of knowledge and skills is based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Pre – K students become aware; elementary students learn; middle schoolers practice; and, high school students are expected to demonstrate or model what they have learned.

Master school counselor are certified/licensed pros with a bosses' degree or higher in school counseling or the significant equal and are particularly qualified to address the developmental needs of all learners. Master school advocates convey an exhaustive school counseling project heartening all people' scholastic, job and personal/social advancement and assisting all scholars in boosting learner accomplishment. The inspiration for embracing a far reaching school counseling system is to furnish instructors with the model for effectively supervising the 21st Century issues challenging scholars, families, and the augmented group. Inclusive counseling customizes reflect the stimulus for change and are the establishment to give every kid, immature, and family with the instruments vital for advancing continuing abilities to administer school and future tests. School guides press on to recognize imaginative routes of gathering those continually-modifying mandates of scholars' lives and societal updates in Springfield. Investigate connected with the effect of school counseling has commonly posited two notable modalities. Studies have either surveyed the adequacy of specific exercises or intercessions used by guides (Poynton, 2006; Webb, 2005; Campbell & Brigman, assessed (Sink, Akos, Turnbull, & Mvududu, 2008; Stroh, 2004; Sink & Stroh, 2003; Lapan, Gysbers, & Petroski, 2001; Lapan, Gysbers, & Sun, 1997; Nelson & Gardner, 1998). The advancement of school counseling to where we are today could be portrayed by the philosophical movement from an immediate understudy fix model to a thorough model. The Comprehensive Developmental Guide (CDG) Program model (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000), started in the 1970's, accentuated school counseling as a key part of the instructive system, as opposed to auxiliary frameworks of backing aids. Direction curriculum, which fortified particular structured capabilities in the Academic, Profession, and Personal/Social spaces, was configured for provision to the whole person residents (McGannon, Carey, & Dimmmitt, 2005). The headway of school counseling proceeded when the American School Counselor Association discharged "The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Directing Programs" (ASCA, 2003, 2005). The ASCA schema was made according to the request for an increasingly principles-based framework with underpinnings in both responsibility and usage of information to drive person accomplishment. As the calling of school counseling presses on to develop and convert to help 21st Century schools and people, specialists will press on to look painstakingly on the effect of school counseling customizes on the objectives of school change and school advocate commitments to shutting the accomplishment crevice. The research conducted to date on the outcomes of school counseling suggests that an effective and comprehensive school guidance program that is fully integrated with the mission of the school and supported by the school administration, has the potential to positively impact: • Academic achievement at the elementary, middle and high school levels • Student personal development • Transitions into high school from middle school • Academic course selection, college and career planning by middle & high school students • School climate including improvements in classroom behavior; a reduction in discipline problems; fostering a greater sense of belonging among students; and improved schoolsafety due to a reduction in violence

The evidence linking school counseling with positive student outcomes in academic, career and personal/social domains appears to be clearly supported through both quantitative and qualitative research. This suggests that the ratios of students per school counselor in PUSD of 685:1 for high school; 600:1 for middle school and 1400:1 for elementary, when compared to the national average of 477:1 and the recommended ratio of 250:1 come up as clearly in need of attention.

• Dahir, C.A., Sheldon, C.B. & Valiga, M.J. (1998). Vision into action: Implementing the national standards for school counseling programs. Alexandria, VA: American School Counselor Association Press.

• Stroh, H. R. (2004). An investigation of comprehensive guidance and counseling programs and academic achievement with sixth-grade Washington state students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA.

• Henderson, P. & Gysbers, N.C. (1998). Leading and managing your school guidance program staff: A manual for school administrators and directors of guidance. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

• The Education Trust, (1997). The national guidance and counseling reform program. Washington, DC: Author.

• The Education Trust, (2002). National school counselor initiative: Met Life Foundation. Washington, DC: Author.

• American School Counselor Association (2005). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Second Edition. Alexandria, VA: Author.

• Gysbers, N. C., & Henderson, P. (2006). Developing and managing your school guidance program (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

• McGannon,W., Carey, J., & Dimmitt, C. (2005). The current status of school counseling outcome research (Research Monograph No. 2). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts, Center for School Counseling Outcome Research.

• Sink, C.A., & Stroh, H. R. (2003). Raising achievement test scores of early elementary school students through comprehensive school counseling

• Walsh M.E., Children’s Experiences of Homelessness: Journal of Elementary School Guidance and Counselling. Vol. 29, N°1, Oct.1994.

• Nelson, D. E., Gardner, J. L., & Fox, D. G. (1998).An evaluation of the comprehensive guidance program in the Utah public schools. Salt Lake City, UT: Utah State Office of Education.

 Fair, T.N., Evaluation of Counselling Services. Accountability in A Rural Elementary School, Journal of Elementary School Guidance and Counselling. Vol. 29, N°1, Oct. 1994.