Accreditation of counseling services on college campuses is a relatively recent development. These areas are covered in accreditation standards: relationship of counseling center to college community; counseling service roles; ethical standards; counseling service personnel; related guidelines; and multiple counseling agencies. As public…

The homeschooling movement has grown in popularity as evidenced by the involvement of an estimated 1.2 million students and cooperative programs offered by schools. There is however a sparsity of research dealing with the participation of homeschoolers in school counseling programs. The extension of services to homeschoolers would involve…

Rights of the many must be protected and rights of the minority must be accommodated. To achieve this end, school counselors must know why challenges to school guidance materials are occurring and the pivotal issues which accompany these challenges. Counselors must assure that developmental guidance programs are based on sound educational…

There are numerous benefits to be gained by the school counselor who chooses to do action-oriented research. Program evaluation and planning are facilitated through the use of measurable student outcomes obtained through action-oriented research. Collaborative research efforts are made possible by data gained through action-oriented research.…

School counselors are beginning to find family counseling an effective and needed skill. Moreover, family counseling represents a distinctive alternative for resolving persistent problems in the schools. Re-training opportunities for school counselors wanting to engage in family counseling have been limited. With appropriate training,…

After-school programs that provide additional learning opportunities for children are seen as potentially powerful opportunities to improve student learning and facilitate other positive youth outcomes. This digest summarizes a research synthesis conducted by the Regional Educational Laboratory at SERVE. The synthesis summarizes research and…

School counselors are often consultants for parents and teachers on problems that children and adolescents face. Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is one such problem. It is frequently misunderstood, presenting a challenge for parents and teachers alike. The counselor is a resource for initial identification and interventions at home and in the…

This digest considers the school counselor's role in helping students to acquire the basic skills they will need throughout their lives. A contemporary definition of basic skills includes not only the modern versions of the "three Rs" (reading, writing, and computing), but also encompasses a variety of attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors…

Current trends in technological developments suggest that home entertainment video games and educational learning software are on convergent paths. Astute educators have identified these technologies as effective for student motivation and have integrated them with traditional curricula to reduce at-risk behavior. Counselors who identify and…

With character education as one of the fastest growing reform movements in education today, counselor educators and counseling students need to be informed and cognizant of various character education programs. Currently, more than 30 states mandate some aspect of character education and school counselors are frequently responsible for introducing…

School counselors have always considered themselves to be change agents. Historically, that change has been related to helping an individual become aware of behaviors or attitudes that might be affecting his/her success and then guiding that individual into new ways of acting or thinking. This skill is transferable to affecting change in the…

Terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, and the continued threats of terrorism have the potential to engender negative psychological effects upon school age children and their families. School counselors and mental health professionals working with children need to be knowledgeable regarding interventions which allow students to…

Fundamental beliefs and organizational structure represent an important part of comprehensive guidance programs serving students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. These programs help students gain competencies in the areas of personal/social, educational, and career development at all educational levels. Comprehensive programs guarantee that…

Multiracial individuals represent an expanding population of Americas diverse society. Results from Census 2000 showed that of the total 281.4 million people in the United States, 6.8 million of the population indicated their background consisted of more than just one race. Nearly 3 million of respondents within the two or more races population…

Self-regulation, the systematic effort to direct thoughts, feelings, and actions towards the attainment of one's goals, is receiving importance in the psychological and educational literatures. Goals are involved across the different phases of self-regulation, first as forethought, then in performance control, and finally in self-regulation. This…