Role of a Kentucky School Counselor Defined
On December 17th, 2018, the Kentucky Counselor Standards Advisory Committee convened at the Kentucky Department of Education in Frankfort and defined the role of a KY school counselor as follows:
A school counselor is a certified mental health professional supporting all K-12 students in their social/emotional, academic and career development. Through a Comprehensive School Counseling Program, counselors provide data-informed, universal and targeted learning experiences to develop the whole child in a diverse society.
Kentucky Framework of Best Practices for School Counselors
School counselors are an important component of K-12 educational leadership teams within Kentucky schools. The Kentucky Framework of Best Practices for School Counselors helps school counselors throughout the state better understand what they should be doing in this role. This document also allows for reflection that should be used to improve and expand comprehensive school counseling programs along with the practices utilized by individual school counselors and relates to the evaluation of school counselors, which begins on page 16 of the Kentucky Framework for Teaching for Other Professionals, School Counselors/Social Workers.
3 Domains of School Counseling
Academic Development – Standards guiding school counseling programs to implement strategies and activities to support and maximize each student’s ability to learn.
Career Development – Standards guiding school counseling programs to help students 1) understand the connection between school and the world of work and 2) plan for and make a successful transition from school to postsecondary education and/or the world of work and from job to job across the lifespan.
Social/Emotional Development – Standards guiding school counseling programs to help students manage emotions and learn and apply interpersonal skills.
Reference: https://education.ky.gov/educational/compschcouns/Pages/default.aspx