ILTS School Counselor (235) cheat sheet

Illinois school counselor licensure uses the acronyms PEL (Professional Educator License) and LBS I/II (Licensed Behavior Analyst is unrelated); the school counselor endorsement is issued as a School Support Personnel endorsement on the PEL, and candidates should verify current ISBE endorsement requirements directly, since content domains for this exam are not enumerated in the source material.

The ASCA National Model has four components: Define (student standards and professional competencies), Manage (program focus, use-of-time calendars, annual agreements), Deliver (direct and indirect student services), and Assess (program assessment, data use, and annual results reports).

ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors are organized into three domains: academic, career, and social/emotional; the Mindsets are the M1-M6 category, and the Behaviors are the B-LS (learning strategies), B-SMS (self-management skills), and B-SS (social skills) categories.

The ASCA-recommended use-of-time allocation for school counselors is 80 percent or more of time in direct and indirect student services and 20 percent or less in program planning, school support, and non-counseling duties; the older 80/20 language refers to this same split.

A comprehensive school counseling program is built on four program themes: leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and systemic change. These are process themes, not separate service types.

Tier 1 services are core instruction delivered to all students; Tier 2 services are targeted interventions for students needing more support; Tier 3 services are intensive, individualized interventions, often coordinated with community or clinical providers.

Confidentiality limits for minors: counselors keep information private unless disclosure is needed to protect the student or others, there is suspected abuse or neglect (mandated reporting), a court orders release, or the student consents to sharing with a third party.

FERPA governs education records and gives parents (and eligible students at age 18 or in postsecondary school) rights to inspect, amend, and limit disclosure of records, with exceptions for school officials with legitimate educational interest and for health/safety emergencies.

In Illinois, the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (ANCRA) makes school personnel mandated reporters; a report to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is required when there is reasonable cause to believe a child is abused or neglected, and internal notification does not substitute for the report.

The ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors are organized around responsibilities to students, parents/guardians, school and self, and the profession; the standards are aspirational and enforceable by state and national professional bodies.

Informed consent for counseling services with minors typically requires parent or guardian permission, with developmentally appropriate student assent, and exceptions may apply for brief, crisis, or group screening activities depending on district policy and state law.

A dual relationship exists when a counselor has a second role with a student (for example, coaching, teaching, or supervising a family business relationship); the standard is to avoid or manage the relationship so it does not impair objectivity or exploit the student.

Suicide risk assessment should include direct screening questions, a structured risk assessment, documentation, notification of parents/guardians, safety planning, and referral; a no-harm contract or no-suicide contract is not a substitute for these steps.

Mandated reporting in Illinois is triggered by reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect, not by proof; the report must be made promptly to DCFS, and the reporter should document the report and the time it was made.

A subpoena is a request for records or testimony; a court order is a directive. Counselors should verify the legal sufficiency of a subpoena, notify the parent or guardian, and consult district legal counsel before releasing records.

Privileged communication between a school counselor and student is limited and varies by state; in Illinois, the school counselor privilege is not absolute, and the counselor should understand that records may be subject to disclosure in legal proceedings.

A student's right to privacy under FERPA is transferred to the student at age 18 or upon enrollment in a postsecondary institution; parents then need the student's consent to access education records.

Ethical decision-making models generally follow steps: identify the problem, consult the ASCA Ethical Standards and state law, consult colleagues or supervisors, consider the student's developmental level and cultural context, choose and document a course of action, and evaluate the outcome.

Career development theories commonly tested: Super's life-span, life-space theory (self-concept and career stages: growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, decline); Holland's RIASEC typology (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional); and Gottfredson's theory of circumscription and compromise.

Holland's RIASEC types pair with work environments; congruence between a person's type and the environment's type predicts satisfaction, and consistency and differentiation are additional dimensions of the hexagon model.

The ASCA Student Standards are organized by domain (academic, career, social/emotional), then by mindset or behavior category, and then by specific student indicators; a lesson plan should map each activity to at least one specific standard.

A classroom guidance lesson plan commonly includes a standard/competency, objective, materials, a hook or warm-up, an instructional activity, a practice or application step, and a closure or assessment.

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound; a program goal should be tied to a measurable student outcome such as attendance, course completion, or discipline referrals.

Pre/post surveys with the same items and a matched sample are a common way to measure a classroom lesson's effect on student knowledge or attitudes; results are reported in the annual results report.

Small-group counseling is typically a Tier 2 service; the group should have a defined purpose, a screening process, a set number of sessions, and a way to measure progress, and it should be distinguished from group therapy, which is a clinical service.

Behavioral consultation with teachers typically follows a problem-solving sequence: define the problem behavior, collect baseline data, analyze antecedents and consequences, select an intervention, implement with fidelity, and monitor progress.

School counselors should use disaggregated data (by grade, race/ethnicity, gender, disability status, or income) to identify gaps in achievement, attendance, or discipline and to target interventions toward equity.

Developmental milestones: Piaget's stages are sensorimotor (0-2), preoperational (2-7), concrete operational (7-11), and formal operational (11+); Erikson's school-age stage is industry versus inferiority (roughly 6-12), and adolescence is identity versus role confusion.

Maslow's hierarchy orders needs as physiological, safety, belonging and love, esteem, and self-actualization; lower needs generally must be met before higher needs are pursued, though the hierarchy is not strictly sequential.

The ASCA position is that the school counselor's role is to provide direct and indirect student services and to avoid administrative or disciplinary duties such as building scheduling, lunch duty, or serving as the sole disciplinarian.

A school counselor's role in special education includes participating in IEP and Section 504 meetings, providing counseling as a related service when listed on the IEP, and supporting transition planning.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination based on disability and requires accommodations in the general education setting; IDEA provides special education and related services and requires an IEP.

Response to Intervention (RTI) and Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) use universal screening, progress monitoring, and increasingly intensive interventions across academic and behavioral domains.

The ASCA National Model's annual agreement is a document between the school counselor and the administrator that defines the counselor's role, program goals, and use of time; it is a management tool, not an evaluation of the counselor.

The school counselor's role in attendance and dropout prevention includes early warning indicators (chronic absence, course failure, credit deficiency, discipline referrals) and targeted outreach to students and families.

The ASCA-recommended counselor-to-student ratio is 250:1, though many districts exceed it; the ratio is a program condition, not a measure of individual counselor performance.

The ASCA Ethical Standards include a section on responsibilities to parents/guardians, school and self, and the profession; the standards are aspirational and enforceable by state and national professional bodies.

When a counselor must break confidentiality, the standard is to inform the student in advance of the limits, disclose only the minimum necessary information, and document the disclosure and the rationale.

Informed consent for counseling services with minors typically requires parent or guardian permission, with developmentally appropriate student assent, and exceptions may apply for brief, crisis, or group screening activities depending on district policy and state law.

The ASCA Ethical Standards include a section on responsibilities to parents/guardians, school and self, and the profession; the standards are aspirational and enforceable by state and national professional bodies.

A dual relationship exists when a counselor has a second role with a student (for example, coaching, teaching, or supervising a family business relationship); the standard is to avoid or manage the relationship so it does not impair objectivity or exploit the student.

Suicide risk assessment should include direct screening questions, a structured risk assessment, documentation, notification of parents/guardians, safety planning, and referral; a no-harm contract or no-suicide contract is not a substitute for these steps.

A subpoena is a request for records or testimony; a court order is a directive. Counselors should verify the legal sufficiency of a subpoena, notify the parent or guardian, and consult district legal counsel before releasing records.

Privileged communication between a school counselor and student is limited and varies by state; in Illinois, the school counselor privilege is not absolute, and the counselor should understand that records may be subject to disclosure in legal proceedings.

Ethical decision-making models generally follow steps: identify the problem, consult the ASCA Ethical Standards and state law, consult colleagues or supervisors, consider the student's developmental level and cultural context, choose and document a course of action, and evaluate the outcome.