NBPTS School Counseling cheat sheet

School Counseling

• NBPTS School Counseling (ECYA) certificate covers counselors serving students ages 3-18; eligibility requires a state-issued school counseling license and a minimum of three years of full-time counseling practice.

• The five core propositions frame every portfolio entry: teachers/counselors are committed to students and learning; know their subjects and how to teach them; manage and monitor student learning; think systematically about practice; and are members of learning communities.

• Portfolio components: three constructed entries (usually a school counseling program/advocacy entry, a small-group or classroom-guidance entry, and a family/community collaboration entry) plus documented accomplishments and a computer-based assessment at a testing center.

• Evidence must show impact on student learning and development, not just counselor activity. Each entry requires baseline data, an intervention, and post-intervention data demonstrating measurable change.

• Analysis of student work or counseling artifacts must cite specific evidence (counts, quotes, scores, behavior logs) and connect it to developmental, academic, career, or personal/social standards.

• Reflective commentary answers why decisions were made and what the counselor would change; description alone without analysis weakens the entry.

• The ASCA National Model (Define, Manage, Deliver, Assess) and ASCA Student Standards (academic, career, social/emotional development) are the professional frameworks most aligned with scored entries.

• Scoring is rubric-based per entry on a 1-4 scale (Level 4 distinguished); certification requires meeting the cut score on each component and the assessment, not an average across components.

• Confidentiality rules: never submit identifiable student data; use pseudonyms, redact names and identifying details, and secure required parent/guardian or district releases before including student work.