NCSC cheat sheet

ASCA National Model has four components: Define (student standards, program priorities), Manage (annual agreements, advisory council, use-of-time and calendar), Deliver (direct and indirect services), and Assess (program results, student outcomes).

Direct student services are face-to-face or virtual counseling, classroom lessons, appraisal, and advisement; indirect services are referrals, consultation, and collaboration delivered on the student's behalf.

Recommended ASCA use-of-time: 80% or more of counselor time in direct/indirect services with students; no more than 20% in program planning, fair-share responsibilities, and non-counseling duties.

Inappropriate (non-counseling) duties include test administration/coordination, substitute teaching, discipline enforcement, lunch or bus duty, and clerical record-keeping; these are distinct from appropriate fair-share tasks such as committee work.

Counselor-to-student ratios: ASCA recommends 1:250; the national average has hovered near 1:385-1:408 in recent years, and ratios vary widely by state.

The ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors are the K-12 student standards organized as 6 mindsets and 3 behavior domains (Learning Strategies, Self-Management Skills, Social Skills).

Ethical decision-making models (e.g., STEPS: Solutions to Ethical Problems in Schools) sequence identifying the problem, examining professional standards and laws, considering the student's developmental level and setting, consulting, and evaluating the chosen action.

FERPA grants parents/eligible students (age 18+ or postsecondary) the right to inspect and amend education records and generally requires written consent before disclosing personally identifiable information from those records.

Confidentiality limits to disclose at the outset: danger to self or others, abuse or neglect reporting, and court orders; privileged communication between counselor and student is governed by state law, not HIPAA.

Solution-focused brief counseling: miracle question, scaling questions, exception finding, and compliments; assumes students have strengths and prior successes to build on.

Cognitive-behavioral approaches target the link between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; common school tools include thought records, cognitive restructuring, and behavioral rehearsal.

Person-centered (Rogerian) core conditions are unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence; reflecting feelings and paraphrasing are the primary techniques.

Reality therapy/choice theory (Glasser) emphasizes basic needs (survival, love/belonging, power, freedom, fun) and the WDEP sequence: Wants, Doing, Evaluation, Planning.

Motivational interviewing uses OARS (Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, Summaries) and addresses ambivalence; it is directive toward change but non-confrontational.

Group stages are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning; school groups are typically short-term (6-12 sessions) and psychoeducational or counseling-focused.

Group size guidance for school counseling groups is commonly 6-8 members; screening, informed consent, and confidentiality-within-group limits must be addressed before the first session.

Crisis response follows a triage model: assess immediate risk (suicide, self-harm, threat to others), ensure supervision, notify administration and parents per policy, refer to community resources, and document.

Suicide risk screening distinguishes risk factors (prior attempt, depression, access to means, isolation) from protective factors (connectedness, coping skills, reasons for living) and requires direct questioning, not inference.

Holland's RIASEC types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional; congruence between personality type and work environment predicts satisfaction.

Super's life-span, life-space theory: self-concept develops through growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline stages; the exploration stage spans roughly ages 15-24.

Gottfredson's theory of circumscription and compromise: children narrow career options by gender, then prestige, then field of interest, and later compromise on aspirations.

Krumboltz's social learning theory highlights happenstance and the role of learning experiences, self-observation generalizations, and task approach skills in career decisions.

Academic advisement for postsecondary planning includes tracking graduation credits, GPA, and prerequisites; financial aid basics include FAFSA, grants vs. loans, and the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized loans.

School counselor role in IEP/504 planning: counselors contribute social-emotional and transition input; the IEP team determines eligibility and services, and counselors do not unilaterally change placement.

Career assessments commonly used in schools include interest inventories (e.g., Strong Interest Inventory, O*NET Interest Profiler) and work values inventories; results are hypotheses, not prescriptions.

Consultation models: triadic (Caplan) consultation with consultee and client, behavioral consultation (problem identification, problem analysis, plan implementation, plan evaluation), and mental health consultation.

Collaboration differs from consultation: consultation is typically a triadic relationship where the counselor advises a consultee; collaboration is a mutual, egalitarian partnership.

Multitiered systems of support (MTSS) tiers: Tier 1 universal (all students), Tier 2 targeted small-group, Tier 3 intensive individual; counselors align services across all tiers.

Program evaluation distinguishes needs assessments (pre-planning), process evaluation (implementation fidelity), and outcome evaluation (results such as attendance, discipline, or achievement data).

ASCA program assessment tools include the School Counseling Program Assessment, the Annual Agreement, and the Use-of-Time Calculator; results reports use perception, process, and outcome data.

Data types: process data (what was done, e.g., number of students served), perception data (attitudes/knowledge, e.g., pre/post surveys), and outcome data (behavior/achievement results).

Advisory councils include students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members; they review program goals and results and meet at least twice per year per ASCA guidance.

Confidentiality and record-keeping: counseling notes are typically kept separate from the cumulative record; sole-possession notes are generally not education records under FERPA but state law and district policy govern.