OAE School Counselor (040) cheat sheet

Piaget's stages in order: sensorimotor (0–2), preoperational (2–7), concrete operational (7–11), formal operational (11+); abstract hypothetical reasoning emerges only in the formal stage.

Erikson's school-age psychosocial task is industry vs. inferiority (roughly 6–12); the adolescent task is identity vs. role confusion, resolved through exploration of roles, values, and peers.

Kohlberg's moral levels: preconventional (punishment/obedience, instrumental exchange), conventional (interpersonal conformity, law and order), postconventional (social contract, universal principles); most secondary students reason at the conventional level.

Vygotsky's zone of proximal development is the gap between what a learner does alone and what the learner can do with adult or peer scaffolding; private speech is internalized as inner speech.

Bronfenbrenner's ecological model orders systems microsystem (family, classroom), mesosystem (links between microsystems), exosystem (parent workplace, community), macrosystem (culture, policy), chronosystem (time and transitions).

Maslow's hierarchy places physiological and safety needs below belonging, esteem, and self-actualization; unmet lower needs interfere with attention and academic risk-taking.

Gilligan critiqued Kohlberg's framework as privileging a justice orientation and argued a care orientation is an equally valid moral reasoning pathway.

Bandura's social learning holds that behavior is acquired through observation, imitation, and vicarious reinforcement; self-efficacy predicts persistence more strongly than actual prior ability alone.

Risk and protective factor framing: protective factors (school connectedness, one caring adult, competence) buffer risk (poverty, trauma, discrimination); the counselor targets malleable factors, not fixed traits.

The ASCA National Model's four components are Define, Manage, Deliver, and Assess; the older three-part framing (foundation, delivery system, management system) maps onto these.

Foundation elements: the school counseling mission statement, the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors standards, and annual student and program goals derived from data.

Delivery modes are direct services (classroom lessons, small groups, individual counseling, appraisal and advisement) and indirect services (referrals, consultation, collaboration, advocacy on the student's behalf).

Recommended counselor-to-student ratio is 1:250; time allocation guidance is at least 80 percent of time in direct and indirect services to students, with the remainder for program planning and school support.

A program calendar, annual agreement with the administrator, and advisory council are Manage-component tools; the advisory council includes students, families, teachers, and community members.

A closing-the-gap action plan targets an identified achievement, attendance, or discipline disparity and states baseline data, intervention, and target outcome with a measurable goal.

A results report documents pre/post data (e.g., attendance rate, failing grades, discipline referrals) and is the evidence artifact for showing program impact.

Use-of-time and use-of-data analyses are Assess-component tools; they reveal how counselor hours are spent and which student groups show gaps.

A school counseling core curriculum is delivered through planned classroom lessons aligned to Mindsets & Behaviors, sequenced by grade level, and documented in lesson plans.

Solution-focused brief counseling techniques: scaling questions, miracle question, exception questions, and compliments; the focus is on preferred future and existing strengths, not diagnosis.

Cognitive-behavioral approach: identify the activating event, the automatic thought, the resulting emotion and behavior, then test and reframe the thought; useful for anxiety, anger, and test stress.

Reality therapy/choice theory (Glasser): focus on current behavior, the four questions (what do you want, what are you doing, is it working, what is your plan), and a written plan the student commits to.

Person-centered conditions for growth: unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence; these are the counselor's stance rather than a set of techniques.

Group stages in order: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning; screening and pre-group orientation reduce risk in the storming stage.

Small-group counseling is appropriate for skill-building and shared concerns (grief, social skills, study skills); it is not appropriate for students in acute crisis or with severe, individualized clinical needs, who require referral.

Confidentiality limits to state at the outset: danger to self, danger to others, abuse or neglect, and court order; the student should be told the limits before disclosure.

Suicide risk screening sequence: ask directly about ideation, plan, means, and intent; do not leave the student alone; notify administration and guardians per protocol; document and refer.

Classroom guidance lessons should state a measurable objective tied to a Mindsets & Behaviors standard, use an interactive activity, and end with a data-gathering closure such as an exit ticket.

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: career development proceeds through growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline; the self-concept is implemented through work roles.

Gottfredson's circumscription and compromise: children narrow occupational options by gender, then prestige, then field of interest, often sacrificing interest last.

Career decision-making barriers to assess: lack of self-knowledge, lack of occupational information, external locus of control, and dysfunctional beliefs such as perfectionism or fear of commitment.

A career interest inventory is a starting point for exploration, not a prediction; scores indicate relative interest patterns and must be paired with achievement, values, and opportunity data.

Postsecondary pathways to present without bias: four-year college, two-year college, apprenticeship, military, workforce entry, and certificate programs; each is a legitimate plan.

Individual Learning Plan or graduation plan requirements typically include course sequences, postsecondary goals, and annual review; the counselor coordinates completion and documentation.

Labor market information sources include the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook and state workforce data; use them to discuss growth, wages, and required education.

Work-based learning (job shadowing, internships, service learning) builds career maturity; counselors coordinate placements and connect them to academic credit where policy allows.

Consultation is a triadic, indirect service: the counselor works with a consultee (teacher, parent) to change the student's environment or behavior, without direct responsibility for the student's treatment.

Consultation models: behavioral (functional analysis, antecedent-behavior-consequence), mental health (consultee-centered, addressing the teacher's perceptions), and organizational (systems-level change).

Collaborative consultation is characterized by parity between consultant and consultee, shared problem definition, and joint ownership of the intervention plan.

Referral sequence for outside services: obtain informed consent from the parent or eligible student, share only necessary information, and document the referral and follow-up.

Multidisciplinary team roles: 504 team determines eligibility under disability plus accommodations; IEP team determines special education eligibility and services; the counselor contributes social-emotional and observational data.

Release of information must be signed, specify the recipient and purpose, and be time-limited; verbal consent is not sufficient for records disclosure under FERPA.

Coordination tasks include scheduling, transition planning between grade levels and schools, and linking families to community resources such as food, housing, and mental health services.

Cultural humility in collaboration means eliciting family perspectives on the problem, using interpreters, and avoiding deficit framing of family involvement.

Data types: process data (what was done, e.g., lessons delivered), perception data (attitudes, knowledge, skills), and outcome data (attendance, grades, discipline, graduation).

Percent change formula: (new − old) ÷ old × 100; report the baseline, the target, and the result so the gap closure is verifiable.

Disaggregate outcome data by subgroup (grade, gender, race/ethnicity, disability, English learner status) to find equity gaps that aggregate scores hide.

Standard score interpretation: a score of 100 with SD 15 on a cognitive measure; approximately 68 percent of scores fall within one SD of the mean, 95 percent within two.

Percentile rank is not percent correct; a percentile of 70 means the student scored at or above 70 percent of the norm group.

Reliability refers to consistency of scores; validity refers to whether the instrument measures what it claims for the intended use; a test can be reliable without being valid.

Formative assessment informs instruction during learning; summative assessment evaluates learning at the end; the counselor uses both to monitor intervention effects.

A pre/post single-group design cannot establish causation; attribute change cautiously and note maturation, history, and testing effects as rival explanations.

Needs assessments and perception surveys should use a representative sample, a reasonable response rate, and items tied directly to program goals.

FERPA gives parents, and eligible students at age 18 or in postsecondary school, the right to inspect and amend education records and requires written consent for most disclosures; there is an exception for school officials with legitimate educational interest.

Sole-possession notes are exempt from FERPA's definition of education records only if kept in the sole possession of the maker, used as a memory aid, and not shared; they remain discoverable in litigation.

IDEA requires informed parental consent for evaluation, procedural safeguards, and the least restrictive environment; the counselor may be a related-service provider but does not determine eligibility alone.

Section 504 covers any student with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity; it provides accommodations, not specially designed instruction.

Mandated reporting: reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect triggers a report to the designated agency within the state's time limit; the counselor does not investigate or notify the alleged abuser first.

ASCA Ethical Standards themes: confidentiality, informed consent, dual relationships, competence, advocacy, and equity; when law and ethics conflict, the counselor seeks consultation and follows law while minimizing harm.

Informed consent for counseling minors requires developmentally appropriate explanation of services and limits, plus parent or guardian notification consistent with district policy and state law.

Duty to warn/protect (Tar asoff principle) requires action when a student poses a serious threat to an identifiable person; specific duties and immunity vary by state statute.

Privileged communication belongs to the client, not the counselor; the counselor asserts privilege on the client's behalf unless a legal exception applies, and should know state minor-consent laws for counseling.