This article discusses a group counseling intervention used to develop and foster resiliency in middle school students by implementing the Achieving Success Everyday (ASE) group counseling model. The authors aimed to discover what impact this group counseling intervention, which focused on resiliency characteristics, would have on students'…

Sixty-four federal Elementary and Secondary School Counseling (ESSC) program grants were awarded in 2009. One awarded school district implemented a comprehensive school counseling program based on the ASCA National Model at three high-needs elementary schools. This case study describes a district initiative that provided prevention education for…

Despite recognition of accountability for school counselors, no clear set of interrelated performance measures exists to guide school counselors in collecting and evaluating data that relates to student academic success. This article outlines four critical domains of accountability for school counselors (i.e., grades, attendance, disciplinary…

This study describes the collaboration among a school counselor, a school counselor intern, an Advanced Placement Psychology teacher, and a counselor educator to improve African-American access to Advanced Placement (AP) coursework and increase success on the AP Psychology national examination. The team initiated a process that recruited African…

School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are school-wide, data-driven frameworks for promoting safe schools and student learning. This article explains PBIS and provides practical examples of PBIS implementation by describing a school counselor-run PBIS framework in one elementary school, as part of a larger, district-wide…

A graduation rate of 49% alarmed Sunnyside High School in 2009. With graduation rates in the bottom 5% statewide, Sunnyside was awarded a federally funded School Improvement Grant. The "turnaround" principal and the school counselors aligned goals with the ASCA National Model through the program All Hands On Deck (AHOD), based on…

Elementary school counselors can support academic achievement by connecting their comprehensive programs to increasing academic competence. One valuable framework focuses on academic enablers, which are identified as interpersonal skills, motivation, engagement, and study skills (DiPerna, 2004). In this article, the authors (a) discuss the…

This study investigates the relationship between academic achievement and reports of student problem behavior from teachers, parents, and child self-reports. Participants included 108 teachers, 113 parents/caregivers, and 129 students from an urban school in the Northeast region of the United States. Results suggest parent and child reports were…

Professional school counselors are educational leaders with training and expertise to address the mental health concerns of students. Unfortunately, work conditions at some schools can create barriers to the delivery of effective mental health services. This article presents a case of one rural, diverse high school that transformed its school…

The school setting can be a difficult place for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The core symptoms of ADHD, which include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, make meeting the curriculum demands of the classroom challenging. That ADHD negatively impacts not only academic performance but also social and…

The professional identity of school counselors has evolved over time. This article traces the historical context driving this evolution, and suggests it is time for the profession to conjoin the roles of educational leader and mental health professional. This proposal is prompted by heightened awareness of unmet student mental health needs,…

Motivation is an important foundation of academic development in students. This article discusses academic motivation; its various component concepts in areas such as beliefs, goals, and values; and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It also presents major, widely studied theoretical perspectives of academic motivation and briefly illustrates…

This study compares school-wide Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) results in Indiana schools earning the Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) designation (n = 75) with a sample of control schools stratified by level and locale (n = 226). K-12 schools earning the RAMP designation in 2007, 2008, and 2009 comprise the experimental group. Findings indicate…

Results link lower student-to-school-counselor ratios to better graduation rates and lower disciplinary incidents across Missouri high schools. An interaction favorable for promoting student success in school was found between increasing percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and smaller student-to-school-counselor ratios.…

Results connect the implementation of the college and career counseling components of a comprehensive school counseling program and lower student-to-school-counselor ratios to a reduction in suspension rates and disciplinary incidents for Connecticut high school students. Principal ratings of college and career counseling services provided in…