Exemplar #5

American School Counseling Association (ASCA) Book

Standards Met: Standard 17 and Standard 28
Introduction
Over the course of the 2015-16 academic year, we spent a semester in CSP 775: ASCA Model
Development and a semester in CSP776: ASCA Model Evaluation. In these courses, we learned
how to design, implement and evaluate activities within our fieldwork sites. The documentation
of these activities resulted in our ASCA Book which consisted of a foundation, delivery,
management and accountability system. Creating my ASCA Book helped me to understand the
importance of the ASCA National Model and how it can assist me in being more purposeful in
my approach to serving students. While the school counselor ratio is suggested to be one school
counselor to every 250 students, this is often not the case, making our time and resources even
more limited. Elements of the ASCA Book helped me to look at ways I could not only evaluate
my counseling program and use of time, but how I could provide students with resources that
helped them to be successful in the academic, career and personal/social domains.
Standards Addressed
Standard 17: Foundations of the School Counseling Profession
The first standard that was addressed in the development of my ASCA Book was Standard 17:
Foundations of the School Counseling Profession. School Counseling has an extensive history
and the profession has evolved greatly since the days of vocational counseling. While still
evolving, the profession is guided by state and national standards which I met by developing the
ASCA Book. I used national standards to assist me in creating curriculum lessons and I met state
standards by facilitating data-based decisions and assessing the counseling program at my
fieldwork site. The completion of my ASCA Book further developed my understanding of the
standards set for the school counseling profession. Finally, I feel more than competent to be able
to develop and implement the ASCA National Model to create a comprehensive school
counseling program because of my work developing my ASA Book.
Standard 28: Organizational and System Development
The second standard that was addressed in the development of my ASCA book was Standard
28: Organizational and System Development. From the ground up, I was able to develop a
comprehensive counseling program which ranged from foundational elements including a
mission statement for the counseling department to implementing accountability elements
including analyses of the services that were delivered. Additionally, I created an action plan for a

core curriculum lesson, a closing-the-gap lesson and a lesson for small group counseling based
on data and self-referrals from students. Creating, implementing and evaluating these lessons
allowed me to provide direct services to students based on a need that was established by data
and then evaluate the success of the lesson by collecting data from students using pre and post
tests. Finally, I was able to work with the school counselors at my fieldwork site to evaluate the
services of the counseling program to see what could be improved to better serve students and
families.
Conclusion
By following the ASCA National Model, I was able to use data to identify systemic issues and
assess school counseling programs. These activities are only a few of the ways that completing
my ASCA Book prepared me for my role as a school counselor. My ASCA Book also highlighted
the importance of knowing the standards that provide the framework for the school counseling
profession and the way we work with staff, students and families. While it was not always an
easy task, creating a comprehensive counseling program provided me with the skills and
readiness to provide students with the best services possible.