Vermont Service Components
All of the required activities and services of a comprehensive school counseling Service are grouped into four interactive Service components: School Counseling Curriculum, Personalized Learning, Responsive Services, and System Support. Some of these services are delivered directly with students, while others are delivered indirectly on behalf of students. Direct services are interactions between school counselors and students. Indirect Student Services are interactions with others, on behalf of the student, including referrals for additional assistance, consultation and collaboration with parents, teachers, other educators and community organizations. Additionally, it includes management activities and services required to support the comprehensive school counseling Service, as well as support a district/supervisory union's educational goals. The Service components are (ASCA Fourth Edition/2021):
- Instruction: Emphasis has been placed on the work school counselors do to teach the school counseling curriculum focused through the lens of the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors. Instruction of the school counseling curriculum occurs in the classroom, large and small groups and individually.
- Appraisal and Advisement: Emphasis has been placed on the processes where school counselors work with students to analyze and assess their abilities, interests, skills and achievement, make recommendations based on the appraisal of tests, inventories and other data to help students make decisions about their future. This two part-process occurs with individual students, small groups and in classroom settings.
- Counseling: Emphasis has been placed on the direct student service of counseling in individual or small group settings. Crisis response has been reclassified as an indirect student service as it is defined by collaborating with adults to provide support in the aftermath of a crisis.
- Referrals, Consultation and Collaboration: Emphasis has been placed on the management and evaluation activities and services required to effectively support a district/supervisory union build a comprehensive school counseling Service.
