California is a big state with the largest number of school counselors in the nation (10,000+) across 58 counties. While there is state leadership from the California Association of School Counselors (CASC) there is also another team working hard for school counselors. In late 2017, county leaders from Orange County, Imperial, San Diego, Riverside, and Shasta collaborated with Hatching Results, LLC and CDE representatives to form an alliance: County Offices of Education Leadership for School Counseling (COELSC). The purpose of COELSC is to provide coordination, collaboration, leadership, and support to school counselors and school counseling programs at the county level. We are happy to say that in the past few years this leadership has expanded to include most of our county offices of education. Additionally, the collaboration is rich with leaders who represent CASC, CDE and Hatching Results, LLC.
Examples of accomplishments from COELSC:
- Development of a MTSS Connecting the Dots one pager, “Role of the School Counselor in Mental Health” (May 2020)
- Participation in the development of the COVID19k12counseling website that is sponsored by CASC and Wisconsin SCA (April, 2020)
- Development of the School Counselor Virtual Toolkit (March, 2020)
- Promotion of a county office of education School Counselor of the Year award (Nov., 2019)
COELSC Co-Chairs:
- Dr. Jami Parsons, Orange County Department of Education, Director, Learning Supports
- Denise Cabanilla, Imperial County Office of Education, Director, Higher Education & Adult Learning
School counselors are encouraged to be members of their state and national associations and to seek professional learning in order to best serve all students and stakeholders as well as to enhance their leadership and advocacy skills.
The California Association of School Counselors , Inc. (CASC) is a professional organization, which provides leadership and advocacy for the profession of school counseling in California. CASC. (2020). California Association of School Counselors. https://www.schoolcounselor-ca.org/about-us
CASC hosts two annual school counseling conferences each year. The largest conference is held in Riverside during the month of October and another held in Norcal in early February.
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is the foundation that expands the image and influence of school counselors through advocacy, leadership, collaboration and systemic change. ASCA empowers school counselors with the knowledge, skills, linkages and resources to promote student success in the school, the home, the community and the world. ASCA (2020). American School Counseling Association.
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/school-counselors-members/about-asca-(1)
ASCA provides an annual national conference in late June and they facilitate a Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) in order to showcase exceptional school counseling programs that have fully implemented the ASCA National Model.
School Counselors for MTSS
As former school counselors and current leaders in school counseling, School Counselors for MTSS believes in the power of MTSS to change educational systems and support school counseling programs.
Making MTSS Work
Making MTSS Work provides the how to MTSS. Using examples from school districts across the country, the authors outline best practices in alignment of school counseling programs and MTSS to ensure school counselors work smarter not harder. With chapters on tiered approaches and data, educators will leave with examples to strengthen systems
The School Counselor's Guide to MTSS
This book provides an overview of the what and the why behind the alignment of school counseling programs and MTSS. Written by school counselor educators and school counselors, it provides ample examples of alignment across universal, tier 2/3 evidence based practices, data, and collaboration strategies.
