When the AVERAGE is FAILING

"If districts want the ASCA National Model, we need the ASCA recommended ratio."

Your friend asks you to build a house. They provide the specifications, blueprint, and building instructions. But they only provide you with half of the necessary supplies you need to build the house.

Having worked in both an affluent school and a high needs impoverished school, I have seen administrators and teachers go to work "building a house" with only half of the essential resources. Because they love their students, they sacrifice their personal time AND money to compensate for the lack of resources.

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model outlines the components of a comprehensive school counseling program. The principles of a program aligned with the ASCA National Model benefit students and the school community, such as:

• The school counseling program is for ALL students, not just at-risk students.
• The school counselor program is proactive, not reactive.
• School counselors spend 80 percent or more of their time in direct service to students.

The principles are good, just like the blueprint for the house was good. I have seen districts require the ASCA National Model paperwork to be meticulously completed. I have seen counselor evaluations dependent upon criteria from the ASCA National Model. But sometimes they only give us half of the essentials we need to build it. 

In 2014-2015, the average school counselor to student ratio in North Carolina was 1:378. In some states, the ratios are much higher (NACAC & ASCA report). 

However, this is the average. This means that the AVERAGE school counselor to student ratio is FAILING the ASCA recommended ratio of 1:250.

We are all educators, so we know that when the AVERAGE is FAILING, there is work to be done. 

What does this mean for our students?

• Fewer counselors to provide guidance on class selection and preparation for college and career pathways
• Fewer counselors to intervene in school safety situations
• Fewer counselors to intervene on behalf of abused, endangered, and/or suicidal children

This just names a few. 

Let's hold ourselves, our districts, our states, and the federal government to the same standards we expect of our students. When the AVERAGE is FAILING, there is work that needs to be done.

#ReducetheRatio