School Counseling, M.Ed.

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The M.Ed. major in School Counseling prepares students for State Certification in Georgia. Degree requirements may exceed the minimum number of hours for professional certification. The Master of Education program in School Counseling is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. Students who complete the program are prepared to take the GACE (Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators) subject tests in school counseling as well as the NCC (National Certified Counselor) exam.

Program Objectives

Students will develop skills to enable them to provide individual counseling services, group counseling experiences, and developmentally appropriate classroom guidance lessons for children and adolescents that are consistent with the ASCA National Model for School Counseling Programs.

Students will develop skills to enable them to understand children and adolescents from a holistic, developmental approach, grounded in theory that leads to appropriate strategies to enhance the adjustment and learning of all students.
Students will develop skills to enable them to use data to develop a comprehensive, developmentally appropriate guidance program and to evaluate the program’s effectiveness.
Students will develop skills to enable them to understand child and adolescent academic, career, and personal/social needs in the context of a socioculturally diverse school environment.
Students will develop skills to enable them to provide a career guidance program that is developmentally appropriate.
Students will develop skills to enable them to provide collaborative consultation services to teachers, parents, administrators, other school professionals and community resources.
Students will develop skills that will enable them to provide appropriate counseling and consultation services for special needs students, their families and teachers.
Students will develop leadership skills to enable them to advocate for students, parents, and others especially with regard to closing achievement gaps between diverse groups.
Students will develop skills that will enable them to work within the framework of ethical guidelines of the American Counseling Association and the American School Counselors Association.
Students will learn their legal responsibilities as school counselors.
Students will develop skills that will enable them to work within the framework of an existing school guidance program and work in collaboration with other counseling and educational professionals to enhance learning for all students.
Students will develop skills that will enable them to use technology in appropriate ways with students, parent, teachers, and other school staff.
Students will use current school counseling research to develop, monitor, and evaluate effective counseling programs.
Students in this program are expected to follow the latest version of the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics, and the most recent version of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Ethical Standards for School Counselors.

Program Academic Regulations

A minimum of 60 semester hours of graduate coursework must be completed with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00. Degree objectives may require more than the minimum number of hours to meet certain professional standards.

M.Ed. School Counseling curriculum is designed in a cohort format. This requires students take prescribed classes in certain semesters, sharing the educational experience with students who have the same educational needs. If a student must deviate from the cohort schedule there is the possibility the courses may not be available in semesters other than those in which they are scheduled. In addition, students entering the cohort must commit to doing their Practicum/Internship in a Professional Development School.

Delivery systems used for instructions include: lecture, group work, required readings, presentations using advanced technology, simulated activities, and applied practice followed by individual and group supervision in some courses.

During the first term of enrollment, all school counseling students must complete CPS 6020 - Introduction and Professional Orientation to School Counseling with a grade of “B” or higher. A grade lower than “B” requires repetition of the course. During the academic term in which CPS 6020 is first taken, other courses may be taken concurrently. However, when repetition of CPS 6020 is necessary, no other CPS coursework may be taken concurrently or prior to successful completion of CPS 6020 . Students will be allowed to retake CPS 6020 for this reason only once. All school counseling students must pass the GACE Content Assessments in school counseling to graduate from the Master of Education program in School Counseling.

For school counseling students to be eligible to begin the applied practice (CPS 7661 ), the following courses must be successfully completed or taken concurrently with CPS 7661 : CPS 6020 , CPS 6150 , CPS 6410 , CPS 6450 , CPS 7260 , CPS 7300 , CPS 7340 , and CPS 7500 . Additionally, the following courses must be successfully completed before students are eligible to take internship (CPS 7681 ): CPS 8260 , CPS 8380 , CPS 8470 and one of the following: CPS 8390 , CPS 8400 , or CPS 8460 . CPS 7550 and CPS 8431 or CPS 8600 must be taken concurrently with the internship sequence (CPS 7681 ). Students may be required to take an approved advanced counseling skills course prior to or concurrently with their practicum (CPS 7661 ) and internship (CPS 7681 ), depending on course offering. Students are approved to begin the applied practice based upon the number of hours and courses they have completed in their programs.

The School Counseling applied practice (CPS 7661 ) must be taken the spring of the first year of the School Counseling program and the internship sequence (CPS 7681 ) must be taken in fall and spring semesters of the second year of the School Counseling program. Students cannot register for CPS 7661 and CPS 7681 without being admitted into the School Counseling program.

School counseling students must attend one applied practice/internship orientation workshop before turning in the applied practice application, and becoming eligible to register for CPS 7661 and CPS 7681 . The applied practice internship workshops are held in the student’s first fall semester - dates are posted online at the midpoint of the first fall semester. If students do not attend this workshop, they cannot participate in CPS 7661 in the upcoming spring and CPS 7681 in the upcoming fall and spring.

Evaluation of a student’s performance is continuous and involves consideration of the student’s academic performance as well as the student’s performance in laboratory, applied practice, and internship classes. A student may be dropped from a course, the program, or both if the welfare of the student’s clientele or prospective clientele or the functioning of a school or agency is, in the judgment of the CPS faculty, in jeopardy as a result of the student’s behavior.

School counseling students who do not already have initial certification in the State of Georgia must successfully complete EXC 4020 Characteristics and Instructional Strategies for Students with Disabilities and the appropriate GACE Content Assessment before Georgia State University will recommend them for graduation and/or certification in School Counseling. For Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) certification, students must earn a grade of “B” or higher in EXC 4020

Departmental Endorsement Policy

The Department of Counseling and Psychological Services requires that program faculty endorsement be given only for the program for which graduate students have been prepared.