Comprehensive School Counseling Program Benefits

Fully implemented Comprehensive School Counseling Programs greatly benefit all individuals involved, including students, parents/guardians, teachers & the community.

Benefits for Students

• Student-centered program services available to ALL students
• Enhances student academic performance
• Increases interaction among students
• Provides a developmental and preventative focus
• Promotes knowledge and assistance in career exploration and development

• Enhances life coping skills
• Helps students feel connected to school
• Enhances student social/emotional development

• Develops decision-making skills

• Increases knowledge of self and others

• Broadens knowledge of our changing work world

• Increases opportunities for school counselor-student interaction

• Develops a system of long-range planning for students

 Benefits for Parents/Guardians

• Enhances students’ academic performance, and their social/emotional and career development
• Encourages outreach to all parents/guardians
• Provides support for parents/guardians regarding each child’s educational development

• Increases opportunities for school counselor interaction

• Encourages input of parents/guardians

• Provides parents/guardians information about available resources

• Assures parents/guardians that all children will receive support from the school counseling program

Benefits for Teachers

• Contributes to a team effort to enhance students’ social/emotional, academic,  and career development
• Provides relevant curriculum ideas through the use of school counseling grade level expectations
• Establishes the school counselor as a resource/consultant
• Encourages teachers’ input into the delivery of the comprehensive school counseling program

• Encourages positive, collaborative working relationships

• Defines the role of school counselors as educators

Benefits for the Community

• Encourages input from business, industry, labor, and other community partners including community mental health and social service agencies
• Provides increased opportunities for collaboration among school counselors and business, industry, labor, and other community partners including community mental health and social service agencies

• Enhances the role of the school counselor as a resource person
• Facilitates the development of students as active responsible citizens
• Increases opportunities for business, industry, labor, and other community partners including community mental health and social service agencies to actively participate in the total school program
• Enhances students’ academic performance as well as their social/emotional and career development
• Supplies a future workforce that has decision-making skills, pre-employment skills, and increased worker maturity

Taken from the Missouri Comprehensive School Counseling Program Manual