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School Counselors Role in the School Improvement Planning Process

          The school counselor plays a vital role in the school improvement planning process to ensure a school climate that supports equitable learning for all students.  School counselors can be active team members to create a plan or to contribute to a plan that is already in process by utilizing their knowledge of student needs. They have one on one, group and classroom contact. School counselors also have access to school records that provide essential information for a school improvement plan. This would be helpful in stage two of the web tool where team members need to collect, sort and select data. 

          Counselors can contribute by creating goals that are student centered, measurable and attainable.  By working with the other team members and data available they would be able to prioritize what goals need to be attended to first.  School counselors can help research the most effective strategies and programs to meet the goals by researching what has been proven to be effective such as best practices.  After a program has been selected, an action plan needs to be created that is formulated to adapt to the schools needs and goals.  The school counselor can also contribute to the school improvement plan by assisting with the evaluation process to see what is working and what is not working from the last goal that was in place.