1. Counseling in Schools
Module Eight: High School Counseling
East Carolina University
Prof Intro...
OKAY!! This week we are discussing counseling in the high school setting. If you have spent
anytime with a high school counselor, you know that they are BUSY! There are a myriad of
responsibilities facing school counselors practicing in the high school setting and all of them
require creativity, flexibility and a belief in the potential of students. For this module, you will be
exposed to graduation requirements, the process of creating a plan of study, athletic eligibility
requirements and an exciting opportunity only recently available to high school students—online
dual credit (high school and college) classes. The information presented this week is somewhat
complex and can seem very confusing when you are exposed to it for the first time. All I ask is
that you take the time to review it and consider critically what impact it might have if you decided
to practice in a high school setting. This module is intended to expose you to range of possibilities
in the realm of high school counseling and prepare you to know what types of questions you
might need to ask when you are “on the job.”
Please begin by watching the 30 minute video posted as a link in the module. This video is an
episode of "Full Circle" which is hosted by Wake County Schools. A LOT of good information is
shared about the new graduation requirements. After that, please review the NC Graduation
Requirements and Athletic Eligibility pdf.
The websites that introduce you to the UNCG i-School and NC Virtual Public High School are
really cool resources. Make sure that you take the time to review these sites. If you are in a small
school system that has limited elective opportunities for students or if you are working with a
student that is interested in taking college courses for free (AND WHO WOULDN’T BE?!?)
these sites will provide you with opportunities to meet that student’s need. Students in NC Public
High Schools can take UNCG i-School, NC VPHS, and community college courses for FREE as
dual-enrollment courses—meaning that they receive high school AND college credit. This means
that now many freshmen entering our universities are already a year ahead in terms of credit
hours. Please make sure that you check out these sites and consider how you could include these
opportunities for your students. Some of these opportunities, particularly the ones in the
community college setting have been proposed to change and not be offered for free (due to
budget issues), but at the time of this class, many are still being offered for free.
This week our discussion board forum will consider both the reality and the ideal view of high
school counseling.
If you have any questions, please let me know!! Again, the times suggested in the table are just
suggestions, you may find that it takes you less time or maybe a bit more. If you think they are
way off, please let me know. Thanks!!
Goals:
- Awareness of the process of developing course of study plans for high school students
- Increased awareness of Career Pathways and options
- Awareness of college credit options for NC High School Students
- Increased awareness of the multifaceted role of the high school counselor

2. As evidenced through discussion board participation and final exam.
Appr
Activitie
x Notes
s
Time
How we don't want to appear to our students!
Brief video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExF7xD7FyV8
High school students may have the perception that their school counselor is "clueless"
from the many pop culture portrayals of school counselors. In watching just a couple of
minutes of this clip (you don't have to watch the whole thing), you quickly get a sense of
the frustration of students in feeling like just a number to the counselor. We definitely
don't want to end up being this guy! It is our responsibility to help our high school
students know that we are here to help and that we have a wealth of resources that will be
useful to them individually.
Video Sharing the NEW Graduation Requirements
Freshmen starting during the 2009-2010 academic year will fall under new
standards/expectations: the FUTURE READY course of study.
Reviewi
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ng http://dss.wcpss.net:8080/b/fullcircle/01-2010/fullcircle.mp4
mins
Videos
This video lasts 30 mins and introduces the new graduation requirements and discusses
briefly the graduation project. Though the video is specific to Wake County's engagement
with these requirements and suggestions, it provides information that will be very helpful
to school counselors in all counties.
After you watch this video, you should be able to answer the following questions:
How many credits does the state require for a student to graduate? Can LEA (local
education agencies) elect to add additional credit requirements for graduation?
How many math credits does it take for a student to graduate? Are there alternatives for
students who are unable to meet any of the math requirements?
Do all LEAs have to require that seniors complete a graduation project or senior project?
1. Dual Enrollment Information
• http://www.carolinajournal.com/articles/display_story.ht
ml?id=8745
• Career and College Promise:
• http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/ccpromise/
Readings
1 • http://www.careercollegenc.org/
for
hour
Module
2. NC Graduation Requirements
3. Explanation of the new graduation requirements (FUTURE
READY CORE) and the former requirements.
• GraduationRequirementsOnslow.pdf

3. • Retrieved from:
http://images.pcmac.org/Uploads/OnslowCounty/O
nslowCounty/Departments/DocumentsSubCategorie
s/Documents/3460.pdf
3. Athletic Eligibility Info: NCHSAA.pdf
P. 106-111 'ELIGIBILITY' REQUIRED READING
E- Many high schools in rural locations offer fewer electives and course options for students.
Learning Online learning is an excellent way to broaden your curriculum and allow you students to
Links for accumulate college credit along with their high school coursework through dual enrollment
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High programs. Please (briefly!) check out these options for online learning available to NC
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School students.
Counsel NC Virtual Public High School
ors UNCG i-School brief video explaining UNCG's program: Interesting Clip
1.5
hours Counsel The topic for the week's discussion debate will be the Reality of responsibilities and
sprea or expectations for High School Counselors vs. how High School Counseling should be Ideally
d Advocac be structured and provided. Group A will support the IDEAL side of this debate and Group
over y Debate B will support the REAL voices in the debate.
week
This week we will have a little informal discussion about the involvement of stakeholders in
your projects. Please post a brief post in the following format in the discussion forum titled
"Which stakeholders should we work with?" Weigh-in on your colleagues' posts to help us all
figure out innovative ways to involve stakeholders. The entire purpose of this forum is to help
us brainstorm effective and/or easy ways to get other people involved.
Format:
1. Focus of project
2. One sentence saying "What" you are doing as your initiative (NO more than one sentence)
3. Which stakeholders do you plan to work with (list them like this "Stakeholder - what
he/she/they will do")
Final At this point in the course, you and your partner should be able to fill in this info on your
30
Project MEASURE:
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Prep 1. All of the initial information including demographics, etc.
2. STEP ONE should be completed or able to be completed.
3. STEP TWO (Element) should be completed or ready to be completed.
4. STEP THREE (Analyze) should be able to be completed this week.
Your analysis (step 3) might be as simple as % of students in 5th grade who were truant for 20
days or more during the Aug-Dec timespan or during the most recent six/nine weeks. OR your
analysis can be as complex as you like. My advice is to keep it simple--identify a data element
that is specifically linked to your topic and can be used to show the impact of your
topic/focus. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Here are some examples of STEPs 2 & 3: EXAMPLES OF 2 and 3.doc

4. Please feel free to post questions of updates in the Project Discussion Forum on the
Discussion Board.
Practice
No practice quiz this week.
Quiz
One thing I NEED to know...
The graduation requirements can be very confusing to parents, families and students.
Especially the change from the multiple courses of study (Career Prep, College Tech
Prep, College/University Prep, Occupational Prep) to the Future-Ready Core &
Occupational Prep for 9th graders starting during the 2009-2010 academic year. I will
need to familiarize myself with all of the requirements and must also recognize that to
graduate from high school in North Carolina, students must meet:
Course & Credit Requirements
As defined by the NC Department of Public Instruction
Testing requirements
As defined by the NC Department of Public Instruction
Local Requirements
Additional requirements adopted by the local board of education