School counseling programs are an integral part of the school’s vision and mission, are student focused and based on data. The old question was “What do school counselors do?” The new question is “How are students different because of the school counseling program?”

The mission of the Arkansas School Counseling staff is to support schools in developing a fully implemented comprehensive school counseling program that is comprehensive in scope, preventative in design, and developmental in nature. This model, developed by the American School Counselor Association, helps students maximize academic achievement, plan for the future, and develop socially and emotionally. The comprehensive program is provided mainly through direct services to students including classroom guidance, individual student planning, responsive services and system support; as well as indirect services on behalf of a student.  

In addition, professional development and technical assistance is provided to school counselors and administrators for the implementation of national and state counseling standards and state mandates.

Comprehensive school counseling plans must be posted on each district’s website under “State Required Information” by August 1, 2020 and each year after.

For more information, please contact: