ABSTRACT
School counselors who can demonstrate that their guidance and counseling programs result in improvements in their students’ connectedness to school, teachers, and peers are less likely to be pulled in 100 different directions by administrators, teachers, and parents. Based on our experiences, we argue that this is because such counselors are viewed as providing unique and highly valued services. However, school counselors who utilize a comprehensive and organized approach to deliver guidance presentations, individual student planning, system support, and responsive services (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2003), and who can demonstrate that this coordinated set of services results in improved connectedness among their students are less likely to be asked (or expected) to engage in nonguidance activities, such as supervising testing, scheduling classes, or supervising lunch. Or, if asked, these counselors can point to their impressive body of evaluative evidence. They can use it to define the borders of their professional duties and, thereby, educate parents and colleagues alike about the unique and valuable role that professional counselors play in schools.
