Downloadable Resources
Quick reference guides and detailed documentation to support your work
Counselor Characteristics
Quick reference summary of all 10 characteristics with key indicators
Counselor Characteristics (Detailed Handout)
Comprehensive guide with all indicators, examples, and implementation strategies
-
1
Key Indicators (6)
- Mission, vision, theory of change, coursework and clinical practice make explicit commitments to equity and justice.
- Ongoing data collection, paired with research-based evidence and community-informed practices, is used to establish and refine short- and long-term goals.
- Program design is informed by the identification, evaluation, and application of evidence.
- Recruitment and retention targets for mentor school counselors and residents reflect a commitment to diversity and include specific numbers.
- Issues of equity and justice are integrated in formal, consistent, and institutionalized ways and included in all residency policies and strategic plans.
- Research-based affinity spaces are supported within program parameters.
-
2
Key Indicators (4)
- Residency teams include leaders and decision-makers from IHEs, LEAs, schools, collective bargaining entities, and local communities.
- Partnership agreements reflect a collaboratively developed mission, vision, and theory of change that unite all residency partners in a common purpose and direction.
- Staffing, roles, and responsibilities are delineated across the residency to ensure strong communication, continuous reflection, and improvement.
- Established norms for collaboration and decision-making are used to define and implement data-based residency goals and milestones that are revisited over time.
-
3
Key Indicators (6)
- Program costs include resources and personnel necessary for effective implementation.
- Incentives, including resident and mentor school counselor stipends, are defined and tied to the residency program’s value proposition, ensuring alignment with the LEA’s 3–5 year strategic plan, mission, vision, theory of change, and long-term budget.
- Long-term budget projection is defined, including increasing cost savings to the LEA. Evidence of long-term commitment by all partners to contribute the necessary resources to operationalize the program.
- All available funding sources are examined and accessed.
- Revenue sources are diverse.
- Long-term staffing and project management is institutionalized for program longevity, including systems for information to be stored and accessible to withstand staffing changes.
-
4
Key Indicators (4)
- Qualitative and quantitative data is systematically collected in real-time to make revisions to residency programs.
- There is a data-sharing agreement between partners.
- A program assessment and evaluation plan with multiple measures that are tied to the Characteristics and Evidence of an Effective School Counselor Residency Program are codified.
- Each aspect of the program, from finances and personnel to participants, is data driven using established communication protocols.
-
5
Key Indicators (4)
- A recruitment strategy determined by the LEA, IHE and Bargaining Collective, if applicable, is data informed and systematized to target and prioritize residents who reflect the identities of LEA student demographics.
- Recruitment includes a variety of candidate vetting processes, including candidates' awareness of the impact of identity and institutionalized racism within education systems and in local, state and broader contexts.
- Recruitment processes include differentiated supports for candidates who reflect the students they will serve, such as flexible deadlines to apply and ongoing advisement.
- Resident recruitment and selection utilize and lift the work of current residents, mentor school counselors, school administration, and partners. District administration prioritizes residents in hiring processes.
-
6
Key Indicators (5)
- Residents work with a mentor school counselor for at least one full academic year, completing a minimum of 800 clock hours across two of three school levels. At least 50% of their time across the full school year must be spent at their primary site with their primary mentor school counselor, following a full-time school counselor's schedule.
- Residents gradually practice and take on increased school counseling responsibilities throughout the school year and are welcomed into the fabric of the school community.
- The resident has consistent opportunities to observe their mentor school counselor and other school counselors and educators and debrief observations at the school site.
- Residents are supervised, coached, assessed and given regular feedback by mentor school counselors, counselor educators, and residency staff.
- IHE coursework and other professional learning opportunities are designed or adjusted to support and align with clinical practice/fieldwork and procedures are in place to review clinical practice/fieldwork and coursework alignment at regular intervals.
-
7
Key Indicators (6)
- Coursework, clinical practice/fieldwork experiences and professional learning opportunities are aligned through a set of prioritized skills.
- Residency Program and IHE partners communicate and agree upon shared learning targets and evaluation systems for residents.
- Coursework and professional learning emphasize social justice, culturally affirming counseling, and anti-racist practices in the field of school counseling.
- Residents regularly reflect on the growth of their skills, student outcomes, including behavioral or learning targets, and school wide impact with mentor school counselors.
- Scope and sequence of coursework and professional learning opportunities allow residents to practice and receive feedback on skills before being applied and assessed.
- Professional learning for mentor school counselors and other partners is aligned with coursework content and strategies used by residents.
-
8
Key Indicators (6)
- Mentor school counselors have at least three years of school counseling experience and a clear PPS credential in school counseling.
- Mentor school counselors have a record of successful performance, growth mindset, receptiveness to feedback, and willingness to disrupt problematic, inequitable, and racist policies and practices.
- In collaboration, the IHE and LEA mentor school counselor selection strategy screens and vets potential mentor school counselors using multiple measures, such as paper application, interview, and colleague recommendation.
- Mentor school counselors receive specific training in school counseling supervision and ongoing professional development tied to resident learning and need.
- Mentor school counselors develop the resident’s abilities to self-assess and co-assess practice based on evidence, to set professional goals, and monitor progress.
- Mentor school counselors use knowledge of equity principles and culturally affirming practices to support their resident to address issues of equity, bias, and access.
-
9
Key Indicators (5)
- The recruitment or tactical outreach plan targets potential fieldwork sites.
- Clinical practice/fieldwork site selection process is defined and prioritizes schools whose students reflect the LEA's and community's diversity.
- Integrated learning communities at each clinical practice/fieldwork site includes administrators, mentor school counselors, and residents.
- Mentor school counselors, residency graduates and residents examine ways in which site policies can perpetuate and mask inequities and discredit student improvements over time.
- Programs participate in regional communities of practice to share learning beyond their particular program.
-
10
Key Indicators (4)
- Professional learning includes potential opt-in opportunities for graduates to continue to develop as leaders in their field.
- Support strategies are implemented to retain and develop residency alumni, preparing them to serve as future mentors after at least three years in the field.
- Alumni are provided on-going professional opportunities and resources.
- Residency programs promote wellness and retention by incorporating programming, such as workshops and readings, that focus on school counselor retention through personal development.
Ready to Learn More?
Explore our resources and collections to see these characteristics in action through research, case studies, and practical tools.