Past Investment: 1998-2004
The issue…
The field of school counseling has been largely on the sidelines as educators have worked to boost the academic achievement of all students. The preparation most counselors receive emphasizes the social and personal needs of young people rather than their academic or career goals. Yet studies by leading experts argue for training to better equip future counselors to support all students' academic and career development.
The response…
In 1998, The Wallace Foundation, along with The Education Trust of Washington, D.C., launched Transforming School Counseling, a national initiative to improve the professional preparation of school counselors and increase their capacity to provide appropriate academic and career development counseling to middle and high school students, especially those in low-achieving schools. The Trust promotes high academic achievement for all students K-16, focusing on schools and colleges serving Latino, African-American and Native-American students.
The strategies…
Six universities received three-year, $450,000 grants to make changes in graduate-level training programs, recruit more diverse candidates and partner with local school districts in the redesign of their programs. In addition, The Education Trust received an $875,000 grant to work with the universities as they implement changes to their counselor education programs. A five-year evaluation is providing much-needed documentation on how universities and partner school districts can better prepare and employ counselors.
The accomplishments…
So far, forty colleges and universities have expressed interest in working with The Education Trust to transform their counselor preparation programs. Transforming School Counseling: A Report on First-Year Experiences, provides an analysis of the initial activities of the project. In 2000, New Rules, New Roles: Preparing All Young People for a Changing World focused on six successful programs supported by Wallace. In December 2001, The Wallace Foundation contracted with the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota to produce two more publications that will provide further information to the field on how to refocus and improve the preparation of counselors. The first report, Transforming School Counseling: Preliminary Outcomes and Indicators of Change, was published in December 2002.