Utah State Office of Education

Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance (CCGP): K-12 Programs strive to have every student in the state of Utah graduate from high school with the skills, knowledge and dispositions essential for success.

•All students can succeed at high levels if given sufficient support.

•We value diversity.

•All students should receive a quality education for the development of the whole child.

•All students should have access to the skills, knowledge, and dispositions provided by school counseling professionals.

•All students should graduate with lifelong career decision making and management skills that are necessary to succeed in postsecondary education, training, and the workplace.

A school counseling program is . . .

•Comprehensive in scope.

•Preventative in design.

•Developmental in nature.

•Student centered.

•Conducted in collaboration.

•Driven by data.

•An integral part of the total education program.

Our vision is to provide every student with the assistance and guidance to effectively identify, select, plan, and prepare for a career of choice, while giving each student the encouragement to achieve the goals which will enable him or her to have increased confidence when embarking on a career and/or entering the workplace.

The Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance program supports the Career and Technical Education Pathways initiative.

•CCGP is crucial to the implementation of High School to College and Career Pathways.

•CTE Pathways provide templates for school counselors to utilize when working with students on developing an individual SEOP.

•Through the SEOP process, counselors identify appropriate Pathways that meet each student’s interests, abilities, and goals.

•School Guidance Curriculum provides instructional support for the development of skills that are based on specific recognized content. Students are taught skills related to the development of healthy personal characteristics, values, and attitudes deemed important for healthy productive living.

•Individual Student Planning is a process that includes activities to assist students and their parents or guardians in planning, monitoring, and managing the student’s learning as well as his or her personal, educational, and career goals. Every school district has adopted policies to support the SEP/SEOP process as an essential element of the student’s education.

•Responsive Services meet the immediate concerns and needs of students, usually with a prevention focus, e.g., programs for dropout prevention, student assistance teams, peer leadership, and drug and alcohol prevention.

•System Support focuses on program development, implementation, and management, and connects the guidance program to existing family and community support and to school improvement and student achievement.

Career and Technical Education provides incentive grants, based on school enrollments, to schools that meet the rigorous standards of the Guidance Performance Evaluation. These evaluations are performed by out-of-district, peer-to-peer evaluation teams that encourage programs to connect to the mission of the local school and provide evidence of contributions to student achievement.

The Student Education Occupation Plan (SEOP) is a primary strategy for recognizing student accomplishments and strengths and for planning, monitoring, and managing education and career development in grades 7-12.

Research shows that students find greater success in school if:

•They have the best schedule for their abilities and needs.

•They can identify their interests and abilities.

•They have a plan for high school and beyond.

•They can set goals.

•Their parents are involved in the process.

(Brown, Duane. (1999) “Improving Academic Achievement:What School Counselors Can Do.” http://ericcass.uncg.edu/digest/brown.htm).

•Students who are enrolled in schools with highly implemented Comprehensive Guidance Programs take more high-level math and science classes and perform better in every area of the ACT exam (IBRIC, 2006).

•CTE students who receive effective guidance and advisement services are much more likely to complete a rigorous curriculum of English, science, and math and have higher test scores than those students who have not received such guidance (SREB, 2002).

•All secondary schools in Utah offer the Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance program to their students.