National School Counseling Week

NATIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING WEEK -- (Senate - January 31, 2006)

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, today I am pleased to submit this resolution designating the week of February 2, 2006 as ``National School Counseling Week,'' on behalf of my colleagues, Senator BIDEN, Senator DORGAN, Senator JOHNSON, and Senator DODD. This resolution honors and celebrates the important work of school counselors, which the Senate has recognized since 1965 through the inclusion of school counseling in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Across the country, there are approximately 95,000 school counselors, including 2,100 in Washington State. School counselors are critical components of a successful school and contribute significantly to the growth and success of students. In fact, school counselors were instrumental in helping students, teachers, and parents deal with the trauma of terrorism on September 11, 2001, and its aftermath. However, despite their important service, counselors are expected to serve, on average, 485 students each, and are overwhelmed. The American School Counseling Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychological Association recommend the ratio of students to school counselors be 250 students to 1 school counselor.

I want to share just a few examples of how school counselors throughout America are helping students.

In a middle school in southern California, school counselors realized that 257 students were in danger of not passing on to the next grade. They discovered that only 15 percent of the students understood the promotion and retention requirements. The school counselors presented a series of individual and small-group lessons on promotion and retention criteria. After the lessons, 100 percent of the students understood the requirements. As a result, 72 of the 257 students, about 28 percent, avoided retention that year.

In a high school in Racine, WI, a math teacher realized that 100 of his students failed algebra in the first quarter of the year. He asked a school counselor for help. Together, they discovered some of the reasons why students were failing. They initiated several programs, such as peer tutoring and homework assistance. As a result, 93 of the 100 students passed algebra by the end of the year and were able to move on to the next level of math.

A school district in Kentucky realized that the retention rate among ninth grade students was unacceptably high. School counselors, teachers and administrators worked together to develop and implement strategies targeted at helping ninth graders move to tenth grade. As a result, retention rates improved in 16 of the 17 high schools in the county in just 1 year. One school saw the retention rate improve more than 25 percent.

This resolution, though, is merely the beginning of what we need to be doing to support school counselors. We need to reduce the ratio of students to counselors to, at the most, 250 to 1. We need to help schools maintain their funding so that school counselors are not cut from school budgets. And we need to support our school counselors so that they can continue to be integral in the fabric of our schools and help our students achieve success in high school and beyond.

School counselors design and implement comprehensive developmental school counseling programs that are integral to the success of every student. They help students improve academic achievement, develop personally and socially and prepare for successful careers that will enable them to be contributing members of society. National School Counseling Week focuses public attention on the unique contribution of professional school counselors and highlights the tremendous impact that school counselors have in helping students achieve success in school and beyond.

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