Virginia Law

The school counselor preK-12 program shall ensure that the candidate has completed two years of successful, full-time teaching experience or two years of successful full-time experience in school counseling in a public or an accredited nonpublic school. Two years of successful, full-time experience in school counseling in a public or an accredited nonpublic school under a nonrenewable Provisional License may be accepted to meet this requirement. The program shall ensure that the candidate must demonstrated the following competencies:

1. The ability to support students by cooperatively working with parents and guardians and teachers.

2. Understanding of the principles and theories of human growth and development throughout the lifespan and their implications for school counseling.

3. Understanding of the social and cultural foundations of education and their implications for school counseling programs.

4. Understanding of lifespan career development.

5. Understanding of the skills and processes for counseling students to include:

a. Individual and group counseling for academic development;

b. Individual and group counseling for career development; and

c. Individual and group counseling for personal and social development.

6. Understanding of the knowledge, skills, and processes for providing developmental group counseling, including:

a. Academic development;

b. Career development; and

c. Personal and social development.

7. Understanding of the skills and processes related to the school counseling program at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels, including:

a. Characteristics of learners at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels;

b. Program planning;

c. Coordination; and

d. Consultation.

8. Understanding of the knowledge, skills, and processes of student appraisal and assessment relative to school counseling programs, including:

a. Individual assessment; and

b. Group assessment.

9. Understanding of the school counseling professional, including:

a. Legal considerations;

b. Ethical considerations; and

c. Professional issues and standards.

10. Understanding of the skills and processes of research and evaluation aimed at improving school counseling programs.

11. Understanding work-based learning methods of instruction such as internship, job shadowing, cooperative education, mentorship, service learning, clinical, and youth apprenticeship,

12. Understanding of and proficiency in grammar, usage, and mechanics and their integration in writing.

13. Understanding of and proficiency in pedagogy to incorporate writing as an instructional and assessment tool for candidates to generate, gather, plan, organize, and present ideas in writing to communicate for a variety of purposes.

14. The program shall include at least 100 clock hours of a school counselor internship and practicum experience in the preK-6 setting and 100 clock hours of internship and practicum experience in the grades 7-12 setting.