Master in Education
Specialization School Councelingr
*Offered in Spanish, English, Bilingual.
Program Description
This program is designed to prepare professional school counselors in a school setting with the knowledge, skills, and practices necessary to address the developmental, multicultural, social, academic, and career needs of school children and adolescents. The Master’s training leads the graduate to acquire the competencies needed to be able to develop, implement and evaluate a school counseling program according to state standards with an emphasis of a collaborative, preventive and responsive approach. The graduates from this program will be able to address effectively and support a diverse student population through proficient bilingual communication in conflict management, problem solving, and decision making. It provides school counselors with a foundation in the principles, theories, and practices of guidance and counseling in a PK-12 school setting. The program is designed to prepare students to meet the requirements of School Counselor credentialing articulated by the national and state standards.
Students in the School Counseling program must meet all state and local requirements to obtain certification in the area of educational guidance and counseling. The program meets state requirement for certification by requiring the completion of 48 hours in a master’s degree with a major in educational counseling, including 3-semester hours in a supervised counseling practicum experience that is a minimum of 100 clock hours over a minimum of 10 weeks. Practicum students will complete at least 40 clock hours of direct service with actual clients. After completion of counseling practicum, students will complete 600 clock hours of supervised counseling internship. Internship students must complete at least 240 clock hours of direct service. The internship will require students to work in a PK-12 school setting for 15 weeks, 40 hours per week, for a total of 600 hours. Students must arrange to comply with the school clinical observation and internship requirements during a regular school day schedule. Students must abide by all rules and procedures set by the school district to meet program requirements. Students must also show evidence of a passing score in state certification exams prior to assignment of the practicum/internship. Students must demonstrate English language proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing to ensure a successful experience. The student must refer to the Internship Handbook for specific requirements and procedures.