Creating a Comprehensive Guidance Program
A Model that Makes a Difference
NAESP: Middle Matters Spring 2001 page(s) 1-3, 7
by Norman C. Gysbers
The direction of school guidance programs has undergone a slow but significant transformation
during the last two decades. In the past, students met briefly with their counselor once or twice a
year to discuss problems or review progress. Many of the responsibilities assigned to the
guidance office and to school counselors had little to do with counseling at all. Today, guidance
programs are becoming an integral part of the overall educational program.
Where school counselors once dealt with isolated incidents they are now providing a
comprehensive range of programs that address the developmental needs of students from prekindergarten through twelfth grade. They are involved in classroom instruction, individual and
small-group counseling, consultation, and community-based outreach activities.
And, according to a recent study of more than 22,000 seventh-grade students in 184 middle
schools in Missouri (Lapan, Gysbers, and Petroski, in press), the more closely a school follows
the Missouri Comprehensive Guidance Program Model, the more the students benefit. (The
Missouri Model is based on a generic model described in Gysbers and Henderson (2000) that has
helped to reshape guidance programs in schools across the country.)
The comprehensive guidance model is based on the following assumptions:
1. All students are in need of specific knowledge and skills that are the instructional
responsibility of guidance programs.
2. All students need assistance with their personal, educational, and career planning.
3. Some students require special assistance in dealing with developmental problems and
immediate crises.
4. Other educational programs in the school—and the staff involved with these programs—
require support that can best be supplied by the guidance program.
A District-Wide Structure
How does the model work? First, there is a district-wide structure, or comprehensive guidance
program. School counselors understand that they are part of a pre-K-12 team. Middle school
counselors recognize that, as they respond to the specific developmental needs of middle school
students, they are continuing the work that began in elementary schools. And, they know the
work they do will provide the foundation for the work of school counselors at the high school
level and, possibly, beyond.
There are three major components in the comprehensive guidance program. Those components
are content, organizational framework, and resources (Gysbers and Henderson, 2000). The
content includes the knowledge and skills (competencies) students must master in order to
prepare themselves for a complex and rapidly changing world. This content generally is
organized according to domains' career, educational, and personal-social.
The organizational framework for the program contains seven structural and program
components. The structural components (definition, rationale, and assumptions) provide the
ideological foundation for the program. The program components (guidance curriculum,
individual planning, responsive services, and system support) provide the organizers and the
delivery system.
Structural Components
Definition. Definition includes the mission statement of the guidance program and describes its
centrality within the district's educational programs. It delineates the competencies that students
will acquire as a result of their involvement in the guidance program, summarizes the program
components, and identifies the specific population the program serves.
Rationale. Rationale describes the importance of guidance as an equal partner with other
educational programs in the school district. It explains why students need to acquire the
competencies they will master as a result of their involvement in the school's comprehensive
guidance program.
Assumptions. Assumptions are the principles that shape and guide the program. They include
statements about the contributions that guidance programs make to students' development, the
premises that under-gird the comprehensiveness and balanced nature of the program, and the
relationships between the guidance program and the school's other educational programs.
Program Components
Guidance curriculum. The guidance curriculum links the school to the economic and social
systems of the community, the needs of students to the needs of the wider society, and the
present situations of students to their future plans. Guidance counselors work collaboratively
with teachers to deliver the program through stand-alone and integrated units in the classroom as
well as through school-wide events such as career days.
Individual planning. The individual planning component involves raising the consciousness of
young people concerning themselves and their potential. Individual planning begins in middle
school and continues through the high school years. Planning devices such as career portfolios
are used extensively.
Responsive services. The responsive services component includes prevention programs for
students who may be at risk of making unhealthy or inappropriate choices. It also includes
remedial programs for students who may already have made unwise choices. Responsive
services include individual and small-group counseling, consultation with staff and parents, and
referral to specialists.
System support. Support for the guidance program includes staff development, community
resource development, policy development, budget, and facilities. Support for other programs
includes individual planning activities, linkage with special education programs, and guidancerelated administrative work.
Positive Results
Research has demonstrated that, when middle school counselors have the time, the resources,
and the structure of a comprehensive guidance program in which to work, they contribute to
positive academic, personal-social, and career development as well as the development of
positive and safe learning climates in schools.
References
Gysbers, N. C. and Henderson, P. Developing and Managing Your School Guidance Program,
3rd Edition. Alexandria, Va.: American Counseling Association, 2000.
Lapan, R. T.; Gysbers, N. C.; and Petroski, G. "Helping 7th Graders Be Safe and Academically
Successful: A Statewide Study of the Impact of Comprehensive Guidance Programs." Journal of
Counseling and Development, in press.
The Special Role of the Middle-Level Counselor
In addition to preparing youngsters for the increased independence they will experience in high
school, school counselors at the middle level face the challenge of developing programs that
meet the unique needs of young adolescents. School counselors at the middle level must:
 Implement practical strategies to help students move toward self-understanding.
 Be prepared to help youngsters and their parents understand one another and work together
in making the difficult choices that occur during adolescence.
 Understand the relationship between peer pressure and substance abuse and develop
counseling strategies designed to help young adolescents deal with this pressure.
 Provide programs that help young adolescents manage stress and develop confidence and
hope for the future.
 Implement programs that take into account the impact of physical and sexual maturation on
students' lives.
 Collaborate with teachers to implement programs that help youngsters develop a strong
work ethic.
 Promote career exploration activities.
Impact on Students
Seventh-grade students attending middle schools with more fully implemented comprehensive
guidance programs reported:
 Feeling safer attending their schools.
 Having better relationships with teachers.
 Believing that their education was more relevant and important to their futures.
 Being more satisfied with the quality of education available to them in their schools.
 Having fewer problems related to the physical and interpersonal environments in their
schools.
 Earning higher grades.
-------------------Norman C. Gysbers is professor of educational and counseling psychology at the University of
Missouri, Columbia.