Implementation Challenges and Training Needs for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs in Wisconsin High Schools

Abstract

The data from this study details the challenges to implementing comprehensive school counseling programs in Wisconsin high schools.Results suggest that current professional development training practices may be ineffective in assisting high school counselors to implement key components of the ASCA National Model in their schools.This article discusses obstacles to conducting more rigorous, statewide evaluations, and describes connections to markers of student success.isconsin has a long history of attempting to provide comprehensive school counseling programs that promote student academic, career-planning, and personal-social growth (e.g., Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction [WDPI], 1986[WDPI], , 1997)).Concurrent with the development of these models, Wisconsin's level of school counseling saw rapid growth, specifically in elementary school counseling positions.Initial growth in school counseling positions was precipitated by an administrative law, widely known as Standard (e) (WDPI, 2010).This mandate required schools to provide students with access to school counseling programs that provided specific assistance in educational, vocational, career, post-secondary planning, and personal and social information.In the intervening years, the Wisconsin Developmental Guidance Model (WDGM) was revised, and, more recently, the Wisconsin Comprehensive School Counseling Model (WCSCM; Spear, Dahir, & White, 2007) emerged as a significant revision of the WDGM.