(A full description of Clinical Instruction can be found in Section III).

For students in the School Counseling (SC) program clinical instruction occurs in COUN 690 Practicum Seminar and COUN 693 (one term) or COUN 694/695 (two terms) Internship. COUN 690 Practicum requires 120 hours of supervised experience in a school setting including a minimum of 40 direct service clock hours. In this course students receive weekly one and a half hour group supervision with a faculty member, one hour each week of on-campus individual supervision with a faculty member, and one hour each week of supervision from a site supervisor who is a state certified school counselor or comparably certified school professional (i.e. school psychologist, school social worker, or student assistance coordinator).  COUN 693 (one term) or 694/695 (two terms) Internship takes place within a school setting and requires a total of 600 hours, including 240 direct service clock hours which includes a minimum of 10 hours in group work.  In this course students receive weekly one and a half hour group supervision with a faculty member and one hour each week of supervision from an on-site supervisor who is a state certified school counselor.

Practicum Seminar (COUN 690) and Internship (COUN 693 or 694/695) provide school counseling program students the opportunity to acquire specific experiences, knowledge, and skills unique to the K-12 school setting continuum. Within these two courses, students explore the organizational and administrative structure of the K-12 school systems in which they are placed as well as similarities and differences in the scope, structure and delivery of counseling services at the elementary, junior and senior high school levels. Areas of study include: staffing patterns within today’s schools; the relationship of the school counseling program to the academic mission of the school; the roles, functions, settings, and professional identity of the school counselor in relation to other professional and support personnel; ethical and legal issues that impact counseling in todays’ schools; and professional preparation and credentialing standards relevant to the practice of school counseling.

The College of New Jersey is centrally located within the State of New Jersey and geographically proximate to eastern Pennsylvania. Therefore, students in the School Counseling Program can choose from a wide variety of K-12 school system settings in either of these states to fulfill their supervised school counseling clinical experiences. Given the cultural and geographic diversity of the area, these field placement settings include: urban, suburban, and rural schools; economically advantaged and distressed districts; ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse learners; and small (e.g. 300 students), medium, and large (e.g. 3500 students) school systems.

 In this supervised clinical experience, students are given the opportunity to begin their clinical experience at the practicum, or novice level, and progress to a capstone comprehensive internship experience in which they perform the functions of, and in the identical capacity as, their full-time practicum/internship school counselor field supervisors.  In the school counseling clinical experience students undertake, and must demonstrate increasing developmentally appropriate competencies in, a full range of counseling responsibilities, including, but not limited to: individual and group counseling; testing; scheduling; career and school-to-work counseling; college selection and application advisement; classroom guidance activities; and professional collaboration and consultation with school personnel, parents, community agencies, and other key stakeholders.

When the clinical experience commences, emphasis is given to understanding the total school environment and how the school counselor functions within that environment. In Practicum (COUN 690) students are introduced to, and expected to conduct a formal analysis of, their school setting. In addition, they are asked to observe the school counselor’s role in such areas as student assistance programming, school leadership, curriculum development, and multidisciplinary advisory meetings, and explore how school counselors can serve as systems change agents within the school. As part of their orientation, students are also asked to identify, become versant in, and discuss with their seminar colleagues the emergency management plan at their schools and how the school system and counselors within this system are expected to respond to crises, disasters, and other trauma-causing events.

In both Practicum (COUN 690) and Internship (COUN 693 or 694/695) students are encouraged to explore the cultural, ethical, economic, legal, and political issues surrounding diversity, equity, and excellence in terms of student learning and development as well as the multiple factors (e.g. bullying, abuse, violence, eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, childhood depression) that may affect students’ personal, social, and academic functioning. During their clinical experience, students draw upon and apply the knowledge and skills acquired in COUN 660 (Organization, Administration, and Supervision of School Counseling); EPSY 661 (Counseling Exceptional and At-Risk Children and Adolescents); and COUN 545(Community Agency Counseling) to real life individual, group and systemic issues.  More specifically, through videotaped, oral, and written case presentations students demonstrate their ability to assess and interpret student strengths and needs and design and implement prevention and intervention plans to address the same. The effects of atypical growth and development, health and wellness, language, ability level, multicultural issues, and factors of resiliency are an essential part of these case presentations and discussions. In addition, students study and employ differentiated instructional strategies in classroom guidance activities designed to promote the academic, career, and personal/social development of ALL students. The effectiveness and impact of these activities are evaluated by the faculty seminar supervisor in collaboration with the field site supervisor.

As students proceed through their clinical experience, they build upon their initial field experiences in Practicum and begin to perform all of the activities of a regularly employed school counselor. Internship (COUN 693 or 694/695) therefore finds students engaged in all of the previously discussed functions as well as more complex integrations of the same. These more advanced activities include: applying relevant research findings to inform the practice of school counseling (e.g. Topical Presentation Assignment); developing measureable outcomes for school counseling programs, activities, interventions and experiences; and knowing how to design, implement, manage, and evaluate a comprehensive school counseling program. In addition, students develop proficiency in working with parents, guardians, and families to act on behalf of their children to address problems that affect school success. They also consult with teachers, staff, and community- based organizations to promote student academic, career, personal/social development and assure that ALL students receive equitable and responsive services. As the total clinical experience comes to a close, students bring together an awareness of themselves as counseling practitioners; an understanding of their school systems and the communities they serve; the best practices and standards of their profession; and a commitment to social justice, equity, and advocacy that truly prepare them for school counseling in the 21^st Century.