ASCA National Standards for Students

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ASCA National Standards for Students

Historically, education reform initiatives have focused on improving academic achievement and teacher quality. Although these remain worthy goals, such initiatives often fail to address the physical, emotional, social, and economic barriers that many students face.

As a result of this shortcoming, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) developed National Standards for Students in 1995. These standards aim to help you and your fellow school counselors overcome these barriers to student success.

The ASCA Standards Explained

The ASCA Standards address three primary areas:

Academic Development
Career Development
Personal/Social Development

Using these ASCA Standards, you can define and prioritize the support you must provide to better prepare students at your school for the "real" world. Students must understand that the choices they make today will impact their future tomorrow.

The ASCA Standards serve as the foundation for students across the country to achieve their educational goals.

How EducationPlanner Can Help

EducationPlanner offers many tools that you can use to help students achieve the objectives of the ASCA National Standards for Students.

Check out the self-assessments What's Your Learning Style?, What Kind of Student Are You?, and How Strong Is Your Character? Also take a look at our activities focusing on career exploration, including Career Clusters and Career Videos. All of these tools and activities address various aspects of the ASCA Standards. In addition, they are:

Get Started at Your School

Because EducationPlanner is available to everyone, it offers you maximum flexibility. You can use our online activities separately, combine them for more targeted instruction, or use them in conjunction with other products and services you currently offer. Simply identify your target population, develop a plan that offers the most benefit, and go for it!

Be aware that many states have their own standards, which to some extent have been modeled after the ASCA Standards. You should have little difficulty determining how to use EducationPlanner to meet the standards in your state.

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