MEC 8007 Secondary School Counseling Spring Internship

The secondary school counseling internship affords an opportunity for candidates to practice and enhance skills learned during academic coursework, while obtaining close supervision from their Cooperating Counselor on-site and Clinical Faculty Mentor off-site. Candidates will demonstrate skills associated with program implementation/evaluation as outlined by ASCA, including leadership, advocacy and collaboration as they relate to academic, career/college readiness, and the social/emotional needs of children. Candidates are expected to demonstrate components of the ASCA National Model. In addition to programmatic elements, candidates are expected to participate in self-reflection and self-evaluation exercises to enhance counseling skills.

This internship is a one-semester supervised opportunity for the candidate to perform all the activities that a regularly-employed certified school counselor would be expected to perform. Candidates seeking state certification as a school counselor must be supervised on-site by a school counselor with a minimum of three years’ experience in a 7^th-12^th grade school setting. The internship requires a minimum of 300 clock hours, including a minimum of 240 clock hours of direct service work with the remaining 60 hours of indirect service work, reflective of ASCA Best Practices.

Over the course of the semester, candidates will engage in processes congruent with the ASCA National Model, such as: 1. Candidate competency checklist (using the components of the ASCA model and Delaware DPAS II); 2. Action plans (closing-the-gap, small group and curricula) and 3. Design and implementation of an intervention project based on a needs assessment and school data.

Candidates work to meet the developmental needs of students in areas of social, emotional, educational, and vocational wellness. Candidates will be challenged to appropriately conceptualize student needs and collaborate with other professionals to best meet the identified needs of students, through such activities as individual, small group and classroom guidance instruction.