ASCA Model and My Experience

The theme for this week’s discussion topic is “Designing and Implementing Comprehensive K-12 Career Development Programs within the Framework of the ASCA National Model,” (Brown, 2005, p. 256). The ASCA Model of Career Development contains what are thought to be the “essential elements of a quality and effective school counseling program,” (Brown, 2005, p. 258). The model includes a concise description of effective ways to implement an inclusive and effective school-counseling program. The model also contains a listing of competencies the student should have acquired from the school-counseling program (Brown, 2005).

The ASCA Model made me reflect back on my own personal K-12 career development experience.  However, unlike most of my fellow peers and classmates, my K-12 education was unique. My K-12 career development experience is not the result of the strengths and weaknesses of one school system, but five different school systems, in four different states, ranging as far apart as Maine to Virginia.

My career development educational experience can be described in two words: diverse and adaptable. I began my educational experience in Springfield, Massachusetts.   After only one year, I moved to Bethel, Maine, a very small ski resort town, where I was one of nine students.  Next, I moved to Dayton, Ohio where I attended one year in the Centerville County Public School system.  For the next six years, I was a student in the Springboro County Public School System. My final move and the farthest south was to Richmond, Virginia.  I spent the next five years in one of the most challenging school systems in the state of Virginia, Hanover County. I would come to call Atlee High School my home until graduation in the spring of 2011. I was, then, honored to attend college in Farmville, Virginia at Longwood University.

 I always knew I would go on to attend college after high school.  However as I reflect back on my diverse and adaptable career development, I began to wonder how exactly did I get there? Was the national ASCA Model for school counseling designed, implemented, and effectively delivered in all my school systems? My answer is yes, but in varying ways.

The ASCA Model contains four components: foundation, delivery, accountability, and management system (Brown, 2005, p. 258).  I believe the foundation, accountability, and management systems for all five of the schools was rooted in the same beliefs, missions, and principles. However, I believe the delivery systems were different. In some school systems, the guidance counselors developed their own plans and others it was incorporated in the teachers’ lessons. (Brown, 2005).

My K-12 educational experience could be summarized as that of an “educational melting pot.”  However thanks to the national ASCA Model, my education may have been diverse, but very consistent and beneficial to my career development.