School Counseling Licensure

The school counseling profession embraces personalized learning and support for students at all stages of their academic and personal development.

In successful schools, school counselors participate as members and leaders of the educational team. These schools understand that comprehensive, data-driven school counseling programs are an integral component of the school’s mission.

Additionally, the school counselor is a consistent presence for students moving from grade to grade or from inside the classroom out into communities. Counselors become the holder of data and relationships.

They are also a bridge for many families who need access to community resources and counseling that is both student-driven and sensitive to the needs of a family in whatever way family is defined.

For the changing roles of the school counselor, the Goddard College Education and Licensure Program prepares future school counseling professionals. With our personalized learning model, students come from many pathways: some are classroom teachers, some are administrators, and some are totally new to the education profession. In every case, the Goddard faculty meets applicants where they are and works with the ASCA (American School Counselor Association) National Model and the Vermont Licensure Portfolio Model.

The requirements of our program align directly with the Vermont Agency of Education. As with our classroom licensure candidates, we recommend out-of-state candidates complete our program and apply for their first license directly to Vermont. A Vermont Teacher License has reciprocity in many other states through the Interstate Certification Compact (Reciprocity Agreement).

Graduates of the MA in Education Program, with a School Counseling License, will be licensed as school counselors in K-12 grades. This is an educator license, level one, and the first entry into the school counseling profession.

Upon graduation, graduates will have the necessary skills to develop and implement a counseling program within a primary, middle, or secondary school system, including the completion and demonstration of all areas of knowledge required by the Vermont Agency of Education.

Request more information from an Admissions Counselor.

The Faculty

The Education Program faculty are deeply committed to offering a holistic, interdisciplinary and student-centered approach to learning that is personally and socially relevant.

Our faculty is comprised of national and international scholar practitioners with extensive experience supporting students taking charge of their learning.

Learn more about our faculty.

Study Options

Goddard’s Education Program offers full- and part-time study leading to the following degrees:

Students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts can focus their studies in the following areas:

Students pursuing the Master of Arts can focus their studies in the following areas:

Low-Residency Model

At the start of the semester, students attend an intensive eight-day residency in Vermont or Washington, followed by 16 weeks of independent work and self-reflection in close collaboration with a faculty advisor. Goddard pioneered this format nearly a half century ago to meet the needs of adult students with professional, family, and other obligations seeking learning experiences grounded in the real-world.

Residencies are a time to explore, network, learn, witness, and share with peers, staff, and faculty. Students work with advisors and peers in close-knit advising groups to forge individualized study plans that describe their learning objectives for the semester.

Working closely with their faculty advisors, and supported by fellow learners, students identify areas of study, personal goals, relevant resources, and avenues to achieve these goals. Students also attend and are invited to help organize workshops, keynote addresses, celebrations and other events intended to stimulate, inspire, and challenge.

This low-residency model combines the breadth of a collaborative community with the focus of personalized learning, enhanced by insightful exchanges with a faculty advisor.

Location

Students seeking School Counseling Licensure in the Education Program attend residencies in Plainfield, Vermont, on Goddard’s historic main campus, located just outside Montpelier, the state capital. It’s a former farm with a manor garden, surrounding forests, and period architecture.

Residency Week

Residencies are a rich time of exploration, connection, and planning. A residency is comprised of:

New-student orientation
Individual and group advising sessions
Workshops, presentations, mini-courses, and panels
Peer work groups
Planning sessions related to teacher licensure
Information sessions (assessment of prior learning; financial aid; how to do research; planning your final semester etc.)
Co-curricular activities (support groups, art shows, films, movement workshops, meditation space, etc.)
Commencement

Writing the semester study plan is an important focus of the residency. Working closely with your faculty advisor, and supported by fellow learners, you articulate your educational and personal goals for your studies within the context of degree criteria and program requirements. The study plan is your detailed and individualized map and will address the following:

The semester’s learning goals
The resources the student plans to draw on (e.g., books, journals, conferences)
The methodology the student plans to use (e.g., library or field research, interviews, creative production)
The specific learning activities the student will undertake (e.g., creative and critical reading and writing, observations, field work, keeping a journal)
The academic work the student will produce (e.g. essays, visual art work, workshop reports, poems, interview transcriptions, annotations)
A bibliography of reading the student plans to do during the semester

The Semester

Following the residency and over the course of 16 weeks of study and reflection, you will submit your work to your faculty advisor. Typically, there are 5 submissions for full-time students and 3 submissions for part-time students. Evidence of the work completed can include essays, critical and creative writing, sample curricula, classroom materials, documentation of art practice/works, book annotations, and a cover letter in which you reflect on the learning process.

Your advisor responds promptly in writing to your materials with a detailed letter addressing the various components of your work and containing appraisal, feedback, and suggestions.

Through the regular exchange of work and responses, a sustained, meaningful dialogue takes place centered on your learning and goals. Students often describe this dialogue as transformative and empowering.

At the end of the semester, in lieu of grades, students and advisors write comprehensive evaluations of the student’s learning.

Degree Requirements

School Counseling students will have or meet the following requirements upon graduation:

MA in Education
600 hours of practicum and internships
Successful completion of an Endorsement Portfolio and the Vermont Licensure Portfolio

Authorizations

Vermont Program

Goddard’s Education Program is approved by the Vermont Agency of Education and the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators for preparing licensure-seeking students to receive a Vermont Initial License in one or more of six endorsement areas. Vermont participates with all other states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico in the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification’s Interstate Agreement, which governs licensure reciprocity.