School Counseling
As part of the education team, school counselors foster development in career, academic, and social/emotional areas for ALL students by implementing a comprehensive school counseling program.
The menu of options below provides information to assist South Dakota school counselors.
The components of a school counseling program, via the ASCA National Model, are aimed to help improve student success for all students.

The ASCA National Model, provided by the American School Counselor Association, is a framework for a comprehensive school counseling program to help answer the question, “How are students different as a results of what school counselors do?”
The South Dakota Department of Education and South Dakota School Counselor Association created the School Counselor Annual Professional Evaluation Tool for school counselor advocacy and as a common evaluation tool to be used for professional school counselors. This tool is aligned to the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching.
An educator with a School Counselor Education Specialist Certificate is eligible to be a school counselor in an education setting from early childhood through grade twelve.
The National Certified School Counselor (NCSC) certification through the National Board of Certified Counselors (NCC) is recognized as national board certification for South Dakota school counselors.
- School Counseling Annual Calendar Template
- SD DOE Contact Sheet for School Counselors
- SDMyLife
- K-12 SD DOE Career Development Resources
- K-12 SD DLR Career Development Resources
- Mental Health
- South Dakota Counseling Association
- South Dakota School Counselor Association
- South Dakota School Counselor Association Mentoring Program
- South Dakota Suicide Prevention
- Tips for New School Counselors
Direct questions to Andrea Diehm in the Division of Career & Technical Education at (605) 773-4150.