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ABSTRACT
The primary purpose of this manuscript is to examine the application of Reality Therapy in schools. The basic components of the American School Counseling Association's National Model and also the core tenets of Reality Therapy are reviewed in terms of pertinent literature. This is followed by a focus on the delivery system of the national model. Lastly, specific emphasis will be placed on the potential impact Reality Therapy can have on student academic achievement, personal/social development, and career decision-making skills when applied to each program component.
In 2003, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) published the ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs (Wittmer & Clark, 2007). Using the best practices over the last fifty years, the national model was developed during a summit in 2001 by the leadership of ASCA, national school counseling leaders, school counselor educators, practicing school counselors, state guidance coordinators, school district guidance coordinators, and representatives from the Education Trust. Much of the work incorporated in the framework was previously done by Drs. Norm Gysbers, C. D. Johnson, Sharon Johnson, and Robert Myrick (Wittmer & Clark, 2007).
This model provides a foundation, a delivery system, a management system, and an accountability system for professional school counselors (Wittmer & Clark, 2007). The ASCA National Model's framework includes the three domains of academic achievement, career decisionmaking, and personal/social development. Perhaps the most significant change for school. counselors in the 21st Century has been the expectation for them to spend a larger percentage of their time in the classroom using developmental guidance lessons to support and enhance academic achievement. In fact, because of the need for counselors to impact academic achievement, university training programs have changed from a theory based preparation to an education based preparation (House & Martin, 1998).
Effective school counseling programs have structural components and program components (Wittmer & Clark, 2007). The structural components provide the ideological underpinnings for the entire program, and should be written by an advisory committee composed of administrators, counselors, teachers, parents and community leaders. The Mission Statement and the Rationale Statement are in this element. The Mission Statement outlines the purpose of the program. This narrative includes a set of principles which guides the development, implementation, and evaluation of the entire...