A comprehensive developmental guidance program model includes 4 major components:

The Guidance Curriculum Component consists of structured developmental experiences presented systematically to all students through classroom and group activities that address the 3 primary domains of human development: Academic development, career development and personal/social growth. The counselor's responsibilities include the organization and implementation of classroom guidance lessons and group guidance.



The Individual Planning Component consists of activities that focus on assisting each student to develop, analyze and evaluate his/her education, career and personal goals and plans. Individual planning activities address the same objectives for all students in a given grade. Functions of the counselor in this component include individual advisement, placement and appraisal.

The Responsive Services Component are reactions to the immediate needs and concerns of individual students whether theses concerns involve individual or group counseling, information dissemination, crisis intervention, consultation or referral.

The Systems Support Component activities are twofold. The first includes those activities that establish, maintain and enhance the preceding 3 program components. Activities in this component include program development, program evaluation and assessment, parent education, materials development, and community relations. The second aspect of systems support includes activities that support other programs in the school-helping administrators and teachers identify student needs, serving on school committees.


These 4 components address skills and understanding needed to help students in the 3 broad domains of student development:

Academic development includes acquiring skills, attitudes and knowledge that contribute to effective learning in school; employing strategies to achieve success in school; and understanding the relationship of academics to the world of work, and to life at home and in the community. Anaemic goals support the premise that all students should meet or exceed the local, state and national goals.

Career development goals guide the school counseling program to provide the foundation for the acquisition of skills, attitudes and knowledge that enable students to make a successful transistor from school to the world of work and from job to job across the life span. Career development includes the employment of strategies to achieve future career success and job satisfaction as well as fostering an understanding of the relationship among personal qualities, education and training and the world of work. Career development goals and competencies ensure that students develop career goals as a result of their participation in a comprehensive plan of career awareness, exploration and preparation activities.

Personal/Social development goals guide the school counseling program to provide the foundation for personal and social growth as students progress through school and into adulthood.Personal/social development contributes to academic and career success by helping students understand and respect themselves and others, acquire effective interpersonal skills, understand safety and survival skills and develop into contributing members of our society. Personal/social development helps to ensure that students successfully and safely negotiate their way into an increasingly complex and diverse world.



Above information was taken from the Connecticut Comprehensive School Counseling Program, 2000.
Connecticut School Counseling Association (CSCA), Connecticut Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (CACES)
and Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE)