Pupil Personnel Services Credential School Counseling

Lead Faculty: Dr. Lisa Rubel Spencer

National University’s School Counseling Credential programs is committed to training candidates to provide best practices counseling services in educational settings. Toward this end, the curriculum provides foundational knowledge and experience in the areas of human development and learning, contemporary and multicultural issues, comprehensive guidance programs, individual and group counseling, leadership and consultation, academic and career guidance, psychoeducational, assessment, legal and ethical issues, and research. Field experiences, including practicum and internships with experienced supervisors, are a central component of the training candidates receive, and allow the candidate to apply acquired knowledge and professional skills in field-based settings.

This PPS Credential Only option is available for candidates who already have an appropriate masters degree and wish to complete the courses and fieldwork necessary to become eligible for a PPS credential in school counseling. This option requires a 700 hour fieldwork experience (100 of practicum and 600 of internship)
For more information on this program please read the Handbook (add hyperlink)
NU offers the degree program to earn a MS in Educational Counseling without a credential (add hyperlink) and a MS in Educational Counseling with a credential (add hyperlink) as well.

School Counseling Mission Statement
The mission of the School Counseling Program is to prepare candidates for effective and satisfying careers as professional and ethical counselors working with individuals, families, and other groups in educational settings. It emphasizes the counselor’s role as a leader and advocate for positive institutional transformation to improve candidate achievement. The goal of the program is to convey a comprehensive developmental approach to counseling theory, research, and practice focused on major educational and psychological concepts. The faculty is committed to providing excellence in teaching and continual improvement of the courses and program.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, candidates will be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of major developmental theories (personality, social, physical, emotional, and cognitive development) and chronological stages of life-long human development and their impact of these stages on school behavior and learning.
• Demonstrate knowledge of common psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence
• Identify and effectively addresses relevant social and diversity concerns and crises of individuals and groups of students
• Conduct needs assessments and use data to plan, develop, implement and evaluate comprehensive guidance programs.
• Apply individual counseling skills and techniques to help students cope with personal and interpersonal problems appreciating the diversity of each student..
• Apply group counseling skills and techniques to help students cope with personal and interpersonal problems appreciating the diversity of each student.
• Effectively apply positive consultative and collaborative relationships with school staff, parents, and community agencies in support of candidate academic, career, and personal/social success.
• Demonstrate knowledge of legal mandates affecting education and school counseling and apply appropriate legal and ethical standards and practices to specific counseling situations.
• Demonstrate a basic understanding of descriptive statistics, test and survey construction, as well as the purpose and uses of standardized and un-standardized group and individual assessment.
• Understand and utilize computer technology relevant to the tasks and roal of a school counselor.
• Demonstrate knowledge of learning theory, curriculum designs for diverse classrooms and development of classroom intervention strategies.
• Identify themselves as professional school counselors, understanding the history and development and trends in the profession and acting as a professional leader to enhance the field of school counseling.
• Demonstrate knowledge of major career development theories, and the impact of career development on school behavior and learning.

Requirements

Program Requirements - PPSC Credential
(21 courses; 90 quarter units)
A total of 13.5 quarter units of credit may be granted for equivalent graduate work completed at another institution, as it applies to this program and if the units were not used in earning another advanced degree.

Advancement to Candidacy
Advancement to Candidacy is a process and is one of several evaluative steps to help ensure that program objectives are met and that candidate-learning outcomes are attained.

After admission as a credential seeking candidate, a candidate must also Advance to Candidacy. To qualify for candidacy, a candidate must:

• Complete prerequisite coursework or equivalent (MTH 210 and PSY 301)
• Complete CED 604 and the next four graduate CED courses with a grade no lower than a B minus (CED 605, CED 600, CED 602 and CED 606).
• If a candidate earns less than 3.0 GPA upon completion of the above courses, the candidate will not

Advance to Candidacy. The candidate will be required to meet with lead faculty. A plan for remediation or possible dismissal from the program will be considered.

Program Prerequisites (2 courses; 9 quarter units)
It is strongly recommended, but not required, that applicants have one year of related professional experience working with school-age children, preferably in a school or other institutional setting.

MTH 210 - Introduction to Probability and Statistics
PSY 301 - Child and Adolescent Development

Note: Only CED 604 and prerequisites can be taken prior to admission.

Program Requirements (13 courses; 55.5 quarter units)
CED 604 - School Counseling Orientation
CED 605 - Learning & Instructional Design
CED 600 - Applied Child/Adolescent Development
CED 602 - Societal Issues in SchoolCounseling
CED 606 - Development & Evaluation
CED 610 - Advanced Counseling Theories & Methods
CED 611 - Group Counseling
   (Prerequisite: CED 610)
CED 603-  Multicultural Counseling
   (Prerequisite: CED 611 )
CED 601 - Consultation in the Schools
   (Prerequisite: CED 603)
CED 612 - Career & Academic Counseling
CED 613 - Psycho-Educational Assessment
CED 614 - Legal and Ethical Practices
PED 676 - Intro to Applied Behavior Analysis

Practicum (100 hours)

• Candidates should refer to the current PPS Graduate Handbook for School Counseling found on ww.nu.edu for specific information about the practicum and internship requirements.
• Candidates are required to complete 100 hours of practicum prior to starting internship. These hours will be completed throughout CED coursework.

Internship Prerequisites
Before candidates can begin an internship, they must:

• Provide proof of Certificate of Clearance
• Provide verification of a TB Clearance
• Pass (CBEST)
• Complete prerequisite coursework, 10 CED courses including CED 610, CED 611, CED 603, and CED 601 (except CED 637, CED 694 and CED 620)
• Complete 100 hours of logged, approved practicum
• Submit an Internship application and be assigned a University Supervisor.
• Internships and CED 620 are then scheduled by the Credential Advisor.

Internship (4 courses; 16.5 quarter units)
(600 hours/2 levels)

A minimum of 600 clock hours is required. The candidate will draft a plan with the Site Supervisor and University Supervisor, meet weekly with Site Supervisor for supervision, keep weekly logs of each 200 hours of internship, and submit logs to University Supervisor. The internship consists of the following:

• No more than two sites at one time with no more than two Site Supervisors at one time
• Includes two levels (Elementary and Secondary)

CED 620 - Internship Seminar
CED 616 - School Counseling Internship I (200 hours)
CED 617 - School Counseling Internship II (200 hours)
CED 618 - School Counseling Internship III (200 hours)

Exit Requirements
In order to receive a PPSC credential, candidates must complete all courses and internship within seven years and fulfill the following requirements:

• Successful completion of all coursework, portfolio, practicum and internship.
• Successful completion of the ETS National Praxis (#0420) examination in School Counseling (passage score is 570).
• Submit written evaluations of performance in internship experiences by Site Supervisor to University Supervisor.
• Successful completion of the Exit interview with faculty advisor or University Supervisor.
• Complete Program Evaluation Form-School Counseling.
• Schedule an exit appointment with credential advisor for final clearance and credential documents.
• Have a zero account balance.

Credential Application Information
Candidates are expected to complete their internship either on a full time basis of 3-4 months (40 hours per week) or part time basis of 8 months (20 hours per week). Upon successful completion of the coursework and internship, candidates must meet with a credential advisor to receive, complete and submit the Commission on Teacher Credentialing application form for the PPSC School Counseling credential.

Program Information

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Program Locations

• Costa Mesa Campus
• Fresno Campus
• Los Angeles Campus
• Redding Campus
• Sacramento Campus
• San Bernardino Campus
• Sherman Oaks Campus
• Spectrum Business Park Campus

Related Downloads

• Careers in School Counseling