Student success takes the work of several major players. Educators, school administrators, family members, coaches, and others all have a role in shaping students’ education and achievements. Able to work in and outside of the classroom and partner with families and educational personnel, school counselors are uniquely positioned to make an impact on students. They offer essential support through skills training, mental health counseling, academic advising, and more, impacting students beyond the classroom.
Whether you already work in education, want to work with children or adolescents, or have a background in psychology, becoming a school counselor empowers you to improve academic, social, and personal outcomes for K-12 students. If you want to learn more about what school counselors do, here is an overview of how they make true educational and social change.
What is a school counselor? The glue that brings academic, social, and personal success together.
School counselors serve a unique role in K-12 institutions. They fill non-academic gaps in a student’s educational experience, such as personal, emotional, or learning challenges. A school counselor may, for example, work with students to develop life skills, make connections with peers, or develop healthy coping mechanisms. In other words, school counselors are an important student resource that bolsters their lives.
Depending on the grade level, a school counselor’s responsibilities may include individual or group counseling, collaboration with teachers and families, crisis intervention, or college or career planning. School counselors can also influence educational policy, develop and plan school programs, or conduct research to contribute to the educational field as a whole.
The ability to provide such varied types of support is part of what draws former educators to the field. Dr. Becky Reed, Director of Clinical Training (DCT) of the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. Program at Teachers College, shares:
“Former teachers are often drawn to the emotional pieces of what’s going on with their students. Maybe their student is experiencing test anxiety, or maybe they’re struggling with issues outside of school, and the teacher wants training in how to address those issues effectively. School counselors have that training and can employ evidence-based practices to counsel students appropriately.” However, you don’t have to be an educator to find a school counseling career fulfilling.
If you want to work with kids, it’s a great idea to work in schools. That’s where kids spend most of their time, and understanding how schools function helps you understand kids and their families.”
Dr. Becky Reed, Director of Clinical Training (DCT) of the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. Program at Teachers College
School counselors can work in elementary, middle or high schools, and each grade level offers unique opportunities to support students.
What does an elementary school counselor do?
An elementary school counselor is foundational in supporting children’s academic, social, and emotional development. Elementary school counselors work with children to help them develop friendships, organizational skills, and coping mechanisms. They may also provide individual counseling to address stressors, learning disabilities, social challenges, emotional regulation, or mental health concerns.
Additionally, elementary school counselors hold support groups around issues that can make children feel isolated, such as coping with divorced parents or a death in the family. They also provide skills training in topics like organization, empathy, and kindness.
“The goal for group counseling sessions is to help students feel like they belong, to know they’re not the only ones going through something like this,” says Dr. Reed. “But group counseling can also be skills-based or even informal, such as lunch bunches in which students can process and learn how to cope with anxiety. Group counseling can address a wide range of needs. It can look different based on the school and the needs of the kids within it.”
Elementary school counselors also work with parents and other educators to improve student outcomes. They may visit the classroom to lead lessons on conflict resolution, study skills, empathy and kindness, self-esteem, and internet safety, or to observe student behavior. They can also provide crisis intervention or counseling after a traumatic event.
“Elementary school counselors serve students in a wide variety of ways,” says Dr. Reed, “whether it’s meeting with kids struggling with organizational skills, providing psychoeducation in the classroom, or supporting students through stressors in their lives. They can also help students apply to middle school, refer them to an extracurricular activity, or promote exercise. School counseling encompasses mental health but also includes thinking about post-secondary experiences, even at the elementary level. That’s one of the fun parts of our work — helping kids think about their futures and lives beyond school.”
Middle school counselor responsibilities.
Middle school counselors provide many of the same services as elementary school counselors — social-emotional learning programs, in-class lessons, and counseling — but at different developmental levels. For example, middle school counselors may lead classroom lessons on digital citizenship and conflict resolution.
However, at this level, school counselors place a stronger emphasis on career exploration and college prep, helping students explore academic interests, identify their strengths, and participate in extracurricular activities. Middle school serves as a stepping stone to high school and a student’s eventual career path, so it is a particularly important stage in a child’s development.
Thus, middle school counselors have a unique ability to shape a student’s academic trajectory.
“In some middle schools, there are different levels of academic work,” says Dr. Reed. “For example, in New York, some eighth graders can start to take high school courses and state examinations at the high school level. So, middle school counselors must collaborate with teachers to determine students’ academic trajectories and identify whether they’re ready for high school-level programming. This can be a really important function of a school counselor since it impacts a student’s experience even beyond high school.”
Middle school counselors also support students in the transition from elementary school to middle school and prepare them to transition into high school — both of which can bring challenges related to age, academics, social dynamics, and school structure. The rise of social media use can amplify some of these challenges.
“Social media has heavily impacted school counselors’ jobs because the effects of social media trickle into the classroom and school system,” says Dr. Reed. “School counselors can help individuals dealing with conflicts online, but they can also help individual schools and districts develop policies related to social media. They can advise on when and how a school might intervene in situations related to social media that aren’t happening on school grounds because these situations impact kids, their families, and the wellness of the school as a whole.”
Additionally, with some colleges becoming more competitive and selective, middle school counselors must identify ways to bolster students’ chances of post-secondary academic success. This could involve career counseling but also helping students navigate increased pressures about their future. Ultimately, middle school counselors bridge the gap between developmental stages and position students to excel in high school and beyond.
What do high school counselors do?
The role of a school counselor in high schools is as varied as elementary or middle school counselors. Like school counselors at other levels, high school counselors facilitate social-emotional learning, offer individual and group counseling, respond to crisis situations, teach life skills, and prepare students for the future. However, one of the fundamental responsibilities of high school counselors is college and career advising. While middle school counselors help students begin to think about college and their future careers, high school counselors help guide students to specific colleges or career paths.
This function is especially crucial right now, as high schoolers face perhaps more uncertainties than ever about college, notes Dr. Reed.
“The college landscape has changed quickly and drastically in recent years, with many high-performing schools bringing back standardized exams and all colleges adapting to changes related to affirmative action,” says Dr. Reed. “While students in the past applied to maybe 10 schools, now they’re applying to 20, 30, or maybe even 40 schools. The pressure is on, and it’s still building.”
She adds, “These changes strongly impact and potentially create new barriers for students, especially kids who may not be necessarily groomed for college.”
Thus, high school counselors often serve as college advisors at their schools. They familiarize students and their families with the admissions process starting when the student enters ninth grade.
“High school counselors look at where classes are leading a student and how that path will benefit them,” shares Dr. Reed. “Do they want to go to a university or a technical college, or go straight into the workforce? Are they on the right academic path based on those goals? Then, they’re able to help students adjust throughout their high school careers as their interests evolve. They also assist with college or career applications and the decision-making process.”
High school counselors help students prepare for college with course planning, college application assistance, standardized test preparation, and transition planning. But most importantly, they offer guidance at a time of great uncertainty, empowering students to make informed decisions and overcome potential educational barriers.
How school counselors shape policy and effect change.
The primary role of a school counselor is to promote academic, emotional, social, and postsecondary well-being for their students. Beyond working with individuals and groups, school counselors can improve outcomes for all students by influencing educational policy and enacting systemic change. School counselors are instrumental in developing institutional programs and policies, including anti-bullying and harassment policies, sex education programs, student support services, and equity and inclusion practices.
Dr. Reed shares, “Even policies that seem mundane, like dress codes, can influence a student’s well-being. But a school counselor can evaluate that policy from a diversity and developmental standpoint to identify how it privileges or excludes certain students. What if a student doesn’t fall into the binary categories of ‘boy’ and ‘girl’, for example? A school counselor can speak to that perspective and ensure the inclusion of all students. They can update policies that no longer work and create new ones that do.”
Make true change with an online master's in school counseling degree.
If you’re interested in supporting children and adolescents and shaping policies that create true change, explore the fully online school counseling program at Teachers College. Designed to help you balance your studies with work and personal commitments, the program offers flexible coursework alongside live opportunities to connect with faculty and peers, plus access to virtual office hours for additional support. Grounded in social justice and reflective practice, the program prepares you to counsel students, work collaboratively with teachers and families, and address the academic, social, and emotional needs that arise in K–12 schools.