A comprehensive developmental school counseling program can help reduce the number of students who are at-risk. The at-risk student is disenfranchised and not connected to the school, does not view school as an important part of life and often comes from a home where school is not considered a priority. Generally, disenfranchised students have parents, and possible grandparents, who were themselves considered at-risk when they attended school. The cycle continues because interventions are not consistently in place to provide these students with the skills and behaviors to feel connected at school and/or to promote the importance of school to parents.

When a Comprehensive Developmental School Counseling Program (CDSCP) is in place from grades K to 12, students are provided the purposeful instruction through developmentally appropriate activities to learn the skills and behaviors that will ensure academic success and social/emotional development. A fully-implemented CDSCP teaches students how to learn, how to get a good education, how to plan for their future, and how to cope with growing up.

At the elementary level, the focus is directed primarily to teaching students in the personal/social domain. Students learn the importance of respect for self and others, strategies for self-management and appropriate behaviors that lead to success. In the academic and career development domains, elementary students learn the connection between school and work as they are made aware of careers and the fact that school leads to success in the workplace.

Beginning in the middle school years, the CDSCP includes a focus on planning through the implementation of Individual Learning Plans (ILP). Every student is taught the planning process. They learn how to set goals and develop action steps to reach them. They develop indicators for when they know they are successful in achieving their goals. Students are provided opportunities to review progress toward their goals, reflect on their progress, and update their plans. The planning process continues throughout high school and adds academic planning as a primary focus. High school students are involved from the beginning of ninth grade in the choice of courses and keeping track of the number of credits they need to graduate and be prepared to pursue their post-secondary goals.

At the secondary level (middle and high school), students turn their attention to exploring and making informed decision about post-secondary opportunities they want to pursue. Both college and work readiness are emphasized as critical student outcomes by the time a student graduates. Contextualized learning, based on understanding and fulfilling the requirements for future educational and career success, makes school more meaningful to students. Those who have not seen the value of school often realize that they need to apply themselves to their studies if they want to attain the goals they have set for themselves.

Also at the secondary level, students are provided with reinforcing activities in the personal/social domain. Learning styles, personality types, study skills and anxiety-reducing strategies are part of the school counseling curriculum. Students can build on prior knowledge from their elementary training in self-management skills, and strategize on the way to overcome barriers to academic success with which they are confronted.

A value-added component of the ILP program is the involvement of parents in the process. Initially, parents are informed of the academic audit from the beginning and expected to sign it each year. The actual advantage comes from the excitement of students to share their plans with their parents and often, formerly uninvolved parents become a presence at school activities and responsive to teacher requests for conferences to support the success of their child. This home-school connection is identified by research as an essential ingredient in student academic success.

School counselors are well positioned to contribute to the identification of at-risk students, and design and deliver interventions that provide the critical academic, career and personal/social support they need to stay in school and meet the requirements for a high school diploma. With the full implementation of a K-12 CDSCP, every child is provided opportunities to learn about the skills knowledge and behaviors that will scaffold their academic learning and provide them with a success in school. The purposeful developmentally designed program provides them with the tools to learn, plan and cope throughout school and life. High school graduates who benefit from these programs will carry these skills into post-secondary institutions and the work place where they will utilize them for continued success. Because of the CDSCP, every child is at promise of success in school and in life.