Educational counseling.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of any school district to provide a comprehensive educational counseling program for all pupils enrolled in the district. Existing law requires that educational counseling include academic counseling, in which pupils receive counseling regarding establishment and implementation of educational plans, achievement of proficiency standards, completion of required curriculum, and access to, and success in, higher education, and career and vocational counseling, in which pupils are assisted in planning for the future, becoming aware of their career potential, developing realistic perceptions of work, and relating to the work world. This bill would state legislative intent relating to the role of school counselors and counseling programs. The bill would, to align academic counseling with the Middle and High School Supplemental Counseling Program, authorize the academic counseling component of educational counseling to also include an individualized review of pupil's academic and deportment records and of his or her career goals, and the opportunity for a counselor to meet with each pupil and his or her parents or legal guardian to explain the academic progress needed to complete middle or high school, pass the high school exit examination, and be eligible for admission to a 4-year institution of postsecondary education and the availability of career technical education, among other things. The bill would authorize the career and vocational counseling component of educational counseling to include identifying personal interests, skills, and abilities, career planning, course selection, and career transition, and assisting pupils to understand the changing work environment, the effect of work on lifestyle, the relationship between academic achievement and career success, the importance of maximizing career options, the value of participating in career technical education and work-based learning activities and programs, and the need to develop essential employable skills and work habits, among other things. The bill would require ongoing professional development related to career and vocational counseling to include strategies for pupils pursuing postsecondary education, career technical education, multiple pathways, college, and global career opportunities.