(a) In grades K-6, the program shall be designed in coordination with the teaching staff to prep students to participate effectively in their current and future educational programs, to help students who exhibit any attendance, academic, behavioral or adjustment problems, to educate students concerning avoidance of child sexual abuse, and to encourage parental involvement.

(a) Initial certificate. (1) Validity of certificate. The initial certificate shall be valid for five years from its effective date. (2) Requirements for an initial certificate as a school counselor. The candidate shall meet each of the following requirements: (i) Education. The candidate shall meet the education requirement by meeting the requirements in each of the following clauses: (a) The candidate shall have successfully completed a program leading to the initial certificate as a school counselor registered pursuant to section 52.21(d) of this Title, or its equivalent as determined by the department. (b) The candidate shall hold a baccalaureate or higher degree from a regionally accredited higher education institution or an equivalently approved higher education institution as determined by the department. (ii) Examination. Candidates applying for certification on or after February 2, 2023 shall submit evidence of having achieved a satisfactory level of performance on the New York State examination for school counselors or other equivalent examination as approved by the commissioner, if available. (b) Professional certificate. (1) Validity of certificate. The professional certificate for school counselors shall be continuously valid. (2) Requirements for a professional certificate as a school counselor. The candidate shall have successfully completed, in addition to the requirements for the initial certificate, the following requirements: (i) Education. The candidate shall meet the education requirement by meeting the requirements in each of the following clauses: (a) The candidate shall have successfully completed a program leading to a professional certificate as a school counselor registered pursuant to section 52.21(d) of this Title, or its equivalent as determined by the department. (b) The candidate shall hold a master's degree or higher in school counseling from a regionally accredited higher education institution or an equivalently approved higher education institution as determined by the department or hold an advanced certificate of study from a registered program pursuant to section 52.21(d)(3) of this Title. (ii) Experience. The candidate shall have successfully completed three years of school counseling experience in New York State public or non-public schools K-12, or its equivalent. The candidate who completes this requirement in total or part through experience in New York public schools shall be required to participate in a mentored program in the first year of employment.

This section prescribes requirements for meeting the education requirements for school counselor certificates through individual evaluation. A candidate must have achieved a 3.0 cumulative grade point average or its equivalent in the program or programs leading to any degree used to meet the requirements for a certificate under this section. All other requirements for the certificate, including but not limited to, examination and/or experience requirements, as prescribed in this Subpart must also be met. (a) A candidate seeking to fulfill the education requirement for an initial certificate through individual evaluation of education requirements shall meet the following requirements: (1) Degree completion. The candidate shall possess a baccalaureate degree from a regionally or nationally accredited institution of higher education or from an institution authorized by the Regents to confer degrees and whose programs are registered by the department. (2) The candidate shall complete study in child abuse identification, school violence and harassment, bullying and discrimination prevention and intervention, as prescribed in sections 80-1.4 and 80-1.13 of this Part. (3) The candidate shall complete 48 semester hours of graduate coursework that includes study in each of the following eight core content areas: (i) Foundations in professional school counseling; (ii) Career development and college readiness; (iii) Supportive school climate and collaborative work with school, family and community; (iv) Equity, advocacy and diversity in programming and in support for students; (v) Child growth, development and student learning; (vi) Group and individual counseling theories and techniques for prevention, intervention and responsive services. (vii) Best practices for the profession and in-school counseling programming; and (viii) Research and program development to advance the school counseling program, its components and the profession. (4) Practicum and internship. The candidate shall satisfactorily complete: (i) a minimum of 100 clock hours of practicum in a K-12 school counseling program setting that shall consist of: (a) a minimum of 40 clock hours in group counseling, individual counseling and school counseling core curriculum lesson delivery; and (b) a minimum of 60 clock hours on developing, implementing and evaluating key school counseling program elements such as: (1) student outcomes and Standard; (2) curriculum; (3) individual student needs and plans; (4) responsive services; (5) consultation with others on behalf of student; (6) time management; (7) school counseling program goals; (8) data analysis; (9) action plans; (10) calendars/schedules; and (11) advisory panels, councils and committees. (ii) a minimum of 600 clock hours in a supervised internship in a K-12 school counseling program which shall consist of: (a) a minimum of 240 clock hours of supervised direct student service hours in group counseling, individual counseling and school counseling core curriculum lesson delivery; (b) a minimum of 360 supervised clock hours focused on developing, implementing and evaluating key school counseling program elements such as: (1) student outcomes and Standard; (2) curriculum; (3) individual student needs and plans; (4) responsive services; (5) consultation with others on behalf of student; (6) time management; (7) school counseling program goals; (8) data analysis; (9) action plans; (10) calendars/schedules; and (11) advisory panels, councils, and committees. (c) a minimum of 300 clock hours of the internship must be in the elementary grades (K-8) and a minimum of 300 clock hours of the internship must in the secondary grades (9-12). (d) Prior to the candidate's internship, a written agreement shall be executed with the employing school or school district by which the school or school district agrees to consult with the candidate before determining the candidate's load and provide daily mentoring and supervision of the candidate during the internship experience by a certified school counselor. Mentoring and supervision may be provided by other qualified school personnel only if the employing school district cannot provide a certified school counselor in the school building in which the internship occurs. (b) A candidate seeking to fulfill the education requirement for a professional certificate through individual evaluation of education requirements shall meet the following requirements: (1) Degree completion. The candidate shall possess a master's degree or higher from a regionally or nationally accredited institution of higher education or from an institution authorized by the Regents to confer degrees and whose programs are registered by the department. (2) In addition to that required for the initial certificate as described in subdivision (a) of this section, the candidate shall complete at least 12 semester hours of graduate coursework that includes study in any of the eight core content areas described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of this section. (3) Experience. The candidate shall have successfully completed three years of school counseling experience in New York State public or non-public schools K-12, or its equivalent. The candidate who completes this requirement in total or part through experience in New York public schools shall be required to participate in a mentored program in the first 180 school days of employment.

(a) School counselor. The commissioner may endorse the certificate of another state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia for service as a school counselor, provided that the candidate meets the following requirements: (1) The candidate shall hold a valid certificate of another state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia that is equivalent to the initial or professional certificate as a school counselor. (2) The candidate shall meet the general requirements for certificates prescribed in Subpart 80-1 of this Part, including but not limited to the requirements of section 80-1.3 relating to citizenship, section 80-1.4 relating to study in child abuse identification and reporting, section 80-1.13 relating to study in harassment, bullying and discrimination prevention and intervention and school violence prevention and intervention; and section 80-1.11 relating to a criminal history record check. (3) The candidate shall hold a master's degree or higher from a regionally accredited higher education institution or an equivalently approved higher education institution as determined by the department, or have equivalent educational preparation as determined by the commissioner. Candidates shall have achieved a 3.0 cumulative grade point average, or its equivalent, in the program leading to the degree. (4) The candidate shall either: (i) have completed a comparable program from a regionally accredited institution of higher education or a higher education institution that the commissioner deems substantially equivalent, provided that such program leads to initial certification as a school counselor, or similar school counselor certification, in the jurisdiction in which the higher education institution is located; or (ii) have at least three years of satisfactory experience in a public school (grades K-12) in another state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia in a position that would have required the equivalent of initial or professional certification as a school counselor for employment in New York State and while under a certificate issued by such other state authorizing such service, such experience must have been completed within five years immediately preceding the application for endorsement of the out-of-state certificate; or the candidate shall have equivalent experience as determined by the commissioner. (5) Examination requirement. Any candidate applying for professional certification as a school counselor through endorsement of a certificate of another state or territory pursuant to the provisions of this section on or after February 2, 2023, shall achieve a satisfactory level of performance on the New York State school counselor examination or other equivalent examination as approved by the commissioner, if available.

Guidance addresses certification requirements for school counselors.