The AISD Guidance & Counseling Mission is to implement a comprehensive developmental guidance and counseling program promoting student success through a focus on academic achievement, prevention and intervention activities, advocacy and social/emotional and career development to meet the needs of the students and community of AISD.

The AISD Guidance and Counseling approach is developmental. In the developmental approach, students have an opportunity to learn more about themselves and others in advance of problem moments in their lives. They learn interpersonal skills before they have an interpersonal crisis. If a crisis situation does happen, they can draw upon their skills to address their problem. The developmental perspective recognizes that every student needs sound emotional and social skills to achieve optimum benefit from the educational program. There is a commitment to individual uniqueness and the maximum development in three major areas: academic, career and personal/social skills.

The AISD Comprehensive Developmental Guidance Model is implemented in all our schools (PK-12). A Comprehensive Counseling Program is based upon student competencies, built upon a developmental curriculum, uses crisis and preventive counseling, has four components, and is evaluated and improved based on evaluation results. This shift in conception from a constellation of services and activities to a standards-based program represents a significant shift in thinking about the way students are supported and in the anticipated outcomes. The model is based upon four components:

1. Guidance Curriculum
2. Individual Planning
3. Responsive Service
4. System Support

Steps involved in our Guidance and Counseling Curriculum Model:

1. Guidance curriculum competencies have been articulated preK-12 in eight strands. Framework materials and extensive correlations with materials have been completed
2. The Individual Academic Career Planning Process (IACP), which includes student guides and training has been provided to students resulting in 27,000 completed this year
3. Professional development for counselors has included such topics as effective affective education, postsecondary options for students, improved career decision-making, ethics and legal issues, communication skills, advanced group processing, time management, and business and industry tours.