FIU, MDCPS partner to create pathway for more school counselors

School districts across the nation are in need of school counselors and FIU’s College of Arts, Sciences & Education has partnered with Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) to help meet its demand.

Miami-Dade student support specialists who already have master’s degrees in counseling, social work or a related field of study, can enroll in FIU’s School Counselor Pathway Program to work toward their certification in school counseling. The first cohort of 30 have already begun the online program.

“With this program, we are going to make a significant difference, filling the ongoing need for school counselors in our local school system,” said Laura Dinehart, dean of the School of Education and Human Development.

The demand for school counselors has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Education Association. For its part, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of school counselors to grow by 10 percent through 2031 with 32,000 annual openings expected during that time period.

Coursework in FIU’s pathway program focuses on providing critical services for students and collaborating with parents, teachers, school and district administrators to coordinate the delivery of programs. Students in the program will also learn about activities that help children succeed in school.

“The selected course curriculum is very similar to what we do in our nationally accredited School Counseling Program, and the instructors have worked in the field as school counselors or have taught the courses as subject matter experts for several years,” said Associate Professor Valerie Dixon, director of the Counselor Education program.

Students must complete a supervised school counseling internship in the spring, and then are eligible to take the Florida school counseling certification exam. M-DCPS is covering costs of their employees to attend the program.