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How to Improve the Student to School Counselor Ratio and Lessen the School Counselor Workload

250 students for every 1 school counselor.

This is the recommended ratio for public school students around the country. (EdWeek)

The real average is 492-1, this tragic disparity is considered a best case scenario. Many public schools are nearly twice that ratio and some even have no on site counselors.

The question is: what can public school counselors do to improve the student and school counselor ratio without working even harder than they already do? The answer is in the tools of technology.

The best way to improve the student to counselor ratio is through more effective communications management with students. In Exploring Technology Usage By School Counselors: A Mixed Methods Study, we see that when school counselors use strong technology to communicate and manage their caseloads, both counselors and their students benefit enormously.

In schools that have too few counselors, multiple educators can be deputized to receive text based reports via school counselor communication platforms and escalate the incidents to school counselors when greater expertise is needed. This inherently increases the amount of support students are experiencing.

Some counselors believe that shifting some student communications to text based platforms will make students feel less supported. This isn’t the case says Forbes: Students in 2019 prefer text based communication. Simply having the ability to communicate with counselors and other educators increases the amount of support students feel.

Communication platforms that engage students where they’re most comfortable– on their phones, save time and lessen the workload of school counselors. The most practical and effective way to resolve the 250:1 student to school counselor ratio is by supporting students by providing these platforms, which can start at just $280/year.

Learn more about the FightSong! student and school counselor communication platform and how to better support students and improve the student to school counselor ratio in your school.

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Kacy

Using only the latest research on bullying and mental health, Kacy supports evidence based education practices for all educators, including school counselors, administrators, psychologists, teachers and school resource officers.

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