Pre-service and in-service training can positively or negatively impact professional practice in schools and communities as well as the outcomes achieved by the students served. Misalignment in beliefs, goals, content and delivery of pre- and in-service training with practice creates a lack of cohesiveness – resulting in random field practice, and unfocused, erratic student outcomes. The least served students in this uneven process are those that need the most help in becoming college and career ready.

School counselors and college access professionals (CAPs) require high quality preparation and training to successfully support underserved young people in college and career readiness, access and success. Two methods of preparing professionals for this work are a) pre-service training, graduate level programs that prepare future school counselors providing Masters Degrees and credentials; and b) in-service training or professional development, which includes workshops, conferences, networks and on-line experiences that support working professionals and graduate students.

The NCSCPS believes that to move student outcomes, pre-service and in-service training must:

• Be provided by highly qualified and trained faculty or staff
• Align with best practices
• Address a focus on equity
• Promote data-driven strategies
• Focus on school counselor leadership to establish a systemic approach to college and career
• Sustain partnerships between training programs and K-12 schools
• Include community-wide systems of providers, community-based organizations, associations, and other critical supports
• Include state and local-specific information on policies, programs and opportunities in college and career
• Evaluate their impact