In all likelihood, he added, even with skill standards, community colleges will still have to tailor their programs to suit the tastes of individual employers. Technological change will be another challenge to community colleges capacity to embrace skill standards, McKenney said. For instance, the need to understand treatment of HIV and AIDS is now a critical element of all nursing training. Guidance counselors are for the most part overwhelmed and undervalued in American schools today, Drier said. And the counseling profession is badly in need of revitalization.
Counselors typically find themselves isolated on the school staff.
That positions them uniquely not to be involved in things. Skill standards, which highlight employability and career awareness, presents a grand opportunity for counselors to meet these needs. Building an Enhanced Guidance System . Despite the limitations in the guidance system, counselors do have many assets to build on as they attempt to raise the profile of counseling within schools and make counseling a core element of every school s mission. We have a wonderful infrastructure that s ready to take on new standards.