Study School Counseling in Maryland
Maryland might be a small state, but it’s nonetheless home to more than 1,400 K-12 schools overseen by the Maryland Department of Education. All told, there are nearly 900,000 students in the Maryland Public School system, which encompasses 24 local educational agencies in all of the state’s 23 counties and the city of Baltimore.
As a prospective school counselor, you would join the ranks of almost 130,000 education professionals responsible for the growth and development of Maryland’s schoolchildren. This is a job not to be taken lightly – today’s school counselors have more duties than ever before and must carry out those duties in fast-paced, high-stress environments.
Thankfully, school counselor programs do a wonderful job of preparing you for the rigors of this career. But your journey to becoming a school counselor doesn’t end when you graduate. Instead, you have to complete the necessary requirements to be licensed as a school counselor in Maryland. This guide explains how to do just that!
What are the Requirements to Become a School Counselor in Maryland?
Education Requirements
Maryland is unique in that it offers five different educational pathways to become a school counselor. Though each pathway is slightly different, the common denominator is that you must have a graduate degree. The differences between each are outlined below:
- Option I – A master’s degree (in either school counseling or school guidance and counseling) plus a certificate as a National Board Certified Counselor. You must also have at least two years of experience as a teacher or a school counselor.
- Option II – A master’s degree (in either school counseling or school guidance and counseling) from an approved graduate program in Maryland. The program must involve a supervised practicum experience (500 hours or more).
- Option III – A master’s degree (in either school counseling or school guidance and counseling) earned from a CACREP-approved program (CACREP is the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs).
- Option IV – A master’s degree (in either school counseling or school guidance and counseling) that leads to certification in the state where the program is located. You must also have at least two years of experience as a teacher or school counselor, or 500 hours of supervised practicum experience in school counseling or school guidance and counseling.
- Option V – A master’s degree plus a valid school counseling certificate from another state. You must also verify that at least 27 months of your experience has been in school counseling. That experience must have occurred in the last seven years.
Work Experience Requirements
As noted above, the experiential requirements for a school counselor license in Maryland varies from one option to the next. At a minimum, you need to complete a 500-hour practicum experience, as stipulated in Options II and IV.
Many CACREP-accredited school counseling programs require at least 1,000 hours of supervised experience (as required for Option III). Other experience requirements range from two years of related experience for Option I to 27 months or more for licensure under Option V.
Examination Requirements
As of 2023, Maryland does not require an examination for school counselors.
Background Check Requirements
Maryland requires all school counselors to submit to a background check. Your prospective employer must request a background check. Your prospective employer will provide fingerprint cards.
What are the School Counselor License Renewal Requirements in Maryland?
To renew a valid Maryland school counselor license, you must complete at least six credits of continuing education work. These credits may include the following:
- One semester hour of coursework related to your school assignment from a regionally-accredited college or university earned in the last five years, or
- One Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit approved by the Maryland State Department of Education that’s related to your school assignment and earned in the last five years, or
- Continuing Education Units (CEUs) that focus on the following areas:
- Intervention or referral responses to behavioral stress and mental illness that might include depression, violence, substance abuse, youth suicide, or trauma.
- Identifying resources for parents and guardians to address a child in crisis.
- In both cases, you must provide a syllabus or course description.
What are the Reciprocity Requirements for School Counselors in Maryland?
Maryland is a member of the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement, along with 45 other states and Washington, D.C. As part of this agreement, Maryland will recognize an out-of-state school counseling license or certificate. To apply for a Maryland school counselor license, you must provide an application for Maryland licensure, your academic records, and submit to a background check.
How Long Does It Take to Become a School Counselor in Maryland?
As discussed earlier, school counselors in Maryland must have a master’s degree. In most cases, the master’s degree program must be in school counseling or school guidance and counseling. Generally speaking, these programs take two to three years to complete. This is in addition to the four years it usually takes to finish an undergraduate degree.
This being the case, you likely need at least six years to complete the necessary educational and training requirements to be issued a Maryland school counselor license. Some factors may shorten or extend this timeframe, such as whether you’re a full-time or part-time student.
Additionally, if you are moving to Maryland from out of state, you might have to satisfy certain requirements to gain licensure, such as completing coursework or field experiences. In this case, you might need a few extra months to get your license.
What is the Scope of Practice for School Counselors in Maryland?
Maryland law outlines the specific features that school counseling programs must have. In addition to being data-driven and inclusive of all students in K-12 settings, school counseling programs must also address essential components of student development, such as:
- Academic success and student achievement.
- Social and emotional well-being of students.
- College and career readiness.
- Healthy, positive behaviors.
Furthermore, school counselors in Maryland must devise targeted interventions for mental health issues and behavioral concerns among students.
For example, you might devise a weekly group for middle schoolers that have been bullied. The group might be a combination of a support group and a psychoeducational group that helps kids learn strategies for effectively coping with bullying behaviors.
At the same time, you are also responsible for providing targeted interventions for individual students. Let’s say you work in a Maryland high school where a student has exhibited disrespectful behaviors towards his teachers. You might meet with the student on a weekly basis to work on communication skills and develop an understanding of what respect means – both for others and for oneself.
Maryland school counselors are asked to ensure that all students have equal access to a rigorous education. To do so, you might work with teachers and administrators to identify at-risk students that need assistance in accessing the school’s curriculum. A good example of this might be to provide tablets or laptops to students who don’t have devices of their own.
College and career readiness is a further component of school counselors’ job duties in Maryland. This can take many forms. For example, you might organize a “financial aid fair” for high school seniors during which you explain the various aspects of applying for aid (e.g., providing instructions for filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA). You might also host a question and answer session with parents who need guidance in assisting their child with college applications.
As another example, you might organize a school career fair in which local employers come to your school to discuss careers with students. Again, this could take many different forms. You could have an expo of employers, each with their own booth and information about their business or organization. You might also have local employers offer training or keynote addresses that speak to critical aspects of finding and procuring a job.
As the Maryland statutes state, school counseling programs must address “the needs of the whole child so that each student has the opportunity to be healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged for long-term success.” The examples provided above are just a small aspect of what your job as a school counselor might entail.
Instead, addressing the holistic needs of each student requires a lot of planning, preparation, and work. Some days, your focus might be on individual students. On other days, you might work with small groups or go into classrooms to work with a larger collection of kids. At the end of the day, though, the work you do is a crucial component of the growth and development of the next generation.
Related Reading
- Licensed School Counselor Requirements in Arizona
- Requirements to Become a School Counselor in Indiana
- Requirements to Become a School Counselor in North Carolina
- School Counselor Certification Requirements in Pennsylvania
- School Counselor Certification Requirements in Massachusetts
- Requirements to Become a School Counselor in Tennessee