What School Counselors Need to Know About Special Education

School counselors, along with principals, are throughout the United States the individuals primarily responsible for ensuring that students who require classroom accommodations under a Section 504 Plan are appropriately serviced. Counselors also sit on multidisciplinary team meetings, crisis intervention teams, and IEP teams – and are essential to the development of schoolwide positive behavior support programs. However, many school counselors do not have a background in special education strategies and best practices. This revised edition of What School Counselors Need to Know About Special Education provides counselors (and school administrators) with essential information to make the most of their participation in providing special education services. The spiral binding allows for easy copying and referencing of the many tables, forms, and checklists.

• Chapter 1: Complementary Professions
• Chapter 2: The School Counseling Program
• Chapter 3: Collaboration and Teaming
• Chapter 4: Provision of Counseling Services for Students With Disabilities
• Chapter 5: The Role of the School Counselor in Behavior Support
• Chapter 6: Providing Transition Services for Students With Disabilities
• Chapter 7: The Role of the School Counselor in Section 504 of the Americans With Disabilities Act
• Chapter 8: FERPA and Confidentiality 
• Appendix A: IDEA Definition of Disability Categories
• Appendix B: ASCA Ethical Standards

Barbara E. Baditoi, a retired Director of Special Education and Student Services, has over 29 years of building and districtwide experience in public education.  She was the first ED teacher hired in Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia, and has professional experience as a K-12 ED/LD teacher, high school special education department chair, autism resource teacher, behavior specialist, and assistant principal. Currently an adjunct professor of graduate education courses at Marymount University, she also supervises student teachers, and is an international educational consultant. She is the author of When Behavior Makes Learning Hard: Positive Steps for Changing Student Behavior (2010). Her experience and years in education have provided her with a historical and unique perspective on engaging students with special needs.

Pamelia E. Brott has 39 years of professional experience in educational settings that include being a teacher, coach, and school counselor; currently, she is a counselor educator at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church. Dr. Brott is a National Certified Counselor, a Licensed Professional Counselor in Michigan, and a certified teacher and school counselor. Dr. Brott is the author of 29 publications, including book chapters and professional journal articles, and is a former editor of Professional School Counseling. She frequently presents at state, regional, national, and international counseling conferences covering topics related to school counseling, accountability in counselor training and practice, professional identity development, and career development and counseling.