Kutztown University, Counseling & Human Services Department of Counseling & Human Services College of Graduate Studies KU Home

The Master of Education Degree in Secondary School Counseling - Certification

Hours: 51
Thesis: None

The M.Ed. degree program in Secondary School Counseling is designed to develop those competencies necessary for an individual to function as a counselor in a secondary school setting. The program is structured to enable graduate students to develop personal awareness of self as a counselor, knowledge of counseling and educational concepts, and skills in counseling secondary school students. Included in this program is an emphasis on developing assessment and research skills and using research findings in school counseling.

This program consists of fifty-one (51) semester hours and a comprehensive examination. Upon successful completion of the degree program, the specialist certification is granted through the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Admission requires The Graduate Record Examination, an autobiography, and an interview. Applicants are notified of the date of the interview after ALL general admission requirements have been completed. All students accepted into this program must complete all requirements within eight (8) calendar years. Students will complete seventeen (17) courses, fifty-one (51) hours, as follows. Upon completion of the program, students will have met the academic requirements to sit for the PRAXIS examination for the Pennsylvania Certification in Secondary School Counseling. (NOTE: This degree does not meet the academic requirements for the Pennsylvania Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Examination).

The following is the course of study for this program. Acceptable substitute courses are listed in parentheses. Advisor approval is necessary for ALL course substitutions.

Area I     Professional Core in Counseling (15 hours)
COU 512 Professional Orientation and Ethics in the Secondary School
COU 530 Fundamentals of Counseling
COU 535 Career Counseling Issues Across the Life Span
COU 546 Group Processes (PREREQUISITE: COU 530) OR
        CPY 540 Group Counseling and Psychotherapy (PREREQUISITE: COU 530)
COU 548 Counseling Theories Seminar (PREREQUISITE: COU 530)

Area II     Cognate Area (15 hours)
AVC/LIB 525 Microcomputers for Educators
EDU 528 Education and the Culturally Different Student OR
        COU 519 Intercultural Issues in Counseling (PREREQUISITE: COU 530) OR
SOC 545 Ethnic Minorities and Group Conflict
PSY 527 Developmental Psychology of Adolescence
PSY 565 Theories of Learning
SOC 510 Deviant Behavior ORPSY 546 Psychopathology

Area III     Research and Evaluation (6 hours)
COU 507 Tests and Assessment in Counseling AND
COU 508 Research Methods in Counseling (PREREQUISITE: EDU 507)
        OR
CPY 511 Inferential Statistics and Research Design AND
PSY 512 Psychological Testing (PREREQUISITE: CPY511.)

Area IV     Electives (6 hours required)
These are examples of electives, but others may be chosen after consultation with the advisor. Students with limited education background should consider EDU electives. Students with limited psychology background should consider PSY Electives.

ANT 541 Peoples and Cultures of the Third World
COU 518 Professional Orientation & Ethics in the Agency Setting
COU 519 Intercultural Issues in Counseling (PREREQUISITE: COU 530)
COU 528 Seminar in Marital Therapy
COU 538 The Addicted Family
COU 581 Independent Study
CPY 544 Professional Orientation & Ethics in Family Therapy
CPY 554 Psychology of Family Systems (PREREQUISITE: CPY 544)
EDU 546 Basic Techniques of Individual and Small Group Instruction
EDU 567 Curriculum of the Secondary School
EDU 568 Middle School Curriculum and Instruction
EDU 562 School Law
EDU 597 Change in Education
ELU 540 Seminar in Elementary Curriculum Development
ELU 572 Strategies for Elementary Classroom Management and Discipline
HEA 430 Fundamentals of Health Psychology
PSY 527 Developmental Psychology of Childhood
PSY 545 Theories of Personality
PSY 546 Psychopathology
SOC 545 Ethnic Minorities and Group Conflict
SPU 511 Special Education

Area V     Practicum and Internship (9 hours, scheduled during FINAL semesters)
CPY 580 Seminar in Advanced Counseling
        (PREREQUISITES: COU 530, COU 548, and COU 546 or CPY 540)
COU 590 Supervised Counseling Experience (Secondary School)
        (PREREQUISITE: CPY 580)

The Supervised Counseling Experience Internship is 6 semester hours: No more than 3 semester hours of Internship Experience may be completed per semester; therefore, two consecutive semesters (Fall/Spring) of Internship must be taken. The internship will be scheduled during the final semesters. Students are expected to have completed ALL course work prior to taking COU 590 The Supervised Counseling Experience. (Exceptions to this MUST be cleared by the Student's Faculty Advisor.) Internship requires a pre-registration, permission form, professional liability, insurance, Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance, and a Pennsylvania Criminal Records Clearance.