Abilene Independent School District Revenue and Competitors

The Abilene Independent School District provides a comprehensive developmental guidance and counseling program to all students enrolled in the district. The certified school counselors of the district have planned and implemented this program. Their goals are: to promote an atmosphere which will enable students to develop to their fullest potential in both cognitive and affective learning to give students an opportunity to utilize their skills in dealing with problem situations to assist students to develop decision-making skills to provide activities which incorporate educational, social and career domains to provide opportunities for all students to gain a positive self-image and interpersonal skil In order to achieve these goals specific services are provided in four major areas. The district's professional counselors deliver a seven strand guidance curriculum to help students develop basic life skills. The skill areas addressed are: self-esteem motivation to achieve decision-making, goal-setting, planning, and problem-solving interpersonal effectiveness communication skills cross-cultural effectiveness responsible behavior The counselors also offer responsive services such as individual and small-group counseling in order to intervene on behalf of those students whose immediate personal concerns or problems put their continued personal-social, career, and/or educational development at risk. In addition, the counselors assist students in the development of an individual planning system. In this area, they provide an atmosphere in which students can set challenging educational, career, and personal-social goals that are based on self-knowledge and information about school, the world of work, and their society. Finally, the counselors are involved in system support activities which indirectly benefit students. These activities include consultation with teachers, consultation with parents, community relations, campus-based school improvement planning, and student advocacy when working with policy-makers and instructional/curriculum planners. In 2001, the Texas legislature passed a mandate that required all Texas public school districts to provide a comprehensive guidance and counseling program under the direction of certified counseling professionals. The Abilene Independent School District has been offering this program to its student since 1995. Abilene ISD counselors are proud of the work they do to support instruction in the district, and they are proud to be in AISD.