Master of Education in School Counseling

The Master of Education in School Counseling is designed to provide the framework for school counselor preparation and to enhance the professional development of educators who are seeking a graduate degree in school counseling.

The Master of Education in School Counseling is a 48-hour, non-thesis professional development program leading to the Texas School Counselor Certificate. The program is designed to meet or exceed the certification requirements for School Counselors as established by the State Board for Educator Certification. The program is interdisciplinary and builds on the candidate’s prior education and experience. A systematic schedule of shared self-appraisals threaded throughout the program allows students to monitor their progress toward professional goals in partnership with other forms of student development.

Upon the successful completion of the Master of Education in School Counseling at Dallas Baptist University, passing the School Counselor Examinations of Educator Standards, and submitting “teacher of record” indicating two years of credible teaching experience in K-12 public or private schools, the candidate will be recommended for the Texas School Counselor Certificate.

ADMISSION

• Admission to the graduate program at DBU.

• Valid teaching certificate

• 2+ years of credible teaching experience in a K-12 accredited school (public/private).

PREREQUISITES 

Entrance requirements for graduate programs in the College of Education must be met, including having at least two years of credible teaching experience in a K-12 public or private school by the time the candidate has completed the necessary coursework and is ready to take the appropriate certification examinations. Candidates must hold a valid classroom teaching certificate. A copy of the teacher candidate’s service record will be required to substantiate the teaching experience requirement prior to recommending the teacher candidate to register for the state certification examinations.

PROGRAM CONTINUANCE

Continuance in the program past the first 12 hours is pending submission of a satisfactory score on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) or Graduate Record Examinations® (GRE®).

A waiver of the GRE or MAT requirement may be considered if the student meets one of the following conditions:

• earns an “A-“ or higher in each of the first four courses (12 hours) of graduate coursework in the DBU College of Education, or

• holds a Bachelor’s degree from the DBU College of Education earned within the past five years with a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher, or

• holds a Master’s degree from DBU.

Master of Arts in Professional Counseling or Master of Education in School Counseling Agreement Contract:

Newly admitted students will meet with the Program Director, at which time the Master of Arts in Professional Counseling or Master of Education in School Counseling Agreement Contract will be explained and discussed. By signing this agreement contract, new students are stating their willingness to be evaluated on nine characteristics deemed necessary for the development of an ethical and competent counselor. These characteristics are implied from the expectations of professional and personal competence and responsibility and are as follows: openness, flexibility, positiveness, cooperativeness, willingness to use and accept feedback, awareness of impact on others, ability to deal with conflict, ability to accept personal responsibility, and ability to express feelings effectively and appropriately. In addition, the student's signature on the contract expresses agreement to attend eight counseling sessions during the first two semesters in the MA in Professional Counseling or MED in School Counseling programs. No student will be allowed to register for practicum until all sessions are complete

College of Education Graduate Defense of Degree

Because of Dallas Baptist University’s quest for meaningful assessment of graduate candidates, a defense of degree is required in all College of Education Graduate Programs. The defense of degree is a capstone collection of signature assessments and artifacts with reflections that demonstrate a candidate’s personal growth, development, and acquisition of knowledge, skills and dispositions.

A digital format will be utilized by the candidate to enhance the presentation and to justify why the degree should be awarded to the candidate. The candidate’s formal defense will be presented to members of the Defense of Degree Committee and will take place on the main campus each semester.

It is recommended that candidates attend a Defense of Degree workshop held each semester. It is also the candidate’s responsibility to schedule a meeting with their designated program director who will provide additional information regarding objectives, service-learning, artifacts, reflections, presentation format, and evaluative criteria and scoring.

Candidates must register for the Defense of Degree course as prescribed in their degree plan during the semester in which they will present their defense of degree. Practicing teachers, administrators, consultants, superintendents, guidance directors, personnel directors, and Educational Region Service Center personnel, as well as DBU professors and administrators, volunteer their time for this highly selective process.

TaskStream will be used to assess your development as you proceed through your designated program. Candidates who do not have all required documents and “signature assessments” uploaded into TaskStream will not be allowed to proceed to the next level as designed by these Transition Points:

• Transition Point One: Requirements for Program Admission

• Transition Point Two: Requirements for Program Entrance

• Transition Point Three: Requirements for Program Continuance

• Transition Point Four: Requirements for Program Completion

• Transition Point Five: Requirements for Program Evaluation

(S-L)=Course(s) with field-based service-learning component.

Refer to individual course descriptions for course requisites.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Find course descriptions by category under the Graduate Course Descriptions section in the navigation panel.