Dallas ISD is redefining what excellence looks like in school counseling.
For the 2025–2026 school year, the district rolled out the School Counselor Excellence Instrument, which lays out clear guidelines for best practices and strengthens the district’s foundation for years to come.
For Joann Jackson, director of Counseling Services, that’s exactly the point.
“We have excellence initiatives for teachers, assistant principals, principals, and executive directors. We hold counselors to the same standard of excellence we require from others,” she said.
The SCEI is part of the district’s ongoing effort to set a standard that others can follow.
Through goal setting, annual reviews, and clear ways to track progress, it empowers counselors to build upon their professional growth while keeping open communication with campus leaders.
“Counselors sit in a unique space because they are quasi-administrators, but at the end of the day, the focus is to make sure students are taken care of, whether that’s academically, socially, and of course, overall well-being,” Jackson said.
From individual sessions with students to parent workshops and guiding high schoolers as they plan for life after graduation, a counselor’s day-to-day varies from campus to campus. The SCEI helps ensure that no matter where a student attends school, they receive the same high-quality support.
The rubric contains four domains for performance criteria, including:
- Focus and Planning
- Program Delivery
- College, Career, and Military Readiness
- Professional Responsibilities
Each domain connects to professional development opportunities that help counselors continue to grow and refine their craft, said Stacy Owens, an administrative coordinator for Counseling Services.
“Everything ties back to the SCEI, so counselors understand the rationale behind it,” she said.
District leadership hopes the rubric will help administrators better understand the vital roles counselors play on campus, while also giving counselors a framework to align their goals with those of the district.
“We want to be intentional about matching goals so when counselors talk to their administrators, they are on the same page,” Owens said.
Even in its early months, the SCEI is leaving its mark: helping counselors balance caseloads and better serve students across every campus
“It’s all about supporting the counselor and helping administrators understand the scope of work they do,” Jackson said. “This rubric shows what excellence in counseling looks like.”
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