51Æ·²è

51Æ·²èPosition

School counselors working in a virtual setting provide a school counseling program with the same standards and adherence to ethics as school counselors in an in-person setting. In virtual environments, school counselors work collaboratively with school, family and community partners to ensure equity and access to opportunities that positively affect students’ academic, career and social/emotional development. 
 

The Rationale

Online learning is becoming increasingly relied upon in the United States as students ranging from kindergarten to the postsecondary level are enrolling in virtual schools and online distance-education programs via internet or web-based methods (Holmes & Kozlowski, 2016). The U.S. Department of Education defines virtual school as a “school that offers only [virtual] instruction in which students and teachers are separated by time and/or location, and interaction occurs via computers and/or telecommunications technologies. A virtual school generally does not have a physical facility that allows students to attend classes on site” (Keaton, 2021, para. 3).

Students can be involved in online programs, ranging from a part-time, hybrid model in which some components of their education are offered in an in-person environment and some in a fully digital environment, to fully online programs and degrees (Holmes & Kozlowski, 2016).

Students from diverse backgrounds enroll in virtual schools for various reasons. These reasons include: 

• Dealing with mental health nee