Fostering Potential: How School Counselors Can Supplement the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Mindsets and Behaviors are research-based standards that professional school counselors utilize to develop competencies that promote academic, postsecondary, and social/emotional development for all students. This conceptual article proposes how professional school counselors can consider the Climates, Attitudes, and Thinking Skills (CATs) model and how this model can supplement the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors to comprehensively foster students’ potential. This article includes a critical analysis of the gaps in the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors through a cross walk comparison with the CATs model. In addition, the article includes suggestions of elements of the CATs model that can bridge the gaps so that professional school counselors foster the diverse dimensions of students’ potential as well as areas for future research.