NCSCE

National Certified School Counselor Examination (NCSCE)

 

Satisfactory performance on the National Certified School Counselor Examination (NCSCE) is one of the criteria used by NBCC to identify professionals who may be eligible to become a National Certified School Counselor (NCSC).

The National Certified School Counselor Examination (NCSCE) is based on a national job analysis. The purpose of the study was to describe the job activities of professional school counselors in sufficient detail to provide a basis for the development of a professional, job-related certification examination that is in compliance with the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, and the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) standards.

A school counselor is required to make important decisions regarding the well-being of students. Therefore, the NCSCE combines traditional multiple choice items with innovative simulated cases to more realistically assess knowledge, skills, and abilities in such decision making.

The NCSCE consists of seven (7) simulated school counseling cases, which access specific School Counselor Knowledge, and forty (40) multiple choice questions assessing General Counselor Knowledge.

The forty (40) multiple choice questions on the NCSCE will cover the knowledge areas assessed by the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE).

Each simulated school counseling case will consist of three components: Scenario, Information Gathering (IG) sections, and Decision Making (DM) sections. Each case begins with a Scenario. The remaining 5 - 8 sections of each simulated case are classified as either IG or DM.

The Scenario provides the setting and introductory information (e.g., age, gender, presenting problem(s)).

In Information Gathering (IG) sections examinees are to gather all relevant information for answering the question. This might include family background, status of physical health, etc. Read all responses before uncovering the responses that you consider necessary to proceed in response to the presenting issue. You should select all options that are appropriate at the time. If you select more or less options than are appropriate, this will adversely impact your information gathering score.

Decision Making (DM) sections provide opportunities for making judgments or decisions. These sections may be formatted in one of two ways:

  1. Single Best Option - There may be more than one acceptable option, but one option is generally regarded most acceptable.
  2. Multiple Options - Several options are considered appropriate. These sections address decisions in which a combination of actions is required.

In the decision making section described in 1 above, the instructions will be to “CHOOSE ONLY ONE” option. You should not assume that your response is incorrect if you are directed to make another selection. The simulation examination format sometimes uses this direction. The multiple option type of decision making described in 2 will have instructions to “SELECT AS MANY.”

The areas covered by the simulations include:

School Counseling Program Delivery (including but not limited to):
  • Consult with teachers
  • Develop academic intervention plans
  • Adapt counseling for diverse populations
  • Facilitate conflict resolution among group members
  • Counsel the student(s) concerning divorce
  • Conduct violence prevention activities
  • Engage in ongoing evaluation of school counseling program
Assessment and Career Development (including but not limited to):
  • Evaluate student's social functioning
  • Assess student's strengths and weaknesses
  • Assist student in understanding test results
  • Use test results for student decision making
  • Use interest inventories
  • Provide career counseling for student(s)
Program Administration and Professional Development (including but not limited to):
  •  Obtain student's evaluation of counseling outcome(s)
  • Manage school counseling program
  • Read relevant professional literature
  • Use resources to apply relevant legal statutes and regulations
  • Use technology for program data management
Counseling Process Concepts & Applications (including but not limited to):
  • Counsel student(s) concerning personal change
  • Assess potential for student to harm self/others
  • Evaluate student's progress toward counseling goals
  • Assess student's psychological functioning
  • Explain counselor and student roles
  • Develop behavior management plans
  • Assess need for student referral
Family-School Involvements (including but not limited to):
  • Consult with parents
  • Counsel student(s) concerning lifestyle change
  • Counsel student(s) concerning substance abuse
  • Facilitate family conflict resolution strategies
  • Educate student(s) regarding human growth and development
Taking the Examination
The procedure for completing the simulated case section of the NCSCE is different from that of more common multiple-choice section. Each simulated case is identified by a number and the student's name and each section is identified by a letter. Since progression through the individual simulations is not in sequence (that is, one page directly after the preceding page), it is important to make sure the number and student name is for the problem on which you are currently working.
 

You must use the special latent image marker provided to mark the selection(s) in the area numbered to correspond with the selection in the left-hand column. Use gentle, horizontal strokes with the marker across the latent image response area. Continuous or hard rubbing will obliterate the response. Printed information will appear in two to three seconds and provide you with the information selected, indicate the consequences of your action, or direct you to the next section for consideration. Two asterisks (**) indicate that a complete response for that selection has been uncovered.

After each section is completed, care should be taken to follow the exact directions regarding the next section. Remember, the route through the simulation is NOT in alphabetical order (A-B-C-D….). Make sure you go to the section last indicated and that you are still in the correct problem (check student name). For example, you may be directed to go from section A to section F, then to section B. The directions “END OF THE PROBLEM. PLEASE PROCEED TO SIMULATION ___.**,” indicate that the simulation case has been completed.

TIPS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE ON THE SIMULATED CASES
  • Follow all instructions precisely. Do not uncover more than one selection in the DM sections unless instructed to do so. Be sure to go to the sections in the order in which you are directed.
  • Review the student name and the section heading before marking a response to determine that the correct section is being completed.
  • Carefully read all of the options for selection in a section before you uncover the response to make sure you have chosen correctly. The purpose of information gathering sections are not to arrive at a decision with a minimum number of choices, but rather to measure your ability to select all of the information that is relevant and necessary for the highest standards of practice.
  • Verify that the response number corresponds to the selection number before uncovering the response with the latent image pen.
  • Responses must be completely developed once the process has been initiated. There is no opportunity to change a selection even if it was developed by mistake.
  • Do not uncover responses you do not think answer the question.
  • Use gentle, horizontal strokes with the latent image pen; rubbing will obliterate the response.
  • Try to visualize what would be done in a real practice setting in the decision making sections. Do not try to second guess what the problem authors want by thinking “Now what do they want me to do?” Instead think, “What is the best approach?” Select the best alternative(s) from the options provided.

Scoring Procedures

There are seven simulated cases and forty multiple- choice questions on the NCSCE. A candidate must obtain a total score equal to or greater than the passing total score for both the School Counselor Knowledge Section and the General Knowledge Section in order to pass the NCSCE.

Each section of each simulation problem has been classified according to the examination content outline. Each content area is further divided into two sections: Information Gathering (IG) and Decision-Making (DM).

IG sections assess the candidate's ability to gather appropriate data required to evaluate a situation or to make a decision. DM sections assess the candidate's ability to solve student problems by utilizing data in rendering judgments and decisions.

Each option on the NCSCE is assigned a weight ranging from +3 to -3 based on the level of appropriateness for effective student care.

A total score is calculated for both the IG sections and DM sections on the examination. A candidate must obtain a total score equal to or greater than the passing total score for both the IG and DM sections in order to pass the simulated section of the NCSCE.

The minimum criterion (passing) score for the General Counselor Knowledge Section is derived from a modified Angoff procedure.

Examination Results

You can expect to receive your score reports via first class mail approximately eight weeks after the exam date. No scores are released by telephone.  NCSCE's score report contains (1) five subscale scores for both the IG and DM sections and your total score in both sections, (2) minimum passing scores for the IG and DM sections, (3) five subscale scores for the multiple-choice items, and (4) minimum passing score for multiple-choice items.