sson plans that are representative of the curriculum for each grade were developed. A few school counselors were also invited to comment on these lesson plans. Based on their suggestions, certain modifications were made to ensure their appropriateness for the three grades.
Moreover, this researcher opted to produce sample lesson plans, instead of the entire curriculum. The primary reason for this approach is to encourage school counselors to develop a curriculum that best reflects the needs of the students in their schools. Using the sample lesson plans provided by this study, school counselors will have a guiding framework for determining the types of activities that should be designed for students from each grade.
With regard to this study, school counselors responsible for implementing the school violence prevention curriculum will need to be qualified to design and implement lesson plans in an age-appropriate fashion. Essentially, they will need to possess the knowledge of these students and the communication skills to interact with the classes successfully. Furthermore, they should be able to collaborate with educators in order to work effectively in the classroom.
The training and the experience of the school counselor should cohere with the standards established by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP, 1994, cited in Perusse, Goodnough, & Noel, 2001). School counselors must have attained a Masters' level education from an accredited counseling program and acquire knowledge with regard to eight core areas: "human growth and development, social and cultural foundations, helping relationships, group work, career and lifestyle development, appraisal, research and program evaluation, and professional orientation" (qtd. in Perusse et al., 2001, p. 252). Moreover, students should have received field training in school settingsùa minimum of 100 hours for pract...