National Certified School Counselor Examination (NCSCE) is a job related certification offered by National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). The candidates who successfully pass this examination are awarded National Certified School Counselor (NCSC) credential. This examination has been developed based on a national job analysis and in accordance to standards of National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.
Eligibility-
NCSC is a specialty certification offered by NBCC. The applicant must have a master’s degree in counseling including coursework in school counseling.
Test Overview-
NCSCE test consists of 40 multiple choice questions and 7 simulation problems. The simulation problems are based on knowledge of school counseling and derives from following content areas- School counseling program delivery, Assessment and career delivery, Program administration and professional development, Counseling process concepts and applications, and Family school involvements. The multiple choice portion is based on general counseling knowledge covered in National Counselor Examination (NCE). The content areas and work behaviors included into multiple choice section are- Human growth and development, Social and cultural foundation, Group work, Helping relationships, Career and lifestyle development, Appraisals, Research and program evaluations, and Professional orientation and ethics. The additional work behaviors covered in multiple choice section of this test are Fundamentals of counseling, Assessment and career counseling, Programmatic and clinical interventions, Group counseling, and Professional practice issues.
Test Format-
As mentioned above, there are two types of problems in this exam- multiple choice and simulation cases. Each simulation case consists of three parts- Scenario, Information gathering sections and Decision making sections. Scenario is a descriptive introduction of a case and is followed by five to eight sections of Information gathering and Decision making. In the Information gathering sections, examinee has to gather appropriate data from given scenario to answer related questions. The Decision making section is based on selection of one or many decision options fit to resolve a given problem.
Marking Scheme-
For simulation cases, each option is assigned weights ranging from -3 to +3 depending upon relevance of the option. The examinee must pass both IG and DM sections. The total scores in both sections are evaluated which must be greater than or equal to total passing scores in respective sections. The passing score for multiple choice section is derived from modified Angoff method.
Schedule-
This exam is conducted in the months of October and April in a year. The applicant has to complete an application (available at NBCC website) and send it along with supporting documents and fees. NBCC sends a form letter to the candidate to acknowledge receipt of one’s application. Further, it reviews the application and informs about approval to take the test by mail. The admit cards are sent about two weeks before the exam date.
Exam Fees-
NCSCE exam fee is $295.