Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons^™

No.8, July 2020: Examining English Learners’ College Readiness And Postsecondary Enrollment In California, Marco A. Murillo Ph.D., Magaly Lavadenz Ph.D.

Education and Policy Briefs

Given a growing asset-based approach to equipping English Learners (ELs) with the knowledge and skills to enter and succeed in postsecondary education, this brief examines ELs’ college readiness and postsecondary education outcomes in California. It includes a brief summary of relevant literature on college readiness among EL students. Researchers then present data retrieved from the California Department of Education on college readiness and postsecondary education. The results show that EL students lack access to college preparatory courses, have a low rate of meeting the state’s College/Career Indicator, and enroll in postsecondary education at lower rates than other groups. This policy …

Schooling After Covid-19: Challenges In India, Vimala Ramachandran

Teacher India

With schools set to reopen after the COVID-19 nation-wide school closures, education authorities need to support teachers in these crucial times. To tackle new challenges, teachers’ roles and responsibilities will expand and play a prominent role in the recovery, explains Vimala Ramachandran.

Long-Term Impact Of Child-Centered Play Therapy On Academic Achievement: A Longitudinal Examination Of Academic Success In At-Risk Elementary School Students, Brittany D. Massengale

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the long-term impact of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) implemented through Primary Project on at-risk second-grade elementary school students. The qualifying group received ten 30-minute play therapy sessions during one academic semester during their second-grade year. In a longitudinal analysis for academic growth, MAP testing was used to determine if there was a long-term impact on both the third grade and fourth-grade years for the original qualifying students. The findings reveal implications for identification of and interventions for at-risk elementary students and CCPT as an intervention for academic achievement; specifically, reading and mathematics scores. Recommendations for future research …

The Adult Public’S Perception Of The Utility Of Play Therapy, Margaret L. Hindman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children communicate through symbolism and play as toys are children's words and play is their language (Landreth, 2012; Oaklander, 1988; Piaget, 1951; Ray, 2016). Play therapists facilitate developmentally appropriate support for children (Landreth, 2012). Often parents are unaware of the importance of play in children’s counseling (Brumfield & Christensen, 2011; Landreth, Bratton, Kellam, & Blackard, 2006).

Since adults often make decisions for children, it is important to know adults’ perceptions of play therapy utility. There is little research on parents’ knowledge of mental health services especially research specific to play therapy (Gallo, Comer, & Barlow, 2013; O’Connor & Langer, 2018). …

Spring 2020

Action in Education

Dean's Corner: Community Continuity; Booster Club: The Academic Success Center team helps all sorts of students accomplish their goals; Shared Paths: Counseling students and at-risk girls help each other thrive in a unique collaboration; Teachers Find Common Ground; In Brief; Singing Praises: Remembering a triple-Demon diva who dedicated her voice to raising up others; On the Right Track: Kwaku Attoh helps athletes and elementary school students make strides toward success

International School Social Work: Building Networks And Relationships, Leticia Villarreal Sosa

International Journal of School Social Work

This editorial discusses the importance of international collaborations in the development of school social work. As school social workers, we face common issues in the schools that can be effectively addressed by the sharing of information and resources across national borders and by supporting the development of interventions and indigenous practices that are best suited for local contexts. The SSWAA school social work practice model is reviewed and questions posed about how extending this model to address global school social work practice.

Editorial Board 2019, Leticia Villarreal Sosa

International Journal of School Social Work

Editorial Board IJSSW 2019

Albuquerque Journal Interviews Maryam Ahranjani, Many Want Police Out Of Schools Across Nm, Maryam Ahranjani, Shelby Perea

Faculty Scholarship

In Albuquerque, University of New Mexico School of Law associate professor Maryam Ahranjani and Hope Pendleton, a board member of the Black Law Student Association at UNM, are saying now is the time to remove officers from schools.

“There’s a lot of unfortunate downstream negative repercussions for children from having police officers in schools,” Ahranjani said.

Pendleton and Ahranjani helped write a letter to APS Superintendent Raquel Reedy and her leadership team that says funds earmarked for the APS Police Department would be better spent addressing this counselor-to-student ratio and investing in other personnel.

“Reallocating funds away from law enforcement …

Student Wellness And Mental Wellbeing, Emily Bishop, Stevie Leahy

William & Mary Law School’s Conference for Excellence in Online Teaching Legal Research & Writing

This presentation will focus on centering the mental wellbeing of students for the 2020-21 academic year. The incoming cohort has unique stressors that are compounded by challenging current events - as educators, we are also challenged to engage and connect with these students in a virtual environment. This presentation will give practical strategies to engage with students that facilitate and foster mental health, with an eye to anchoring our tactics within a legal research and writing curriculum. The presentation aims to encourage healthy dialogue on how to de-stigmatize mental wellbeing and best support our students. This goal, more so now …

Marital Satisfaction During Retirement, Marissa A. Fye, Christine Chasek, Grace A. Mims, Jacob Sandman, Alex Hinrichsen

Counseling Faculty Publications

Marriage/commitment and retirement are two common experiences in an adult’s life. Marital satisfaction and retirement have been researched in multiple disciplines. The relationship between these two constructs has not been as widely researched. The purpose of this study was to determine whether retirement has an impact on marital satisfaction. Quantitative methods and analyses were used. The variables used accounted for 83% of the variance of satisfaction. Limitations and implications are provided to inform marriage and family pedagogy and practice.

Humanizing Higher Education: Disrupting Racial Injustice In Teacher Preparation Through Critically Caring Communities, Melissa M. Boronkas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Institutions of Higher Education have played a foundational role in upholding racial inequities within the teaching profession. Eighty percent of public school teachers in the United States are white and female while more than 50% of the total student population is composed of minoritized students (Boser, 2014; NYSED, 2019a). There is a lack of cultural synchronicity between teachers and students in classrooms which is believed to result in unequal outcomes for minoritized students as compared to their White peers (Ingersoll, May, Collins, 2018). These findings are indicative of an underlying problem: racial and social integration has not been achieved. In …

Kenyan Professional Counsellors’ Role Perceptions And Responsibilities, Chika Eucharia Eze, Alice Nzangi, Francis Obaweiki

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

This article presents the results of survey research on Kenyan professional school-based counsellor’s perceptions of roles and appropriate activities. Data were collected from 47 Kenyan counsellors using the International Survey of School-Based Counselling Activities. Mean subscale scores and standard deviations were employed to analyse data across five dimensions of the school-based counsellor role practice: Counselling Services; Advocacy and Systemic Improvement; Prevention Programs; Administrator Role; and Educational Career Planning. Results indicated that Kenyan counsellors’ highest scale of preference for role/responsibility they perform was Counselling Services (one-to-one counselling service and group counselling aimed at improving children and adolescences’ mental health and academic …

Structural Validity Of The International Survey Of School Counselor’S Activities (Issca) When Applied With Counseling And Guidance Personnel In Primary Schools In Hong Kong, Shui Wai Wong, Mantak Yuen

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

This paper reports results of a recent exploratory study using the International Survey of School Counselor’s Activities with two separate but equivalent samples of guidance professionals from primary schools in Hong Kong. An exploratory factor analysis using data from one sample (n = 76) identified 7 factors representing guidance and counseling roles: counseling services; practice improvement; services to parents; prevention programs; advocacy and systemic improvement; educational and career planning; and, discipline and administration. Confirmatory factor analysis using data from the second sample (n = 76) supported this 7-factor solution. A previous international study involving school-based counselors from 10 countries had …

Practices And Priorities Of School-Based Counselors In Venezuela And Costa Rica, Ian Martin, George Vera

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

This article reports findings from surveys collected from practicing school-based counselors in Venezuela (N = 30) and Costa Rica (N = 107) using the International Survey of School-Based Counseling Activities (ISSCA). Analyses identified striking similarities between these two countries and major differences when compared to the other 10 countries within this special issue. The discussion is focused on explaining how school-based counseling policies and educational policies in Venezuela and Costa Rica influenced the development of counseling practices over time.

School-Based Counseling In The United States: Mode Of Practice And International Comparisons Related To Five Dimensions Of Practice, John C. Carey

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

This study used the five dimensions of practice identified by Carey, Fan, He, and Jin (2020) to describe the preferred mode of practice of US school-based counselors and compare this mode of practice with nine other countries. A total of 380 US school counselors completed the International Survey of School Counselor Activities-United States. Mean item ratings and mean BART scores were used for both descriptions and comparisons. US counselors indicated that Counseling Services; Advocacy and Systemic Improvement; Prevention Programs; and, Educational and Career Planning were all important aspects of their role. In comparison to international counterparts, US counselors placed greater …

School-Based Counsellors' Role As Perceived By Nigerian Counsellors, Oyaziwo Aluede, Andrew A. Adubale

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

This study assessed the perceptions of Nigerian counsellors regarding the appropriateness of a range of school counsellors’ activities and determined how Nigerian school counsellors viewed the appropriateness of the five dimensions of counselling practice. School counsellors from the Association of Professional Counsellors in Nigeria (n = 176) completed the International Survey of School-based Counselor Activities. Results were compared to those of counsellors from nine other nations. Findings revealed some commonalities and some potentially important differences. Nigerian counsellors considered the Educational and Career Planning dimension the most important dimension. In contrast to all the other national groups, Nigerian counsellors considered Administrative …

Comparing Maltese School-Based Counselling With Nine Other Countries, Ruth Falzon, Silvia Galea, Maud Muscat

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

This research identifies activities that Maltese School-based Counsellors (MSC) engage in and perceived as appropriate for their role. The article also compared Maltese schoolbased counselling with counselling in other countries. The results reflect both (a) the influence of the American and British models of counselling and (b) the unique cultural context. MSCs evidenced congruence with regard to perceptions of appropriateness and actual activities carried out. However some activities, which they considered as appropriate, were not being carrying out. This may mean either that counsellors’ workloads were untenable, or that the job descriptions, remits and boundaries of the psychosocial team in …

Role Of School Counselors And The Factors That Affect Their Practice In India, Elizabeth Thomas, Anjali M. Dey

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

This article summarizes the responses of the sample of Indian school-based counselors who contributed data to the international factor analysis that identified five dimensions of practice. Forty-five complete surveys (i.e., the International Survey of School Counselor’s Activities) were obtained from Indian school-based counselors most of whom had a Master’s degree in counseling psychology. Counseling Services, Advocacy and Systemic Improvement, Preventive Programs, and Educational and Career Planning were all considered important components of role. Activities related to the Administrative Role were considered as inappropriate. Compared to the other countries, the scores from India suggest that the school-based counselors gave relatively high …

Five Dimensions Of School-Based Counseling Practice: Factor Analysis Identification Using The International Survey Of School Counselors’ Activities, John C. Carey, Kuiyuan Y. Fan, Lijuan He, Yuan Ying Jin

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

This article describes a factor analytic study designed to identify the underlying dimensions of school-based counseling practice that will be useful in describing cross-national differences in school-based counseling practice and in enabling comparative research on school-based counseling policy and effectiveness. Practicing school-based counselors (N = 2913) from 10 countries (China, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, South Korea, Malta, Nigeria, Turkey, the United States, and Venezuela) used the International Survey of School-Based Counseling Activities (ISSCA) to rate the centrality of 40 activities to the role of a school-based counselor. Factor analysis determined that five dimensions adequately described the school-based counselor role: Counseling …

Introduction To This Special Issue On Cross-National Differences In School-Based Counseling Practice, John C. Carey

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

This special issue of the Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation presents the outcomes of the research of a team of international scholars seeking to better understand the nature of the variability of school-based counseling practice across countries and the contextual determinants of this variability. A lead article describes a large, ten-nation, factor analytic study of school-based counselors’ ratings on the International Survey of School-Based Counseling Activities (ISSCA) that identified five dimensions that describe cross-national variability. Five articles use this five-dimensional framework to describe the mode of practice for school-based counseling within a single country (India, Kenya, Malta, Nigeria, …