Education Commons^™

Twice-Exceptional Black Girls: A Case Study In Early Childhood, Krystal L. Clemons, Renae D. Mayes

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

Twice-exceptional (2e) refers to children who are gifted or talented in one or more areas and also have a disability or learning difference. Despite the increasing awareness of 2e learners in recent years, many still lack recognition and support, particularly those from marginalized communities. Black girls are among the groups that are least likely to receive accurate identification and appropriate services for their 2e needs. This case study aims to shed light on the experiences of a 2E Black girl in early childhood and offer recommendations for school counselors to better support them.

An Analysis Of School Counselors Time Spent On Asca Aligned Activities, Jacob Olsen, Sejal Parikh Foxx, Claudia Flowers, Kaeleigh Hayakawa

Journal of Counseling Research and Practice

Multivariate regression analysis was used to examine variables that predict how school counselors spend their time on American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model aligned activities were examined using multivariate regression analysis. A sample of 4,598 school counselors participated in an online survey. The number of years licensed/certified, caseload size, school size, socioeconomic status of students, diversity of school, and secondary school level status significantly predicted how school counselors spend their time. Results provide an updated account of how school counselors spend their time and can inform professional development and strategies focused on improving time spent on ASCA aligned activities.

Factors That Affect School Counselor Retention In Rural Settings-An Exploratory Study, Rawn Boulden, Chris Schimmel

The Rural Educator

Teacher attrition is a well-known issue impacting K-12 schools in the United States. Sizeable research exists highlighting noteworthy factors that promote retention and attrition. However, scant research exists describing these factors within the context of school counselors working in rural settings. Considering this gap, we employed an inductive phenomenological approach to learn more about key attrition and retention factors, utilizing a sample of five rural school counselors employed in rural locales throughout the United States. Two overarching categories were identified: (a) school-based factors and (b) school community factors. Limitations and implications for rural school districts and counselor preparation programs are …

School Counselor Educators’ Reactions To Changes In The Profession: Implications For Policy, Evaluation, And Preparation, Jennifer Betters-Bubon, Emily Goodman-Scott, Olamojiba Bamgbose

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

In this transcendental phenomenological study and related data analysis (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Moustakas), authors explored school counselor educators’ perceptions regarding recent changes in the profession. Through six focus groups, participants (N = 29) shared their experience, resulting in four themes: (a) range of reactions to changes in the field, (b) school counseling is less valued in the counseling profession, (c) inconsistent school counselor educator identity, and (d) ardent advocacy. Authors discuss implications for school counselor preparation, identity, policy, and advocacy within an ecological framework and the need for additional national and international research.

Key words: counselor education, …

Equipping School Counselors For Antiracist Healing Centered Groups: A Critical Examination Of Preparation, Connected Curricula, Professional Practice And Oversight, Kara P. Ieva, Jordon Beasley, Sam Steen

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

This paper highlights the potential for school counselors to promote antiracist practices and racial healing engagement utilizing small group counseling to ultimately eliminate inequities in schools. However, counselor educator programs, founded on middle to upper class white ideals, worldviews, and narrowly focused theoretical frameworks, currently function in ways that fail to equip future school counselors with the group facilitation knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for equitable practice in schools across the nation using case illustrations and a broad current literature review, the authors conceptualize the rationale for more competencies beyond group course assignment, clinical requirements (e.g., CACREP standards, 2016), practice, …

Meaning-Making In Early Adolescence: Practices And Perspectives Of School Counselors, Jill E. Schwarz

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Adolescence is a crucial life stage involving aspects of identity development and decision-making that have potential life-long consequences. A sense of meaning is related to many beneficial factors during adolescence, including psychological health, academic engagement, and overall well-being. This qualitative interview study was designed to investigate middle school counselors’ perspectives and practices regarding exploring meaning with their early adolescent students. Analysis of ten individual interviews and a focus group revealed that the school counselor participants did engage in work with middle school students around meaning-making. They primarily helped students to find meaning through identity exploration, specifically focusing on navigating challenging …

Increasing College Opportunity: School Counselors And Fafsa Completion, Laura Owen, Erik Westlund

Journal of College Access

Closing postsecondary opportunity gaps has become a national, state and local educational priority. To help eliminate these gaps, the US Department of Education initiated a project that provided real time student level Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion status to large urban school districts. Leveraging this information, school counselors identified and supported students and families as they navigated the financial aid process, resulting in statistically significant impacts on FAFSA completion and college attendance.