Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons^™

Returning To School After A Pandemic: K-12 School Mental Health Practitioners’ Perspectives Returning To School In Regard To Mindset, Behavior, Performance, And Social Connections, Viridiana Benitez Esparza

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine K-12 school mental health practitioners’ perceptions of their experiences working with students following the 2-year educational/social/emotional trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic with regard to the mental health practitioners’ mindset, behavior, performance, and social connections. Methodology: The researcher conducted a phenomenological study examining particular experiences of participants to understand their perspective during a phenomenon (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006). This qualitative study interviewed 12 school mental health practitioners who served in K-12 public schools after the pandemic in Los Angeles County, California. Semi-structured interview questions were used for data collection and aligned …

Career Counseling: How To Help School Counselors Analyze And Strengthen Their Program, Kevin Scott Squire

Culminating Experience Projects

Abstract

The American School Counseling Association lays out three main domains of focus for school counselors: academic, social-emotional, and career developments. This project explores research related to the theory and background of career counseling and the current state of career counseling services being offered and shows data that supports my claim that career counseling services are often the smallest percentage of time dedication of the three domains. The implementation of the project will include helping school counselors analyze their current career counseling services offered to students, time spent creating and providing these services, and providing resources to improve their career …

Evaluation Of Check-In Check-Out At Harden Middle School, Alondra Escobar

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone was implemented at the Wellness Center in the Harden Middle School, a public school located in Salinas, California. The school has observed a drop in student grades in recent years and adopted the Check-In Check-Out (CICO) program to support students between the ages of 12 and 13 experiencing behavioral issues. To increase the impact of CICO, the school has experimented with customizing the program’s criteria for participation. The Capstone consisted of evaluating the impact of CICO on students’ grades under the participation criteria employed during the spring of 2021 by comparing participants’ grades and behavioral referrals before and …

Implementation Of A Peer Mentorship Program Amidst A Pandemic At Virginia-Maryland College Of Veterinary Medicine, Casey Leslie

Graduate Review

The Peer Mentorship Program was developed during a pandemic to meet the ever-growing needs of the first-year students at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM). While all transitions into graduate school are difficult, this is especially true during a time of such uncertainty, where every change is magnified by something out of students’ control. To combat the frustration and isolation experienced by this group, a completely virtual program was set into motion in September of 2020.

This program seeks to be the solution to a range of difficulties that too many professional students have encountered during the pandemic. By providing …

Evaluating The Zones Of Regulation® Intervention To Improve The Self-Control Of Elementary Students, Stephanie Ochocki, Andy J. Frey, David A. Patterson, Freida Herron, Natalie Beck, David R. Dupper

International Journal of School Social Work

School social workers provide social, emotional, and behavioral interventions for elementary-age students within multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) when disruptive behavior and deficits in self-control are observed. Secondary/Tier 2 cognitive- and behaviorally-oriented interventions that target self-control have been shown to impact positive outcomes in academic, social, emotional, and behavioral realms for elementary-age students. This study sought to evaluate the Zones of Regulation® intervention for elementary-age students identified with disruptive behavior via a small randomized controlled trial (N = 63). Students were identified for disruptive behavior concerns through a universal behavior screening process and were randomly assigned to the intervention group …

Art Therapy In Public Education, Sophie Edelman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review explores the history of art therapy in education. By understanding the history it is clear that art therapy has always been a positive force for students. By learning from the successes and challenges in our history we are better able to plan for future programing and expansion of art therapy programs. Because art therapy was developed in part by educators, the history of art therapy itself is linked with the history of art therapy in schools. In today’s application of art therapy in education there are three models most typically used. The research discusses the strengths and …

Nature As Metaphor In School Art Therapy: Development Of A Group Method, Jordan Struckman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This group method was developed to observe the impact of bringing nature materials indoors to be utilized in school art therapy sessions. Little research exists on the impacts of natural materials being used therapeutically and expressively in a school setting. This study was conducted throughout the course of one week of therapeutic homeroom with three female high school students aged 15-17. Sand, shells, leaves, flowers, seaweed, sea grapes, driftwood, prickly seeds, and berries were gathered from a beach pathway by the researcher and presented in organized piles on a large classroom table. Students responded to a different prompt for four …

Lgbtq+ Survey For School Psychologists And School Counselors, Stacey Davidson

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

School counselors and school psychologists were surveyed regarding their perceptions and experiences working with school aged students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ+) their sexual orientation or gender. Findings indicated that many of those surveyed believe that professional development and experience with the LGBTQ+ population will benefit them the most in ensuring that they can provide for the student’s needs. Perceptions of school support for the LGBTQ+ community were reported as relatively positive. A list of resources are included in the recommendations section.

Factors Influencing Disciplinary Committee Effectiveness: The Case Of Public Secondary Schools In Ondo State, Nigeria, Akindele Matthew Ige

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study investigated the factors influencing the effectiveness of the Disciplinary Committee in schools, using Public Secondary Schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. Descriptive-survey design was adopted. The 304 Public Secondary Schools in the state were the main population while Principals and Vice-Principals of the schools were targets. Multistage, stratified, and simple-random sampling techniques were adopted to select 40 secondary schools for the study. Three questions and three hypotheses guided this study. A questionnaire, validated, and tested for reliability(r-0.85), and structured on 4-point Likert Scale, was used to collect data, which were analyzed using frequency distribution table, mean, and SPSS package. …

The Predictive Nature Of Vicarious Trauma In School Counselors, Connie J. Honsinger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the past decade, the counseling profession has begun to recognize the impact of vicarious trauma on counselors who provide services to individuals who have experienced trauma. The constructivist self-development theory asserts that interpersonal frameworks can determine healthy versus unhealthy coping styles and impact a counselor's susceptibility to vicarious trauma. Researchers have explored vicarious trauma in a number of professions such as mental health counseling and social work however they have not examined potential risk factors specific to school counseling. The purpose of this correlational study was to investigate variables associated with vicarious trauma in school counselors. The research focused …

Using School-Based Career Development To Support College And Career Readiness: An Integrative Review, Lia D. Falco, Sam Steen

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

For current college and career readiness efforts to be effective, it is important to recognize the value and contribution of career development activities in schools and take a critical look at the most effective strategies, programs, and research in this area. This integrative review synthesizes research related to the impact of school-based career development on student achievement, retention, post-secondary transitions, and other career-related outcomes. Using an iterative key word search, in multiple scholarly databases including JSTOR, PsycInfo, and EBSCOhost Fulltext Finder, 157 studies published in years 1961-2017 were selected for this review. Findings are examined within the context of college …

Confessions Of A Recovering Disciplinarian, Craig Lockhart

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This presentation discusses, exposes, and confronts how student achievement is negatively impacted by poor school culture and climate. Discipline practices will be reviewed, and methods for establishing and sustaining a viable school-wide behavior management plan will be provided. This presentation equips the audience with the strategies to improve conditions in schools wishing to move to a better state of performance.

Stop Truancy Before It Starts: Getting Every Kid To School, Everyday, Brittany Roulette, Hannah Twedt, Paula Skala

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

Attending school consistently builds a foundation for academic achievement and social success in the future. Students missing an excessive number of school days throughout childhood for any reason experience increasingly negative outcomes as they grow older. When truancy leads to dropping out of school, this costs individuals money in lost wages associated with reduced education levels. Truancy also costs society as a whole in reduced tax collection, increased crime, and increased need for public services. Research demonstrates that minority students and youth with other risk-factors are more likely to experience school disengagement leading to truancy. Punitive school policies such as …

The Impact Of Peer Support On Homework Completion, Joshua Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

It is has been found that students of the elementary level can benefit from peer support in academics. The purpose of this case study was to further explore the effects that peers teaching peers may have on the quality of homework. The participant was at the 3rd grade level of education in a public elementary school. Using a goal setting tool, the participant and investigator were able to benchmark the correctness of work completed by the participant in relation to how many items the participant could have gotten correct. The quality of completed homework during the intervention was compared to …

A Phenomenological Study Of Urban Middle School Counselors And Directors Of Guidance And Counseling: Collaborating To Understand Counselor Stress And Prevent Burnout, Janice Hurt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the phenomenological study was to understand stress and burnout among urban middle school counselors from selected urban schools in varying regions of Texas. Using a qualitative phenomenological design, nine MSCs who had experienced some degree of the phenomenon were selected based upon results obtained from a preliminary demographic survey and Counselor Burnout Inventory; five Directors of Guidance and Counseling were selected from neighboring urban cities, based upon their proximity to the selected middle school counselors. The researcher sought to answer four broad questions: (1) What are the perceptions of both school counselors and Directors of Guidance and …

School Psychologists' Experiences With Teacher-To-Student Mistreatment, Sharon Lyles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative, transcendental, phenomenological study was to describe school psychologists' experiences with teacher-to-student mistreatment in the Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 educational setting. There are few United States studies presented in the literature on the topic of teacher-to-student mistreatment and its significant negative impact on students from either the teacher or student viewpoint, but no research has been conducted on this issue from the school psychologist's perspective. The central research question addressed by the study was this: What are school psychologists' experiences with teacher-to-student mistreatment? Members of the Virginia Academy of School Psychologists (VASP) and Virginia school psychologists, …

An Analysis Of School-Based Suicide Postvention Protocols, Emily Catherine Owens

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to generate a base of literature pertaining to school based suicide postvention plans. In order to do this, New York State crisis plans were examined to determine the proportion of plans that address suicide postvention as well as the extent to which postvention protocols are aligned with recommended practices. A coding scheme was developed in order to evaluate the comprehensiveness of the crisis plans and all New York State public schools serving at least two high school grades were invited to share their crisis plan as well as any other documents pertaining to response …

The Effects Of A School-Based Motivational Intervention On Adolescent Substance Abuse, Elizabeth Gates Bradley

Open Access Dissertations

Substance abuse is the foremost health problem in the United States, with an estimated annual cost of over $400 billion and is linked to over 400,000 preventable deaths each year. Adolescents are among those abusing drugs and alcohol. Approximately one-half of high school students use alcohol and one-fourth smoke marijuana, and by their senior year of high school, over half will have used an illicit drug. Effective substance use interventions for young adults are important in preventing the progression toward other drug use disorders and harmful consequences of frequent drug use. Schools have been identified as a viable setting in …

Developing Evidenced Based Practice For Social Emotional Screenings In Schools, Kim Anderson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The social problem being addressed through this project includes several challenges faced by our nation's schools, namely increasing numbers of disciplinary referrals, suspensions, and expulsions (Marchant, Anderson, Caldarella, Fisher, Young,Young, 2009). Further research states that "more and more children entering school are unprepared to learn, unable to cope with the social tasks involved in making friends and getting along with others, and unaware of their negative social effect on others," (Marchant et al., 2009, p.131). Only about 20% of children and adolescents with a psychiatric disorder in the United States receive any kind of mental health services (Fritz, 2007). Yet …