There is a lack of an established framework or taxonomy in the academic literature to systematically analyze school counseling policies. This study was conducted to fill in this gap. Specifically, the researchers propose an initial taxonomy developed based on review of relevant school counseling policy documents and research. The proposed taxonomy…

This article is the second of a two-part series that describes the development of the "Taxonomy of Policy Levers to Promote High Quality School-Based Counseling." Previous article (Morshed & Carey, 2020) described the development of the taxonomy using content analysis of existing published descriptions of policy levers. This article…

The purpose of the study was to examine the perceptions of the school counseling evaluation process among counselors and their evaluating principals in an urban public school system. Specifically, this study explored who conducts counselor evaluations, how evaluations are conducted, what competency indicators school counselors perceive as…

This article describes initial efforts to pilot an evaluation instrument for school counselors. The pilot was a collaboration led by the state's school counselor association involving a state department of education (DOE), local school districts, and university faculty members. The article begins with a brief overview of historical and contextual…

Professional school counselors have been advocating for their role as counselors in the schools for decades (Galassi & Akos, 2007; Gysbers, 2002; Slaten & Baskin, 2013). Although researchers have addressed this concern through advocacy in service and writing, school counselors continue to perform a significant amount of non-counseling…

For students whose families and friends do not have college-going experience to share, applying to college can be challenging. School counselors can fill the gap, but in many schools--especially those serving students most in need--counselors are spread thin. This NASBE policy update explores the ways state boards of education can address the…

In education, much emphasis is placed on academic achievement without fully understanding the role counseling programs can have to ensure all students are learning at high levels and are college and career ready. The staff of Midwest School District believes that guidance and counseling is an integral part of each school's total education program.…

In most states, educator evaluation systems are moving toward more frequent and focused evaluations that include educators' contributions to student outcomes such as learning growth. Many states include "Specialized Instructional Support Personnel" (SISP) in their educator evaluation systems, but the measures and methods used to evaluate…

School Counseling in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States was explored with a focus on the production of professional school counselors in the Rocky Mountain region of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (RMACES). Comparisons of program graduates are made by state and program as well as by accreditation status. State…

Presently, many state departments of education and school counselor associations have published second-generation documents aligned with the ASCA National Model[R] (American School Counselor Association, 2005). This research study analyzed some school counselors' readiness to deliver comprehensive programs by assessing their attitudes, beliefs,…

This study evaluated psychological counseling and guidance services based on elementary and secondary education teachers' views. Participants were 204 teachers. "School Guidance Services Scale" and "Teacher Personal Information Form" were used for gathering the necessary information. Percentage calculations and multiple regression analysis were…

School counselors acknowledge the need for supervision but rarely receive it. This article describes the counselor performance improvement system in one school district. Supervision is embedded in a process that assesses counselors' levels of professionalism on a matrix of competence and commitment. Administrative and clinical supervisors…

Analyzes the behavioral changes of trainee counselors and presents a five stage study of the similarities and differences of counselor development on both sides of the Atlantic. (RK)

All professional persons engage in a number of activities, but they perform one major function, and their profession is designated by a word which indicates this major function. Counselors are usually called guidance counselors, partly because of their many other activities besides counseling, and partly because many counselors do little or no…