Counseling and educational reform have been responsive to major societal change. This evolution is also reflected in counselor preparation. We examined changes in the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) school counselor preparation standards over four decades in the United States. Constant comparative…

Capitalizing on Latinx students' aspirational, linguistic, social, navigational, familial, resistant, perseverant, and spiritual community cultural wealth (CCW) can help school counselors empower Latinx students. We outline and integrate critical race theory and CCW and demonstrate how communities of color bring assets and protective factors with…

Prior research indicates that the availability of school counselors--as measured by school counselor-to-student ratios--predicts desired student outcomes in high schools. Less is known about the impact of school counselors in elementary and middle schools, where school counselors take on a broad array of responsibilities related to youth…

In this study, we extend research on the allocation of educational resources to an underdeveloped domain--the distribution of counselors, psychologists, and social workers (i.e., support personnel) to schools. Using administrative data for all North Carolina public schools in the 2007-2008 through 2015-2016 school years, we measure the allocation…

School counselors write letters of recommendation for students pursuing postsecondary education and help teachers and staff prepare for this task. Although letters of recommendation may impact admission and scholarship opportunities, research about equity and bias in letters is minimal as compared to standardized tests, teacher expectations, and…

Reform in school counseling over the last decade has focused on how school counselors can contribute to the academic development of K-12 students. Consensus in this matter has yet to be achieved, and recommendations about how best to prepare preservice K-12 school counselors for this objective have been incomplete. The authors describe content and…

Research has not yet begun to investigate the practice or impact of school counselor assignment. A preliminary study sought to explore the nature and consequences of school counselor assignment practices in secondary schools. Secondary school counselors from one large Southeastern school district were asked to complete a questionnaire created for…

Data indicate that minority students, economically disadvantaged students, and first-generation students are underrepresented in four-year colleges. Contemporary models encourage school counselors to act as advocates in their schools while addressing inequities and promoting the college access of underrepresented groups of students. This…

Early school transitions provide students with opportunities and challenges that will impact their academic and developmental pathways, but the role that the elementary school counselor can play in these transitions is often overlooked in school counseling literature. The transition into kindergarten and the transition from second to third grade…

In middle school, counselors should promote optimal development as students navigate the formative stage of puberty. A search for identity is an important developmental task in early adolescence, but school counselors often neglect racial identity development. Through an actual case of an 8th-grade student, both individual and systemic strategies…

School counselors provide a variety of services to students with disabilities, and becoming involved in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process is an opportunity through which school counselors can demonstrate their unique contributions. The authors highlight specific skills (e.g., group facilitation, consultation) and developmental…

National certification and the professionalism of school counselors are becoming more salient, particularly as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act. Archival data were used to examine the relationship between preparation at programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and national…

To differentiate is to make different, distinct, or specialized (Costello, 1994). Differentiation has become popular in education as an instructional philosophy aimed at equitably meeting the learning needs of all students in the classroom. Differentiated planning and delivery of classroom guidance is also necessary for appropriate school…

Characteristics of current and emerging school counseling program models are reviewed, and their limitations and challenges in serving students' needs in the 21st century are enumerated. The authors discuss the implications for these models of recent advances in developmental theory and research and in positive psychology, along with the…

Articles in this special issue illustrate how Strengths-Based School Counseling complements the ASCA National Model[R] by strengthening the foundation of comprehensive school counseling programs, emphasizing promotion-oriented delivery, reinforcing the accountability and evidence base, engaging in developmental advocacy, and highlighting the…