Practitioner Summaries

The following are summaries of research published in ASCA's Professional School Counseling journal. Read the highlights here and visit www.professionalschoolcounseling.org for the full text. Use the search function to search summaries by topic area.


“If We Don’t Define Our Roles, Someone Else Will”: Professional Advocacy in School Counseling

May 16, 2019 Practitioner Summary

To better understand how they are engaging in professional advocacy, school counselors were interviewed and surveyed about their experiences. The study focused on two research questions: (1) What are school counselors’ experiences engaging in professional advocacy? and (2) What effect do individual participant variables (e.g., years of experience, level, setting, race, and gender) have on school counselors’ engagement in professional advocacy at the school level? Interview findings suggested that school counselors...

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Attention Problems and Mindfulness: Examining a School Counseling Group Intervention With Elementary School Students

May 16, 2019 Practitioner Summary

Students who struggle with attention problems may encounter difficulties in their academic performance and social relationships. The researchers used a single-case design to examine the effectiveness of the Mindfulness-Based Attention Group for Children (MBAG-C) with elementary school students (N = 8) that were recruited from a mid-size city school district in a state in the southeastern part of the United States. The intervention was based on concepts from the InnerKids...

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Does RAMP Matter? Comparing Elementary Student Grades and Absences in One District

May 13, 2019 Practitioner Summary

Elementary school is a critical time for students to develop academic skills and habits that will be important to their future success. As early as elementary school, indicators of school disengagement, including poor academic achievement and low attendance, can predict future school dropout. Limited research has been conducted on RAMP school counseling programs in relation to student outcomes, and this exploratory study was designed to add to the existing literature...

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Potential Stressors of Undocumented Latinx Youth: Implications and Recommendations for School Counselors

May 7, 2019 Practitioner Summary

Within the past five years, immigration rates among undocumented immigrants have risen due to political, economic, and educational instability in their home countries. The immigration process for undocumented youth can often result in multiple stressors including a sense of loss in regards to separation from their homeland and families, reunification struggles with their estranged families in the U.S., acculturative stress, and fewer educational and work opportunities due to their undocumented....

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Helping Students Who Stutter: Interprofessional Collaboration Between Speech-Language Pathologists and School Counselors

April 17, 2019 Practitioner Summary

Students who stutter (SWS) may experience challenges in their social and emotional development that can lead to academic struggles in school. Students who stutter are perceived as being shyer, withdrawn, anxious, insecure, isolated and tense, and are frequent targets for bullying. Furthermore, recent research suggests that SWS are 60% more likely to be victimized as compared to their normally fluent peers who are only 22% likely to experience victimization. School...

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An Implementation of a Computerized Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Program to Address Student Mental Health Needs: A Pilot Study in an Afterschool Program

March 18, 2019 Practitioner Summary

Many elementary aged students are either diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or display symptoms that indicate they are at-risk, which can negatively impact academic and social-emotional progress within school. Schools, particularly school counselors, often provide the primary mental health support to address student needs. Therefore, it is imperative that schools and school counselors have access to the best evidence-based practices in order to provide appropriate interventions and services to students...

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Self-Esteem and School Belongingness: A Cross-Lagged Panel Study Among Urban Youth

January 28, 2019 Practitioner Summary

This study explored the causal relationship between self-esteem and school belongingness among a sample of 175 urban youth in high school. The results offered support for the personal agency perspective of growth in self-esteem leading to growth school belongingness. On the other hand, growth in school belongingness does not appear to lead changes in self-esteem.  The degree to which high school students feel a bond with school, then, may in...

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Data-Driven School Counseling: The Role of the Research–Practice Partnership

January 13, 2019 Practitioner Summary

Many school counselors report that they struggle to make time to integrate data-driven practices into their everyday work despite a genuine interest in doing so. The ASCA National Model places data-driven decision making as a key component of a professional school counseling program. School-wide research–practice partnerships (RRPs) offer school counseling departments a valuable opportunity to strengthen their data-driven decision-making by drawing on the expertise and support of university partners. RRPs...

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School Counselors’ Attitudes towards Evidence Based Practices

January 10, 2019 Practitioner Summary

The use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is growing among school counselors and the general school counseling profession. Extant literature has presented benefits of using EBPs in counseling practice, including establishing a high standard for the counseling profession, integrating research with practice, and potentially serving more youth in less time (Carey & Dimmitt, 2008; Connor-Smith & Weisz, 2003; Schaeffer, Bruns, Weist, Stephan, Goldstein, & Simpson, 2005; Sexton, Schofield, & Whiston, 1997)....

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College Readiness Counseling to Promote Native American Adolescents’ College Aspirations: The Integrated Conceptual Model of Student Success

December 18, 2018 Practitioner Summary

When preparing for the current and future world of work, young people need to carefully consider whether or not they will pursue a college degree. Although unemployment rates are decreasing (U.S. Department of Labor, 2017), time to first employment and the ability to earn a living wage are still challenging for non-college educated youth (Pew Research Center, 2014). Although Native American parents aspire to their children attending college, for many...

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