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.
The wellness of school counselors is an emerging field of study. School counselors are encouraged to practice wellness enhancing activities to ensure optimal professional effectiveness. In this study, the authors investigated how school counselors function within their roles and what organizational factors (i.e., RAMP, supervision, support), if any, were most influential in leading to increased levels of wellness. When school counselors engaged in activities aligned with data collection and accountability practices,...
VIEW ARTICLEWhen 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...
VIEW ARTICLEThe Multicultural School Counseling Behavior Scale (MSCBS) was developed to fill a need in the measurement of and research about multicultural counseling competence (MCC) of school counselors. MCC is widely recognized as necessary for school counselors and several documents guide school counselors in how to behave in multiculturally competent ways (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2012; ASCA, 2015; ASCA 2016). Yet there was no scale to measure the multicultural behaviors...
VIEW ARTICLEDespite the proven effectiveness of counseling for middle school and high school students, research has also identified a consistent reluctance on the part of many adolescents to seek and accept therapeutic help (e.g., Chandra & Minkovitz, 2006; Del Mauro & Williams, 2013). An important step in delivering effective school counseling services in middle schools and high schools is to better understand the reasons why students may be reluctant to see...
VIEW ARTICLEIn this manuscript, the authors offer school counselors four types of research-supported suicide prevention programs, as well as a common standard for the development of an effective comprehensive school suicide prevention program using a five-step process, and frames these approaches within the ASCA National Model (2012a). Schools can be ideal places to provide suicide intervention programs for youth. Although no evidence-based packaged program exists to apply across schools, literature does...
VIEW ARTICLEThis case study explored the dynamics of a professional development opportunity designed to support school counselors’ transformative leadership practices as equity-centered change agents. Throughout the professional development, participants reflected on their individual and collective identities in relation to the populations at their schools; identified the inequitable discourse at their schools and opportunities for change; brainstormed ways to hold themselves, other stakeholders, and the school community accountable for change; and discussed...
VIEW ARTICLEIn the 1970s, hip hop culture arose as a mechanism for speaking up about the challenging conditions faced by many minority groups, often due to the absence of resources in education and mental health in those communities (Chang, 2005). Building off the power and potential of hip hop culture, Hip Hop and Spoken Word Therapy (HHSWT) can be used to explore emotions, and expose coping or defensive mechanisms, through the...
VIEW ARTICLETo encourage the development and implementation of sound laws and government policies that affect practice, school counselors and counselor educators need to engage in advocacy for the profession. For decades, there has been a general consensus that school counselors need to develop expertise in program evaluation and research in order to practice effectively, yet professional consensus on the essential competencies in both areas has yet to solidify and some confusion...
VIEW ARTICLETo encourage the development and implementation of sound laws and government policies that affect practice, school counselors and counselor educators need to engage in advocacy for the profession. For decades, there has been a general consensus that school counselors need to develop expertise in program evaluation and research in order to practice effectively, yet professional consensus on the essential competencies in both areas has yet to solidify and some confusion...
VIEW ARTICLESchool counselor and school counselor educators have an ethical responsibility to use and to teach evidence-based practices (EBP). Unfortunately, although EBP has been widely adopted in education and social service professions, and accrediting bodies and ethical boards are calling for EBP across our profession, too often EBP is not taught by school counselor educators or implemented by school counselors in practice. In general, EBP reflects a three-step process of (a)...
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