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.


School Counselor Sexual Minority Advocacy Competence Scale (SCSMACS): Development, Validity, and Reliability

April 5, 2018 Practitioner Summary

The School Counselor Sexual Minority Advocacy Competency Scale (SCSMACS) is a measure with three subscales used to train school counselors about advocating for and with sexual minority students. Higher subscale and composite scores on the SCSMACS are indicative of higher levels of school counselor sexual minority advocacy competence, one’s ability to help sexual minority students in their respective school settings. As such, the SCSMACS is an administrative self-assessment tool used...

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“Do Whatever you Can to Try to Support that Kid”: School Counselors’ Experiences Addressing Student Homelessness

March 14, 2018 Practitioner Summary

Students experiencing homelessness face basic, emotional, and academic needs that impact their education (Havlik, Brady, & Gavin, 2014). To address these needs, school counselors can build systemic interventions that draw upon the strengths of the school, family, and community in order to coordinate resources (Bryan & Henry, 2008) and to increase knowledge and awareness of resources and support systems available (ASCA, 2010; Gaenzle, 2012). Critical to supporting students experiencing homelessness...

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Counseling in the Gentrified Neighborhood: What School Counselors Should Know

February 14, 2018 Practitioner Summary

Gentrification is a process by which low-income, and/or socially marginalized neighborhoods within urban areas are transformed for middle-class residential use (DeSena & Ansalone, 2009). This process can result in reduced availability and increased cost of housing along with a rise in living expenses (Martin, 2008). As gentrification affects communities across the United States, schools must respond to the changes that occur to students and their families and school counselors can...

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The Impact of the School Counselor Supervision Model on the Self-Efficacy of School Counselor Site Supervisors

February 14, 2018 Practitioner Summary

According to researchers and authors, school counselors are often faced with limited resources and ongoing support in professional development and in assisting their building populations (Griffin & Farris, 2010; Grimes et al., 2013). Coordinating resources and generating ideas through effective collaboration via a school counselor leadership team has shown much promise (Gysbers, 2006; Young & Bryan, 2015). Therefore, practitioners and stakeholders may find it beneficial to gain insight into the...

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Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in the Schools: A Tiered Prevention Approach for Reducing Social Contagion

December 29, 2017 Practitioner Summary

Rates of nonsuicidal self-injury have been increasing among youth and young adult populations. In schools, this is a concern generally; however, an increasing concern is how nonsuicidal self-injury can spread among youth through social contagion. This means that when one person engages in self-injury another person can pick up the behavior through social connections and social modeling. While it is understood and known that social contagion occurs, very little has...

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School Counselors' Roles in RAMP and PBIS a Phenomenological Investigation (Part Two)

December 29, 2017 Practitioner Summary

School counselors’ roles facilitating a comprehensive school counseling program (CSCP), such as the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model (ASCA, 2012) can include myriad related responsibilities, such as contributing to their school’s positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) (ASCA, 2014; Author, 2016) framework. A plethora of single-subject case studies have examined school counselors’ roles in PBIS, elucidating the benefits of school counselor leadership in PBIS planning and implementation. Yet,...

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RAMP and PBIS: “They Definitely Support One Another”: The Results of a Phenomenological Study (Part One)

December 29, 2017 Practitioner Summary

Scholars have explored the impact of comprehensive school counseling programs (CSCP), including those which garnered RAMP (Recognized American School Counselor Association [ASCA] Model Program) designation, on student outcomes. Similarly, a surfeit of empirical examinations of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) outcomes are extant. While researchers have investigated RAMP and PBIS individually and conceptual articles have suggested models for aligning these two frameworks, scholarly investigations of their interaction are scarce....

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Promoting Mental Health Literacy through Bibliotherapy in School-Based Settings

December 29, 2017 Practitioner Summary

Approximately 20% of children have or have had a diagnosable mental health disorder (National Institute of Mental Health, 2010). Although school counselors are equipped to recognize and respond to the need for mental health and behavioral prevention (American School Counselor, 2015), only one in five children receive the appropriate mental health services (Kaffenberger & Seligman, 2007). Self-stigma, an individual’s belief that he or she is unacceptable, is the strongest predictor...

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Social Capital and College-Going Culture in High Schools: The Effects of College Expectations and College Talk on Students' Postsecondary Attendance

December 29, 2017 Practitioner Summary

Across the country, the vast majority of high school students aspire to attend college; however, not all of these students enroll. Indeed, many students who plan to attend college have limited college information, tools, and resources. Literature on the college search process has often focused on the school context as an important means of encouraging college aspirations and providing college planning information. Social capital, which is gained through social relationships,...

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Examining the Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Mattering, School Connectedness, and Wellness Among Middle School Students

November 1, 2017 Practitioner Summary

In this study, data were collected from 254 middle grades (5-8) students enrolled in a rural southern school district to determine the influence variables such as self-esteem, mattering, and school connectedness have on these students’ perceived sense of overall wellness. Using a two-step hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the school connectedness variable was determined to significantly improve the amount of variance in students’ perceived sense of overall wellness accounted for by...

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