School Counselor Leadership Professional Development: Examining the Impact on Increasing Educational Opportunities for All Students

• In Event: Expanding Educational Opportunity for All Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the critical role that school counselors can play as leaders in instructional settings. Moreover, the study highlights the differential aspect of leadership as the conduit to increasing education opportunities for all students.

The school counseling literature documents the necessity for school counselors to be leaders and research supports the positive impact of school counselor leadership on programmatic service delivery. Yet, little research has been conducted on how training school counselors to be leaders impacts the design and implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs or which professional development model actually increases knowledge and skills needed to be effective school counselor leaders. There is also limited research on the need to explore how school counselors use skills gained via professional development to increase college knowledge and post-secondary opportunities for all students.

Administrators consistently seek avenues and measures that improve teachers and school counselors’ ability to integrate services and programs that yield higher student performance. Professional development is considered a catalyst to acquire knowledge and increase skills required to maintain and sustain high levels of student learning and improve instructional outcomes. The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) provides a guide for planning and delivering professional development in educational settings. The core components of successful best practices recommended by NIRN are: (a ) staff selection (e.g., selecting practitioners that will be able to carry out the practice); (b) pre-service and in-service training (e.g., identifying and providing the knowledge and skills necessary to carry out the practice); (c) consultation and coaching (e.g., learning on the job as well as ongoing encouragement); (d) staff evaluation (e.g., assess use and outcome of skills); ( e ) additional support (e.g., decision support data and facilitative administration); and ( f) systems interventions (e.g., working with external systems to garner additional support and resources).

Using the NIRN as a framework, the current study examines whether professional development training impacts school counselors’ perception about their leadership capacity and their willingness to use leadership skills after participating in cohort model training. Volunteer school counselors from a large urban school district on the east coast will serve as participants. The School Counselor Leadership Survey (SCLS) will be used as a quantitative method to analyze pre and post measurable gains. The SCLS is a psychometric sound instrument designed to identify key school counselor-specific leadership behaviors and practices that may enhance the design and implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs. The instrument consists of five dimensions (Resourceful Problem Solving, Systemic Collaboration, Interpersonal Influence, Social Justice Advocacy, and Professional Efficacy) that appear to capture key aspects of school counselor leadership. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in focus groups. The guiding research questions are:
• Is there a relationship between school counselors' participation in professional development targeted at increasing leadership capacity and the design of comprehensive school counseling programs?
• What dimensions of school counselor leadership appear to enhance educational opportunities for students?
Anticipated results and implications should illuminate which leadership dimensions are most effective in advancing educational opportunities.

Author

• Anita A Young, Johns Hopkins University