Postsecondary Readiness Counseling Competencies for School Counselors: A Delphi Study

• In Event: Equipping School Counselors for Inclusive Postsecondary Transitions: Navigating Student Shifting Plans, Racial Injustice, and College Readiness Strategies

Abstract

School counselors strive to ensure all students are academically prepared to pursue the postsecondary education or career option of their choice. Schools where school counselors spend dedicated time providing postsecondary counseling have higher college going rates, particularly for students from low-income backgrounds (Belasco, 2013; Bryan et al., 2011; Engberg & Gilbert, 2014; Poynton & Lapan, 2017). Thus, it is critical for school counselors to be skilled in postsecondary counseling to help students plan for and pursue postsecondary opportunities. However, studies indicate that school counselors perceive that they lack adequate training in postsecondary counseling (Bridgeland & Bruce, 2011; Brown et al., 2016; Morgan et al., 2014; Novakovic et. al., 2021; Savitz-Romer, 2012).
Counseling competencies assist counselor educators in teaching future counselors to provide effective counseling services to clients. While professional school counseling entities have issued guidelines for the role of the school counselor in postsecondary counseling (ASCA, 2017, 2019), to date there are no counseling competencies utilized within the school counseling profession for postsecondary counseling (Gilfillan, 2018). Postsecondary counseling competencies can provide a framework for evaluating a trainee’s skill and knowledge in postsecondary counseling, and a guide for counselors-in-training to develop competence in postsecondary counseling.
This study was conducted to develop a set of postsecondary readiness counseling competencies using the Delphi research methodology. A national panel of experts were surveyed about the knowledge, skills, beliefs, and practices they believe are crucial for effective postsecondary readiness counseling. The 27 expert participants came to consensus on 213 postsecondary readiness competencies through four rounds of data collection and analysis. The authors developed subcategories for each of the four main categories (knowledge, skills, beliefs and practices) and they discuss implications for pre-service and in-service training.
The postsecondary readiness competencies presented in this study can support counselor training in several ways. First, they can be used to develop curriculum in counselor education programs. Counselor education programs vary in how they cover these topics in the curriculum (Gilfillan, 2018) and a set of competencies would ensure that important topics related to postsecondary counseling would be covered consistently in either dedicated postsecondary readiness counseling courses or infused systemically in courses throughout the school counseling curriculum. Second, the competencies can provide a framework for targeted learning in practicum and internship.
Counselors-in-training could complete projects to develop beliefs, knowledge, skills and practices to prepare them to conduct college and career readiness. Additionally, counselor educators can work collaboratively with site supervisors to ensure that practica and internships include experiences to allow school counseling students to practice the competencies under their supervision. The CACREP (2016) standards and ASCA (2019) school counselor standards broadly define knowledge and skills required by school counselors in regard to postsecondary readiness. This set of competencies contains the specificity needed to develop curricula that prepares counselors-in-training to provide effective college and career readiness counseling to all students. Finally, the competencies could be used as a self-rating or supervisory rating tool to help university or site supervisors identify strengths and weaknesses in the realm of postsecondary readiness counseling.

Authors

• Beth H. Gilfillan, Northeastern Illinois University

• Alexandra Novakovic, DePaul University