A descriptive study of urban school counseling programs

Professional School Counseling, Feb, 2005 by Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, Natasha Mitchell

And finally, this study indicates that considering the enormous amount of work that urban school counselors reported doing, they perceived themselves as being effective. Although this is "good news," it is unclear as to how the participants defined effective. Whether these school counselors were basing their responses on student outcomes, student observations, or merely self-perceptions is unknown. Further research should be focused on outcomes of school counselors' interventions in urban schools as well as significant others' (e.g., administrators, teachers, parents) perceptions of school counselors' effectiveness.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

No study is without limitations, and the present study is no exception. Although the participants were counselors in urban schools, more studies with counselors who work in predominately public urban schools are needed. This sample could have included counselors who work in private or "special" (e.g., magnet schools, charter schools) urban schools. In addition, studies that include urban counselors who are not members of ASCA are warranted. It is possible that the urban school counselors who are members of ASCA are not representative of the urban school counselor population. Other major limitations of this study consist of the self-report nature of the instrument utilized and the voluntary nature of responding. It is possible that the counselors who volunteered to participate in the study wanted to be perceived as being effective and involved with students. Also, there is no evidence that the information given by the participants is consistent with what is actually occurring in the schools.

IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND CONCLUSIONS

Future research on issues related to school counseling in urban settings is greatly needed and the range of topics is expansive. Further descriptive research and exploratory studies should be implemented in order to determine school counselors' roles, responsibilities, and functions in urban schools. Likewise, further information is needed regarding the differences (if any) among the work of urban, suburban, and rural school counselors. If the work of counselors in these settings is vastly different, then school counseling preparation programs need to be aware of this fact and consequently tailor their programs to the needs of prospective counselors who will likely work in a given community setting.

Another area of future research should be focused on students' and other urban school personnel's perceptions and beliefs about what urban school counselors are doing and should be doing. For instance, what do urban administrators (e.g., principals) believe counselors should be doing to enhance student learning? Or, better yet, what are urban students' perceptions of school counseling? Information regarding others' perceptions of counselors will undoubtedly cast a light on the role or lack of a role of counselors in the education of urban youth. And lastly, considering the increasing attention being paid to the "achievement gap" in urban schools, it is imperative that future research focus on effective and empirically based counseling interventions being utilized in urban schools to increase the academic achievement of low-income and minority students. It is critical that counselors in urban schools have the "tools" for assisting students to achieve their respective goals. In other words, counselors need to utilize interventions that actually work and are proven to make a difference. Research on the process as well as the outcome of counseling interventions used in urban schools is greatly needed.