With significant challenges in rural schools such as limited mental health resources, poverty, high visibility, and physical isolation, rural school counselors face a set of unique experiences and challenges. We present an ecological framework to conceptualize the roles, responsibilities, and challenges of rural school counselors and provide…

This research examined school personnel's strategies and practices responsible for increasing student science proficiency at a certified rural high school STEM program. In the United States, difficulties have developed in adequately preparing students for careers in STEM sectors, especially in secondary education. This trend has led to increased…

Rural school communities face an array of systemic barriers that often impact students' college and career readiness (CCR). These barriers often extend to students identified as gifted and talented, a subsection with differing CCR readiness needs than their non-gifted peers. Despite these barriers, school counselors are well positioned to address…

Community asset mapping is an approach that school counselors can use to locate resources to meet the needs of families, schools, and communities. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how school counselors might use community asset mapping to address the needs of their population(s), illustrated with an example of implementation in a…

Since the 2016 presidential campaign, for better or worse, the general public and media have placed rural America in the national spotlight. While the election placed an important spotlight on the lives, challenges, and strengths of people living in rural communities, the spotlight came with the perpetuation of myths of rural America (e.g., people…

In an effort to demonstrate the uniqueness of the school counselor's role in rural, as opposed to urban, communities, this contribution will speak to the societal norms that render rural communities cultural entities, in and of themselves. The discussion will start with a brief elucidation of the prescribed roles of the school counselor, before…

Responding to the lack of clarity related to the defined role of the school counselor, the authors investigated school principals (n = 538), in a rural Midwest state, and their perceptions of the role of the school counselor. The survey utilized was developed based on professional standards of service delivery for professional school counselors as…

This article evaluated the impact of a group counseling intervention on African-American students' achievement rates during the spring administration of high-stakes testing at a rural high school in Georgia. Eighty percent of eligible students who participated in the intervention received passing scores on the four sections tested during the…

The longitudinal study in this article tested whether advantages in the career development of high school seniors resulted in better transition outcomes for these young adults 3 years after they graduated from high school. Enhanced career development in high school was significantly connected to more successful transitions into the adult roles of…

A qualitative study, using focus groups of Latino parents living in a rural Southeastern U.S. community, was conducted to explore the experiences of elementary-school-aged Latino children. Using the consensual qualitative research method to analyze participants' responses, this study identified four general themes that impact Latino children in…