In education, there is often a disconnect between theory and practice. Urban school counselors must balance the reality of their daily work with the standards set by the ASCA National Model (2019), widely regarded as the benchmark for K-12 school counseling best practices. This study aimed to describe urban school counselors? perceptions of their…

In the fall of 2021, Redwood City School District (RCSD) placed a full-time, district-employed mental health counselor in each of its twelve schools in order to bolster district capacity to support student mental health and wellbeing. Stanford's John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (Gardner Center) conducted a Year 1…

As the nation transitions from responding to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to navigating its ongoing impact on youth and their communities, K-12 students continue to experience mental health and wellbeing challenges. In the fall of 2021, Redwood City School District (RCSD) placed a full-time, district-employed mental health counselor in each…

Background: Women and under-represented minority (URM) students continue to be under-represented in STEM and earn the lowest proportion of undergraduate engineering degrees. We employed a mixed methods research approach grounded in social capital theory to investigate "when" they first consider pursuing engineering as a college degree…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused myriad issues for early elementary students and their families. Those early in their educational careers, particularly pre-K-2 students, are especially vulnerable developmentally to abrupt disruptions. School counselors, in turn, are being called upon to respond to crises and provide trauma-informed care for these…

The number of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has risen significantly in recent years (CDC, 2012), and students with ASD present unique challenges to schools and school counselors. This article presents a synthesis of recent research literature related to ASD for the purpose of providing school counselors with assistance in…

Providing individual and group counseling has become an identified role for school psychologists working in the school setting. There is an extensive research base that highlights positive outcomes and supports the use of a variety of counseling methods when working with children and adolescents. However, there may exist a host of other outcomes,…

This article documents the challenges that young children face as they move from kindergarten to first grade and the important role that elementary school counselors can play in working with students, parents/caregivers, and teachers during this critical period of development. Research- and practitioner-based recommendations for effective…

The climate of the school is central to the educational mission of a school (Anderson, 1998; Sherman et al., 1997; Jenkins, 1997; Lockwood, 1997). Anderson surveyed recent school safety research and found that altering a school's internal climate can have a significant positive effect on the feeling of safety in the school community. Gottfredson…