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…

This article explores the nature of professional school counseling in urban settings. An overview of key characteristics of the urban environment and urban schools first provides context for the role of the professional school counselor in such a setting. Second, specific challenges facing urban school counselors are considered. Third, a set of…

This report describes the results of the Gulf County (Florida) College Counseling Project designed to raise the educational aspirations of students in rural areas who would otherwise stop their education upon completion of high school. It also describes how and why scores of young people from poor and working class homes in the Florida Panhandle…