LGBTQ+ youth make up a significant portion of the United States student population (Conron, 2020). A sense of belonging for middle school students is an essential indicator for academic achievement and positive motivational and health outcomes (Kosciw et al., 2020; Steiner et al., 2019), yet LGBTQ+ students experience less belonging than their…

There is a paucity of research on the experiences of rural school counselors' advocacy for and with marginalized students. Specifically, rural school counselors' advocacy experiences for and with students who identify as LGBTQ+ are not well known. The advocacy experiences of rural school counselors for all marginalized students are exigent, yet…

School psychologists can be essential team members in driving systemic change towards achieving educational fairness, as their experiences, perspectives, and actions significantly contribute to this effort. This qualitative phenomenological study delved into an in-depth investigation of the lived experiences of school psychologists who have…

Professional school counseling ethical competencies, guidelines, and literature have encouraged school counselors to act as anti-racist, social justice advocates at the: a) individual level with students/families, b) school/community level, and c) public/legislative levels. The following research study proposal serves to fill a gap in the…

This quantitative survey study aimed to identify differences between the perception of the role of school counselors of both administrators and school counselors and if the demographic criteria of years of experience, years in education, enrollment size, and grade level impacted these perceptions. Currently employed school counselors and…

This generic qualitative research study examined licensed professional counselors' (LPC) experiences with advocacy engagement in the rural school setting. Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory provided the theoretical foundation to describe the experiences of LPC advocacy engagement for varying systemic level needs of clients. The sample…

The number of emergent bilingual students in the United States increased by over half a million students between 2010 and 2020, and Texas' school counselor ratios do not reflect the minimum ratio recommended nationally, nor do they reflect the recommended ratio by The Texas Counseling Association, Texas Association of Secondary School Principals,…

This study utilized a qualitative approach to understand how school counselor and teacher dispositions toward and relationships with newcomer students shaped their educational practices. A total of five high school counselor and teacher participants shared their personal insights and lived experiences for this qualitative study. Findings from the…

There is limited research related to counseling the unhoused population. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore counseling trainees' experiences and self-perceptions of preparedness to provide counseling services to Black women experiencing homelessness. Guided by an intersectionality framework, 13 participants…

School counselors who engage in advocacy work may experience barriers when attempting to challenge oppression; hence, they need specific skills to advocate efficiently and effectively. Despite the trend in conceptual articles surrounding school counselor advocacy, little is known about how school counselors' multicultural self-efficacy predicts…

School counselors play a vital supportive role in schools. As the needs of students and diverse populations in urban schools surge, the need to improve understanding of school counselors' experiences facing social justice issues also increases. Framed through the lens of Rawls's social justice theory, the focus of this generic qualitative study…

Decades after the landmark United States Supreme Court decision of Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka in 1954, the push continues to make schools a safe and welcoming environment for Black and Brown students. Black students in particular are continuing to be oppressed and marginalized in PK-12 educational settings. Accounting for…

This study addressed the lack of professional development and networking opportunities targeted towards school counselors in rural school districts. To address this problem, this study explored the perceptions and lived experiences of professional school counselors, in rural settings, and their participation in a professional learning community…

The need for schools to produce graduates ready to meet increasing workforce demands and postsecondary admission requirements has called for more individualized career and academic planning with high school students. School counselors have a unique yet complex role in providing college and career guidance, monitoring, and opportunities. This study…

This study sought to evaluate school psychologists' perceptions of their graduate training experience in preparing them to work with transgender and other gender minority youth. The quality of graduate training was also examined through a compilation of syllabi. The participants (N = 193) completed a questionnaire regarding their confidence in…