A Quantitative Exploration of School Counselors’ Evidence-Based Classroom Management Implementation: Investigating Culturally Sustaining Practices and Multicultural Competence

Abstract

Considering professional calls for culturally sustaining, comprehensive school counseling practices, this study examined school counselor factors (e.g., age and years of experience) and school factors (e.g., school size and percentage of students of color enrolled) that predicted school counselors’ implementation of evidence-based, culturally sustaining classroom management. We also examined correlations between school counselors’ classroom management and their multicultural practices. The results indicated (a) that age, previous teaching experience, years of school counseling experience, caseload, and percentage of students of color enrolled at school were the strongest predictors of school counselors’ culturally sustaining classroom management implementation and (b) that evidence-based, culturally sustaining classroom instruction is moderately correlated with school counselors’ multicultural behaviors. We offer implications for school counselor practice and preparation, and discuss limitations and future directions.

Continual Evolution in Evidence-Based School Counseling: Proceedings From the 2022 Conference

“…2. Collaborating with colleagues in new and creative ways, both in school counseling programs and in research (Boulden & Goodman-Scott, 2023; Lemberger-Truelove et al, 2023; Levy et al, 2023). 3.…”

“…Historically, many school-based interventions were intended to “treat” students who were struggling, often with a goal of helping them adjust to schooling structures and practices that might not work for them. Instead, working collaboratively with both colleagues and youth, EBSC practitioners consider the ways that school contexts impact any given situation, and then identify more effective counseling and classroom practices, educational systems, and school policies (Beasley et al, 2023; Boulden & Goodman-Scott, 2023; Bryan et al, 2023; Lemberger-Truelove et al, 2023). While youth can have learning and/or mental health challenges that are a complex interplay of biological and potentially oppressive social ecological factors (Bronfenbrenner, 1992; Johnson & Brookover, 2021), it is the schools’ mandate to create safe and effective learning environments for all students.…”

“…Conservative groups like Parents Defending Education have attacked school counselors for their work related to social-emotional learning, ELL and immigrant youth, LGBTQ+ and transgender affirming practices, and curriculum content about race and gender (Parents Defending Education, 2022). In this special issue, several authors have identified useful skills and actions that can support student well-being, even in challenging political contexts (Beasley et al, 2023; Boulden & Goodman-Scott, 2023; Bryan et al, 2023; Havlik et al, 2023; Lemberger-Truelove et al, 2023; Shi et al, 2023; Taylor et al, 2023). All these authors describe ways to integrate culturally sustaining and affirming practices into existing structures and activities, effectively supporting student well-being while taking social contexts and identities into consideration.…”