An exploration of school counselors' self-efficacy for advocacy of gifted students

Abstract

gifted students and their needs when developing comprehensive school counseling programs. In addition, this increased knowledge may assist school counselors with becoming active participants in services for gifted students within the school environment.Future research should further explore the level of advocacy activity of school counselors with gifted students and the importance of self-efficacy for school counselors.Abstract Approved: __________________________________ Thesis Supervisor

School Counselor Sexual Minority Advocacy Competence Scale (SCSMACS)

“…SCSMACS items were developed from reviewing a pool of 104 items from six existing scales: Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG; Herek, 1998); Attitudes Regarding Female Bisexuality Scale (ARBS-F; Mohr & Rochlen, 1999); Attitudes Regarding Male Bisexuality Scale (ARBS-M; Mohr & Rochlen, 1999); School Counselor Advocacy Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES; Bodenhorn & Skaggs, 2005; Goldsmith, 2011); Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Advocacy Intention Scale (LGBAIS; Simons, 2015); Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Advocacy Activity Scale (LGBAAS; Simons et al, 2017); and the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale for Heterosexuals (LGB-KASH; Worthington, Dillon, & Becker-Schutte, 2005).…”

Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competency Research: Opportunities for Innovation

“…Finally, after the development of the original ACA Advocacy Competencies (Lewis et al, 2003), several social justice competency scales were constructed. Examples include the Social Justice Scale (Torres‐Harding, Siers, & Olson, 2012), the Social Issues Advocacy Scale (Nilsson, Marszalek, Linnemeyer, Bahner, & Misalek, 2011), the Advocacy Self‐Efficacy Scale (Goldsmith, 2011), the Privilege and Oppression Inventory (Hays, Chang, & Decker, 2007), and the Advocacy Competencies Self‐Assessment (ACSA) Survey (Ratts & Ford, 2010). These scales, however, have limited use in scholarship.…”

It takes a village

“…competence and advocacy efforts when working with gifted students (Carlson, Holcomb-McCoy, & Miller, 2017;Goldsmith, 2011). Findings from these studies suggest that school counselors who have a greater knowledge base around the unique concerns of gifted students a) have more intentional involvement with gifted students (Carlson, Holcomb-McCoy, & Miller, 2017) and b) advocate more on gifted students' behalf (Carlson, Holcomb-McCoy, & Miller, 2017;Goldsmith, 2011). Intentional micro, or student-level, advocacy efforts may be useful to counteract gifted student underachievement (Peterson, 1997).…”

“…Many researchers assert that school counselors are ideally situated in the school setting to address the unique academic, career, and social-emotional needs of gifted students (Goldsmith, 2011;Peterson, 2015;Peterson & Ray, 2006;Wood, 2010).…”

“…However, literature also indicates that school counselors are not receiving training about serving gifted students during their school counseling preparation programs (Carlson, Holcomb-McCoy, & Miller, 2017;Goldsmith, 2011;Peterson & Wachter-Morris, 2010); therefore, they must seek out consultation or additional training in order to be practicing ethically (ASCA, 2016). University-based gifted centers offer resources for school counselors and other educators to enrich their understanding of gifted students (Belin Blank Center, 2017).…”