An Investigation of How School Counselors Adapted Their Delivery Due to COVID-Induced Disparities

Abstract

We utilized a mixed-methods design to understand how a national sample of 589 school counselors adapted their approach to address K–12 students’ academic, social/emotional, and career development during the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, we examined how COVID-19–induced disparities influenced school counselors’ delivery of services. We identified six themes using thematic analysis and conducted a t test to further understand what services and strategies counselors were actively using 6 months after the onset of COVID-19. Our findings suggest that school counselors continued to adjust their comprehensive school counseling programs to address pandemic-induced disparities.

School counselors’ perceived school climate, leadership practice, psychological empowerment, and multicultural competence before and during COVID‐19

“…These results indicated that individuals reported an increased likelihood of reporting making meaning of negative experiences compared with 3 months prior to the pandemic. Our result also seems to be consistent with Villares et al's (2022) main finding that most school counselors were able to maintain school counseling responsibilities 3 months after the onset of COVID-19.…”

“…Role conflict and ambiguity have been reported to be common barriers when it comes to enactment of appropriate school counselor roles prior to the pandemic (Hilts et al., 2019), yet these barriers have been exacerbated by the COVID‐19 due to the priority to reacting to crisis (Levy & Lemberger‐Truelove, 2021; Villares et al., 2022). School counselors stressed the drastic transitions associated with the different modalities of learning, which contributed to their job to be primarily “putting out fires” (Limberg et al., 2022, p. 6). As such, there is a gap in the literature related to school counselors’ roles and perceptions at the systemic level.…”

“…as students from marginalized groups such as racial/ethnic minorities and low socioeconomic status (SES) have been identified to be at high risks in the context of COVID-19 (Limberg et al, 2022;Litam & Hipolito-Delgado, 2021). Specifically, using a population-based randomized design, we investigated differences of school counselors' psychological empowerment, leadership practice, multicultural competence, and perceptions of their school climate, based on COVID-19 condition.…”

“…The school counseling literature has documented evidence in support of achievement disparities linked to power and privilege within students (e.g., Bemak & Chung, 2008); notably, COVID‐19 has further contributed to increasing disparities among student populations (Limberg et al., 2022; Litam & Hipolito‐Delgado, 2021). For instance, the literature offers consistent evidence that supports the disproportionate impact of COVID‐19 on students who are racial/ethnic minorities and of low SES (e.g., Gazmararian et al., 2021; Limberg et al., 2022). Increased inequities have been observed in college access for low‐income, first‐generation students, and students from other minoritized backgrounds (Savitz‐Romer et al., 2021).…”

Facilitating Role Understanding and Collaboration Between Aspiring School Counselors and Principals

“…Furthermore, in spring 2020, the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) forced nationwide school closures, which not only disrupted P–12 students’ learning but also school counselors’ ability to deliver comprehensive school counseling programs (ASCA, 2021; Limberg et al, in press). Throughout the pandemic, school counselors struggled to serve students, finding difficulty in accessing students in virtual environments and providing virtual counseling lessons on a day-to-day basis, while continuing to manage high caseloads, working to close opportunity and achievement gaps, and being assigned inappropriate duties (ASCA, 2021).…”