Introduction to the Special Issue: Creating Social Capital through School Counselor-Principal Collaboration

Abstract

Intentional collaboration among school principals and school counselors can improve the student experience by better meeting students’ social/emotional, academic, and career and college readiness needs. In this special issue, we seek to share the many ways school counselors and school administrators (e.g., principals, assistant principals) can effectively work together to ensure that school counseling programs throughout pre-K–12 schools are comprehensive, support equitable opportunities, and empower all students to experience success. This special issue includes 11 articles representing conceptual, qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and best practices methodologies with a commitment to equity and access while simultaneously bridging social capital to create networks of resources within the school and the community to support all students.

Leading and supporting school counselors through evaluation systems: A national study

“…The strength of the school counselor‐principal relationship can also determine a school's overall climate and the effectiveness of school counselors and principals in promoting student needs (Boyland et al, 2019; Elam et al, 2019; Geesa et al, 2019; Geesa, Odell, et al, 2022; Lowery, Boyland, et al, 2019; Mayes et al, 2020). There is significant evidence that high‐quality educational leadership provides positive outcomes for students and schools overall (Bush, 2021), and principals and school counselors must work together to provide prime leadership (Dahir & Geesa, 2022). Thus, school counselors should be evaluated in a way that accurately assesses their work and promotes their relationships with other school leaders.…”

“…According to Dahir and Geesa (2022), “research over time has shown that school leaders such as principals, assistant principals, and school administrators are essential to support school counseling programs to bring about systemic change in schools [Stone & Clark, 2001; Walsh et al, 2007]” (p. 1). Like teacher evaluation, school counselor evaluation has recently evolved in many ways throughout the United States.…”

Validating the Educational Leaders’ Knowledge of School Counseling Inventory

“…The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends that school counselors engage in a collaborative relationship with the administration (ASCA, 2021). This teaming approach is evident in recent literature, including, for example, guidance for developing and supporting trauma-informed schools (Somers & Wheeler, 2022), support for creating an environment that builds on social capital (Cinotti et al, 2022; Dahir & Geesa, 2022), and a sharing leadership approach to fostering a culturally affirming environment (Gibson et al, 2022). Such promising approaches call for a greater understanding of how school counselors and administrators effectively and efficiently collaborate when delivering a comprehensive school counseling program.…”