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

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies can provide the foundation for guiding and evaluating school counselors' practices and programs (ASCA, 2019). When appropriate measures are used to evaluate PK-12 school counselors, teachers, principals, and student support specialists, practice in schools may improve. The purpose of this study was to analyze the content and tools state-level departments of education in the United States have developed to evaluate school counselors throughout PK-12 schools. Data were collected and analyzed based on a rubric of three respected evaluation frameworks. Results of the study revealed that about three-fourths of 51 state agencies indicated that they have developed a specialized and specific evaluation tool for school counselors, while one-fourth of state agencies do not have a specific evaluation tool for school counselors. As an implication, some important assessment areas are missing on many of the evaluation tools that do exist. Our findings from the analysis of the school counselor evaluation tools provide insights into how pre-service and in-service principals and school counselors, higher education faculty, and policymakers can work together and consider how best to evaluate school counselors based on their specific roles and responsibilities to address students' social-emotional; academic; and career, college, and life readiness needs. Educational leaders and school counselors need to understand each other's roles and responsibilities.School counselors should be evaluated on the work that they should be accomplishing in schools.Pre-service and in-service principals and school counselors, higher education faculty, and policymakers should consider how best to evaluate school counselors based on their specific roles and responsibilities.