Project Summary

This project was motivated by growing concerns about inadequate support for students’ mental health and postsecondary transitions due to challenges brought on by the COVID-19 crisis. As schools across the nation adapted to distance learning, providing support beyond the instructional core was a challenge. The study captured school counselors’ experiences during the COVID-19 crisis, including what they are learning about students’ needs and the opportunities and constraints facing their practice. 

Key Findings

• Counselors faced unique barriers to enacting their roles, which largely originated from education leaders’ focused attention on instructional issues and teachers.

• Counselors received limited direction and guidance, were rarely asked for input into school planning, and their professional development needs went unmet.

• Counselors felt unsupported and challenged to fulfill their counseling roles.

• Counselors’ experienced role stress. They experienced an intensified form of role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload.
  

Measurement & Metrics

Rowan-Kenyon and Savitz-Romer launched the COVID-19 National Survey of School Counselors to document counselors’ understanding of students’ needs, virtual counseling efforts, strategies utilized by schools, and the organizational conditions enabling their work. They followed with focus groups and individual interviews to further explore survey findings. What they found supports schools’ efforts to bolster students who have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

Documents