Resource: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/20/02/measuring-value-strong-school-counselor
Title: Measuring the Value of a Strong School Counselor
Year: 2020
Author: Emily Boudreau
Featured Educator: Christine Mulhern, https://www.cmulhern.com/
Criteria: excellent resource that highlights the value of school counselors as well as effective strategies for maximizing school counselor utilization; top notch reputation of the research institution.
Key Takeaway: School counselors can influence student achievement as significantly as teachers. Rather than simply hiring more counselors, educators and school leaders should consider shining a spotlight on
school counselor “best practices” and investing in their development and dissemination. Cultivating highly effective counseling practices is a cost-effective method for empowering counselors, enhancing educational outcomes, and bridging socioeconomic disparities among students.
Summation and Insights:
As educators, we’re no strangers to the pivotal role that school counselors play in fostering college access and student achievement. But here’s an eye-opener: a paper by Christine Mulhern, a Ph.D. from Harvard University, quantifies this impact and suggests that the impact of school counselors on shaping educational outcomes and student success is just as significant as the impact of teachers.
Mulhern’s research urges us to rethink how we invest in school counselors. Instead of merely hiring more and operating under the mantra of “reduce counselor caseloads,”, she proposes that we begin systematically uncovering the most effective counseling practices and advocating for their widespread adoption. An added benefit of this strategy for school districts is that focusing on the value of school counselors and investing in their professional development can also be cost-effective.
School leaders interested in leveraging the effectiveness of school counselors can read the full article via our provided resource link. There you’ll also find Mandy Savitz-Romer’s EdCast on redefining the counselor role and the insights of school counselors on the college admissions scandal. Another brainstorming tool is the “Considerations for School Leaders” text box, filled with pragmatic questions for stakeholders such as “What information do our most effective counselors have, and how are they leveraging this knowledge to support their students?” Read on for a refresher on the value that school counselors bring to our education system and spot-on suggestions for maximizing overall school counselor effectiveness.