Continual Evolution in Evidence-Based School Counseling: Proceedings From the 2022 Conference

Ongoing Evolution in EBSC

A core paradigm shift in EBSC is to a more holistic and systems-change perspective rather than situating problems primarily in children and youth. Historically, many school-based interventions were intended to “treat” students who were struggling, often with a goal of helping them adjust to schooling structures and practices that might not work for them. Instead, working collaboratively with both colleagues and youth, EBSC practitioners consider the ways that school contexts impact any given situation, and then identify more effective counseling and classroom practices, educational systems, and school policies (Beasley et al., 2023; Boulden & Goodman-Scott, 2023; Bryan et al., 2023; Lemberger-Truelove et al., 2023). While youth can have learning and/or mental health challenges that are a complex interplay of biological and potentially oppressive social ecological factors (Bronfenbrenner, 1992; Johnson & Brookover, 2021), it is the schools’ mandate to create safe and effective learning environments for all students. Post-pandemic, many students are still struggling to engage in learning or to attend school (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2022). The recent pandemic increased the mental health needs in the U.S. but has also confirmed that there are many students who are not clearly identified as needing services, but who are also far from thriving and active learners (Office of the Surgeon General, 2021). To address these issues more holistically, we can think about how to make schools less anxiety-inducing overall more than engaging solely in individual or small group anxiety treatment. Systemic change seems warranted when the current contexts are not working well for so many (Holcomb-McCoy, 2022; Stickl Haugen, et al., 2022).

Another core paradigm shift is from a deficit focus to an emphasis on positive outcomes. Rather than looking just at what all the problems are, this way of working instead asks, “What is possible? What are our desired and hoped for end goals?” (Ermis-Demirtas, et al., 2023). Rather than just ameliorating difficulties—which is laudable, but not enough—this way of working moves towards a vision for something better for students, for school-based practitioners, and for schools themselves (Apple, 2012; Holcomb-McCoy, 2022; Love, 2019; Patel, 2016). How do we start identifying the roadblocks to positive schooling experiences for all students? What are the possibilities for student resiliency, growth, and development—more than just coping (Ermis-Demirtas et al., 2023)? What do small daily gestures of affirmation and support look like (Boyce-Rosen & Mecadon-Mann, 2023)? What do well-being and health, as well as love and joy, look like in schools (Love, 2019; Mayes & Byrd, 2022; Mayes et al., 2022)? How can we learn from our students about how to change educational systems and create workable solutions (Levy, 2021; Lyiscott et al., 2020)?

The use of relevant research, where it exists, is central to EBSC. There have also been significant shifts in how we think about doing research, with existing methods for conducting educational research, publishing findings, and linking scholarship to practice all being called into question (Dimmitt & Zyromski, 2023; Green, 2020; Held, 2019; Patel, 2016). Conducting antiracist and social justice-oriented research means deep consideration of the ways that power and privilege are reproduced and perpetuated in this work (Levy et al., 2023; Patel, 2016; Washington et al., 2023). Within EBSC, we need to consider who has the resources—both time and money—to conduct the empirical research so often considered the gold standard of evidence-based interventions. Who gets paid? How is research used and even misused to keep problematic status quo systems in place that do not equitably serve all students or schools? How do we conduct research in ways that best support students and their well-being? What questions can we ask ourselves to keep an antiracist perspective in mind as we develop school counseling research projects (Washington et al., 2023)?

Some of the most innovative methods for providing evidence-based mental health are occurring in Virginia, where multiple stakeholders are collaborating with the state department of education to provide integrated professional development sessions via telementoring (Taylor et al., 2023; also see https://education.virginia.edu/news-stories/amid-school-mental-health-crisis-new-training-approach-shows-promise). This model involves online, collaborative supervision with school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers, providing accessible opportunities for support and multiple perspectives on various school mental health provision challenges.

Current Contexts

School buildings and education systems are social microcosms of larger society. In the past three years, schools have seen significant shifts because of the socio-political environments of the communities they serve. Several underlying issues in our culture and schools were simultaneously exposed and exacerbated by this situation—including inequitable access to technology, community and class-based differences in educational resources and health care, increases in mental health challenges, and entrenched systemic racism. Today, most students have returned to in-person learning; however, the impacts of pandemic lockdowns are still being felt across the country. In 2021, the United States Surgeon General delivered an advisory on the youth mental health crisis happening in our communities (Office of the Surgeon General, 2021).

The report lists groups who were at elevated risk (not exhaustive; for references, see the report), including youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities, racial and ethnic minority youth, LGBTQ+ youth, low-income youth, youth in rural areas, youth in immigrant households, youth in juvenile justice or child welfare systems, and youth experiencing homelessness (Office of the Surgeon General, 2021, p. 11). For some schools, this list encompasses a majority of their students.

School counselors continue to be tasked with the development of culturally sustaining school counseling practices that help to make schools safe and welcoming environments, even in the face of political attacks and changing laws. As of September 2022, at least 17 states had enacted legislation to restrict education on race in classrooms (Woo et al., 2022) and 11 states had restricted LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum in schools (Movement Advancement Project, 2022). Conservative groups like Parents Defending Education have attacked school counselors for their work related to social-emotional learning, ELL and immigrant youth, LGBTQ+ and transgender affirming practices, and curriculum content about race and gender (Parents Defending Education, 2022). In this special issue, several authors have identified useful skills and actions that can support student well-being, even in challenging political contexts (Beasley et al., 2023; Boulden & Goodman-Scott, 2023; Bryan et al., 2023; Havlik et al., 2023; Lemberger-Truelove et al., 2023; Shi et al., 2023; Taylor et al., 2023). All these authors describe ways to integrate culturally sustaining and affirming practices into existing structures and activities, effectively supporting student well-being while taking social contexts and identities into consideration.

Antiracist and Social Justice EBSC

As school counselors grapple with the new normal of education, we are calling on EBSC researchers and practitioners to continue to integrate antiracist and socially just practices even more thoroughly. In this special edition, many approaches to such work are explored. While the language may vary, the practices discussed in each of the articles relate to the school counselor’s ethical obligation to ensure that students in schools are not just kept physically and emotionally safe but are supported in thriving and developing to their full capacity. The authors in this volume suggest that working from an evidence-based, antiracist, and socially just perspective means ongoing personal and political reflection on who has power in the classroom and school, who benefits from established systems of policies and practices, as well as consideration of how to create schools that are truly equitable and that empower all students to become successful learners.

EBSC and many of the articles in this special edition are concerned with the multiple ways schools can operate as oppressive systems of inequity, how those systems are perpetuated, and how they can be dismantled to create new ways of educating and supporting students. While an exhaustive knowledge of all the ways that students’ multiple identities shape their educational and lived experiences may be impossible, we can commit to staying aware and open to asking questions to make sure that we understand how our students are making meaning about who they are and about how the world perceives them. Given the ethical mandate for school counselors to provide services for all students (ASCA, 2020, 2021, 2022), specific strategies for how to successfully meet our ethical standards is paramount—and needed as soon as possible.

Considering the exhaustive efforts to support student learning and well-being in oppressive environments before and through pandemic lockdowns and the subsequent witnessing of the exacerbated academic, social, and emotional impact of that experience, we appreciate the visions of scholars who seek to reimagine schools and schooling (Holcomb-McCoy, 2022; Ladson-Billings, 2021; Love, 2019). Bettina Love (2019) writes how crucial it is for schools to be homeplaces, spaces where students thrive because adults and youth are nurtured, healed through the encouragement of Black joy, and where educators resist the dominant narrative that problematizes Black communities (hooks, 1990; Love, 2019). As we dream of what EBSC can do, we hope there will continue to be a shift to looking at how school systems can change, how our interventions with youth support their growth and potential, and how school counseling can be on the forefront of that change.