The Transformative Individual School Counseling Model: An Accountability Model for Urban School Counselors

Abstract

The realities and needs of urban students, families, and educators have outgrown traditional individual counseling models. The American School Counselor Association's National Model and National Standards and the Education Trust's Transforming School Counseling Initiative encourage professional school counselors to shift roles toward implementing comprehensive developmental school counseling programs focused on systemic change to overcome institutional K-12 school barriers. This article reconceptualizes individual counseling as a collaborative act of advocacy and accountability used by professional school counselors and researchers to close achievement and opportunity gaps. The Transformative Individual School Counseling model utilizes a functional behavioral assessment approach to define problems; systemic, solution-focused, and narrative counseling approaches to address problems; and single-case study designs to document the effectiveness of interventions. ********** The profession of school counseling continues to evolve in its role in K-12 educational settings. The effort to redefine professional school counseling is evidenced by the American School Counselor Association's (ASCA) National Model and National Standards and the Education Trust's National Center for Transforming School Counseling initiatives. Also, these preceding initiatives were due, in part, to the increased calls for accountability in education and increased attention to the access, equity, and success for every student (ASCA, 2003; Bailey, Getch, & Chen-Hayes, 2003; Erford, House, & Martin, 2003; Green & Keys, 2001; Gysbers, 2001; Stone & Dahir, 2004). As a precursor to the changes in professional school counseling, the introduction of educational standards to improve curricula, raise achievement, and serve as a measure for the assessment of outcomes has changed the image and functioning of K-12 schools in the United States. As a result, the idea of aligning the professional identity of a school counseling program with the educational mission and philosophy of the school became critical, and educational goals became the focus of ASCA's National Model for School Counseling Programs (Dahir, 2001; Erford et al.; Green & Keys; Paisley & McMahon, 2001; Perusse & Goodnough, 2004). Developing school counseling program accountability models has been addressed in the literature (Borders, 2002; Green & Keys, 2001; Hughes & James, 2001; Otwell & Mullis, 1997; Stone & Dahir, 2004). Accountability in the counseling profession, however, is not new. In 1970, Arbuckle wrote a seminal article that resulted in a spate of articles promoting accountability (Baker, 2001). What is unique about the current accountability mandate is the specificity of attention to academic outcomes (Carey & Boscardin, 2003; Colbert & Colbert, 2003; Green & Keys; Johnson, 2002; Perusse & Goodnough, 2004). The focus of this article, therefore, is to reconceptualize the role of individual counseling performed by urban professional school counselors as a tool to advocate for and demonstrate accountability in closing K-12 achievement and opportunity, gaps (Johnson). THE SCOPE OF THE NEED FOR A NEW INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING MODEL IN URBAN SCHOOLS Although individual counseling cannot meet the needs of all students in K-12 urban schools, it can remain a vital component of a school's comprehensive program (Campbell & Dahir, 1997; Gysbers & Henderson, 2000; Myrick, 2003; Newsome & Gladding, 2003; Paisley & McMahon, 2001). There are a number of concerns, however, regarding individual counseling in the schools. These concerns include the overemphasis on individual counseling in K-12 schools, the lack of research data and accountability for individual counseling outcomes in K-12 school settings (Whiston, 2003; Whiston & Sexton, 1998), and how individual school counseling is conceptualized to address achievement and opportunity gaps. …