Racial minority youth are disproportionally removed from their learning environment due to school discipline and placed in special education for emotional disturbance. These disparities continue to trouble families, educators, and policy makers, particularly within urban schools. Yet there is a paucity of research on how behavioral outcome disparities occur in different states. This study addresses this gap examining the extent and predictors of behavioral outcome disparities in Wisconsin. Using the entire state’s data, we conducted multilevel logistic regression analyses. The analyses showed that African American students were seven times and Native American and Latino students were two times more likely to receive exclusionary discipline. African American students and Native American students were two to three times more likely to be labeled as emotionally disturbed. Students’ race, gender, income, language, attendance, and academic proficiency were related to outcome disparities while school characteristics were not substantively meaningful predictors, excepting the percentage of transferred students. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Youth mental health concerns have reached crisis-level with the American Academy of Pediatrics (2021) reporting a 51% increase for reported suicide attempts for 12-17 year old youth. School counselors play a pivotal role within the conversation on mental health and suicide specifically (ASCA, 2016; ASCA, 2020). In this article we outline how school counselors can organize their suicide prevention and intervention efforts with Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), grounded in a model by Dr. Rebecca Pianta, as well as prioritizing culturally sustaining, antiracist practices, data, prevention, and screening in all tiers. Specifically, at Tier 1, school counselors educate stakeholders, including students, on the warning signs. While at Tiers 2 and 3, school counselors identify and support students at risk of suicide. We highlight ethical considerations throughout, in the context of the article Suicide Intervention in Schools: If Not School Counselors, Then Who?

This study describes the benefits of systematic universal screening (US) for school counselors engaged in the creation of effective, multi-tiered systems of support that address academic, social, emotional, and behavioral student concerns. The authors used an action research framework to present a case example of one school district's pilot of US and the role of the school counselor in the identification of students in need of social-emotional support. This article discusses implications for school counselor collaboration with other school-based mental health professionals.

Designed to improve preK-12 student academic and behavioral outcomes, a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), such as Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) or Response to Intervention (RTI), is a broadly applied framework being implemented in countless schools across the United States. Such educational restructuring and system changes require school counselors to adjust their activities and interventions to fully realize the aims of MTSS. In this special issue of The Professional Counselor, the roles and functions of school counselors in MTSS frameworks are examined from various angles. This introductory article summarizes the key issues and the basic themes explored by the special issue contributors.

Due to ongoing inequities, discrimination, and injustice, the antiracist movement has gained momentum in all parts of society, including education and school counseling. A foundational aspect of antiracism is self-reflection to increase awareness, identify biases, and build cultural proficiency. Multitiered systems of support (MTSS) is an evidence-based framework widely used throughout K–12 education in the United States to assist with every student’s school-related success. In this article, we propose an antiracist approach to the MTSS framework, in which reflection serves as the foundation. We provide practical activities and reflections to facilitate growth and promote antiracism within MTSS.

oo many schools are still struggling to create the nurturing, positive, and safe environments that we know are needed to boost student achievement and success. No student or adult should feel unsafe or unable to focus in school, yet this is too often a reality" (U.S. Department of Education, 2014, p. i). The U.S. Department of Education (2014) recommends that schools implement evidence-based strategies to promote safe schools, including the use of tiered supports differentiating students' needs and interventions. School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are recommended as a tiered support and school counselors are one school-based staff group that is key in PBIS implementation. Several scholars describe the school counselor's role in PBIS (

In the United States, K–12 schools have been going through a double pandemic: the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing systemic racial injustices. Multitiered systems of support (MTSS), including universal mental health screening (UMHS), are highly recommended to assist students through these pandemics. While research on MTSS for school counselors is ample, school counseling UMHS literature is much more limited. As such, in the present study, we conducted a phenomenological investigation of participants’ experiences with UMHS, recruiting multidisciplinary, school-based UMHS team members, particularly school counselors. In describing the essence of participants’ experiences with UMHS, we identified 2 themes. The first theme is UMHS shifting the school culture, with subthemes (a) prioritizing prevention, (b) increasing collaboration, (c) using data, (d) gaining a holistic perspective, and (e) advocating for school counseling. The second theme is working through roadblocks, with subthemes (a) liability, (b) screener concerns, (c) resistance, (d) lack of time, and (e) staff wellness.

Teaching and Reaching Every Area (TAREA) is a comprehensive school–family–community partnership designed to increase Latino student achievement. The authors use action research to describe how a school counselor developed TAREA and post hoc analysis to provide examples of social justice and systemic collaboration leadership dimensions. The authors detail parent, staff, and student engagement outcomes. Throughout, they transform the abstract concept of leadership into concrete steps for school counselor advocacy and action.