Embracing School Counselors’ Situatedness: Data-Based Decision Making as Fulfillment of a Complex Identity

Abstract

Since at least the 1930s, school counselors have used data to inform school counseling programming. However, the evolving complexity of school counselors’ identity calls for an updated understanding of the use of data. We offer an expanded definition of data-based decision making that reflects the purpose of using data in educational settings and an appreciation of the complexity of the school counselor identity. We discuss implications for applying the data-based decision-making process using a multifaceted school counselor identity lens to support students’ success.

Exploring school counseling during the first wave of COVID‐19

“…The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model (2019) provides a framework to deliver a comprehensive school counseling program. This standardsbased, data-driven approach to school counseling has dominated the profession for several decades (DeKruyf et al, 2013;Lambie et al, 2019;Zyromski et al, 2021). School counselors are also encouraged to assume a unified educatorcounselor professional identity (DeKruyf et al, 2013;Levy & Lemberger-Truelove, 2021).…”

Ecosystemic Advocacy for Elementary Mental Health

“…Practitioner-based research is well within the purview of school counselors, as it follows data-driven practices outlined in the ASCA National Model (ASCA, 2019). Unfortunately, school counselors are usually more practiced with outcome data related to achievement, attendance, and discipline and potentially less familiar with examining the effectiveness of school counseling interventions on mental health and wellness outcomes (Mason et al, 2017; Zyromski et al, 2021). Gaining practice with collecting outcome data related to school safety, climate, and social/emotional learning indicators at the school level is an important step in joining the larger conversation about wellness and health indicators.…”

“…School counselors are trained in their graduate programs to recognize and address social/emotional and mental health concerns in their student populations. Through evidence-based school counseling, they gather student needs data in their school environment, investigate contextual factors, and identify and apply research-supported interventions at the appropriate prevention or intervention level (Dimmitt et al, 2007; Goodman-Scott et al, 2019; Zyromski et al, 2021). Through a cycle of continuous evaluation, school counselors can determine the impact of mental health interventions and further refine their approaches to meet the evolving and unique needs in their school ecologies (Dimmitt et al, 2007; McMahon et al, 2014).…”

“…In the latest iteration of evidence-based school counseling, school counseling scholars advise that mental health and social/emotional needs require the same data-driven processes that school counselors have in place to meet students’ academic needs (Zyromski et al, 2021). As with other student challenges, when addressing student mental health, school counselors are encouraged to recognize the identities of students who are disproportionately affected and explore the conditions that foster inequity in access to school mental health services (Dimmitt & Zyromski, 2020; Zyromski et al, 2021). When encountering such inequities, school counselors can then apply data-driven approaches to advocate for underrepresented students (Dimmitt, 2018; Zyromski & Mariani, 2016).…”

Evidence-Based School Counseling: Embracing Challenges/Changes to the Existing Paradigm

“…Although our situatedness in schools can be an asset to this work (Levy & Lemberger-Truelove, 2021), it can also infuse the work with harmful political and historically oppressive priorities built around the achievement focus of the K–12 educational system (Love, 2019; Polk et al, 2022). School counselors, or any educational leaders, may find difficulty engaging in data-based decision making that goes beyond simply fulfilling administrators’ expectations or national educational policy demands (for a deeper historical review of politically driven data use in K–12 environments, see Zyromski et al, [2021]). The EBSC approach asks that school counselors be aware of the political demands for a data-informed lens that prioritizes the data categories espoused by historical political national interests, school administrators, national associations, and even our training programs.…”