Identifying a School Counseling Research Agenda: A Delphi Study

Abstract

The authors conducted a Delphi study to identify important research questions regarding school counseling. During 3 consecutive rounds of e-mail queries, an expert panel of 21 school counseling educators and practitioners were asked to identify the goals of school counseling research, develop specific research questions, and rate the importance of the questions. The highest rated research questions concerned school counseling interventions that have an impact on academic achievement and the effects of school counseling programs on student outcomes. The panel's final list of 42 research questions can help counselor educators, graduate students, and practitioners develop research projects that most effectively meet the needs of the field.

Multilevel Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Teacher My Class Inventory–Short Form

“…The demand for school counseling datadriven decision making, use of evidencebased curriculums, and school counselor accountability is well documented (Carey & Dimmitt, 2006;Dimmitt, Carey, & Hatch, 2007;Dimmitt, Carey, McGannon, & Henningson, 2005;Honig & Coburn, 2005;Slavin, 2008;Squier, Nailor, & Carey, 2014;Wiseman, 2010). School counselors do not work in isolation, and they play an integral role in transforming the school culture by providing responsive services to students struggling with mental, emotional, and behavioral issues and by encouraging an environment of acceptance and sensitivity (Grothaus, 2013).…”

Development of an Instrument to Measure Student Use of Academic Success Skills

“…The top priority cited by the Delphi study was the need to determine which school counseling interventions resulted in the greatest gains in student achievement (Dimmitt, Carey, McGannon, & Henningson, 2005). In 2005, a Delphi study was conducted by leaders in the field of school counseling to identify the most pressing research questions in the profession.…”

Student Success Skills: An Evidence‐Based School Counseling Program Grounded in Humanistic Theory

“…The interventions that school counselors provide must, by their very nature, aim to maximize the human and social potential for each individual involved in a given school community. This assertion is supported by a 2005 Delphi study that ranked the most prominent research questions in the field of school counseling and placed interventions designed to improve student achievement as the top issue facing the field (Dimmitt, Carey, McGannon, & Henningson, 2005). This Delphi study coincides with numerous calls from the literature that challenge school counselors to demonstrate the impact that their programs have on students' academic and behavioral outcomes (Brott, 2006;Lapan, 2005;Paisley & Hayes, 2003;Sink, Akos, Turnbull, & Mvududu, 2008;Sink & Stroh, 2003).…”