Perceptions of Implementing a Comprehensive School Counseling Program in Texas: the Voices of Professional School Counselors

Abstract

There is convincing evidence validating the positive impact of comprehensive school counseling programs on a variety of student factors such as attendance, academic progress, behavior and school climate (Carey & Dimmitt, 2012). Literature exists involving the perceptions of counseling program leaders in implementing school counseling programs in Texas; however, the voices of professional school counselors have yet to be recognized. Therefore, the overarching aim of this study was to fill the notable gap of professional school counselor’s silence in the existing literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate professional school counselors' experiences implementing a comprehensive school counseling program in Texas. A descriptive phenomenological study design was employed to determine what the experiences of professional school counselors meant to them through comprehensive descriptions. The researcher selected participants via a combination of purposeful and snowball sampling. A total of 12 professional school counselors participated in individual interviews. In this study, the researcher utilized Moustakas' (1994) Modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen Method to analyze the professional school counselor’s descriptions of their lived experiences of implementing a comprehensive school counseling program in Texas (Colaizzi, 1973; Keen, 1975; Stevick, 1971). Conceptually, this study was framed within the Fifth Edition of the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs (Texas Education Agency [TEA], 2018). The findings of this study provides professional school counselors, counselor educators, researchers, and public education stakeholders a deeper understanding of factors related to the implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs as experienced by professional school counselors.