“It Wasn’t Mentioned and Should Have Been”: Principals’ Preparation to Support Comprehensive School Counseling

As principals become aware of comprehensive school counseling programs, they will be better prepared to ensure counselors facilitate students’ learning, social emotional needs, and college and career readiness, rather than engage in inappropriate tasks such as substitute teaching, standardized testing, or student discipline. We conducted a program review based on a survey of graduates who are current principals, to identify areas for improvement towards the above in our principal preparation program. Survey results revealed significant differences between how principals report counselors are being supported to perform standards-based tasks based on school size in five areas regarding the role of the counselor and time spent performing counselor-related duties. Open-ended responses indicate that there are gaps in our preparation, such as a lack of curriculum and activities focused on counselor roles, that must be addressed in order to prepare them to effectively support counselors