Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Applied Clinical and Educational Studies

First Advisor

Tonya Balch

Abstract

School counselors play a vital role in supporting students' academic, career, social, and emotional development. Research shows that when school counselors dedicate more time to direct interactions with students, outcomes improve in areas such as graduation rates, disciplinary incidents, grade retention, and postsecondary enrollment (Carey et al., 2012; Chaney, 2023). However, many counselors face barriers to direct engagement due to non-counseling tasks, which limit their ability to provide the personalized support that students value. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model (ASCA, 2019b), a widely adopted framework for organizing school counseling programs, recommends that no more than 20% of counselor time be allocated to non-counseling duties to optimize student support and enhance student outcomes. Using data from 21 public Indiana schools, including Student Success Needs Assessment (SSNA) survey responses from students in grades 5-12 and counselors’ time use reports, this study addressed four research questions aimed at understanding the relationship between counselors' time use and students’ perceptions of support and attainment of the ASCA mindsets and behaviors. Correlation analyses were conducted, and the results indicated no significant relationship between counselor time use and student perceptions or self-ratings of mindsets and behaviors. Despite this lack of significance, the findings highlight the complexity of school counselors' influence on student outcomes. Consistent with prior research, these results suggest that the quality of interactions between counselors and students may be more impactful than the quantity of direct service time. Implications for future research, school policy, and school counseling practice are discussed.

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