School Counselor Leadership and Program Implementation Revisited: Findings From a National Sample

Abstract

This replication study examines the relationship between school counselor leadership and school counseling program implementation, but with a larger sample and additional measures of leadership. In the original study (Mason, 2008) using Kouzes and Posner’s Leadership Practices Inventory (2003), only Model the Way and Enable Others to Act subscales were predictors of program implementation, while in this study all subscales were predictors. The findings extend prior research, specifically that school counselor transformational leadership behavior strongly predicted comprehensive school counseling program implementation. We also found that specific leadership practices and behaviors, including modeling and systematic collaboration, accounted for the greatest variance in program implementation. Finally, exposure to the American School Counselor Association’s ASCA National Model and working in a Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) predicted program implementation. We discuss the implications of the findings with respect to today’s educational climate.