Leveraging State Policy to Promote School Counselor–Principal Collaboration

Abstract

Over the past two decades, state policy pertaining to school counselors has grown to the point that most states now require the delivery of counseling services. Some states mandate the presence of a school counselor in each school, and several specify required student-to-school counselor ratios. In 2019, New York State instituted regulations requiring the delivery of a comprehensive school counseling program. The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of this mandate on the perceptions of principals, assistant principals, school counselors, and counseling supervisors. This study includes a comparison of these professionals’ understanding of the school counselor’s role and responsibilities, and school building and district expectations and priorities. Results suggest that a mandate requiring comprehensive school counseling programs fostered more agreement between school counselors and principals than found in previous studies. Implications for practice include state policy as a tool to increase collaboration and opportunities for social capital between school counselors and principals.