School Counseling to Close the Achievement Gap

"The author is way ahead of the game on this one. This book is sorely needed in schools today. I work with several schools and would recommend using this material in counselor inservice programs and graduate counselor education classes." —Sharon K. Johnson, Coeditor Building Stronger School Counseling Programs "A groundbreaking book for school counselors and school counselor educators, with great examples, practical suggestions, and powerful theory. The author encourages using a social justice advocacy lens to help counselors and counseling programs close the achievement gap." —Stuart F. Chen-Hayes, Associate Professor of Counselor Education Lehman College of the City University of New York "I would recommend this book to every education student, school counselor, and urban educator." —Jennifer White-Peters, School Counselor Burlington City Junior School, NJ Be a major player in improving student development and performance! School counselors can play a powerful role in closing the achievement gap when they incorporate the principles of social justice into their practice. In this much-needed resource for preservice and inservice counselors, Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy addresses factors (such as racism, sexism, heterosexism, and classism) that can contribute to academic failure, and challenges readers to play an active role in creating equitable educational environments. The author provides a variety of strategies to support school counselors in six key functions—counseling, consulting, coordinating services, connecting schools to families and communities, collecting and analyzing data, and challenging bias—and shows counselors how to advocate for the healthy development and academic success of all students. Readers will find: Counseling snapshots of challenging situations Small-group activities for students Suggested readings for extending learning Individual and group reflective questions to deepen understanding School Counseling to Close the Achievement Gap is the…