School Counselors and English Learners: Conceptualizations of Beneficial Knowledge and Skills While Facilitating Individual Student Planning

Abstract

This article reports results from a qualitative case study representing four high school counseling programs in a large urban district in the southeastern U.S. Through the study’s findings, the article aims to inform the field of school counseling, specifically by describing focused best practices while working with English learners (ELs) during the processes involved in initial high school planning sessions. Emphasis is given to school counselors’ synthesis of students’ academic language development needs, as well as practical applications for considering the contextual complexities of schooling in the U.S. The article highlights results points to essential considerations regarding how to best support English learners’ socio-cultural and academic language development within the school counseling programs. Details regarding the participants’ conceptualizations of additional beneficial knowledge and skills, while working with ELs who have very recently arrived to high school for the first time in the U.S., are also discussed. Finally, the article provides recommendations for new areas of consideration to support school counselors’ practices through focused professional development. Likewise, these recommendations support actual programmatic needs while also aligning with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model.