During challenging sociopolitical times, equity-focused school–family–community partnerships are a powerful strategy that school counselors and other educators can use to provide equitable resources, information, and programs to meet their students’ academic, college and career, social/emotional, and mental health needs. Yet school counselors rarely evaluate these initiatives systematically, leaving an important evidence gap that this article addresses. Programs that are evidence based and demonstrate student success are harder to dismiss as ideological and more likely to be seen as legitimate educational interventions. This conceptual article provides a practical, evidence-based roadmap to help school counselors and other educators develop, implement, and evaluate school–family–community partnerships across supportive and restrictive climates, demonstrating impact and sustaining equity-focused work. The article builds on the seven-step Equity-Focused School–Family–Community Partnership Model, grounded in four pillars: democratic collaboration, empowerment, strengths focus, and social justice. School counselors enact these principles through liberatory praxis in supportive settings and subversive praxis in restrictive ones, generating resilience-focused social capital that connects students to protective resources and justice-focused social capital that empowers families to challenge inequitable structures. Evaluation is integral to partnership development. We describe needs assessment, formative, outcome, and summative approaches alongside culturally responsive tools, bilingual surveys, equity walks, family data cafés, and equity dashboards, adaptable across supportive and restrictive climates. School counselors can embed partnership steps within ASCA annual plans, and counselor educators can integrate the model across evaluation, supervision, and internship coursework. Future research should examine liberatory and subversive praxis across contexts and explore how emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools, may expand family participation and strengthen equity-centered evaluation.

Urban schools are sites of both systemic harm and collective resilience. As equity efforts face political backlash, school-family-community partnerships have become essential for protecting students and transforming schools. Guided by an expanded seven-step partnership model, this article offers a framework for building equity-focused partnerships in supportive and restrictive environments. We identify four foundational principles: democratic collaboration, empowerment, strengths focus, and social justice; show how counselors enact liberatory or subversive praxis based on school climate; and introduce justice and resilience social capital. This model provides adaptable strategies to protect students, strengthen partnerships, and foster transformation amid shifting political threats.

The influence of 11 factors on school counseling in Barbados were examined in this ethnographic study: (1) cultural factors; (2) national needs; (3) larger societal movements; (4) models of school counseling; (5) laws and educational policy; (6) characteristics of the public education system; (7) the counseling profession; (8) research and evaluation; (9) related professions; (10) community organizations or NGO coalitions; and (11) local stakeholder perceptions. Examining school counseling across four sites and five participants, findings revealed that the factors mostly aligned, but one new factor emerged and two previously identified factors were renamed, due to presenting somewhat differently in the Barbados context. Implications for practice, policy, and training are discussed.

Black women are at heightened risk for intimate partner violence and murder by an intimate partner. For these women, the relationships between race, gender, and class and its impact within larger society are reinforced by threats to their survival within their own homes. This qualitative study queries contributors to Black women’s resilience. Applying Black feminist theory as an analytical framework that fosters insights from the experiences of six Black women with histories of intimate partner violence, we highlight tools that aid in the survival and navigation of intimate partner violence. With resilience as the topic of inquiry, we illustrate three prominent categories: contributors to resilience, endurance strategies, and self-defining features of resilience. The results highlight important considerations that may support the building of collaborative counseling relationships that reflect strength-based, culturally relevant, and trauma-informed service for Black women with histories of intimate partner violence.

This study examined the effects of school counseling college-going culture (SCCGC) on Black male students' college outcomes using a sample from the High School Longitudinal Study, and whether these effects differed for males versus females. Regression analyses revealed that different aspects of SCCGC were more salient for Black males compared to Black females. For example, counselor expectations appeared more important for males and school connectedness for females suggesting the dangers of a one-size-fits-all approach to college going.

This chapter provides information about psychoeducational groups and focuses on both small-group and large-group formats. It deals with an psychoeducational groups, enumerates strategies for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of psychoeducational groups. The chapter discusses strategies for classroom guidance and management. Psychoeducational groups often address developmental concerns related to identity, sexuality, parent and peer relationships, college and career decisions, and educational and spiritual issues. In school settings psychoeducational groups are frequently used to teach and process information including communication and social skills. Psychoeducational groups constitute a critical mode of intervention for professional counselors who assume responsibility for meeting the personal or social needs of students and clients. Classroom and group session management involve managing group dynamics in an effort to prevent potential disciplinary problems and minimize any behavioral problems that arise. Effective group management is critical to the success and delivery of group sessions.

This study examined how the culture in school counseling programs or departments shapes the college-related outcomes of high school students including students of color. With data from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009, we investigated two major steps in the college-going process: (a) whether students see the counselor for financial aid counseling and (b) whether they seek college admissions counseling in 12th grade. We discuss the literature on the role of school counselors in college access, especially support for students of color, and how school counseling contextual variables and school counselor mindsets, which we term school counseling college-going culture (SCCGC), affect students’ college-going decisions. We conducted logistic regression analyses by racial/ethnic groups among 9170 high school students from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009–2016 dataset. The results indicated that counselor expectations, priorities, student–counselor contact prior to 12th grade, college and career readiness activities, and constraints affect students’ college outcomes differently across racial and ethnic backgrounds. This study has implications regarding what interventions, mindsets, and practices school counselors need in order to improve college-going outcomes (e.g., student–counselor contact for college admissions and financial aid counseling) for students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.

This study examined counselors’ openness to discussing issues of race, ethnicity, and culture by setting (e.g., school, clinical mental health, and counselor trainee) using the Broaching Attitudes and Behavior Scale. School counselors and White counselors reported significantly higher mean scores on the Avoidant subscale, a measure of counselors’ perceptions that discussions about race, ethnicity, and culture are unwarranted. Significant main effects resulted for counselor setting. Implications for counseling are addressed.

This study examined the relations of perceived teacher discrimination, school bonding, and family support to academic achievement among 1,122 urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents. Results revealed that teacher discrimination was negatively related to academic achievement for urban Caribbean Black and African American adolescents with school bonding and emotional family support mediating the relationship. School bonding was a protective factor for both adolescent groups, but emotional family support for urban Caribbean Black adolescents only. Implications for school counselors and educators are discussed.

To explore the relationships between complex trauma, family cohesion, family environment, resiliency, and depression, the authors employed hierarchical multiple regression and mediation analysis were employed with a sample of 485 young adults. The sample consisted of three groups of participants based on the amount of trauma experienced, those who reported 1–3 trauma experiences, those who reported 3 or more trauma experiences, and those who did not report trauma. Analyses indicated that despite complex trauma experiences, families were still able to cultivate strong family environment and family cohesion, which enhanced resilience in individuals and in turn reduced depression symptoms. Future research, as well as important implications for family counseling with the aim of enhancing family resilience and decreasing depression symptoms, especially as a trauma response, are discussed.

School–family–community partnerships are collaborative initiatives between various school, family, and community stakeholders that are focused on creating access and equity for PK–12 students, especially students from marginalized backgrounds, like students of color or students from low-income homes. Equity-focused partnerships build strength and resilience in students; support their college-career, academic, and social-emotional outcomes; and close opportunity gaps that hinder their college and career access (Bryan & Henry, 2012). Partnerships between school counselors and school administrators, teachers, parents, colleges, businesses, community members, and other school stakeholders are important for supporting the career development and postsecondary transitions of all students, especially students of color and low-income students. Such partnerships allow stakeholders to provide the support, resources, and opportunities necessary to holistically meet students’ career development and college readiness needs. Counselors are leaders in building partnerships with school stakeholders to promote the career development and postsecondary transitions of students of color (American School Counselor Association, 2016; Bryan, 2005). This chapter describes the role of school counselors in PK–12 schools in establishing equity-focused school–family–community partnerships that enhance the career development and postsecondary transitions and opportunities of students of color. We highlight the career development and postsecondary transition needs of students of color, discuss an equity-focused partnership process model for building school–family–community partnerships focused on students’ career development and postsecondary transitions, and offer strategies for collaborating with Black, Latinx, and Indigenous families to support students’ career development, postsecondary transitions, and access.

We investigated the relationship between Asian parent empowerment and their children's college enrollment in a sample of 357 Asian parents from various ethnic subgroups using the High School Longitudinal Study 2009. A multinomial logistic regression indicated differences in Asian students’ college enrollment by ethnic subgroup and income and in the role of personal and community parent empowerment in college enrollment. The results indicate the danger of the model minority myth in masking disparities among Asian students.

This study tested the conceptual framework of school counseling college-going culture (SCCGC) using a national sample of 15,857 high school students from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009. We examined the relationship of SCCGC (i.e., counselor expectations and priorities, student-counselor contact for college-career counseling prior to 12th grade, college and career readiness activities, and constraints) to high school seniors' college decisions (i.e., student-counselor contact for college admissions counseling in 12th grade, student-counselor contact for financial aid counseling in 12th grade, number of college applications, and enrollment in college). Multinomial and ordinal logistic regression analyses revealed that counselors' expectations and priorities, student-counselor contact for college-career counseling prior to 12th grade, college application and financial aid help, and college information and Free Application for Federal Student Aid meetings were positively related while caseload was negatively related to students' college decisions (after controlling for parent involvement, academic performance and aspirations, and student demographics).

This chapter focuses on key issues impacting school counseling in Barbados and describes findings that emerged from an ethnographic study of the roles, practices, challenges, and demands of school counselors in Barbados. School counseling was officially implemented in Barbados’ secondary schools in 1988, but in the 32 years since, no research studies exist about school counselors, their work or the school counseling profession in Barbados. Therefore, the current ethnographic study was conducted to gain an understanding of school counselors’ experiences in Barbados and to explore their roles, practices, challenges, and demands. Interviews, observations, and field notes were the main data collection tools and a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) was employed to analyze the data. Three themes with several subthemes emerged from the data: roles, responsibilities, and requirements (the 3r’s); problematizing the policies, politics, and culture; and school-family-community contexts. The authors discuss the implications of the findings for school counselors, counselor educators, and policymakers and a 21st-century Caribbean school counseling model.

This study identified the socio-demographic factors and level of risk that Asian American (AA) high school students experienced which shaped their help-seeking behaviors regarding meeting with a school counselor. Using a nationally representative sample of 937 AA high school students, multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that specific socio-demographic factors (e.g., Asian ethnicity, immigration, first generation) and level of risk students experience (e.g., moderate level of risk, high level of risk) were significantly associated with student-counselor contact for academic, social/emotional, and college/career counseling. Implications for school counselors as empowering institutional agents are discussed.

This qualitative study examines the roles, practices, challenges and demands of school counselors (known as guidance counsellors) in Barbados. A focused ethnographic approach is used to provide a comprehensive and nuanced view of five school counselors' experiences. Using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) to code and analyze the data from the interviews led to three overarching themes: the 3Rs (Roles, Responsibilities and Requirements); Problematizing the Policies, Politics and Culture; and School Family Community Contexts. This study's findings have implications for school counselor practice, policy, and training in Barbados and other small states, especially those with a colonial history, as they develop and implement school counseling programs.

Throughout the past decade, scholars have argued that the persistent achievement gap between Black male students and their White peers is a result of unequal and inadequate educational opportunities instead of inherent differences in their capability or character. School counselors can help support Black males by using equity-focused school–family–community partnerships that provide a strong network of support, resources, and increased educational opportunities—all of which contribute to positive academic outcomes and help eliminate barriers caused by systemic racism. In this article, we apply a step-by-step partnership process model to a case in which a school counselor used partnerships to advocate for Black students facing racism and educational inequities in a school district.

The authors utilized hierarchical multiple regression to understand the relationships between complex trauma, family environment, family cohesion, and resilience in 485 young adults aged 18–35. The young adults varied regarding their educational background and experiences with trauma. Results demonstrated that youth with more experiences of complex trauma were associated with lower levels of resilience. However, when they reported strong family environments and family cohesion prior to adulthood, they were more likely to be resilient in young adulthood despite the complex trauma experienced. Hence, family environment and family cohesion appear to be protective factors despite complex trauma exposure. Implications for family counselors working with trauma and resilience building through a systemic lens are discussed.

This article discusses school counselors’ multifaceted role as educator–counselor–leader–collaborator, inextricably linked roles so necessary to build strengths-based school–family–community partnerships. We examined the effects of one such partnership on 20 elementary school students, using photo elicitation and interviews to explore students’ satisfactions and experiences about the Just Love partnership. Thematic analysis of the data revealed six categories: (a) perceptions of Just Love, (b) positive feelings, (c) positive relationships and connectedness, (d) classroom and school climate, (e) experiences, and (f) support and resources. Each category comprised themes aligned with protective factors and developmental assets that help students thrive.