Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to shed light on the role of needs assessments in order to identify necessary school-based counseling services and better serve students within schools. Needs assessments provide foundation for an action plan to close the distance between the current situation and the ultimate objective, help to see common and critical needs of school-aged children, provide rationale to advocate school counseling services, and help in the effective use of available resources with future action plan. This chapter highlights that policy makers, those leading school counseling initiatives, and practitioners should think from a system-wide perspective to conduct needs assessment for creating school-based counseling services. There are many contextual factors that can exist in a school, a community, or larger society that contribute to the behavior or performance of students. Thus, we cannot separate the student from his or her system. That is why Roger Kaufman’s framework, namely, the Organizational Elements Model, for needs assessment was chosen for discussion since it uses a system perspective and considers needs assessment not only from an individual level but also from a greater perspective, at an organizational and societal level. This framework has five elements: mega, macro, micro, processes, and inputs. Detailed information about each element of a needs assessment, their alignment with each other, and examples about how they can be used in practice to identify necessary school-based counseling are explained throughout the chapter.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abel, R. M., & Friedman, H. A. (2009). Israeli school and community response to war trauma a review of selected literature. School Psychology International, 30(3), 265–228.
Altschuld, J. W., & Kumar, D. D. (2010). Needs assessment: An overview. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Altschuld, J. W., & Eastmond Jr., J. N. (2010). The needs assessment KIT – book 2, phase I: Getting started. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Astramovich, R. L. (2011). Needs assessment: A key evaluation tool for professional counselors. Retrieved from http://counselingoutfitters.com/vistas/vistas11/Article_41.pdf
Barbazette, J. (2006). Training needs assessment. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley.
Breen, D. T. (1989). Enhancing student aspirations: A goal for comprehensive developmental guidance programs. Research in Rural Education, 6(2), 35–38.
Bruce, A. M., Getch, Y. Q., & Ziomek-Daigle, J. (2009). Closing the gap: A group counseling approach to improve test performance of African-American students. Professional School Counseling, 12, 450–457. Retrieved from http://www.schoolcounselor.org/ content.asp?contentid=235
Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Fact Sheet. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/suicide_factsheet-a.pdf
Cooper, D. C. (2002). Needs assessment. In K. O’Shea (Ed.), Staff development nursing secrets (pp. 65–78). Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus, Inc.
Crook, T. M., Stenger, S., & Gesselman, A. (2015). Exploring perceptions of social justice advocacy competence among school counselors. Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, 2(1), 65–79.
Dahir, C., & Stone, C. (2003). Assessment of school counselor needs for professional development (ASCNPD). Unpublished survey.
Dahir, C. A., & Stone, C. B. (2009). School counselor accountability: The path to social justice and systemic change. Journal of Counseling and Development, 87(1), 12–20.
Dimmit, C., Carey, J. C., & Hatch, T. (2007). Evidence-based school counseling: Making a difference with data-driven practices. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Ekstrom, R. B., Elmore, P. B., Schafer, W. D., Trotter, T. V., & Webster, B. (2004). A survey of assessment and evaluation activities of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 8, 24–30.
Gupta, K., Sleezer, C. M., & Russ-Eft, D. F. (2007). A practical guide to needs assessment (2nd ed., updated and expanded). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
Hatch, P. (2014). The use of data in school counseling: Hatching results for students, programs, and the profession. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hayes, R. L., & Paisley, P. O. (2002). Transforming school counselor preparation programs. Theory Into Practice, 41(3), 169–176.
House, M. R., & Hayes, R. L. (2002). School counselors: Becoming key players in school reform. Professional School Counseling, 5, 249–256.
Jansson, B. S. (2011). Becoming an effective policy advocate: From policy practice to social justice (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Kaffenberger, C. J., & Young, A. (2013). Making data work (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Counseling Association.
Karayanni, M. (1996). The emergence of school counseling and guidance in Israel. Journal of Counseling & Development, 74(6), 582–587.
Kaufman, R., Oakley-Brown, H., Watkins, R., & Leigh, D. (2003). Strategic planning for success: Aligning people, performance, and payoffs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kaufman, R. (2006). Change, choices, and consequences: A guide to mega thinking and planning. Amherst, MA: HRD Press Inc.
Kaufman, R., & Guerra-Lopez, I. (2013). Needs assessment for organizational success. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Kose, A. (2010). Analysis of school counselors’ leadership practices through the lens of distributed leadership (Doctoral Dissertation). University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts.
Leigh, D., Watkins, R., Platt, W. A., & Kaufman, R. (2000). Alternate models of needs assessment: Selecting the right one for your organization. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 8(1), 87–94.
Magnusson, K., & Bernes, K. (2002). Comprehensive career needs survey: An overview. Alberta Counsellor, 27, 12–15.
Martin, I., Lauterbach, A., & Carey, J. (2015). The identification of factors affecting the development and practice of school-based counseling in different national contexts: A grounded theory study using a worldwide sample of descriptive journal articles and book chapters. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 37(4), 305–318.
Miltich, A. P., Hunt, M. H., & Meyers, J. (2004). Dropout and violence needs assessment: A follow-up study. California School Psychologist, 9, 135–144.
Nordentoft, M., Madsen, T., & Fedyszyn, I. (2015). Suicidal behavior and mortality in first-episode psychosis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 203(5), 387–392.
Scarborough, J. L., & Luke, M. (2008). School counselors walking the walk and talking the talk: A grounded theory of effective program implementation. Professional School Counseling, 11, 404–416.
Ratts, M., DeKruyf, L., & Chen-Hayes, S. (2007). The ACA advocacy competencies: A social justice advocacy framework for professional school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 11(2), 90–97.
Thompson, D. W., Loesch, L. C., & Seraphine, A. E. (2003). Development of an instrument to assess the counseling needs of elementary school students. Professional School Counseling, 7(1), 35–39.
Wisconsin Suicide Prevention Strategy. (2015). Prevent Suicide Wisconsin Partners Saving Lives in our State. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p00968.pdf
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Köse, A. (2017). Conducting Needs Assessments to Identify Necessary School-Based Counseling Services. In: Carey, J., Harris, B., Lee, S., Aluede, O. (eds) International Handbook for Policy Research on School-Based Counseling. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58179-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58179-8_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-58177-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-58179-8
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)