Book being reviewed:

DeVoss, J. A., & Andrews, M.F. (2006). School counselors as educational leaders. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Reviewer:
Christina Jurekovic

Curricular Areas:
Counselor Education, School Based License, Supervision

Subject Headings:
Elementary school, High school, Middle school, Social justice

Review:
School Counselors as Educational Leaders is a foundational guidebook uniquely suited for training 21st century school counseling students to become leaders and advocates. The purpose of this book was to serve as a training tool for school counselor educators and supervisors. DeVoss and Andrews (2006) began by providing a historical perspective on educational reforms that led to the Transforming School Counseling Initiative and the Educational Trust’s new vision for school counseling (2009a). Each chapter in the book included a case discussion of obstacles commonly faced by school counselors and practical applications for providing leadership as defined by the ASCA National Model. Exercises throughout the text guide school counseling students, ideally enrolled in practicum or internship, through self-assessment and reflection on various topics within educational leadership. Relevant websites and discussion questions at the end of every chapter encouraged readers to explore other resources, as well as, review and reflect on the chapter content.

Due to the elusive nature of school counseling leadership from the perspective of new school counselors, an important contribution of this book is the self-assessment and exploration exercises, which provided concrete ways for students to deepen their understanding of leadership in the school setting. For example, students are provided rating scales and inventories for assessing their assertiveness, leadership skills, and preparedness to serve as a leader. Students are also asked to explore theoretical foundations of leadership and practice integrating various leadership models with expected school counselor leadership behaviors. The authors encourage students to develop a leadership style that fits with their values, beliefs, and personal mission in life. A thorough exploration and assessment of students’ leadership skills, behaviors, and style culminates in an opportunity to create an individualized leadership improvement plan. At this point, mentorship is highlighted as a key ingredient for effective professional development as a leader. The authors also suggested that educational leadership include collaboration with various stakeholders and advocacy for students of color and low-income families. Practical strategies for collaborating with resistant coworkers and advocating for low-achieving students were provided near the end of the book, along with recommendations for creating a data-driven school counseling program. Accountability was touted as an avenue for closing the achievement gap, giving credibility to the voice of school counselors in educational reform.

The authors implore educational leaders, equipped with a strong theoretical foundation and practical strategies for implementing school counseling leadership and to courageously and diplomatically restructure their school counseling programs to serve the needs of all students. While the idea of leadership may be daunting to new school counselors, the authors provide an approachable, concrete guidebook for developing school counselors’ leadership skills and increasing their confidence as educational leaders. This book fills a gap in the literature on practical applications and training resources for school counseling leadership and would serve as an excellent guide for counselor educators seeking to formally train school counseling students to become educational leaders who advocate for the needs of all students.