Dive Brief:
- Efforts to diversify school staff should include adding Black counselors, as advocates contend Black students’ needs can often go unaddressed by non-Black counselors and that greater representation would help improve achievement and avoid disproportionate discipline of Black students, EdSource reports.
- In addition to offering guidance and college application advice, Black counselors can serve as role models for students of color and provide a connection as well as mental health support.
- Districts can develop a more diversified counseling staff by mentoring and training Black aspiring counselors. The Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, recently allocated $80 million to create a Black Student Achievement Plan, which includes hiring about 60 new counselors, and many of the new hires are Black.
Dive Insight:
A recent ACT Center for Equity in Learning survey found fewer than half of Black students reported feeling they had access to mental health support from a counselor or teacher.
One of the challenges in diversifying the counselor pool is a shortage of master’s level Black counselors to fill those positions. According to Data USA, a project of Deloitte, Datawheel and MIT Professor Cesar Hidalgo, about 70% of counselors are White and about 20% are Black.
Efforts to hire more Black counselors and staff members to help Black students navigate their educational careers may narrow the Black-White discipline gap and ultimately also shrink achievement gaps. To make progress on that front, many districts have increased efforts to focus on equity, become more culturally responsive and move toward restorative practices.
Black counselors can also advocate for Black students and prevent them from being misidentified for special services, which often occurs. A 2017 article from ChildTrends reported Black students are 40% more likely to be disproportionately represented among students with disabilities. Black males are also more likely to face discipline that leads to suspension, which is a factor in the school-to-prison pipeline.
In an op-ed for The Hechinger Report, Rann Miller, leader of a federally funded after-school program in New Jersey, wrote that counselors should also ensure they do not undervalue historically Black colleges and universities when advising Black students. Since most high school counselors are currently White, it's important that they familiarize themselves with what HBCUs can mean for Black students’ success.