Impact of the Smoother Sailing elementary school counseling program: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Counselors in the Smoother Sailing elementary school counseling program implement a comprehensive, developmental program. The Smoother Sailing program recommends that time the school counselor spends in the counseling role be divided equally into thirds among classroom guidance, small group counseling, and individual counseling including consulting with parents, teachers, or community members. Results from this meta-analysis, encompassing 12 years of data from the program, confirm a consistent counselor role in the areas of individual counseling, small group counseling, and classroom guidance, but the distribution of time was weighted toward individual counseling. Elementary school counselors should provide counseling to individuals and small groups as well as provide classroom guidance in alignment with the program model. School counselors should consider how the distribution of their time supports student learning. The role and functions of school counselors have been defined through models based upon comprehensive, developmental, counseling programs (American School Counselor Association, 1997; Gysbers & Henderson, 2000; Sink & MacDonald, 1998). The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) issued position statements in the mid 1970s through the mid 1990s about establishing comprehensive and developmental guidance and counseling programs. These position statements recognized the need to create a school environment that promotes school success for students and the need to create comprehensive school counseling