Staffing Schools to Support the Classroom: Examining Student-to-School-Counselor Ratios and Academic Student Outcomes in Texas

Abstract

Although previous studies have examined the influence of school counselor ratios on student outcomes for various states, no prior studies of counselor ratios focused on schools in Texas. Utilizing data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the Stanford Education Data Archive, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Texas Education Agency, we found that lower ratios were significantly associated with student achievement and dropout and graduation rates in Texas.