SCHOOL COUNSELORS’ LEADERSHIP PARTICIPATION AND THE IMPACT OF INDIVIDUAL DEMOGRAPHICS AND SCHOOL ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN OKLAHOMA SCHOOLS

Abstract

This dissertation examines the perceptions of Oklahoma school counselors’ participation in school leadership and the effect their individual demographics or school organizational characteristics have on these perceptions. Previous research calls for school counselors to play a role in the leadership of the school and indicates the relationship with the building principal plays a significant role in their participation. The School Counselor Leadership Survey (SCLS), developed by Dr. Anita Young and Dr. Julia Bryan (2015), was used to survey 399 school counselors in Oklahoma. Descriptive statistics and multiple variate analysis (MANOVA) were used to analyze the data. Findings indicate school counselors’ leadership perceptions are independent of their demographics and the characteristics of their school organization. This study advances our understanding of Oklahoma school counselors’ perceptions of their leadership within their schools and provides implications for practicing school administrators and school counselors, university school administration and school counselor preparatory programs, and for State Departments of Education.