TPC-Journal-V5-Issue2

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 2 205 Question 1b: Perceived knowledge of emotional and educational issues. The average response to the two items written to assess school counselors’ knowledge of emotional and educational issues faced by homeless students was 3.86 ( SD = 0.97), above the midpoint of 3 on the 5-point scale used (1 = no knowledge to 5 = extensive knowledge). School counselors reported above average knowledge of emotional issues ( M = 3.85, SD =. 97) and knowledge of educational issues ( M = 3.87, SD = .955), suggesting that counselors may perceive themselves as fairly knowledgeable about the emotional and educational issues faced by students experiencing homelessness. Question 2: Provision of services and advocacy. The average response to the nine items written to assess school counselors’ provision of services was 3.10 ( SD = 1.35), slightly above the midpoint of 3 on the 5-point scale used (1 = not at all to 5 = always). School counselors provided responses close to average regarding their frequency of assisting with registration ( M = 3.20, SD = 1.58). Their responses were above average for their frequency of assessing the emotional needs of students experiencing homelessness ( M = 3.86, SD = 1.21). However, most school counselors reported infrequently conducting shelter visits ( M = 1.44, SD = .88) or providing mentorship programs ( M = 2.43, SD = 1.34). The highest average was of school counselors’ reports on the extent to which they ensured equal opportunities for students experiencing homelessness ( M = 4.31, SD = 1.04). Types of interventions. In response to the item that requested for participants to report on their engagement in 25 types of interventions provided to students experiencing homelessness, nearly 70% of all participants reported making referrals to community resources (69.5%) and providing individual counseling (68.0%). Other frequent interventions reported included providing academic support (57.9%), teacher consultation (52.8%), parent consultation (50.3%) and advocating for homeless students (43.7%). Interventions infrequently reported included parent education workshops (6.6%), workshops/training for teachers (7.1%), behavioral skills training (13.7%), mentor programs (16.2%), communicating with shelter staff (17.8%), after-school programs (20.3%), college planning (21.8%), small group counseling (22.8%) and IEP (Individualized Education Program) planning (23.9%). Only 3% of counselors reported conducting shelter visits, while 13.2% of school counselors reported not providing any services at all to students experiencing homelessness. ANOVAs Question 3a: Training received for working with students experiencing homelessness. No significant differences existed among school counselors by school level or school setting in the extent of training received for working with students experiencing homelessness. Question 3b: Number of students experiencing homelessness at their school. No significant differences existed among elementary, middle and high school counselors in the number of students experiencing homelessness at their schools. However, significant differences existed among urban, rural and suburban school counselors in the number of students at their schools experiencing homelessness, F (2, 196) = 7.14, p = .001, with a very small effect size, η 2 = .07. Urban school counselors had significantly higher numbers of students experiencing homelessness ( M = 3.09, SD = 2.34) than rural ( M = 1.98, SD = 1.82) and suburban ( M = 1.89, SD = 1.72) school counselors. A rating of 3 is equivalent to 11–15 students, a rating of 2 is equivalent to 6–10 students, and a rating of 1 is equivalent to 1–5 students experiencing homelessness. Principal Component Analysis A PCA of the 16 items resulted in three components or factors, which were the dependent variables in subsequent regression analyses. A four-factor model was initially considered; however, the three-factor model was selected based on the scree test and eigenvalues greater than one. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of