TPC Journal-V6, Issue 4- FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor /Volume 6, Issue 4 309 school counselor; the second author was a counselor educator for 8 years and a school counselor for 14 years; the third author was a counselor educator for 7 years and had 5 years of school counseling experience; and the fourth author had 12 years of experience as a counselor educator and 4 years of experience as a school counselor. The first three authors identified as Caucasian of European descent and had previous elementary school counseling experience; the fourth author identified as multi- ethnic (Caucasian of European descent and Native American) and had experience as a secondary school counselor. Additionally, the primary author was a female in her mid-30s; the second author was a female in her mid-40s; the third author was a male in his 40s; and the fourth author was a female in her mid-50s. We utilized the research team to challenge each other’s assumptions and biases during data analysis, as well as engage in researcher triangulation. Results In this study, we examined school counseling faculty members’ perceptions and experiences regarding school counselor preparation for the elementary level. To examine the research question, we triangulated three data sources: demographic and background information, descriptive data (Table 2), and qualitative thematic analysis results. Three themes resulted from the data analysis: Varying Conceptualizations of Differentiation , K–12 Preparation Focus and Factors Driving Elementary School Counseling Preparation . We will subsequently describe the themes and provide the results of the triangulation. Table 2 School Counseling Faculty’s Highest Five Means and Lowest Five Means for Perceived Current and Preferred Differentiation of Elementary School Counseling Topics Current Elementary School Counseling Topic Differentiation M SD Preferred Elementary School Counseling Topic Differentiation M SD Highest Five Items Highest Five Items Classroom Lessons 2.62 1.38 Classroom Lessons 3.26 1.03 Social/Emotional Issues 2.50 1.46 Career Exploration 3.20 1.20 Human Growth and Development 2.48 1.62 Human Growth and Development 3.05 1.37 Career Exploration 2.41 1.51 Classroom Management Techniques 3.04 1.89 Creative Counseling Techniques 2.37 1.41 College Readiness 3.02 1.22 Lowest Five Items Lowest Five Items Educational Policies (Federal and State) 1.36 1.34 Educational Policies (Federal and State) 2.01 1.50 Professional Identity 1.24 1.40 School Counselor Leadership 1.90 1.58 School Counselor Leadership 1.19 1.38 Professional Identity 1.80 1.57 Cultural Competency 1.18 1.40 Social Justice/Advocacy 1.73 1.58 Social Justice/Advocacy 1.09 1.34 Cultural Competency 1.69 1.60 Note. M = mean ; SD = standard deviation. Perceived Current Differentiation of Elementary School Counseling Topics items: 0 = no current differentiation; 4 = highly differentiated. Perceived Preferred Differentiation of Elementary School Counseling Topics: 0 = no differentiation; 4 = high differentiation. Varying Conceptualizations of Differentiation Participants described their perceptions and experiences regarding the differentiation of school counseling preparation through descriptive and open-ended qualitative data. In looking at the current