The purpose of this study was to answer the following research questions: What are the knowledge and competencies of effective school counselor supervision? Can the knowledge and competencies of school counselor supervision be measured in a valid and reliable manner? Three stages were utilized to address these two questions.
Phase One involved both a thorough review of the literature surrounding school counselor supervision and a focus group with practicing school counselors. Both the review and the focus group generated content areas for items to be included in the instrument. Phase Two involved establishing content and face validity by a panel of experts (N=6), including four counselor educators and two practicing school counselor supervisors. A Likert scale was utilized for construction of the instrument. Items were separated into following dimensions of school counselor supervision: counseling supervision, 23 items; program management and professional development supervision, 11 items; administrative supervision, 9 items. Phase Three involved a pilot study (N=70) with practicing school counselors.
Analysis of the demographic information revealed that a majority were not receiving supervision. When asked, the sample indicated a preference for counseling supervision. However a comparison of means indicated that respondents had the most favorable attitude toward program management and professional development supervision.
Cronbach’s alpha was utilized to establish internal consistency reliability of the instrument. Reliability was high for the overall instrument (alpha=0.94) and was high for the three dimensions as well: counseling supervision alpha=0.91, program management and professional development supervision alpha=0.85, and administrative supervision alpha=0.87.
An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine if the three dimensions emerged as latent variables. Principal components analysis revealed eight components. This suggests that perhaps these areas may not be as clearly defined as previously reported in the literature.