1. Innovative Strategies for Training
School Counseling Site Supervisors
Innovations in School Counselor Preparation
University of Georgia Conference Center
February 29, 2016
Pamelia E. Brott, Ph.D., NCC, ACS
pbrott@vt.edu
Virginia Tech
Clare Merlin, Ph.D., NCC
cmerlin1@uncc.edu
UNC Charlotte
Supervision is “an intervention provided by a more senior member of a profession to a more junior member or members of
that same profession. This relationship is evaluative, hierarchical, and extends over time.” (Bernard & Goodyear, 2009, p. 7).
Supervision is necessary to ensure client welfare (Bernard & Goodyear, 2009), enhance cognitive development, guide affective
processes in counseling (Thompson & Moffett, 2010), and indoctrinate into school counseling profession (Dollarhide & Miller,
2006). Supervision training is called for by standards in the field: CACREP (2016) Standard 3.P.5; ASCA School Counselor
Competencies Standard IV-B-6c; ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors Section F.3.
Yet there is a lack of supervision training among school counseling site supervisors: 71.6% of school counselors reported no
formal training in supervision (Kahn, 1999); 54% of school counseling site supervisors had little or no counseling supervision
training (DeKruyf & Pehrsson, 2011); there is a lack of training models for school counselor supervision training, with only one
published in last decade: web-based training modules (Swank & Tyson, 2012).
Clinical Faculty Model
School Counseling Site Supervision Training
A three-session clinical faculty cohort model for training school counseling site supervisors. Site supervisors complete a
1-credit course on supervision, gain clinical faculty status, and are expected to regularly serve as site supervisors. Funded
by the Virginia Department of Education to pay for small instructor stipends, participant tuition, textbooks, small
participant stipends, increased stipends for future supervision, swag, and breakfast for each session.
Participants are recruited by examining student evaluations for former site supervisors, then inviting the most highly
rated supervisors to apply to the program. Applications include two short essay questions and two recommendation
letters. The program invites cohorts of 10-12 school counselors per semester.
Logistics
• Course is pass/fail
• Guided by a syllabus
• Comprised of three 4-hour sessions
• Textbook includes nine peer-reviewed journal articles
• Homework assignments: reading articles, reflecting
on supervision, developing personal supervision model
Course Content
• Developmental Considerations in Supervision
• Supervision Models
• The Supervisory Relationship
• Evaluation in Supervision
• Ethical Considerations in Supervision
• Multicultural Considerations in Supervision
Course Session Highlights:
• Ask supervisors to reflect on and share their best and worst supervisory experience
• Panel of current students speak about their excitement/fears/worries about practicum or internship experiences
• Require students to role play and practice supervision models
• Discuss the value of broaching multiculturalism in supervision
• Supervisors present their choice of personal supervision models

2. Super-VISION
School Counseling Leadership Team (SCLT) of Northern Virginia: Representatives from five school districts and four
university counselor education programs. Purpose is to engage in conversations, provide updates from school districts &
university training programs, and collaborate to offer professional development that includes Summits and site
supervisor training over the past 15 years.
SITE SUPERVISORS’ TRAINING
Level 1: Developing site supervisors
• What is Supervision?
• Nuts & Bolts
• Responsibilities: Onsite & University Supervisors
• Ethical & Legal Considerations
• Model of Supervisee Development
(Stoltenberg & McNeill, 2010)
• How will your supervisee benefit from your training?
Level 2: Meeting identified needs
• Role of Supervisor as Super-VISION
• Review developmental approach to supervision
• Moving from Tasks to Outcomes
• Discrimination Model, adapted
(Bernard, 1997; Brott & Stone, 2015)
• What are 2 aspects of your supervision you will do
differently?
WHAT WE ARE LEARNING ABOUT SITE SUPERVISOR TRAINING
Strengths as a supervisor • Demonstrating positive supervisor characteristics
• Exhibiting positive behaviors as a supervisor
• Providing a valuable experience for intern
Concerns as a supervisor • Being a supervisor
• Ensuring intern receives a quality experience
• Knowing what are the intern's requirements
What I would like to know about supervision • How to provide supervision (i.e., how to do it)
• What is required for supervision (i.e., what to do)
References
American School Counselor Assocation. (2012). School counselor competencies. Alexandria, VA: Author. Retrieved from
http://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/home/SCCompetencies.pdf
American School Counselor Assocation. (2010). Ethical standards for school counselors. Alexandria, VA: Author. Retrieved from
http://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Resource%20Center/Legal%20and%20Ethical%20Issues/Sample%
20Documents/EthicalStandards2010.pdf
Bernard, J. M. (1979). Supervisor training: A discrimination model. Counseling Education & Supervision, 19, 60-68.
doi:10.1002/j.1556-6978.1979.tb00906.x
Bernard, J. M., & Goodyear, R. K. (2009). Fundamentals of clinical supervision (4th
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Brott, P. E., & Stone, V. (2015, January 14). School counselor supervision training 2.0: Developing counselors &
colleagues. Presentation, School Counseling Leadership Team of Northern Virginia, Site Supervisors’ Training,
Fairfax, VA.
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. (2016). 2016 CACREP Standards. Retrieved from
http://www.cacrep.org/for-programs/2016-cacrep-standards/
DeKruyf, L., & Pehrsson, D-E. (2011). School counseling site supervisor training: An exploratory study. Counselor Education &
Supervision, 50, 314-327. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6978.2011.tb01918.x
Dollarhide, C. T., & Miller, G. M. (2006). Supervision for preparation and practice of school
counselors: Pathways to excellence. Counselor Education & Supervision, 45, 242-252.
Kahn, B. B. (1999). Priorities and practices in field supervision of school counseling students. Professional School Counseling, 3,
128-136.
Stoltenberg, C. D., & McNeill, B. W. (2010). IDM supervision: An integrative developmental model for supervising counselors
and therapists (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Swank, J. M., & Tyson, L. T. (2013). School counseling site supervisor training: A web-based approach. Professional School
Counseling, 16, 40-48.
Thompson, J. & Moffett, N. (2010). Clinical preparation and supervision of professional school
counselors. Journal of School Counseling, 8, 1-24.