Comprehensive School Counseling Programs and Academic Achievement—A Rejoinder to Brown and Trusty

Abstract

In this brief article, the author responds to Brown and Trusty's assertion that based on the deficiencies of existing comprehensive school counseling program (CSCP) research, school counselors need not focus their time and effort on showing causal connections between their programs and measures of student academic achievement. Rather than defending the specific merits of the CSCP research, this rejoinder article addresses (a) the larger issue of whether Brown and Trusty have mischaracterized a key underlying results-based assumption of CSCPs, as well as (b) the value of multiple research paradigms in CSCP evaluation studies, and (c) the importance of systemic thinking and collaboration within CSCP research.