How Does a Supervisor's Training and Experience Relate to a School Counselor's Development of Knowledge and Skills

This study and the literature demonstrate an overwhelming need for clinical supervision, but there is still a paucity of research on school counseling supervision. Clinical supervision in counseling requires at least three aspects: 1) clinical supervisors received formal training; 2) the belief that clinical supervision has strong effectiveness on supervisees' competence; and 3) a mental health professional provides supervision. School counselors continue to reference a need for supervision, but most notably, a gap for clinical supervision. School counselors are mostly supervised by principals, who reference their shortcomings in supervising the clinical skills of school counselors. Without effective supervision, school counselor's skills may erode and negatively impact students. The results of this study indicate that the general supervisors rated themselves significantly higher than school counseling supervisors in administrative, program, and clinical supervision. Findings in this study indicate a mismatch between the literature on clinical supervision, where school counselors highlight that they are not receiving clinical supervision. The results suggest general supervisors may lack the metacognitive skills and awareness to know that they do not have the skills to supervise school counselors effectively. A deceptive reassurance exists of supervisors' perceptions that they effectively supervise school counselors. The statistical significance found in this study based on the type of supervisor and years of experience and their connection with the delivery of specific supervision skills accentuates the results from the literature that further research is needed. Several suggestions for future research will be discussed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]