Doctoral Dissertations
Date of Award
8-2025
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Major
Counselor Education
Major Professor
Melinda M. Gibbons
Committee Members
Casey Barrio Minton, Jamian Coleman, Todd M. Moore
Abstract
Rural students and school counselors remain underexplored within school counseling and social-emotional learning literature. Rurality includes geographical and cultural nuance that may impact how professional school counselors engage in aspects of their comprehensive school counseling programming to meet the needs of all students served. The first manuscript consists of a PRISMA scoping review (Tricco et al., 2018) of 56 empirical studies and dissertations that explored the service delivery of rural school counselors in alignment with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) focus areas of college and career, social emotional, and academic domains. The review suggested that studies less frequently showcased how the rural cultural context was intentionally addressed in service provision, services that aligned with social emotional learning were more prevalent, and classroom guidance and collaboration were among the most frequently highlighted services within the literature. The manuscript outlines implications, including the need for continued exploration to examine how rural cultural context intersects with rural PSC program development. Based upon these findings, manuscript two includes a Delphi study with a panel (n = 12) of experienced rural elementary school counselors nationwide. The purpose of the study was to examine the necessary components of a social emotional learning program for rural elementary school counseling. This process resulted in the development of 131 unique items broken down into three overarching domains: creating and delivering, creating, and delivering. These items constitute the necessary elements of creating and delivering a rural elementary school counseling social emotional learning program. The author discusses implications for school counselor preparation and training, such as how working within a rural setting may impact the selection and implementation of evidence-based practices within counselor training courses. Furthermore, implications for future research are shared.
Recommended Citation
Wills, LeAnn N., "Necessary Components of a Social Emotional Learning Program for Rural Elementary School Counseling: A Delphi Study. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2025.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/12785