Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations Counseling & Human Services Spring 2019 The Psychometric Properties of the School Counseling Internship Competency Scale Melanie Ann Burgess Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/chs_etds Part of the Counselor Education Commons, and the Educational Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Burgess, Melanie A.. "The Psychometric Properties of the School Counseling Internship Competency Scale" (2019). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Counseling & Human Services, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/qm28-j161 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/chs_etds/25 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Counseling & Human Services at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE SCHOOL COUNSELING INTERNSHIP COMPETENCY SCALE By Melanie Ann Burgess B.S. 2013, Old Dominion University M.S.Ed. 2016, Old Dominion University A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY COUNSELOR EDUCATION AND SUPERVISION OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY May 2019 Approved by: Emily Goodman-Scott (Chair) Gülşah Kemer (Methodologist) Kristy Carlisle (Member) Robert Carlisle (Member) ABSTRACT THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE SCHOOL COUNSELING INTERNSHIP COMPETENCY SCALE Melanie Ann Burgess Old Dominion University, 2019 Chair: Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott Counselor education programs aim to adequately train competent pre-service counselors to fulfill a myriad of roles and responsibilities associated with their specialty area. In accordance with professional organizations, gatekeeping is an ethical responsibility of counselor educators and supervisors to protect the welfare of clients and the health of the counseling profession through ongoing evaluation of pre-service counselors. Presently, no standardized evaluation tool exists to assess school counseling interns comprehensively, attending to school counseling competencies, dispositions, roles, and responsibilities. The purpose of the study is to attend to the gap in literature through the creation and validation of The School Counseling Internship Competency Scale (SCICS). This study utilized an exploratory sequential mixed method approach with qualitative inquiry to create the instrument and exploratory factor analysis to determine the latent factor structure with 230 university and site school counseling supervisors. Data analysis revealed that the 48-item instrument accounted for 65.5% variance explained by a five-factor solution. Sub-scales included Direct Services and Data-Driven Practices, Academic Advising and Special Education Process, Collaboration and Consultation with Stakeholders, Cultural Competence and Advocacy, and Professional Dispositions and Behaviors. The SCICS has strong internal consistency as well as evidence for content, factorial, convergent, concurrent, and incremental validity. Implications for school counselor education, university and site supervisors, pre-service school counselors, and the school counseling profession are included. iii Copyright ©, 2019, by Melanie A. Burgess, All Rights Reserved. iv This dissertation is dedicated to my grandmother, Mary Evans, for instilling a sense of curiosity, adventure, and compassion in me. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Research reported in this dissertation was financially supported by research grants from the Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) and the Southern Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES). Of all the sections in this dissertation, I find the acknowledgements most difficult to articulate because my words feel insufficient as I reflect on the many strong, compassionate mentors who have supported me throughout this process. To my dissertation committee as a whole, I am forever grateful for your unwavering support and fierce devotion to seeing this accomplishment reach fruition. You have my sincerest gratitude. Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott, what a ride we have been on, and it’s only just beginning. We have successfully cycled through many professional roles together and I can only hope to emulate your leadership and collegiality in my future faculty position. Thank you for your encouragement, compassion, patience, authenticity, and constructive feedback that has helped shape my professional identity. As we close this chapter and enter the next, your mentorship will have lasting ripples, positively impacting all the students and colleagues I will work with in my career. Dr. Gülşah Kemer, your valuable insights and supportive nature have been instrumental in my success as a doctoral student. Thank you for always having an open door and always providing a unique constructive lens that has supported me as a researcher and an academic. Dr. Kristy Carlisle, you have been a source of calm in the storm, reassuring and validating me throughout my doctoral studies. I appreciate your insights regarding my research and future career, as they have been invaluable during this process. Dr. Rob Carlisle, I appreciate you for coming at the 11th hour without hesitation and rallying alongside me to recruit participants to make this dissertation happen. vi Thank you to my supportive friends and mentors who have encouraged me throughout this personal and professional journey. Dr. Liz Boyd and Dr. Stacey Fernandes, you have been two of my favorite parts about this doctoral program. I am grateful for your friendship and how a simple text, phone call, or dinner date can result in feelings of validation, laughter, tears, and joy. I am grateful for both of you. Additionally, I am thankful to Drs. Chris Sink, Dan St. John, Sandi Logan, Anthony Vajda, Chi Li, and T’Airra Belcher. I also express my gratitude to Stephanie Smith-Durkin, Zahide Sunal, Sonja Lund, Betsy Zimmerman, Frankie Rivas, Kathleen Brown, Ne’Shaun Borden, Rawn Boulden, Liz Mahek, and Sakon McQuown. My parents always said: find something you love and find something you are good at; hopefully, they are the same thing. Mom and Dad, I did it. I have found a career path that I am both exceedingly passionate about and exceedingly competent in. I am grateful to my parents for cultivating a love of learning that propelled me into graduate studies and sustained me through the completion of my doctorate. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for your unconditional love and support that helped make this doctorate a possibility. And to my brother, Matthew, thank you for making me laugh during the stressful days and knowing exactly how to encourage me. Most importantly, my dearest Gregory, what a beautiful adventure we have been on together. I am so grateful for the life we have created for ourselves and I can’t wait to see our next chapter unfold. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive and encouraging partner throughout this process. We’ve climbed literal and figurative mountains over these years of doctoral studies, and I am forever grateful for your unconditional love and the way that you selflessly prioritize my needs. We have each grown significantly throughout this process and I am so fortunate that we have intentionally grown together. Thank you for always believing in me and making me feel unstoppable. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................................vii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem ...........................................................................................1 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................................2 Significance of the Study ...........................................................................................2 Overview of Theoretical Framework .........................................................................5 Research Questions ....................................................................................................5 Research Design.........................................................................................................6 Limitations .................................................................................................................7 Definition of Terms....................................................................................................7 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Competence-Based Education and Training ..............................................................11 Counselor Education ..................................................................................................12 Counseling Specialty Areas .......................................................................................13 School Counseling .....................................................................................................14 Gatekeeping ...............................................................................................................18 Clinical Supervision