Hello,
My name is Sarah Shaheen and I am a current doctoral candidate in Counselor Education at Oregon State University. I am writing to ask for your help in obtaining participants for my dissertation study titled: First Year School Counselors’ Professional Development in the Context of the United States’ 2020 Public Health (COVID) and Sociopolitical Crises (IRB-2020-0887).
The Study: This is a qualitative study to better understand the professional development process that Illinois high school counselors experience during their first year in the field. More specifically, this study aims to understand that process during the ’19-’20 or ’20-’21 school years. By the summer of 2020, the United States was navigating both the COVID-19 pandemic and the cultural shift in response to the murder of George Floyd. These two national events impacted the work of school counselors in many ways. Examining the professional development process of first year school counselors who experienced the job both before these national crises and during, while also studying those beginning their careers in the midst of the crises, will allow for a deeper understanding of the professional development process.
The Team: Sarah Shaheen is a PhD candidate and Alyson Leatherman is a PhD student in Counselor Education at Oregon State University. Dr. Deborah Rubel holds a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision and is core faculty in the counseling department at Oregon State University.
The Participants: If you are a licensed high school counselor in Illinois who attended a CACREP university and began your school counseling career during the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school years, we are asking that you please consider participating in this research study. If interested, please complete the initial survey below. The initial survey should take only a few minutes. The results of this survey will go directly to the student researcher. If you are selected, you will be asked to participate in up to three Zoom interviews (ranging in time from 20 minutes to an hour) over the next 6 months following the initial survey.
The Survey: https://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9Y0zYkO6fmJs4AZ
Please see attached Informed Consent for more detailed information on the study. You are always welcome to reach out to the student researcher (shaheens@oregonstate.edu) directly for more information, as well.