What the Research Says
By Angie Hickman, CAE | November 2025
How can using the ASCA National Model® affect school counselors’ job satisfaction, aid in identifying student needs, support college and career preparation and boost inclusivity? How have school counselors applied ASCA tools to advocate for students? Published research from the past 12 years explores these questions and more, continuing to support the efficacy of the ASCA National Model® and its positive effects on student outcomes. Read the evidence for yourself.
ASCA National Model Implementation Predicting School Counselors’ Job Satisfaction With Role Stress Mediating Variables (Fye et al., 2022)
ASCA National Model® implementation predicts school counselor job satisfaction and better understanding of the school counselor role. Specifically, as ASCA National Model® implementation scores increased, role ambiguity and incongruity decreased, and job satisfaction increased. The research points to the value of the ASCA Annual Administrative Conference template to allow administrators to provide support for school counselors to engage in the job in which they were trained.
Initial Validation of the ASCA-Informed Student Needs Assessment—High School Version (Boulden, 2022)
The validation process for the ASCA-Informed Student Needs Assessment found that the instrument, which is aligned with the ASCA National Model® and ASCA Student Standards, helps high school counselors deliver services that address students’ academic, career and social/emotional development, including aggregating data to identify large-scale school needs.
School Counselors’ Use of the ASCA Closing-the-Gap Action Plan Template to Address Educational Disparities (Gay 2021)
The ASCA Closing-the-Gap Action Plan template helps school counselors advocate for students and the use of a school counseling program to provide systemic change. Because the ASCA Closing-the-Gap Action Plan template may help reduce achievement gaps and promote equity in schools, it serves as a tool to help school counselors act as change agents to promote systemic change and reduce educational disparities through social justice advocacy.
School Counselor Preparation to Support Inclusivity, Equity and Access for Students of Color with Disabilities (Reese 2021)
School counselors can integrate the ASCA National Model® framework themes to support inclusivity, equity and access for students of color with disabilities to the general education curriculum. School counselor education programs must be more intentional in providing graduate-level course work that introduces trainees to best practices in their work with students with disabilities.
Exploring the Career and College Readiness of High School Students Serviced by RAMP and Non-RAMP School Counseling Programs in North Carolina (Jones et al. 2019)
The ASCA National Model® and the ASCA Student Standards provide frameworks for school counselors to provide the appropriate support to students for career and college readiness. This study found that students at RAMP® high schools scored 92 points higher on average on the SAT (8.8 percent higher than non-RAMP schools) and were more likely to enroll in college (58 percent at RAMP® high schools vs. 46 percent at non-RAMP high schools). Further, on the ACT WorkKeys assessment, RAMP® schools had 11 percent more students designated as “career and college ready” than non-RAMP schools.
ASCA National Model Implementation and Appropriate School Counselor Ratios Promote More Informed College Decision-Making (Lapan et al. 2018)
Lower student-to-school-counselor ratios combined with full implementation of the ASCA National Model® can lead to more-informed college decision-making for graduating high school students. Students at schools with fully implemented ASCA National Model® programs scored 66 percent correct on the College Admissions Knowledge Evaluation test (developed by the authors) compared with 46 percent of students with less implementation of the ASCA National Model®.
All Hands on Deck: A Comprehensive, Results-Driven Counseling Model (Salina et al., 2014)
Alignment with the ASCA National Model® can be a critical part of school improvement efforts in low-performing schools. In the studied school, which received a federally funded grant for school counselors to align goals with the ASCA National Model®, the school’s graduation rate improved from 49 percent to 79 percent.
Comprehensive School Counseling Programs and Student Achievement Outcomes: A Comparative Analysis of RAMP Versus non-RAMP Schools (Wilkerson et al., 2013)
Schools with comprehensive data-informed school counseling programs display higher academic outcomes compared to schools without such programs, according to this research study. Schoolwide proficiency scores in elementary RAMP® schools exceeded their controls by 6.1 percent on the English language arts (ELA) assessment and by 6.4 percent on the math assessment. At the secondary level, RAMP® schools exceeded their controls by 3.2 percent in ELA and 4.6 percent in math. Middle schools with the RAMP® designation also outperformed their non-RAMP counterparts by 1.2 percent in ELA and 1.5 percent in math.
Contact Angie Hickman, CAE, ASCA’s director of research and marketing, at ahickman@schoolcounselor.org.
ASCA National Model Implementation Predicting School Counselors’ Job Satisfaction With Role Stress Mediating Variables (Fye et al., 2022)
ASCA National Model® implementation predicts school counselor job satisfaction and better understanding of the school counselor role. Specifically, as ASCA National Model® implementation scores increased, role ambiguity and incongruity decreased, and job satisfaction increased. The research points to the value of the ASCA Annual Administrative Conference template to allow administrators to provide support for school counselors to engage in the job in which they were trained.
Initial Validation of the ASCA-Informed Student Needs Assessment—High School Version (Boulden, 2022)
The validation process for the ASCA-Informed Student Needs Assessment found that the instrument, which is aligned with the ASCA National Model® and ASCA Student Standards, helps high school counselors deliver services that address students’ academic, career and social/emotional development, including aggregating data to identify large-scale school needs.
School Counselors’ Use of the ASCA Closing-the-Gap Action Plan Template to Address Educational Disparities (Gay 2021)
The ASCA Closing-the-Gap Action Plan template helps school counselors advocate for students and the use of a school counseling program to provide systemic change. Because the ASCA Closing-the-Gap Action Plan template may help reduce achievement gaps and promote equity in schools, it serves as a tool to help school counselors act as change agents to promote systemic change and reduce educational disparities through social justice advocacy.
School Counselor Preparation to Support Inclusivity, Equity and Access for Students of Color with Disabilities (Reese 2021)
School counselors can integrate the ASCA National Model® framework themes to support inclusivity, equity and access for students of color with disabilities to the general education curriculum. School counselor education programs must be more intentional in providing graduate-level course work that introduces trainees to best practices in their work with students with disabilities.
Exploring the Career and College Readiness of High School Students Serviced by RAMP and Non-RAMP School Counseling Programs in North Carolina (Jones et al. 2019)
The ASCA National Model® and the ASCA Student Standards provide frameworks for school counselors to provide the appropriate support to students for career and college readiness. This study found that students at RAMP® high schools scored 92 points higher on average on the SAT (8.8 percent higher than non-RAMP schools) and were more likely to enroll in college (58 percent at RAMP® high schools vs. 46 percent at non-RAMP high schools). Further, on the ACT WorkKeys assessment, RAMP® schools had 11 percent more students designated as “career and college ready” than non-RAMP schools.
ASCA National Model Implementation and Appropriate School Counselor Ratios Promote More Informed College Decision-Making (Lapan et al. 2018)
Lower student-to-school-counselor ratios combined with full implementation of the ASCA National Model® can lead to more-informed college decision-making for graduating high school students. Students at schools with fully implemented ASCA National Model® programs scored 66 percent correct on the College Admissions Knowledge Evaluation test (developed by the authors) compared with 46 percent of students with less implementation of the ASCA National Model®.
All Hands on Deck: A Comprehensive, Results-Driven Counseling Model (Salina et al., 2014)
Alignment with the ASCA National Model® can be a critical part of school improvement efforts in low-performing schools. In the studied school, which received a federally funded grant for school counselors to align goals with the ASCA National Model®, the school’s graduation rate improved from 49 percent to 79 percent.
Comprehensive School Counseling Programs and Student Achievement Outcomes: A Comparative Analysis of RAMP Versus non-RAMP Schools (Wilkerson et al., 2013)
Schools with comprehensive data-informed school counseling programs display higher academic outcomes compared to schools without such programs, according to this research study. Schoolwide proficiency scores in elementary RAMP® schools exceeded their controls by 6.1 percent on the English language arts (ELA) assessment and by 6.4 percent on the math assessment. At the secondary level, RAMP® schools exceeded their controls by 3.2 percent in ELA and 4.6 percent in math. Middle schools with the RAMP® designation also outperformed their non-RAMP counterparts by 1.2 percent in ELA and 1.5 percent in math.
Contact Angie Hickman, CAE, ASCA’s director of research and marketing, at ahickman@schoolcounselor.org.