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ERIC Number: EJ1481185
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1068-2341
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Boundary Spanning in State Education Agencies: How State Officials Support School Counseling
Mandy Savitz-Romer; Heather T. Rowan-Kenyon; Tara P. Nicola; Stephanie Carroll
Education Policy Analysis Archives, v33 Number 44 2025
The purpose of this paper is twofold; first, we seek to understand the professional roles of officials from state education agencies (SEAs) charged with overseeing school counseling. Second, the study examined how SEA officials carry out their work supporting school counselors. We interviewed 34 counseling representatives from 30 distinct states, exploring the lived experiences of these state education professionals (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2008). We further analyzed how SEA school counseling officials understand their professional responsibilities and drew on boundary spanning theory to analyze how they perform their roles despite having limited positional authority. We found SEA school counseling officials acted as bridges between their state department of education and districts, schools, other state leaders, and external organizations, strengthening school counseling within their state in the process. Our analysis revealed that SEA counseling officials' primary responsibilities included information dissemination, professional development, advocacy, and policy implementation. However, due to unique tensions they face, they fulfilled these duties by embodying boundary spanning roles, such as reticulist, interpreter, coordinator, and entrepreneur. These roles afforded SEA officials the ability to enact their professional responsibilities despite multiple constraints.
Colleges of Education at Arizona State University and the University of South Florida. c/o Editor, USF EDU162, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620-5650. Tel: 813-974-3400; Fax: 813-974-3826; Web site: https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/epaa
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A