Beyond City Limits: A Scoping Review of School Counseling Service Delivery in Rural Schools

The literature on rural school counseling continues to expand; however, a comprehensive understanding of the service delivery provided by school counselors when serving rural schools and students is needed. In this PRISMA scoping review, we examined 56 empirical and dissertation studies on rural school counseling service engagement within the three ASCA domains of professional practice: academic, college and career, and social-emotional development. Significant findings revealed that: limited studies showcase how the rural context was intentionally addressed in service provision; classroom guidance and collaboration were the most prevalently highlighted services; services that align with the social-emotional development domain were more pervasive; and studies exploring services that target school administration and other school staff were less frequent. Implications for future research and practice are included.