Research

In collaboration with school community members, colleagues, and graduate students, Dr. Colbert endeavors to study the processes involved in district level school change as a means for identifying, implementing, and determining the effectiveness of methods for school counselors' role in education reform. Dr. Colbert's research is both qualitative and quantitative.

Currently Dr. Colbert is investigating the role of collaborations among counselor educators, teacher educators, superintendents, and principals in enhancing school counselor accountability for student academic achievement. A recent qualitative study has helped to identify specific processes involved in developing school and family partnerships that are conducive to school counselor facilitation utilizing traditional group counseling knowledge and skills.

Another line of research concerns the video-taping, codification, and quantitative analysis of parent and teacher interactions that occur during parent-teacher conferences. This research provides a researchers with a common systematic process for critically analyzing verbal and nonverbal interactions that occur during parent-teacher conferences. Dr. Colbert coordinates and teaches courses in the school counseling program. He received his MSE from Kansas University and his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 TEACHING INTERESTS

Dr. Colbert's teaching interests are in the area of training students to utilize their roles as schools counselors to assist a broad range of school community members in helping all students to become successful learners. Therefore, Dr. Colbert seeks to instill competencies in students needed to collaborate with school community members for developing, implementing, and evaluating comprehensive developmental school counseling programs. A primary focus of Dr. Colbert's research that he endeavors to incorporate into his teaching is in conducting field based studies in school reform that seek to reduce the academic achievement gap between white middle class students and their minority and economically disadvantaged peers.

 COURSES CURRENTLY TAUGHT

Professional Orientation to School Counseling

Curriculum, Program Development, and Implementation in School Counseling