Black Lives Are Beautiful: Training School Counselors to Foster Positive Racial Identity and Academic Success Among Black K-12 Students

Positive racial identity development has a significant impact on the academic achievement of Black children. Accordingly, to promote the success of these children in K-12 school settings, school counselors should utilize interventions that foster positive racial identity and challenge negative, anti-Black messages received from the environment. This article reports findings from a training designed to teach interventions school counselors may implement to support positive racial identity and improve outcomes among Black students. Results from a pre/post-test evaluation of the workshop showed that participants generally had positive perceptions of the training and experienced learning on the program objectives. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are discussed.