Rehabilitation counselor supervisors’ use of ACES best practices in evaluation

Counselor evaluation is a primary supervision function within preprofessional training, though little is known about the evaluation of practitioners once they enter the field. A survey of counselor evaluation practices was developed using the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Supervision Best Practice Guidelines and was completed by independent samples of 307 rehabilitation counselors and 152 supervisors working in field environments. Results revealed that counselors perceived significantly lower use of evaluation best practices than supervisors. Additionally, the use of supervision best practices had significant relationships with counselor job satisfaction and counselor role ambiguity, with supervisory alliances mediating these effects.