School counselors can play a powerful role in closing the achievement gap by incorporating principles of social justice--that is, equity and advocacy for all students--into their practice. This new resource for preservice and inservice counselors addresses the reasons why some students are more likely to encounter academic failure (racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism), and challenges readers to play an active role in bringing about the conditions for student success. Offering a variety of vignettes, strategies, activities, and reflective individual & group study questions, the book provides the framework for how school counselors can mitigate the impact of negative factors hampering academic performance and healthy development. The book details six functions of a school counselors that move schools toward more just practices and, ultimately, to higher test scores and increased student achievement.