Doctoral student is combining her counseling background and her current field of study to advance alternative education

Meridian school counselor graduating with doctorate in education seeks to advance leadership in alternative settings

Located near a quiet subdivision in Meridian and surrounded by four other schools, Pathways Middle School provides a place for students who may struggle in larger traditional school settings. Pathways, an alternative middle school in Idaho’s largest school district, West Ada, offers sixth, seventh and eighth grade students flexible and individualized support to meet their needs. 

Dara McCarthy, a University of Idaho Boise doctoral student in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, has been a school counselor at Pathways for over 10 years. Through her doctoral research, she is combining her counseling background and her current field of study, educational leadership, to advance alternative education in Idaho and beyond. 

“Alternative school students often come with a higher concentration of concerns,” said McCarthy, who was nominated as counselor of the year in her school district last year. “As school professionals, we make it a priority to ensure we’re taking steps to take care for each other and our students in the best ways we can.”

Leading the way

McCarthy’s interest in leadership began at a young age and continued through her professional career. During high school, she participated in Distributive Education Clubs of America, a program that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for future careers through various activities like competitions, conferences and community service. Before she began her career as a school counselor, McCarthy was a teacher at Heritage Middle School in Meridian where she looked for opportunities to step into teacher leadership roles within her school community.

For me, enrolling in an online program was non-negotiable. U of I’s online educational leadership program allows me the opportunity to complete coursework around my work schedule and care for my child. Dara McCarthy, U of I College of Education, Health and Human Sciences doctoral student

As a teacher, she was drawn to supporting non-traditional students. She enjoyed watching the students grow into their potential and do things they thought were not possible. This sparked her interest in the counseling field and eventually led her to her current role as the counselor of Pathways.

There, McCarthy found a passion for advancing alternative education, and was motivated to pursue a doctorate in educational leadership. She credits her principal at Pathways, Eric Eschen, ‘13, as another motivating factor to pursue her graduate studies. She and Eschen have worked together at Pathways since 2014, when she started at the school as a counselor.

“Dara is one of those rare people who can move in a lot of different worlds,” said Eschen, who earned his doctorate in education from U of I in 2013. “She’s a strong counselor who understands people and can easily see things with an administrator’s point of view. This allows her to take into consideration how something affects teachers, families and students.”

While looking at options for her graduate degree program, McCarthy found the perfect fit at U of I.

“For me, enrolling in an online program was non-negotiable,” McCarthy said. “U of I’s online educational leadership program allows me the opportunity to complete coursework around my work schedule and care for my child.” 

Understanding emotion in leadership

Spurred by her career in counseling, McCarthy’s interest in emotions helped influence the type of graduate research she wanted to conduct. She sought out U of I Boise educational leadership Associate Professor Penny Tenuto to serve as her major professor for her research about emotion in leadership.

McCarthy’s study focuses on everyday incidents that alternative school principals encounter in their work, and how they respond emotionally to those events. Through her research, she brings together her passion for advancing alternative education, her background in counseling and her new field of study, educational leadership.

Alternative school students often come with a higher concentration of concerns. As school professionals, we make it a priority to ensure we’re taking steps to take care for each other and our students in the best ways we can. Dara McCarthy, U of I College of Education, Health and Human Sciences doctoral student

“Dara’s expertise in alternative education and counseling coupled with her leadership abilities and strong work ethic make her the perfect person to carry forward this research,” Tenuto said. “Her study will help advance educational leadership practices in alternative schools throughout Idaho and beyond.”

Her study looks at five different alternative school principals within a region in the Pacific Northwest and explores how each leader processes their emotions.

“In my career, I’ve worked a lot with emotional regulation, and as a counselor, I do a lot of coaching for staff and teachers on this topic,” said McCarthy.

Sharing expertise 

McCarthy plans to apply her knowledge from her education and research to her current role at Pathways by modeling personal systems, or tools to process and deal with emotions, for staff and implementing school-wide systems to meet students’ needs.

“Change needs to be intentional,” said McCarthy, who obtained her principal certification in fall of 2024 while earning her degree. “Questions I’m finding myself asking are, ‘how do I model personal systems for staff including proactive planning, self-care routines and pausing before responding to regulate emotions and responses, and how do I lead calmy and consistently?’” 

As a member of the administration team at Pathways, she’s interested in taking the time to look at the big picture and build out more of the systems to help consistently and confidently respond to student needs. She’s already helped build out multiple systems at Pathways, including the Multi-Tiered System of Support and Positive Behavior Support System, both of which are designed to enhance the school’s overall response to students’ academic and behavioral needs.  

McCarthy looks forward to sharing the findings of her study with other leaders through various ways including possible white papers, professional development opportunities and publishing.

“Emotion in leadership is a topic that is not often talked about, but it’s essential for educational leaders and teachers in all school settings to understand how to best deal with their own emotions and emotions of others,” Tenuto said. “Dara’s work will continue to bring awareness to this important topic and further educational leadership nationwide.” 

McCarthy graduates with a doctorate in education from U of I Boise in May of 2025.

“I am passionate about alternative education, so it’s been incredible to read the research and learn from experts in my field,” said McCarthy.

Article by Alissa Korsak, University of Idaho Boise and U of I College of Graduate Studies.

Photos by Melissa Hartley and Garrett Britton, U of I Visual Services.

Published in May 2025.