Status of Guidance and Counseling in the Elementary School

This study investigated some aspects of elementary school guidance and counseling in the 50 states and the 4 American territories. Specifically, such matters as the number of counselors employed, their professional background, certification, and state standards were examined. Results of this study were as follows: 3,837 counselors are now working in elementary schools in 48 states; the majority of these counselors are former elementary school teachers. Over 70 per cent are supported in part by federal funds. To date, 14 states have developed certification requirements for elementary counselors that are discernibly different from secondary certification. For the most part, state standards for elementary school guidance lack specificity; in some cases such standards are non-existent     

Attitudes of school psychologists toward the role of the secondary school counselor

The responses of school psychologists concerning the secondary school counselor's role differ from those of counselor educators and counselors in many respects and seem to reflect a tendency toward role differentiation. In the actual school situation, the roles of these two groups overlap in some areas. The tendency of school psychologists was to emphasize activities of counselors which did not overlap with theirs and to define the counselor's role in these terms. If school counselors were polled concerning their attitudes toward the role of the school psychologist, it is probably that the same tendency toward role differentiation would be found.

These results point to the possibility that friction between these two groups may stem from difficulties in role perception. To improve communication, the unique contributions of both groups should be stressed. On the other hand, where activities overlap, it should not be assumed that the performance of such activities by one group excludes the other group from making a contribution in similar activities.     

College Freshmen View Counselor Help in College Selection

Little attention has been paid to the role performance of counselors in the college decision process. This study surveyed 270 college freshmen at a northeastern university in an attempt to explore the activities of their high school counselors in college admissions. The students came from 233 institutions of secondary education. Among the findings were: (1) the high school counselor has increased in importance and in potential influence in the college-choice process; (2) the helping activities of counselors were for the most part active and direct; (3) the expectations of the students for the counselor were for active involvement by the counselor; and (4) in some cases, the counselor played a restricting role in the process of college selection.     

The roles of the secondary school counselor and the secondary school psychologist as perceived by educators of counselors and by educators of school psychologists

This study has indicated that counselor educators and educators of school psychologists are substantially in agreement regarding their perceptions of the roles of guidance counselors and school psychologists in the secondary school. Functions which are perceived as being performed by both counselors and psychologists have been described. These may lead either to collaborative endeavor or role conflict. Basic counselor and school psychologist roles have been presented. The perceived role of the counselor is broad and extensive; the perceived role of the school psychologist appears narrow and intensive.     

The counselor and exceptional pupils: a critical review

Elementary and secondary school counselors seem to neglect certain students while providing services to others, without knowing the results. This article suggests that school counselors do not deal systematically and consistently with exceptional children's needs. It appraises counselors' work with mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, and gifted students.     

Counselor Role and Function: An Appraisal by Consumers and Counselors

This article reports the perceptions of parents, members of the business community, school administrators, and counselors regarding the role and function of secondary school counselors, The research reported here was presented as part of a symposium entitled, “The Development of a Model School Counselor Education Curriculum” at the Annual Conference of the American Personnel and Guidance Association, St. Louis, Missouri, 1981.     

Case Study: Summer Counseling with Disadvantaged Junior High School Students

Six secondary school counselors worked as a summer counseling team with disadvantaged junior high school students. Most of the students who received counseling were making a transition from a familiar to an unfamiliar school situation, i.e., they were entering or leaving junior high school. Counseling sessions were conducted in homes as well as in the schools. Extensive use was made of staff sessions and referral agencies. The services of the counseling team were favorably accepted by students and parents and were evaluated by the counselors and principals as worthwhile. Some problems and recommendations are described.     

School Counselors as Social Capital: The Effects of High School College Counseling on College Application Rates

Using social capital theory as a framework, the authors examined data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (Ingels, Pratt, Rogers, Siegel, & Stutts, 2004) to investigate how student contact with high school counselors about college information and other college‐related variables influence students' college application rates. In addition to some college‐related variables, the number of school counselors and student contacts were significant predictors of college application rates. Implications for school counselors and counselor training are included.     

Occupational prestige and appropriateness: The views of mental health specialists

Because of the extensive social and cultural changes associated with the women's equal rights movement, this study asked questions about how occupational prestige is related to differential views of women's roles with female and male psychotherapists, advanced graduate students, and secondary school counselors. The samples differ very little in their rankings of occupational prestige. However, differences did emerge between each sample's judgments of which occupations are appropriate for women, with school counselors being the most likely to rate occupations as inappropriate for women.     

Career Counseling for High School Students,Grades 10–12

The author describes the general characteristics of the secondary school student and suggests pragmatic activities and strategies counselors can use to assist students with occupational decision making.     

The Counselor and the School as a Social Organization

Role relations in the public school are viewed within the perspective of organization theory; the public school is like the prison and the public mental hospital in that neither client nor organization exercises choice concerning client participation in the organization. Based on previous studies of prisons and mental hospitals and on clues provided in a case study of a junior high school, it was predicted that counselors and principals would be less “custodial” in pupil control ideology than teachers. An instrument that measured pupil control ideology along a custodial-humanistic continuum was administered to 945 teachers, 181 principals, and 180 counselors. Results confirmed the predictions. Counselor adaptations to ideological conflict concerning pupil control in both the secondary and the elementary school are discussed. It was speculated that adaptations would function to reduce overt conflict and contribute to organizational equilibrium.     

School Counseling in Lebanon: Past,Present, and Future

This article examines the status of school counseling in Lebanon. An overview that points out some weakness in the educational system, such as high dropout and repetition rates, is presented. Calls for counseling have been voiced partly because of the psychological consequences of social change, such as political instability in Lebanon. A sample of school counselors in public and private schools were surveyed. Private school counselors reported fewer stressors and more rewards than did their counterparts in public schools.     

Caring and Counseling—Shared Tasks in Advisement Schools

Advisement programs, a part of the total guidance service provided by many secondary schools, involve the entire teaching staff and provide personalized guidance services to all secondary students (7–12) in the following areas: program planning, self-assessment, school offerings awareness, parent relations and conferences, feedback evaluation, decision-making skills, career planning and preparation, and school and community issues. Advisement enhances counseling and offers counselors the opportunity to practice their specialized skills more fully. The Ferguson-Florissant advisement program, described in this article, emphasizes positive change in students' attitudes toward themselves and school.     

Student rights: a program for counselors

Students are increasingly aware of their rights as “persons under our Constitution.” At the high school level especially, they are questioning, challenging, and, with the help of the courts, defining the limits of school officials' authority in some areas of personal freedom and school discipline. Not only should counselors give students information and support on their rights but they should also work for the recognition and protection of those rights by the entire school community. This article offers a Model Student Bill of Rights and suggestions for counselors on how to implement that Bill.     

Parental Involvement in School Counseling Services: Challenges and Experience of Counselor

School counselors include parents as informants in school counseling for various reasons like for consultation and client’s intervention which could lead to a different experience. The objective of the present study was to explore the challenges faced by school counselors when involving parents in the school counseling process and the ways they handle the challenges. The participants consisted of seven school counselors, with whom in-depth interviews were conducted. The subjective experiences of the school counselors were objectively interpreted by the researcher using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The research results were categorized into master and subordinate themes using double hermeneutics. The results revealed that although school counselors have their own individual perceptions of challenges and methods of handling parental inclusion in the school counseling context, there still exist similarities in their methods of handling. The study highlights school counselors’ beliefs about parents’ perceptions and expectations of counseling as well as parents’ reaction toward their child’s problem as a challenge. The findings throw light on the need for stronger evidence-based practices and policies for school counseling programs. Training and competence-building programs for school counselors would improve the service delivery.     

How School Counselors Can Help Prevent Online Victimization

Although the Internet is a beneficial tool, some youth are at risk for being victimized by Internet predators. School counselors are in a unique position to assist in efforts to prevent online victimizations because of their continual interaction with students, parents, and other school faculty. This article provides school counselors with information about youth Internet use; risk factors associated with online victimizations; and recommendations to assist youth, parents, and families in improving Internet safety practices.     

Counseling and Guidance in Non-Public Schools

The provision of counseling and guidance services in the secondary schools of one of the nation's largest non-public school systems is examined and compared with services offered in publicly supported schools from the same geographical area. Findings indicate that the non-public school lags far behind the public school in the provision of counseling services for its pupils and that the persons assigned to counsel in non-public schools are not as well qualified as the public school counselors. This lag is traced to a difference in financial support, and a recommendation is made to investigate methods of solving this problem.     

Elementary School Counselors in California

The number, school location, academic preparation and experience, and functions and duties of “elementary school counselors” in California were studied. Questionnaires were answered by 175 counselors, 118 elementary school principals, and 312 teachers in schools employing counselors. The number of children in the participating schools was 133,125, or five per cent of all pupils in grades K-8 in the State. Counselors reported that they spent 50 per cent of their time working with pupils, 17 per cent with teachers, 10 per cent with administrators, 12 per cent with parents, and 11 per cent with probation, welfare, and other officials. The counselors and the principals generally agreed on the rank order of importance of the functions of elementary school counselors and on the most important skills and personality characteristics counselors should have. The teachers reported that counselors gave them most help by testing individual pupils, counseling with pupils, helping them with classroom problems, and participating in parent conferences. Elements of an ideal counseling program at the district and school level as well as deficiencies in present programs were described by the respondents.     

Counseling Deaf Children: A New Art

Counseling deaf and hearing-impaired children is a service that is likely to be a responsibility of most school counselors as a result of PL 94–142. This article provides some of the basic knowledge and skills needed and describes the counselor training program at Gallaudet College that prepares counselors for helping hearing-impaired and deaf persons.     

Innovation in Guidance: A Mobile Counseling Center

A mobile counseling center staffed by 4 counselors serves high schools in 4 counties of southern Indiana. The operation of the center is designed to enrich, supplement, and improve the quality of counseling services for secondary students of the area. The mobile center also serves as a model to stimulate the development of exemplary and innovative guidance services in regular school programs.