Counselors,not political agitators

This is a rejoinder to the article by Harold J. Adams that appeared in the April 1973 issue of this journal. The discussion centers around the relationship of counselors to the social order and political system of this country. The author questions the basic premises presented by Adams, especially the assumption that social alienation is a natural outcome of the American system. He points out that the collectivism advocated by Adams would be counterproductive to solving the social ills of American life and suggests other strategies to promote effective social change.     

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OF BEHAVIOR-BASED COMPETENCIES: A RELIABLE AND VALID PROCEDURE

A new performance appraisal system, developed for promotions in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police non-commissioned officer ranks, fairly differentiated among candidates. Members ( N = 6,571) illustrated their performance on core competencies with behavioral examples. Supervisors and then review boards used a BARS procedure to reliably rate performance. Both candidates and supervisors supported the system. The performance appraisal scores predicted career advancement in the organization.     

RIVER RIDGE III: THE CAMPAIGN THAT FAILED

Further tests of modernity and the attributes of an innovation were conducted to assess their usefulness in determining why the River Ridge campaign failed. It was found that failure was in part due to the differential perceptions of the issues which existed between members of the community and those conducting the campaign. Also, it was found that there was much greater contact between the change agents and members of modern precincts than there was with members of traditional precincts.