The purpose of this grounded theory study was to understand and explain how training and work setting experiences influence readiness of professional school counselors for serving gang members in schools. A purposeful sample consisted of secondary school counselors (n = 5) and school leaders (n = 7) in a southeastern metropolitan school district.…

In this article, four vignettes are presented and deconstructed in order to demonstrate that school counselors are advocates, collaborators, and leaders when engaged as consultants. School counselor consultation appears to be a complex process based on a student advocacy disposition shared by consultees, and the process is a collaborative one…

The authors call on the profession to offer support and leadership on a national level to those counselors who wish to act as change agents. (Author)

Results of the category frequencies indicate that both counselors in practice and counselors in training prefer to respond to client problems in a manner that allows them to maintain a counseling relationship with the client and to leave the taking of action up to the clients or other persons. (Author)

This paper offers a plan for organizing one's thinking relative to the initial interview. The five-step plan incorporates pre-planned leads and flexibility. Pre-planning is needed in order to provide direction for the interview, and flexibility is essential for exploring areas of concern unexpectedly introduced by the counselor. (Author)

Maintains that secondary schools often assign their counselors major responsibility for the gatekeeping and custodial functions associated with student scheduling. Recommends as an alternative having counselors advise students and others needing counseling while paraprofessionals and clerical personnel handle the administrative duties. (Author/PGD)

Does the counselor with teaching experience perform more satisfactorily than the counselor without such a background? To learn more about this issue, the authors conducted a study to determine whether principals rated counselors with and without the experience any differently. (Editor)

This paper describes an in-service workshop for counselors which, although unique because of funding support, provided outcomes which are applicable to all in-service settings. The workshop featured a comprehensive attempt to provide in-service help in several areas of concern: time management, overall group work, behavioral counseling, decision…

Surveys the actual and perceived role elementary school counselors in North Carolina have in working with students with disabilities. Data reveals that many school counselors acquired some formal education about students with disabilities prior to entering the profession, yet many have found the demands for them to possess expertise in this domain…

Phenomenological retrospective interviews of three female school counselors who had experienced burnout were conducted and analyzed for themes in an effort to understand the participants' personal meanings. Several common themes that emerged from the data analysis are discussed, and recommendations for practice and research are suggested.

This paper suggests ways in which counselors can take greater control of their accountability plans and make evaluations serve both the counselor and the school more constructively. Recommended competencies for specific types of guidance programs are described in detail. Three types of evaluation data are discussed for use in accountability…

This workshop focuses on the utility of decision making counseling: what it is, how it is operationalized into counseling behaviors, and what applications it has to counseling. Four sequential stages are proposed for explaining the use of the technique, including: (1) conceptualization; (2) enlargement of the response repertoire; (3)…