School counselors play an integral role in supporting students academically, socially, and emotionally. However, due to various demands, school counselors often face time constraints that limit them from providing social and emotional support to students at the secondary level. In this case study, an analysis of qualitative interviews with 13 high…

Family, school, and community contexts each link to secondary school enrollment, yet these factors have been comparatively examined only in limited ways. A holistic examination of contextual factors will be particularly important for engineering where college enrollment patterns vary by demographics. To begin explaining patterns of engineering…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to examine the high school counselors' perception of their ability to influence low socioeconomic students' postsecondary enrollment decisions in seven Title I high schools in southern California. Perna and Thomas' Student Success model and the Delivery System of the American School…

The purpose of this study was to further investigate how one successful comprehensive high school serving a large percentage of Latino students builds college-going culture. The study examined two perspectives on college-going culture; that of the school staff (including administrators, school counselors, and teacher leaders), and of…

Enacting college and career readiness policy in secondary schools requires systemic involvement of all school professionals, but identifying the specific roles that should be played by teachers and counselors remains a challenge. The study reported in this article used qualitative interviews with counselors and teachers to describe this challenge…

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a behavior that is prevalent among children and adolescents. Although NSSI is often associated with borderline personality disorder and depression, it co-occurs with numerous psychiatric symptoms and associated diagnoses. The current article reviews the research addressing psychiatric symptoms that are commonly…

A graduation rate of 49% alarmed Sunnyside High School in 2009. With graduation rates in the bottom 5% statewide, Sunnyside was awarded a federally funded School Improvement Grant. The "turnaround" principal and the school counselors aligned goals with the ASCA National Model through the program All Hands On Deck (AHOD), based on…

"A Longitudinal Study of the South Carolina Personal Pathways to Success Initiative" (see Hammond, Drew, et al., 2011) follows the implementation of a statewide mandated career-focused school reform policy in one U.S. state. The research focuses on eight diverse high schools in the state, personnel at those schools, and approximately…

This qualitative longitudinal multiple case study offers a perspective into the college information gathering practices across a sample of low-income students at two large urban public high schools. The findings show that students engage in and benefit from comprehensive information gathering strategies but that disparities exist across academic…

The primary purpose of this study was to explore how the No Child Left Behind Act has impacted the traditional responsibilities of high school counselors. Furthermore, if there have been changes in school counselor roles, how are school counselors managing the impact? The study findings also investigated school counselor professional development…

Many minority students enter the university without the discursive ''codes of power" that they need both to find academic success and to self-identify as scholars. High schools and college preparatory programs too often ignore the role that academic language and literacy play in success at the college level. Even when academic…

To be able to connect the school counseling program to standards-based reform, school counseling initiatives such as The Education Trust's Transforming the School Counseling Initiative and The American School Counseling Association (ASCA) have called for a paradigm shift in the understanding of the school counselor's role, from a service provider…

This study draws on data from descriptive case studies of 15 high schools, three in each of five states. The findings highlight constraints in the availability of college counseling, differences in the availability of college counseling across schools, and the influence of schools, districts, higher education institutions, and states on the…

Increasing the number of students who enroll in college to meet the demand for current and future labor trends is a focus of education. Students whose parents have no postsecondary education have been identified as at-risk for not pursuing and accessing college options. School counselors are educational leaders who have specialized training to…

Information provided to high school students by their guidance counsellors and teachers can affect how students view university or college, as well as their expectations and level of preparation for the academic demands of higher education. This article describes two studies conducted with high school students that examined the type of information…