This article goes beyond the traditional survey of student attitudes toward the school guidance service. The student data are used as a springboard to the broader issues affecting the counseling profession. The focus is on counselor discouragement and what all concerned practitioners can do to revitalize the profession. (Author)

The secondary school counselor in a desegregated school is frequently in a position to identify ability in black students and to help them advance academically as well as to guide them in career choices. (JD)

The paradigm presented in this chapter is predicated on certain assumptions about the future of schools and schooling as well as the role of the school counselor. These assumptions include: the cultural and demographic profile of school counselors will continue to be different from students; the counselor will have an ever-present role on school…

A survey of 59 principals on counselor selection used a forced-choice questionnaire, pairing each item with every other item, to test 16 criteria in four categories: work experience, recommendations, academic indicators, and behavioral/personal characteristics. Within-system teaching experience and communication ability in the personal interview…

Counselors working in isolated areas like Newfoundland's Great Northern Peninsula need special characteristics and the ability to relate to the community as a whole. Counselors must rely on personal resources and be familiar with individual and group counseling techniques to succeed, especially if they are the only counselor available. (JAC)

Highlights four competency areas that are needed by school counselors to be effective in the role of consultant to parents, teachers, and administrators. Presents an inventory that will allow counselors to assess their awareness of some of the issues and competencies required for successful school consultation. Explores implications for in-service…

This paper presents the results of a study of 211 North Carolina school counselors within their first five years of the profession. The counselors were surveyed as to their functions, areas of competence, and areas of professional difficulty. Professional difficulty was defined as a discrepancy between function and competence. From the study, a…

To determine the degree of school counselors' favorableness toward postsecondary vocational-technical education and to identify factors from counselors' backgrounds that are related to their perceptions of vocational-technical education, questionnaires were mailed to all Colorado secondary school counselors who devoted at least half their time to…

Presents an objective-based model for the selection of counselors. The model places emphasis on a systematic approach, with staff involvement and clear objectives for the process, and includes suggestions for avoiding ineffective behaviors based on traditional approaches. (Author)

Examined whether differences exist between students' (n=322) and counselors' (n=11) perceptions of work activities performed by the latter group in a community college. Results indicated that students did not believe that counselors were actually performing the majority of tasks commonly and ideally associated with career counseling services.…

Explores the relationship between school counselors' universal-diverse orientation (UDO) and their self-reported multicultural counseling knowledge and awareness. It was hypothesized that after accounting for the number of previous multicultural counseling courses taken, school counselors' UDO would contribute significant amounts of the variance…

Creating and maintaining a successful and comprehensive school counseling program built on group work requires far more than excellent group skills. Results derived from an in-depth case study illustrate how an elementary school counselor's knowledge and skills (e.g., vision, identity, beliefs and values, capabilities, and behaviors) contributed…

Investigates effects of sex of judge, sex of referent, and sex-pairing of judge and referent on level of understanding, or affective sensitivity, of school counselors. Male and female counselors were found to be equally accurate in their empathic judgments. There were no detected effects of sex-pairing. (Author)

This study examines counselor characteristics, especially how the characteristics factor into the helping relationship. Prior research on this topic has been couched in the social psychology research on personal attraction and relationship development, which suggests that credibility, attractiveness, and influence are functions of the degree of…

Studied the effect of client sex and attractiveness on male and female counselors' judgments about students' educational and career potential. Found male counselors showed sex bias when suggesting occupations. Prediction of higher education and occupational status were not related to counselor or student sex or student attractiveness. (Author/JAC)