Teacher Knowledge of School Counselor Responsibilities

The effectiveness of an educational intervention regarding school counselor responsibilities is being evaluated. High school teachers in a suburban, Western New York school were participants in the study. Teachers were presented with information about the role and responsibilities of school counselors over the span of 6 weeks. A pretest and posttest was administered to assess the effectiveness of the educational intervention. The pretest and posttest asked teachers to select from a list of 28 responsibilities they believed a school counselor performs. The findings of the pretest indicated that teachers believe counselors perform 11 out of 14 appropriate activities, and 6 out of 14 inappropriate activities. After the educational intervention was performed, the posttest revealed that teachers believe school counselors perform 11 out of 14 appropriate activities, and 4 out of 14 inappropriate activities. SCHOOL COUNSELOR RESPONSIBLITIES 5 Teacher Knowledge of School Counselor Responsibilities The school counselor’s role in facilitating student achievement is complex. In past years, school counselors have had responsibilities that have included disciplining students, keeping track of attendance, filling in for the principal or teachers when there is an absence, checking grades, monitoring study halls, managing cases for special education, coordination testing, organizing and maintaining school records, scheduling new students, building the master schedule, and performing clerical responsibilities (Hatch & Bowers, 2002). Currently, the school counseling profession is going through a transformation, as reflected in the Education Trust’s (1999) Transforming School Counseling Initiative (TSCI), the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Standards (Campbell & Dahir, 1997), and the ASCA (2005) National Model. The “new vision” for school counseling demands that counselors take on a greater role and responsibility for student success (Beale, 2004). School counselor practitioners are encouraged to develop accountable, comprehensive school counseling programs that align their program goals with those of the school (Dahir, Burham, Stone, & Cobb, 2010). Despite the efforts to clearly define the role and responsibilities of the school counselor, the profession continues to face role disparity, unclear responsibilities, and the obligation of performing administrative tasks (Dahir et al., 2010). Burnham and Jackson (2000) explained “School administrators, teachers, parents and other interested groups often view the school counselor's role differently" (p. 41). The consequence of role ambiguity is that administrators are left defining the school counselor’s role and function (Oyaziwo & Imonikhe, 2002). School counselors often find themselves justifying or defending their contributions to student success, only to further convolute the scope and focus of their work (Dahir et al., 2010). Counselors must increase the documentation of the effectiveness of their programs and, as increased accountability occurs, support for their programs may increase as well. As counselors provide SCHOOL COUNSELOR RESPONSIBLITIES 6 evidence of the value of their interventions, they need to share it with stakeholders to educate them about the benefits of school counseling programs (ASCA, 2005). The education of stakeholders will bring clarity to the school counselor role and thus provide support for the entire guidance program. The purpose of this study was to assess how an educational program about the role and responsibilities of the school counselor will impact teacher’s knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate school counseling activities. Data was collected through the use of a pretest and posttest during the 2011-2012 school years.