Parental characteristics, ecological factors, and the academic achievement of African American male high school students were examined. One hundred fifty-three 11th and 12th grade African American males completed the Parenting Style Index (Steinberg, Lamborn, Darling, Mounts, & Dornbusch, 1994) and a demographic questionnaire. Results indicated no significant relationship between parenting styles and enrollment in honors courses. However, the results indicated that fathers' education level and two-parent family structures are positive predictors of grade point average (GPA), and fathers' expectations is a negative predictor of GPA. Implications for counselor practice and research are delineated.
The Hoover-Dempsey et al. (2005) model of parents" involvement in their children's schools has recently been applied to Latino immigrant families. This article reviews that literature and then describes culturally appropriate strategies for school counselors to work with this population, focusing on (a) teacher and counselor invitations to the family, (b) parent or partnership-focused role construction, and (c) flexible formats for involvement that respect families with limited time. The article includes a sample Latino Family Night program.
Much attention has been paid to administrators and teachers in turnaround schools; however, little focus, if any, is given to school counselors and the vital role that they play in improving student outcomes. In turnaround schools, it is critical that all school personnel are involved in improving school outcomes, such as academic achievement and graduation rates, in the lowest performing high schools in the United States. The authors highlight the critical role that school counselors play in turnaround schools and offer specific recommendations on how they may collaborate with other stakeholders to improve student achievement in such school settings.
Self-efficacy theory is a popular framework for which to examine human motivation (Graham & Weiner, 1996), primarily because of its predictive power and application for practically any behavioral task. For this reason, we have selected self-efficacy theory as the basis for understanding professional school counselors' motivation and capabilities to perform tasks that are relevant and specific to equity and diverse student populations. We believe that school counselor multicultural self-efficacy is an important construct because it could predict professional school counselors' perceptions of their capability to perform specific tasks and their likelihood to overcome obstacles that might prevent them from achieving or completing those tasks in schools. We believe this is a critical aspect of professional school counseling that must be examined, given the increasing student diversity of U.S. schools and the movement to restructure school counseling programs for higher achievement among minority student populations. If professional school counselors do not perceive that they are capable of performing tasks related to equity and diversity, then they will likely avoid those tasks or downplay the importance of such tasks.
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