The purpose of this research was to construct and evaluate a measure for assessing counselor-trainee effectiveness. An eight-category rating instrument was constructed and two standardized interview situations emphasizing problems commonly encountered by secondary school counselors were developed. The standardized interview situations provided by the use of coached counselees permitted a panel of six trained judges to evaluate via closed-circuit television 30 counselor-trainees under conditions designed to insure comparability and, hence, fair appraisal. Using a definition of reliability as the degree of consistency between judges, the average correlation between ratings given by pairs of independent raters was .50. It w a s concluded that the rating instrument developed and the techniques employed for its use constituted a usable, realistic measure for assessing the counseling proficiency of counselortrainees.T IS GENERALLY AGREED by most au-
Counselors should be open-minded according to a recent statement by the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) (1, p. 403). Open-mindedness is listed as one of five particularly important counselor qualities and is defined as ". . . . the flexibility of outlook toward others that makes it possible to appreciate individuality, to be receptive to new research findings, new ideas, and achievements, and to have respect for a wide range of attitudes and beliefs. He must have the curiosity to investigate the unusual." No research is cited by ACES to support either the definition or the proposition that the attribute of open-mindedness is related to good counseling. The lack of research stems from two sources.One source of frustration has been the absence of generally applicable criteria of good counseling and the inability to secure relatively constant assessment of counselors working with clients in interview situations. A second barrier has been the lack of an operational definition for open-mindness and an assessment method fitted to the definition. The present article will present evidence that will possibly reduce the magnitude of these two barriers to the needed research.
Full employment of Vietnam-era veterans is a major goal. The success of placement efforts rests heavily upon employment service counselors. This article briefly traces the etiology and nature of our concern for Vietnam-era vets and suggests that a successful placement program depends largely upon three factors: (a) an understanding of the characteristics of present-day veterans, @) an awareness of allied agencies, programs, and industries comprising the network of helping services, and (c) intimate knowledge of employers, their personnel representatives, the nature of the jobs available, and the practical workings of the placement process. nia State Univenity, Uniwtrity Park. James W. Kelz is Associate Profir of Education and Assistant Director of Rebabilitation, P m q l m -78 JOURNAL OF EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING
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