School Counselor Perceptions of Preparation and Importance of College and Career Readiness Counseling

Abstract

This study addresses school counselors’ perceptions of the importance of college and career readiness counseling and their preparedness to implement aspects of such counseling with students and families. Results from surveying school counselors in a large urban district serving a diverse, low-income student population indicated that school counselors did not believe they were well prepared to provide many aspects of college and career readiness counseling, although they perceived that each area was important to their work with students and families. We discuss implications for training school counselors in college and career readiness counseling.

Fostering Continuity in College and Career Counseling K–12: Training and Perceived Confidence Between K–8 and High School Counselors

“…The results from the present study also indicate that school counselors feel the least confident when working with data trends ranging from school-wide to school-specific; this finding is in accordance with previous studies (Novakovic et al, 2021;Young & Kaffenberger, 2018). Given the fact that the overwhelming majority of participants were trained within the past 15 years, well after the development of the ASCA National Model, we were puzzled that school counselors reported being least confident when using data to make college and career readinessrelated decisions.…”

“…Elementary school students are at a crucial stage where career beliefs, self-concepts, and aspirations are being developed (College Board, 2012; Gottfredson, 1981; Mariani et al, 2016; Pulliam & Bartek, 2018; Super, 1990). However, studies indicate that school counselors are not well prepared to deliver these services (Morgan et al, 2014; Novakovic et al, 2021) or are prevented from doing so due to high student-to-school-counselor ratios (Pham & Keenan, 2011). This is especially true in elementary schools (American School Counseling Association [ASCA], 2019a), which often have only one school counselor in the building, tasked with providing career, academic, and social/emotional interventions.…”

“…Another inhibitory factor exacerbating this challenge of meaningfully incorporating college and career readiness activities at the elementary level lies within the high student-to-school-counselor ratios in schools of all levels (United States Department of Education, 2021). A large body of research indicates that students attending schools with high student-to-school-counselor ratios had less access to college and career readiness (Gilfillan, 2018, Pham & Keenan, 2011; Novakovic, et al, 2021). High ratios are particularly troubling for students of lower economic status and first-generation students, because students attending poorer schools are less likely to meet with a school counselor regarding college (Bryan et al, 2011; Clinedinst, 2019).…”

“…Despite the importance of engaging in SEL-informed college and career readiness activities in K–12 education, practicing school counselors have reported a lack of preparation in providing such services to students (Novakovic et al, 2021). The majority of studies in counselor preparedness in this subject have used a broad definition of general college and career readiness counseling skills, knowledge, and practices (College Board, 2012; Pérusse et al, 2015) and school counselor self-efficacy (Parikh-Foxx et al, 2020).…”

An Ecological Examination of School Counseling Equity

“…Research has shown that school counselors generally feel their academic training and pre-service counseling work only moderately prepared them to enter the counseling field (Bridgeland & Bruce, 2011;Goodman-Scott, 2015). Many counselors report a disconnect between the skills learned in pre-service training and those needed on the job-specifically, skills in areas like college and career readiness counseling (Gilfillan, 2017;Novakovic et al, 2021); consultation (Cholewa et al, 2020); and using data to support evidence-based decision-making (Young & Kaffenberger, 2015). This partially reflects the fact that many counselor preparation programs do not require coursework in key counseling content areas and that a third of counselor educators do not have previous work experience as school counselors (Pérusse et al, 2015).…”