“Missouri professional school counselors: Ratios matter, especially in high- poverty schools” is the educational study conducted by Richard T. Lapan, Norman C. Gysbers, Margaret E. Pierce in 2012. Initially, the study overview different societal changes in the United States and particularly the state of Missouri. Authors come up with the opinion that different industrial, occupational, social, and economic changes ultimately impact the educational conditions for the students in the state (R. Lapan, Gysbers, Stanley, & Pierce, 2012). Educational paradigm becomes more challenging as overall social pattern drastically change. It is notable to mention that all the prevailing challenges are real because it drastically impacts the personal, career, and the overall development of the students in the region of Missouri. Researchers successfully explore one of the effective solutions to properly deal with the educational challenges. This particular approach can be identified in the form of proper development and the implementation of the comprehensive school guidance and effective programs of counseling. These particular educational programs are crucial because they provide the necessary direction to all schools of districts.
These educational programs are conducted by professional counselors which provide effective assistance to the parents, teachers, management of the educational sector, and the broader prospect of the community. These developmental programs are designed with the focus to provide safe and conducive educational environment to all the students under the paradigm of the educational institutes. These programs also help students to effectively deal with their educational and developmental challenges.
The main purpose of this particular research study is to assess the feature of implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs with the consideration of the ratios of students related to school counselors. Researchers explore the idea that previously there is not much research conducted by considering the feature of ratios on school counselor by referring to its effectiveness. The present study was an attempt with the particular aim of critically explore the association between student-to-student counselor ratios with the consideration of the specific outcomes which ultimately play role in the success of the student. The features of success can observe in the form of graduation rates, disciplinary incidents, attendance etc.
The particular research questions specifically related to the following study are characterized as to initially assess that are student-to-school- counselor ratios link with different outcomes in case of student performance. The second research question of this study to predict the feature that do smaller student-to-school counselor ratios anticipates academic results for the students of Missouri after controlling the information regarding different demographic features. The third research question of the study is to adopt the prospect of post hoc analysis in the particular case of schools with large percentages of students with the focus of ASCA suggested ratio to address the outcomes.
Statistical methods concerning to necessary correlation were applied to assess the particular outcomes. Related data were collected from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to make inferences about the research questions of the present study. School building-level student results, student-to-school-counselor ratios, and school demographics were the factors which were selected to explore the phenomenon. Date of this study comprises on 481 schools of the Missouri district. The results of the study show the aspect of the lower level to the student-to-school counselor ratios with the better association with graduation rates the lower level of disciplinary events. There was the evidence of the high percentage of students who receive free or reduced-price lunch concerning to the lower student-to-school ratios of counselors. Results of the study also reveal that the particular schools that met the standard of ASCA in the paradigm of high-poverty schools having the availability of counselor for every 250 students with the better approach of graduation, attendance, and the fewer events of violation of school discipline.
The crucial aspect of necessary counseling for students successfully explored by Carolyn Berger in the study, “Bring out the brilliance: A counseling intervention for underachieving students.” This particular research work conducted in the year 2013 with the intention to provide better approach concerning to the paradigm of counseling in an educational setting. Initially, the author briefly discusses the issues that must be considered by the counselors to provide the better educational approach to students. It is indicated that the number of graduates from college and the career readiness plays a crucial role in the enhancement of the approach of the school counselors. Statistics of the country establish the fact that although there is plenty of improvement in the area of school graduation there is the need for the more enhancement and consideration of different factors. It is crucial to mention that there are almost 1.2 million students who never attain their graduation degree. Undoubtedly, the situation is alarming and it requires more concern and effective steps to address the issues of the education sector. Researcher of the study comes with the observation that there is no such evidence of the previous research work which focuses to examine the graduation rate in the particular case of underachieving students. He addresses the approach that school counselors can play an influential role to assess the students who can categorize as underperformers.
The feature of purpose in case of this particular research study can be identified as the researcher’s approach to determine the consideration of Bring out the Brilliance. It comes with the focus to consider the role of the small group of counseling intervention based on the AOM to assess its effectiveness at enhancing achievement data and the information related to the underachieving students. The feature of hypothesis in case of the following research study is the focus on the intervention of the Bring out the Brilliance which ultimately plays its role to enhancement in student achievement information (Berger, 2013). Grade point average is the major point of consideration in this particular manner of hypothesis formation for the study. It is also considered by the author that achievement-related data to hypothesized with the intention of improvement that helps to decrease the rate of absences and disciplinary referrals. Another hypothesis for the study was that there is the indication of the acceleration of the role of organizational skills and time management score which the decrease in the facets of student’s low motivation level and test anxiety. This particular study was also conducted with the intention to figure out the particular perceptions of the students which can categorize as underachieving students. It is considered as the crucial paradigm to understand their approach to enhance their achievement level academically.
It is crucial to mention that this research study was conducted in the specific school setting with the consideration of the features of achievement and under-achievement students. Three particular schools in South Florida were selected for the particular focus of Bring out the Brilliance groups. These schools were chosen by adopting the particular method of convenience sampling as it was easy for the researcher to approach these schools. There were 13 students which considered as participants for the study. Participants were classified into three different groups. A particular scale of the School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI) was chosen by the researcher to assess the features of reliability and validity of the study. It was also used to figure out the feature of change in case of the motivation of students in case of before and after the impact of Bring out the Brilliance group. The subscale for this study named as organizational techniques (ORG), time management (TIME), low academic motivation (LOMOT), and test anxiety (TANX). Data for the study was collected in the form of grade point average (GPA), attendance, and the feature of discipline. The prospect of paired sampled T-test indicates the results of the study. Results of the study show that there is an indication of improvement in case of ninth-and-tenth- grade underachieving students in case of organizational skills, time management, and the feature of motivation to achieve academic goals.
“Comprehensive school counseling in Rhode Island: Access to services and student outcomes” is the particular research study which was presented by Carey Dimmitt and Belinda Wilkerson. This research work was conducted in 2012 for the specific region of Rhode Island with the focus on the importance of the aspect of school counseling. All the factors related to the study was examined during the time-period of two years. School counseling is the broad concept which was critically addressed by the researchers. School counseling intervention has the major role in the attainment of the desired outcomes in case of students (Dimmitt & Wilkerson, 2012). Learning results must be enhanced by the proper consideration and implementation of the prospect of counseling. It is also necessary to understand that there is a number of hindrances which make it difficult to assess the impact of counseling in the educational institute setting. Educational results come up with many features which determine the overall prospect of counseling.
It is also crucial for the research to critically and effectively make a decision about the inclusion of the specific school outcome concerning to the concept of counseling interventions in schools. Another challenge which was identified by the researchers that implementation of different practices of counseling interventions in different schools and states also make it difficult to adopt the effective approach of counseling. The particular focus of the following study is to understand the paradigm of school counseling programs with the consideration of the provision of the effective services to students. It is immensely crucial to understand that to assure that all students of different schools in the district have the equal chances to approach the services of counseling. Another point of concern of this research study to understand the learning paradigm in schools in case of students who characterize as the economically disadvantaged students or identify as African-American and Hispanic students. Another point of consideration in case of this particular study is to explore the association which exists between different school counseling programs and the overall prospect of student outcomes. This specific relationship helps to understand the most suitable practices which are needed to encourage students towards the facet of academic success.
It is crucial to reveal that the following study appears with the particular purpose to address the features of school counseling practices and student results in Rhode island referring as the replication and extension of the previously perform research studies. The particular research questions related to this study can be identified as three major features. The primary approach related to the research work is to analyze that whether the comprehensive school counseling services were practice in the schools of Rhode Island. The second research question related to the identification of the proper implementation of the counseling services in schools on the basis of consistency. Another point of consideration in case of the research question for this study is to analyze the outcomes of the students with the consideration of the approach of co-vary related to the aspect of the delivery of particular counseling services in schools. All the three questions effectively align with the main purpose of the study which comes with the focus to investigate the particular nature of the delivery of the approach of comprehensive school counseling services in the specific case of Rhode Island schools and to evaluate the association between the particular counseling activities and the related student’s results.
The participants for the following study are characterized on the basis of the Information Works dataset which comes with the related form of information. Most of the data comprises on the SALT school counseling survey for the years of 2007 to 2008. The sample for the study was based on 51 middle and high schools of the island that effectively features with SALT survey for the particular program of counseling. All the information required for the study was established by the particular approach of Center for School Improvement and Educational Policy (CSIEP).
The technique of Pearson correlation coefficients was applied to determine the association between the variables of the study. After the statistical analysis, the results of the study shows that there was the strong and consistent association between the elements of amounts of counseling services in schools and the positive students’ results. It is also notable to mention that the particular schools which have the effective approach for the features of free or reduced-price lunch status and the higher approach of minority students come up with the fewer options of comprehensive counseling services.
The prospect of schools counseling was also effectively addressed by Richard T. Lapan, Norman C. Gysbers, and Gregory f. Petroski in 2001 named as: “Helping Seventh Graders be Safe and Successful: A Statewide Study of the Impact of Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling programs.” The focus of this particular study is to critically identify the challenges related to the particular concept and practice of school counseling in the country. It became crucial and mandatory for the schools to adopt the comprehensive approach to deal with the issues such as violence, drugs, the quality of life (QOL) etc. to enhance the learning perspective.
The main purpose of this study can be identified as the attempt to assess the feature of implementation of the comprehensive guidance and counseling programs on the state level to figure out its impact on the particular perceptions of safety in schools. It also addresses the paradigm of students’ satisfaction with their education level, grades, association with their teachers and most importantly to establish the feature that how today perceptions can be effectively connects with the future directions (R. T. Lapan, Gysbers, & Petroski, 2001). Research questions for the following study examined on the basis of three major classifications. The initial focus was to identify what are the existing indicators of safety and success in case of students effectively aligned with their characteristics. Another research question was to determine the implementation of the comprehensive guidance and counseling programs concerning to the indicators of safety and success. The last research question of the study considers the crucial features of enrollment size, socioeconomic level, and the particular level of the enforcement of the counseling program referring to their impact on regression slope between characteristics of students and the specific indicators of safety and accomplishment.
The sample for the following study comprises on MSIP seventh grade student and the middle school teachers survey. Required data were collected for the years 1992 to 1996. The stratified random sampling method was used to collect the MSIP data from the schools of Missouri State. The dataset of the study based on 22,601 students who are seventh graders and 4,868 teachers belong to 184 schools. The feature of MSIP known as Missouri’s school improvement program which comes with the quality standards in case of elementary and secondary education in the state. The statistical method of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was considered to analyze the data for the study. Multiple regression techniques were adopted under the paradigm of HLM model. Results of this study indicate that different prospects of comprehensive counseling program can be achieved in case of student outcomes by controlling the specific feature of socioeconomic status and enrollment size.
Holly Kayler and Jamie Sherman conducted a research study names as “At-Risk Ninth-Grade Students: A Psych educational Group Approach to Increase Study Skills and Grade Point Averages” in 2009. The purpose of their study is to explore the influence of small-group counseling in order to enhance the studying behavior of ninth-grade students whose academic performance lies beneath 50 percent of their class. The authors have described psych educational study skills group by considering ASCA National Model®. With the help of pretest-posttest design, they explored that studying the behavior of ninth-grade students can be supported by a small-group counseling (Kayler & Sherman, 2009). They also found that the relationship of school counselors with students and their parents as well as with other stakeholders can be improved. The authors studied the three important areas for academic improvement of students. These areas include cognitive and metacognitive skills, social skills and self-management skills were studied by the author assuming that these will not only increase the grade point average (GPA) of students but will also improve the interpersonal relationships of counselors, teachers, students, and parents.
In order to focus on these important areas to improve the academic performance of the students and to improve the relationship with students and other stakeholders, this study considered favorable pilot data and suitable group model that is ninth-grade students. On the basis of GPA, the researchers have chosen a mixed-gender as well mixed-race group including 90 out of 101 students of ninth-grade whose performance was at the bottom 50 % of their classmates. For data collection, the pretest-posttest research design was used. For this purpose a worksheet entitled “How Do You Study?” was handed over to the students. A verbal feedback was also used for this purpose.
The pretest and posttest data of 90 students were analyzed by using “t” test statistics. The researchers used a 5-point, Likert-scale to test the data about time usage, persistence, organization, conscientiousness, note-taking skills, reading, and test-taking skills to explore the skills required for the academic achievements of the students having low GPAs. Although the GPAs of several students increased, however, the study did not find the significant mean difference between GPAs of the students of ninth-grade during pretest and posttest as result of the variance analysis indicated. The students discussed their thinking and the problems they faced while improving their academic skills. They also floated different ideas for improving academic performance. Through discussion groups, the researchers guided the students that they can improve their academic performance by using study skills as well as constructive behavior towards schools. The researchers found that there is the need of adopting more skills such as motivational techniques, opening communication with students and their parents along with educational skills to improve the academic achievements of students in terms of GPAs.
Richard T. Lipan, Norman C. Gysbers, Yongmin Sun presented a research study named as “The Impact of More Fully Implemented Guidance Programs on the School Experiences of High School Students: A Statewide Evaluation Study” in 1997. The researchers have conducted this study statewide in order to find the relationship among diversified guidance programs and school experiences of the students in High Schools. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of fully comprehensive guidance programs on the desired outcomes of high school students across different states of the country. In this research study, the first goal of the researchers was to explore whether comprehensive guidance programs of high school in different states are playing a major role in the academic improvement of the students (R. T. Lapan, Gysbers, & Sun, 1997). The second goal was to find out that comprehensive guidance programs in high school increase academic performance of the students irrespective of their gender, races, socioeconomic States of their family, school enrollment etc. The third goal of the researchers was to investigate the possible positive influence of comprehensive guidance programs on the environment of high schools leading to the improved academic performance of the pupils.
The fourth goal of the current research study was to find out whether the guidance programs are fulfilling the career- development needs of high school students by providing adequate career information. In this study, the school improvement program of Missouri schools was studied to find the relationship between comprehensive guidance programs and behavior of students towards academic performance, school environment, and career development. In order to achieve the desired goals, the researchers have used three research questions. The first research question was: is there a positive relationship between students’ features and desired outcomes? The second question examined in the current study was that is there a positive relationship between the level of implementation of comprehensive guidance program and students’ anticipations towards academic performance, the likeness of the school environment and career development. The third research question focused by the researchers in this study to explore the positive impact of the level of fully implemented guidance programs of high school on regression slope among students desired academic outcomes and a range of students characteristics including gender, socioeconomic status of parents, school environment etc.
This study used the data of a random sample of 22,964 students of Missouri high schools for the years 1992-1995 available in the database of MISP. The variables considered in this research study were school characteristics, school environment, students’ characteristics, and students desired outcomes were tested by using a Likert scale to obtain the results for making decisions. The school characteristics consist of the level of implementation of guidance programs in high schools, enrollment size, and socioeconomic status of the school and strength of minorities students were analyzed in this study. The school environment was considered as school safety, uninterrupted classes, and the behavior of classmates. The student’s characteristics considered in this research included gender, parents’ qualification, minority students, career information availed at school etc. The desired students’ results in the study included students’ grades, students’ perception of the quality of education for career development and likeness of school.
A hierarchical linear modeling approach was used in this study to analyze the data of Missouri high schools to investigate the impact of comprehensive guidance programs on academic improvement of students. The impact of school environment and relationship among students’ characteristics and outcomes were achieved by using regression slope and interception. In order to measure the statistical significance, the researchers have used t-test. The findings of the hierarchical linear model supported the four goals of this study. The findings showed that the schools who have implemented comprehensive guidance programs are playing a major role in improving the academic performance of their students. The students reading in those schools who have implemented comprehensive guidance programs believed that their schools are providing adequate career development information and they like their school environment more than other students. The study also found that comprehensive guidance programs do not influence the relationship between students’ outcome and gender, races and socioeconomic status of students.
References
Berger, C. (2013). Bring out the brilliance: A counseling intervention for underachieving students. Professional School Counseling, 17(1), 86–96.
Dimmitt, C., & Wilkerson, B. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling in Rhode Island: Access to services and student outcomes. Professional School Counseling, 16(2), 125–135.
Kayler, H., & Sherman, J. (2009). At-risk ninth-grade students: A psychoeducational group approach to increase study skills and grade point averages. Professional School Counseling, 12(6), 434–439.
Lapan, R., Gysbers, N., Stanley, B., & Pierce, M. (2012). Missouri professional school counselors: Ratios matter, especially in high-poverty schools. Professional School Counseling, 16(2), 108–116.
Lapan, R. T., Gysbers, N. C., & Petroski, G. F. (2001). Helping seventh graders be safe and successful: A statewide study of the impact of comprehensive guidance and counseling programs. Journal of Counseling & Development, 79(3), 320–330.
Lapan, R. T., Gysbers, N. C., & Sun, Y. (1997). The impact of more fully implemented guidance programs on the school experiences of high school students: A statewide evaluation study. Journal of Counseling & Development, 75(4), 292–302.
