Guidance Counselors Have Power

04/22/2013
EDUC 533.001
Guidance Counselors Have Power Our world continues to update in educational reform and policy. The mechanisms put into place by administrators and school officials have a profound effect upon the students who walk through the school hallways. Creating accountability standards and high-stakes testing has put teachers at the forefront of the national spotlight for education. The pressure is placed upon them to get high test scores, make sure all students perform on grade level, and bridge the racial achievement gap. That is enough pressure to be combustible; however, among reform efforts there exists a position that would help revitalize education substantially. The guidance counselor is often someone who is behind the scenes in school action. It is often the most underutilized position in an education setting. And yet, it is the most pivotal and influential on a student’s education especially at the secondary level. From Gary Howard’s, We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know, educators, especially Caucasian ones, “have a choice to turn the full force of our privilege and power toward dismantling the very system that has granted us our historical advantage (140).” Those who have been historically underserved, those of color and females, may have the most to gain from a guidance counselor and a transformation may just show its true effectiveness. In order to do so, the role of the guidance counselor must be defined. Traditionally, the guidance counselor has been a part of the mental health aspect since school integration. Students were seen for more personal rather school issues. Through modernizing of education, the school guidance counselor has evolved to handle academic tracks, course planning, and postsecondary explorations. Now counselors are also faced with such issues as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, school violence, let alone trying to deal with the issue of equity. As education reform continues to fireball, there has been little emphasis on the guidance counselors’ role. This may be due to overlooking what guidance counselor’s ultimately contribute to education. And if they are devalued, their role is meaningless. This meaningless may stem from the fact that most of these counselor’s roles are unclear. They vary state to state and from school to school. When this is the case, they are used at the expense of administrators and other higher-ranking authority (House and Martin 285-86). This not only is ineffective leadership, but also is a disservice to the students when interests do not align with that of their needs. In a study done by Valerie Lee and Ruth Ekstrom in 1987, they analyzed data from public high schools across the nation for effects of and direct access to guidance counseling. Their results highlight the educational disparity in equality of schooling. Students have to decide each semester what courses they need to take to graduate and meet all of the requirements for high school. But many of these students do not know what track they are in and which courses they should be taking. This service falls under the role of the guidance counselor. Lee and Ekstrom found that over fifty percent of students had not met with the guidance counselor to discuss any of their academic requirements (295-6). Many of them had been assigned an academic track without talking to a guidance counselor and most of the decisions regarding school were made with the students’ mother rather than a teacher or guidance counselor (Lee and Ekstrom 296). The most astounding result from their statistical research hints at the heart of the achievement gap, “Moreover, students who plan to attend any type of college (particularly a 4-year college), females, black students, Hispanic students, and rural students are significantly more strongly influenced by a counselor in panning for their post-high school year even when all other factors are equal (Lee and Ekstrom 304).” Some of these factors include the students’ background, achievement, the school they attended, what track they were in, and their postsecondary plans. To see how much one person can affect the lives of so many students and their life choices, it stresses what the guidance counseling position embodies and its vitality. When regressed for all factors again, they also found that students’ access to track placement had a direct net effect on guidance counseling (Lee and Ekstrom 300). Those without college aspirations are typically seen as ‘unspecial’ and less important (Lee and Ekstrom 305). Guidance counselors make life-changing decisions whether they know it or not. Young students lives hinge on critical decisions from guidance counselors. Those who attend more urban schools are more likely to have access to guidance counselors than those who do not attend these schools (Lee and Ekstrom 299). This gives reason to invest more into guidance counseling and its importance is doubly so in non-metropolitan areas. Seemingly in the past two decades, there has been a call to put these ideas into action. It started in 1996 with the Transforming School Counseling Initiative (TCSI). This initiative ventures to cover every base of what the contemporary guidance counselor can and should do. This process was supposed to take place over a five year period and aimed that all students could achieve at high levels (Martin 148). Guidance counselors, through the amount of data that is collected from students can identify what barriers exist and where gaps lie in education. This access gives them a prime position for leadership and advocacy of students (Martin 149-50). In 2003, there was also a comprehensive school counseling program that created by the American School Counselors Association as a national model to follow for all school levels. Its philosophy aims at fulfilling support for all of a student’s needs including academic and life skills. In a study done by Burnham, Dahir and Stone in 2009, they compared aspects of counseling endeavors for all school levels. High schools in particular tended to show a traditional sense of focusing solely on academic courses and postsecondary options (Burnham, Dahir, and Stone 189). The less emphasized elements were personal and social development, i.e. respect, coping, and resiliency (Burnham, Dahir, and Stoner 190). These standards were implemented as a part of the 2003 model in hopes of addressing all phases of a student’s life in high school as there is a tremendous balancing act of academics and life issues. As a part of the districts chosen to start the counseling program, there has been a noticeable difference in higher grades, less disciplinary incidents, and more prosocial behavior (Burnham, Dahir, and Stoner 182). Redefining the counseling position presents as great a challenge as it is to originally define it. But adjusting for a new generation is necessary and counseling cannot be left out of the picture. So what cannot happen is the continuing trend of guidance counselors acting as, “ ‘dream-breakers’ rather than ‘dream-makers and dream-keepers’ for large numbers of children in schools (House and Martin 286).” The ideal role of guidance counselors should be revamped as a part of these initiatives to be the instigators of change. They are at the forefront of social action and can provide the active leadership for social justice (Martin 152). Why is this the case? “A set of academic experiences comes from guidance counseling (Lee and Ekstrom 1987).” In Diane Ravitch’s, The Death And Life Of The Great American School System, she mentions accountability standards for judging a student’s success. Counselors are arbitrators of what classes a student takes. They can be part of the professional judgment to provide evidence for student achievement (162-3). By being aggressive and empowering students with options and their teachers on how they may more effectively interact with a student, is crucial. It is essential that counselors know how to work in multicultural settings to understand that each student requires layered support with of both home and school (Martin 152). With an improved overhaul of the guidance counseling role, education professionals can work with one another to share the data that is collected from their students to see trends in teachers that are ineffective, classes students should take, and what barriers lie in academic tracks (particularly for non-white students). An idealized update of the guidance counselor allows for the use of data to be effective and the changes over past years. This also means universities and colleges can do their part by ensuring that those entering counseling are not grouped together. Those that venture toward guidance counseling should have more knowledge of academic requirements of students and the demographics of students that attend schools in the area (Martin 150). Overall, it mandates that guidance counselors are open-minded, assertive, and hold high expectations of all students. There are no favorites and there are no ‘unspecial’ students. Stepping into this class called, “Social Justice,” I had no idea what to expect. I believe most guidance counselors feel that way when they step foot in their office. The course could have taken any direction. I could pay attention to only stuff that is intriguing to me as counselors do sometimes when they play favorites. Or I could entertain all of the opinions of socratic seminar and listen actively to what each person has to say. A counselor can choose to pay attention to all of the needs of a student or just a part. At the beginning of the course, I would think that a guidance counselor just needs more support because they are overwhelmed or an outside service should come into help. This is the privileged position of trying to make a decision or give solutions without dissecting the whole of the situation. From investigating this problem with a more mindful and indirect approach, many angles can be explored into the issue of guidance counseling. We have come to realize all of what a guidance counselor can do besides sit on the sidelines or play hall monitor. They do have an impact on a student’s education. The Pedagogy Of The Oppressed, by Paulo Freire speaks to the impact that counselors have because as humans they act as interventionists. They create a dialogue between themselves and the student. That dialogue provides motivation for each to help one another toward completion and moving beyond high school (Freire 82-9). And when that impact is greatest on students of color and female students for their postsecondary education plans, social justice has a chance to be enacted. That one person can decide whether these students go to college from their decisive action or sinful inaction. From this perspective, it is an injustice to attend to only a part of student’s needs. It is unjust to ignore the students who do not plan on enrolling in college after high school. And it is supremely unjust to deny advice to those who either do not seek it or do not know it is available. A guidance counselor has a lot to juggle with maturing teenagers and life’s complexities. They themselves need support and their field, expansion. Albeit for now, they are the supporters with the tools and knowledge to be the change in a student’s life. They may not get full credit, but it does not matter. No one would expect any less of a doctor if they were saving a child’s life and we should not expect any less of a guidance counselor as an educated professional to help every student succeed. It is demanding and strenuous. When we hold students to high expectations, then that same expectation applies to the counselor as well. They will do everything in their power to help that student succeed. When that is given, then they have truly provided what their title conveys — guidance.

Works Cited
Burnham, Joy J., Carol A. Dahir, and Carolyn Stone. "Listen to the voices: school counselors and comprehensive school counseling programs." Professional School Counseling 12.3 (2009) 182-91. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2000. Print.
House, Reese M. Martin, Patricia J. "Advocating For Better Futures For All Students: A New Vision For School Counselors." Education 119.2 (1998): 284-91. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
Howard, Gary R. We Can 't Teach What We Don 't Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools. New York: Teachers College, 1999. Print.
Lee, Valerie E., and Ruth B. Ekstrom. "Student Access to Guidance Counseling in High School." American Educational Research Journal 24.2 (1987): 287-310. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
Martin, Patricia J. "Transforming School Counseling: A National Perspective." Theory Into Practice 41.3 (2002): 148-53. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. New York: Basic, 2010. Print.

Cited: (2009) 182-91. Academic OneFile. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2000. Print. House, Reese M. Martin, Patricia J. "Advocating For Better Futures For All Students: A New Vision For School Counselors." Education 119.2 (1998): 284-91 Complete. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. Howard, Gary R. We Can 't Teach What We Don 't Know: White Teachers, Multiracial Schools. New York: Teachers College, 1999. Print. Lee, Valerie E., and Ruth B. Ekstrom. "Student Access to Guidance Counseling in High School." American Educational Research Journal 24.2 (1987): 287-310. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. Martin, Patricia J Practice 41.3 (2002): 148-53. Web. 14 Apr. 2013. Ravitch, Diane