Graduation Year

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Granting Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Major Professor

Dr. Herbert Exum

Keywords

Accountability, Deliberate Practice, School Counselor, Self-Efficacy

Abstract

This study examined the degree and frequency to which school counselors' utilized accountability measures and deliberate practice and their impact on perceived levels of counselor self-efficacy, as well as, perceived levels of student academic success. This study attempted to answer several critical questions regarding school counselor accountability and deliberate practice. It assessed the relationship between receipt of formal training in the American School Counseling Association Model (ASCA) or another counseling model and likelihood of using ASCA principles, the relationship between years of work experience and use of accountability measures and deliberate practice, the relationship between use of accountability measures and deliberate practice on perceived levels of counselor self-efficacy, and the relationship between use of accountability measures and deliberate practice on perceived levels of student academic success; that is the degree to which counselors' believe their services impact students' outcomes.

This study included a national sample of 1,084 currently practicing school counselors who were members of ASCA and responded to a web-based survey on school counselor practices.

Three of the four hypotheses were either partially or fully supported and one hypothesis was unsupported by the findings. The first hypothesis was fully supported in that participants who received formal ASCA training were found to be more likely to implement ASCA principles (accountability measures and deliberate practice) on a regular basis. The second hypothesis was unsupported by the findings, which indicated years of accumulative school counseling experience would be positively associated with use of ASCA principles. The third hypothesis was partially supported in that, years of work experience and use of accountability measures would be positively associated with increased levels of perceived self-efficacy, while deliberate practice was found to have no relationship with perceived levels of self-efficacy. The fourth hypothesis was fully supported by the findings in that an inverse relationship was found between years of work experience and student outcomes and a positive relationship existed between use of accountability measures and deliberate practice and student outcomes.

Limitations to this study include lack of generalizability, self-reporting, and missing data. The findings of this study can only be generalized to working school counselors who work at the K-12 level. Additionally, self-reporting was a limitation due to bias and missing data is a limitation due to participants agreeing to participate, starting the survey, but failing to complete the entire survey.

Suggestions for future research include conducting other national surveys that incorporate questions asking participants how long they have been following a national counseling framework and if they believe utilizing these ASCA principles improves their work performance. Other future suggestions included conducting studies on the best way to train counselors to use ASCA principles in order to enhance their work performance. Lastly, future studies need to be conducted in order to determine which interventions elicit the most positive outcomes for students to achieve academic excellence.

This study also provided contributions to the field of counseling. Results of this study provide insight for working school counselors, counselor education programs, and professional associations regarding the beliefs of school counselors pertaining to the impact that utilizing accountability measures and deliberate practice have on perceived levels of counselor self-efficacy, as well as, perceived levels of student outcomes.

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