The High School Counselor: What impact are you making?

An unfortunate truth is that many students are entering college unprepared on multiple levels: financially, academically, and socially. Furthermore, many do not reach their full academic potential due to inefficiencies with the school counseling programs. As a future high school counselor, I would like to contribute to changing this dynamic in a positive way. In doing so, I have researched school counselors’ impact on college readiness and found a few common threads that could be helpful to school counselors out in the field.

Four Things to Consider as a High School Counselor

1. Advising styles should be aligned with individual student styles. In a study by Barbuto, Story, Fritz, and Schinstock (2011), developmental/transformational style advising was found to be most effective. It is also important to remember that styles may vary with each student, and you will probably be most effective if you tailor your approach as such.

2. Take the time to get to know your students and learn about their individual needs. The level of necessary interaction /intervention may vary from student to student. The level of need may vary with socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, gender, and first-generation status (Belasco, 2013; Reid & Moore, 2008; Tierney, Sablan, & Strayhorn, 2014).

3. Consistently evaluate students’ academic course loads. Are your students meeting their full potential? According to a study by Reid and Moore (2008), students wished they had been encouraged to pursue more rigorous coursework in high school.

4. Help ensure that students have equal access to SAT/ACT preparatory sources. Reid and Moore (2008) also found that students felt they were less prepared for college because they lacked the resources that other students and schools had, such as SAT/ACT preparatory courses.

This can certainly be a lot of information to take in at once, and you are probably wondering how you can implement these suggestions and make a positive impact. I encourage you to think about the following questions. First, it is important to examine yourself and where you are now. What is your advising style? How often do you meet with students? Do you tailor your advising to the students’ needs? How well do you know your students? Next, do your research. Reflect on the counseling approaches that your school currently implements, examine how other schools are doing it, weigh out the pros and cons, and then design a unique combination that works best for you and your students.

Ghislaine Ruiz is a first-year master’s student in the school counseling program at the Boston University School of Education, with the intention of becoming a school counselor for the high school population. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Psychology and Human Relations from Pace University. Her personal experience with her high school counselors and their influence on her college trajectory planted a seed of interest that would eventually become one of her passions.

References

Barbuto, J., Story, J., Fritz, S., & Schinstock, J. (2011). Full range advising: Transforming the advisor-advisee experience. Journal of College Student Development, 52(6), 656-670. doi:10.1353/csd.2011.0079

Belasco, A. S. (2013). Creating college opportunity: School counselors and their influence on postsecondary enrollment. Research in Higher Education, 54(7), 781-804. doi:10.1007/s11162-013-9297-4

Reid, M. J., & Moore, James L., I., II. (2008). College readiness and academic preparation for postsecondary education: Oral histories of first-generation urban college students. Urban Education, 43(2), 240-261. doi:10.1177/0042085907312346

Tierney, W. G., Sablan, J. R., & Strayhorn, T. L. (2014). Modeling the determinants of college readiness for historically underrepresented students at 4-year colleges and universities. American Behavioral Scientist, 58(8), 972-993. doi:10.1177/0002764213515230