School Counselors\' Perceptions of their Academic Preparedness for Job Activities and Actual Job Activities

The school counseling field has evolved over the years and increasingly clarified school counselors' job roles and activities (Burnham & Jackson, 2000; Cervoni & DeLucia-Waack, 2011; Shillingford & Lambie, 2010; Trolley, 2011); however, school counselors\' job roles and activities remain inconsistently understood and practiced (Burnham & Jackson; Cervoni & DeLucia-Waack; Gysbers & Henderson, 2012; Hatch & Chen-Hayes, 2008; Herr & Erford, 2011; Lambie & Williamson, 2004; Perera-Diltz & Mason, 2008; Rayle & Adams, 2008; Scarborough & Culbreth, 2008; Shillingford & Lambie; Studer, Diambra, Breckner & Heidel, 2011; Trolley). School counselors are highly trained in academic preparation programs to perform school counseling job activities in schools (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2008). At the same time, the job expectations taught in academic preparation programs can differ from the actual school counseling job (Allen et al., 2002; Bodenhorn, 2006; Brott & Myers, 1999; Chambers, Zyromski, Asner-Self, and Kimemia, 2010; Culbreth, Scarborough, Banks-Johnson, & Solomon, 2005; Holcomb-McCoy, 2001; Kolodinsky, Draves, Schroder, Lindsey, & Zlatev, 2009; Milsom, 2002; Mustaine, Pappalardo & Wyrick, 1996; National Office for School Counselor Advocacy [NOSCA], 2011, 2012a; Pérusse & Goodnough, 2005; Sisson & Bullis, 1992; Steen, Bauman, & Smith, 2008; Trolley). As a result, several researchers recommended collecting data on school counselors' perceptions of the effectiveness of academic preparation to perform work related practices (Kolodinsky et al.; Pérusse & Goodnough; Pérusse, Goodnough, & Noël, 2001; Sisson & Bullis; Trolley). In this dissertation study the author gathered information on and examined discrepancies between school counselors\' reported academic preparation and actual job activities. The author will describe an overview of the problem in Chapter One, an in-depth literature review will be conducted in Chapter Two, the methodology will be described in Chapter Three, the results of the study will be outlined in Chapter Four, and lastly, Chapter Five will include a discussion of the results of the study, including implications and recommendations. Ph. D.