While approximately 62% of high school graduates enroll in college, almost half of these students do not return for their second year in school. This demonstratable gap in college interest and reaching actual goals speaks to a need for information on how to facilitate the precollege guidance process to achieve more successful high school graduate and postsecondary institution matches. Much information is available in regard to the college choice process of high school students considering four year colleges and universities; scant information is known about how students discover information about the complete range of postsecondary educational opportunities. In particular, the community and technical college postsecondary education options have received minimal attention. Providing precollege counseling and information to students is considered a function of the high school counselor. Therefore, their perceptions and knowledge of postsecondary educational institutions are important in understanding the information they relate to their students. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe high school counselors' perceptions of community and technical colleges as viable and valued postsecondary education options. The study probed into the unique experiences of high school counselors from a major school system and examined how their perceptions were informed and shaped. A qualitative research design incorporating one-on-one interviews was conducted. The conceptual framework guiding this study was informed and developed by integrating three respected models: McDonough's (1997) model of building a comprehensive college culture in the high school, McClafferty and McDonough's (2002) model, and the American School Counselor Association National Model. The perceptions of the high school counselors resulted in five themes which included experiences with university bound students, experiences with community and technical college bound students, pathways of awareness of community and technical colleges, precollege counseling, and perceptions of community and technical colleges. The study concludes with implications for policy, practice, and recommendations for further study.

This study seeks as its purpose to establish an .objective evaluation of the counselor and his role as seen by various professional groups. The primary purpose of the investigation is to compare the perceptions of these various groups as to the tasks a counselor may perform. The study involves the distribution of an opinionn-aire to one hundred public high school counselors, one hundred public high school principals, sixty-three counselor-educators, and forty-two administrator-educators. A return percentage of seventy-nine has been realized.

There has been extensive criticism of schools for allowing counselors to be used for duties that lie beyond defined counselor roles. The purpose of this study was to determine if counselors are still being misused today as they have allegedly been in the past. The problem was divided into nine questions in order to ascertain differences in actual and ideal roles of secondary school counselors as perceived by counselors, principals and counselor educators. The study was limited to secondary schools in the Region X Education Service Center in Texas. The study included brief definitions of roles and an extensive review of literature. Twenty-three schools from the Region X Education Service Center in Texas were chosen using a random, stratified selection process. A counselor and the principal from each of these schools were interviewed using a Q sort. Three counselor educators were randomly selected to participate from each of three universities in the area. The Q-sort technique was used in order to determine differences in actual and ideal perceptions of the counselor's role as held by counselors, principals, and counselor educators. Cohen's equation for Q sorts was used to establish correlations between the different perceptions. A t distribution for correlation was used to determine significance. There was a significant positive correlation for these groups concerning their perceptions of secondary school counselors' roles: 1. Counselors' actual and counselors' ideal. 2. Principals' actual and principals' ideal. 3. Counselor educators' actual and counselors* ideal. 4. Counselors' and principals' actual. 5. Principals' and counselor educators' actual. 6. Counselors' and counselor educators' actual. 7. Counselors' and principals' ideal. 8. Counselors' and counselor educators' ideal. 9. Principals' and counselor educators' ideal. The Q-sort questions were also analyzed to determine which roles were ranked by these three groups to be most and least important.

The ACT automated admissions system was adopted by the Colleges and Universities in the Utah system of higher education in 1974. The automated admission system was conceived at a time when College enrollment all over the United States was decreasing, and thus was viewed by its proponents as a positive step in alleviating some of the articulation problems between post secondary institutions, high school counselors and prospective students. Educators who developed the program felt that it would be an advantage to prospective students by providing an admissions decision shortly after the ACT was taken. Automated admissions appears to be an advantage to high school counselors because it eliminates the need for a high school transcript in the admissions process, and because it reduces the amount of time the counselor is involved in the mechanics of the admissions process. This study represents an effort to determine the impact of the Automated Admissions system on the high school counselor and on prospective college students. The results of this study indicate that a significant number of Utah high school counselors favor the Automated Admissions system as opposed to "traditional" admissions systems formerly in use, because of the reduction in clerical work required of the counselor.

Co llege enrollment rates in the U.S. have increased over the last 40 years, yet students from undcrservcd communities remain underrepresented. Families in these communities aspire for their children to go to college, but often lack access to the necessary social capital to transform aspirations for their children into action. Federal 6 initiatives focused on increasing educational attainment for students in underserved comn1tmities emphasize the critically important role of the school counselor. The school counselor is ideally positioned to reduce barriers to family engagement in the college access process. Yet, there is a lack of focused support and professional development resources for school counselors. To gain more in sight into how professional development might improve counselors' abilities to support family engagement in college access, I employed an action-oriented qualitative case study to critically consider how urban school counselors took action to address local educational inequities and engage families as partners in the postsecondary process.

This qualitative study examined high school counselors' perceptions of postsecondary transition services to students with specific learning disabilities. Seven high school counselors in the Unnamed County Schools were interviewed to examine their perceptions of postsecondary transition services to students with specific learning disabilities. Categories that involved school counselor's perceptions of the provision of postsecondary transition services for students with learning disabilities emerged from the data. These themes were as follows: 1) plan of study for postsecondary goals based on vocational assessments, 2) assistance provided to prepare for college or work, 3) duties of counselors and involvement in the transition process, and 4) the IEP team, postsecondary goals, and self-advocacy of accommodation needs. There was also an area of other findings that was noted but was not identified as a theme. This other findings involved a participant's postsecondary personal vocational experience. Participants reported transition assessments that were administered to students with learning disabilities to determine career interests and strengths. Participants also discussed how transition services were included in the plan of study and career goals. Participants indicated that the School-to-Work program has helped students with learning disabilities work within the city and gain experiences in their area of interest. Additionally, participants suggested that students with learning disabilities have attended Career Technology Education (CTE) classes that provided a strong connection with the community and businesses. Participants spoke about their depth of knowledge on courses, scheduling, colleges' admission standards, and the employment process for all students. Participants also indicated that they have supplied information for the postsecondary transition service plans for students with disabilities at IEP meetings. Findings from this study may have encouraged high school counselors to expand their practice and perform at an enhanced level when helping students with special needs go to college, get a job, and succeed in life.

Current enrollment in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in the United States and in the state of Kansas is lagging behind the future demand for skilled workers. With millions of skilled labor positions unfilled and the pending retirement of the baby boomer generation, the United States is at a critical juncture to compete in the global marketplace. High school career counselors are the primary resource for CTE program recruitment. The purpose of this study was to examine whether high school career counselors' educational backgrounds, knowledge levels of CTE initiatives and programs in Kansas, and available counseling time were associated with their perceptions of CTE. The study was based on the constructivist learning theory that suggests individuals tend to learn from their past experiences and utilize those experiences to create meaning for the future. A cross-sectional survey design was used for this study to collect data on the knowledge levels, education, counseling time, and perceptions of CTE initiatives and programs held by high school career counselors (N = 485) in the state of Kansas. Chi square analyses of the associations among variables revealed that knowledge levels and counseling time were related to counselors' perceptions of CTE. However, no significant association was found between counselor educational background and perceptions of CTE. This study is significant to educational institutions and the economy in Kansas because the findings may be used to target CTE recruitment training for high school counselors. This training may improve recruiting strategies for CTE students and address Kansas' future needs for a skilled workforce.