The researcher examined school counselors’ and administrator’s perceptions of the readiness level to implement the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) National Model. The researcher evaluated the differences in perceived readiness, between counselors and administrators, across in each of the 7 ASCA National Model District Readiness Survey indicators (i.e., community support, leadership, guidance curriculum, school counselor’ beliefs and attitudes, school counselors’ skills, district resources, and staffing/time use). The researcher also addressed certain school and position characteristics that could be predictors of the readiness level. The predictor variables included: highest degree of education, age, student-to-counselor ratio, years of total experience in schools, years of counseling and/or administrative experience, gender, ethnicity, grade level of school, and school role. The research provided evidence that school counselors perceived their district to be ready in the areas of School Counselors’ Skills, and School Counselors’ Beliefs and Attitudes indicators. The areas where school counselors indicated they perceived their school district as minimally ready were Leadership, Community Support, and Guidance Curriculum. In the areas of Staffing/Time Use and District Resources, school counselors reported perceiving their school district as being not ready. School administrators perceived their district to be ready in the areas of Community Support, Leadership, Guidance Curriculum, School Counselors’ Beliefs and Attitudes, and School Counselors’ Skills indicators. The areas where school administrators indicated they perceived their school district as minimally ready were Staffing/Time Use and District Resources. There were no areas in which administrators reported perceiving their school district as being not ready. Based on school counselor perceptions, the “overall” readiness level of their district was minimally ready to implement the ASCA National Model. Based on school administrator perceptions, the “overall” readiness level of their district was ready to implement the ASCA National Model. The school counselor and administrator perceptions were significantly different across all 7 readiness factors of the ASCA National Model District Readiness Survey. The classification of school counselors and administrator was determined to account for 30.4% of the variance in the overall perception of district readiness level to implement the ASCA National Model.

Student success is important for student learning, for parents, and for schools; however, in the last decade standardized test data has shed much light on the need for improved student performance across grade levels. Research findings identify that there are millions of struggling readers in US schools. Using assessment data, schools are implementing various types of intervention systems in an effort to meet all students' needs. Response to Intervention (RtI) is a method of intervention that provides systematic assistance to students who have learning difficulties and need additional support beyond regular classroom instruction. Results showed that RtI related activities (i.e., academic, behavioral, social) encompassed the majority of the participating school counselors' time and responsibilities. Additional results showed that because of the increased number of struggling learners in schools and the way schools view the school counselor's responsibilities, a shift has occurred in their overall role. Participating counselors reported that they spend a fraction of their time in counseling and the majority of their time in "managing" cases; they deal with countless hours of paperwork and testing. Study results also raised questions about what RtI is, how the model is implemented in schools, and about a need to revisit the role of the school counselor within the RtI framework. Our students will benefit not only from quality instruction, assessment, support, and services, but they also need the valuable services of a school counselor. School counselors with the collaboration of teachers and parents provide the most beneficial way for student success.

After a critical review of the literature on school counselor self-efficacy and Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, and Hacket, 1994; Lent and Brown, 1996) this cross-sectional study of practicing middle school counselors was conducted. The study identified levels of career counseling self-efficacy in a sample of 143 practicing middle school counselors across Virginia using the Career Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale-Modified (O'Brien, Heppner, Flores, and Bikos et al., 1997), and a subscale of the School Counselor Self-Efficacy Scale (Bodenhorn and Skaggs, 2005). In addition, mean differences in career counseling self-efficacy across experiences such as work as a school counselor, work as a teacher, and recent training in career counseling were explored. Finally, the relationship between career counseling self-efficacy and amount of time spent providing career counseling was identified using a correlation analysis. Implications for school counselors, counselor educators, and administrators are discussed. / Ph. D.

Relational aggression (RA) is a type of bullying in which the relationship is used as the agent of harm (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). RA behaviors are intended to impair or ruin reputations, friendships, and feelings of inclusion in a peer group (Putallaz et al., 2007). Professional School Counselors (PSCs) are charged to be social justice advocates for students; RA is a social justice issue because the effects of RA bullying, victimization, and bullying/victimization lead to poor academic achievement. Recent literature suggests that PSCs do not perceive the effects of RA to be as serious as the effects of physical and verbal bullying; however, training can increase RA sensitivity and willingness to intervene (Jacobsen & Bauman, 2007). No studies have explored PSC training, PSC perceptions regarding RA, PSC perceived barriers to RA intervention, and PSC intervention strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine PSC training for RA, PSC perceptions of RA as an issue with serious consequences for students, PSC perceived barriers to RA care, and the interventions PSCs currently use for RA. This study also examined if sex differences, grade level with which PSC worked, and school type in which PSC worked existed in PSC perceptions of RA as an issue with serious consequences for students. A substantial amount of PSCs surveyed strongly agreed (24.5%), agreed (39.8%) and somewhat agreed (26.8%; a cumulative of 91.2% of participants) that RA was an issue with serious consequences for students with whom they work. RA was recognized by PSCs as an issue with serious consequences for students with no significant differences by training, gender, and school type at which the PSC worked. Significant differences were found by school level with which the PSC worked. Several barriers to RA care were identified including lack of time, parents, issues with students reporting RA, and the confusion surrounding instances of RA. Several important RA interventions were identified including individual counseling with the victim and/or bully, using outside resources, group counseling, and focusing on school wide bullying interventions. Implications for PSC practice and training were given in addition to implications for future research.

The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional survey study was to compare school counselors’ and principals’ perceptions of the frequency with which school counselors perform activities that align with the ASCA National Model (ASCA, 2005) and those activities that do not, as measured by the School Counselor Activity Rating Scale (SCARS) (Scarborough, 2005). Results indicate that the school counselors and principals that participated in the study agreed that school counselors are spending most of their time engaged in activities that align with the ASCA National Model (ASCA, 2005). Significant differences (p < .05) appeared on 10 items in which five were related to counseling activities, primarily as they relate to small group counseling. Principals indicated their school counselors were conducting small group activities related to academic and substance abuse issues more frequently than the school counselors indicated. Other areas that showed significant differences (p < .05) between school counselors’ and principals’ responses included conducting classroom guidance lessons on substance abuse issues, consulting with school staff regarding students’ behavior, and such coordination activities as professional development and school counseling advisory teams. School counselors indicated they engaged in the non-counseling activity of substituting/covering classes more frequently than principals indicated (p = .032). Implications for school counselors, principals, and counselor education and education administration faculty are discussed.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka vilka förutsättningar skolkuratorer i Stockholmupplever sig ha för att arbeta förebyggande och hälsofrämjande med psykisk ohälsa bland unga. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats då nio intervjuer med skolkuratorer verksamma på gymnasieskolor i Stockholmsområdet har genomförts. Delar av Lipskys (2010) teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater och deras handlingsutrymme samt en organisationsteori från Abrahamsson (2000) användes för att analysera empirin. Resultatet visade att de intervjuade skolkuratorerna upplevde sig ha varierande förutsättningar att arbeta förebyggande och hälsofrämjande med psykisk ohälsa bland eleverna. Vidare framkom att det är otydligt definierat, både i skollagen (2010:800) och på de enskilda arbetsplatserna, vad det innebär i praktiken att arbetaförebyggande och hälsofrämjande. Genomgående uttryckte skolkuratorerna en önskan om att arbeta mer på gruppnivå vilket också var deras definition av förebyggande och hälsofrämjande arbete. Resultatet visade att skolkuratorernas ambitioner inte stämde överens med hur de beskrevatt de arbetade. Avslutningsvis diskuteras skolkuratorernas upplevda svårigheter med att vara den enda personen som bedriver psykosocialt arbete i en organisation som skolan, där fokus främst är måluppfyllelse. / The aim of this study was to investigate how school counsellors in Stockholm experienced their work conditions and their own abilities to work with mental health prevention and health promotion among young students. The study was conducted trough nine qualitative interviews with school counsellors at nine upper secondary schools, in the Stockholm area. To analyze the empirical data, we have used parts of Lipskys (2010) theory about “street level-bureacrats” and their discretion, and Abrahamssons (2000) theory about organization. The results showed different conditions and abilities among the interviewees for working with prevention and health promotion projects among young students. Our results also showed that the Swedish Education Act and school counsellors job descriptions was vaguely defined regarding the prevention and health promotion projects. Througout the interviews, the school counsellors expressed a desire to work more with group projects, which was also their definition of prevention and health promotion. The results also showed an inconsistency between the school counsellors ambitions and the way they currently carry out their work. In the conclusion we discuss how the school counsellors feel about being the only employee that works with social work, in organisations that primarily focus on achievements.

Tidigare forskning gällande skolkuratorer har visat att deras roll på skolan är oklar och att deras arbete är relativt oreglerat. Den tidigare forskningen som gjorts, särskilt i Sverige, är begränsad och det finns mycket att utforska på området. Skolkuratorns handlingsutrymme är en aspekt av området som är relativt outforskat. Syftet med studien är att undersöka skolkuratorns upplevelse och tolkning av sitt handlingsutrymme i sitt yrkesutövande. Studien har en kvalitativ inriktning. Fem semi-strukturerade intervjuer med skolkuratorer genomfördes. Som teoretisk referensram har Michael Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater använts samt hans teoretiska begrepp handlingsutrymme.   Resultatet visar att kuratorerna upplever de riktlinjer och lagar som finns för deras arbete som lösa och tolkningsbara. De upplever även sitt handlingsutrymme som stort. Resultatet visar även att det finns ett flertal faktorer som kan påverka skolkuratorernas handlingsutrymme, både som gör det större och som krymper det. / Previous research regarding school social workers and school counselors has shown that their role in school is unclear and that their work is relatively unregulated. Despite this there have been few studies, especially in Sweden, in the area of school counselors. Particularly the discretion of the school counselor is an aspect of the area that is relatively unexplored. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the school counselors experience and interpretation of their discretion in the exercise of their profession. The study has a qualitative approach. Five semi-structured interviews with school counselors were conducted. Michael Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucrats and his theoretical concept of discretion have been used as a theoretical framework in this study.   The results show that the school counselors experience the laws and guidelines that are applicable for their work as loose and interpretable. They also experience their discretion as large. The results also show that there are several factors that can affect the school counselors’ discretion, factors that can both shrink their discretion and make it larger.

<p>Ova doktorska disertacija bavila se utvrĊivanjem refleksije profesionalnog identiteta<br />pedagoga u savremenoj &scaron;kolskoj kulturi. TakoĊe, u ovom radu bavili smo se i profesionalnim<br />razvojem i novim ulogama pedagoga u savremenoj &scaron;koli. Ukupan uzorak u studiji sluĉaja<br />ĉinilo je 30 &scaron;kolskih pedagoga, struĉnih saradnika u osnovnoj i srednjoj &scaron;koli, sa teritorije<br />Kolubarskog okruga, 4 ispitanika i 26 ispitanica, od kojih 18 radi u gradskoj, a 12 u seoskoj<br />&scaron;koli. Pored ovih varijabli u obzir su uzete i sledeće varijable: godine radnog staţa i stepen<br />obrazovanja.<br />U kontekstu profesionalnog obrazovanja nastavnika, pojam refleksije defini&scaron;e se na<br />razliĉite naĉine. Smit i Haton (Smith &amp; Hatton, 1992) na sledeći naĉin sumiraju aktuelna<br />znaĉenja (modele) refleksije: 1.refleksija se odnosi na mi&scaron;ljenje u akciji, ali i na mi&scaron;ljenje o<br />akciji, 2.refleksija se shvata kao analitiĉki proces koji zahteva vreme, ali moţe da se shvati i<br />kao kratkotrajan, intuitivni proces koji se de&scaron;ava u akciji, 3. re&scaron;avanje problema integralni je<br />deo refleksije, ali refleksija postoji i izvan re&scaron;avanja problema, i 4.ĉesto se refleksija iscrpljuje<br />u razmi&scaron;ljanju o metodama i efektima nastavnog rada, ali moţe da ukljuĉi i &scaron;ira etiĉka i<br />socijalna pitanja obrazovanja.<br />Prouĉavanju refleksije profesionalnog identiteta &scaron;kolskog pedagoga pri&scaron;lo se iz fokusa<br />kvalitativne istraţivaĉke paradigme, a fenomen istraţivanja je posmatran u njegovom<br />prirodnom okruţenju, &scaron;koli. Ovo je kvalitativno istraţivanje, sprovedeno sa stanovi&scaron;ta<br />interpretativne paradigme iz nacrta studije sluĉaja. Kroz kvalitativni pristup, fenomen<br />profesionalnog identiteta &scaron;kolskog pedagoga ţeleli smo da sagledamo iz razliĉitih perspektiva.<br />U savremenim &scaron;kolama &quot;razvoj kompetencija pedagoga zahteva nove pedago&scaron;ke<br />poglede sve vreme, kao i percepciju i stvaranje novih radnih polja i pozitivne okoline za<br />podr&scaron;ku ostvarivanja aktivnosti pedagoga i transparentnost u procesu realizacije.&quot; (Floric,<br />2008: 6)<br />U istraţivanju je kori&scaron;ćen polustruktuirani intervju (koji je sastavio autor ovog rada za<br />potrebe istraţivanja), a koji sadrţi pitanja koja se odnose na: inicijalno obrazovanje pedagoga,<br />iskustva na poĉetku rada u &scaron;koli, mentorski rad, metodiĉki rad, saradnju sa direktorom,<br />saradnju sa nastavnicima, praćenje i vrednovanje rada &scaron;kole, trenutne izazove u radu,<br />inicijative za promenu prakse i procenu poloţaja pedagoga.<br />- VII -<br />Rezultati pokazuju da se u okviru celine koja se odnosi na inicijalno obrazovanje<br />izdvajaju odreĊene kategorije odgovora koje se, pre svega, odnose na zadovoljstvo inicijalnim<br />obrazovanjem, procenu kompetentnosti za rad kao i potrebu za promenom inicijalnog<br />obrazovanja. U vezi sa iskustvima ispitanika na poĉetku rada u &scaron;koli izdvajaju se odreĊene<br />kategorije odgovora koje se pre svega odnose na adaptaciju na radno okruţenje i uslove rada.<br />Sledeća kategorija se odnosi na mentorski rad. Ne&scaron;to vi&scaron;e od polovine ispitanika je<br />imalo priliku da im mentor pruţa struĉnu podr&scaron;ku, &scaron;to je stvorilo uslove za sticanje znanja,<br />ve&scaron;tina i sposobnosti koje su neophodne za profesionalan rad.<br />&Scaron;to se tiĉe metodiĉkog rada, pedagozi istiĉu da su se na studijama bavili metodiĉkim<br />radom pedagoga, ali ne i metodikama raznih predmeta, &scaron;to im je veoma vaţno prilikom<br />praćenja ĉasova iz razliĉitih nastavnih predmeta. Iskustva u vezi sa saradnjom sa direktorom<br />su u naĉelu pozitivna, ali ima i drugaĉijih iskustava.<br />Ne&scaron;to vi&scaron;e od polovine ispitanika istiĉe da je odnos ispunjen poverenjem i<br />po&scaron;tovanjem, dok ostali ispitanici navode da nemaju dovoljno podr&scaron;ke od strane direktora za<br />realizaciju aktivnosti koje sprovode.<br />Saradnja sa kolegama se ocenjuje kao zadovoljavajuća, ali ima dosta prostora za<br />pobolj&scaron;anje.Vaţan segment rada se odnosi i na praćenje i vrednovanje rada &scaron;kole. Svi<br />ispitanici istiĉu da su veoma aktivni, a ĉesto su i koordinatori timova za samovrednovanje i<br />razvojno planiranje. Trenutni izazovi u radu, kada govorimo o savetodavno-instruktivnom<br />radu sa nastavnicima, uĉenicima i roditeljima ogledaju se pre svega u tome &scaron;to su roditelji<br />nemotivisani i nespremni za saradnju i participiranje u radu i ţivotu &scaron;kole; u radu sa<br />nastavnicima podr&scaron;ka u vezi sa inkluzivnim obrazovanjem; u radu sa uĉenicima vr&scaron;njaĉko<br />nasilje, razvojni problemi i problemi u pona&scaron;anju.<br />Kada su u pitanju inicijative pedagoga za promenu prakse, one se najpre odnose na<br />smanjenje administrativnih poslova i povećanje vremena za savetodavni rad sa decom.<br />TakoĊe, predlaţe se da se poo&scaron;tre kriterijumi za selekciju kandidata na fakultetu, ali i prilikom<br />zapo&scaron;ljavanja.<br />Najveći broj ispitanika smatra da je poloţaj pedagoga danas lo&scaron;iji nego &scaron;to je bio<br />ranije, a obim poslova i odgovornosti je sve veće. Kao kljuĉne elemente za promenu poloţaja,<br />pedagozi navode: pobolj&scaron;anje uslova rada (prostorni i materijalni), bolju podelu poslova, veću<br />autonomiju u radu, kao i jasniju zakonsku regulativu.</p> / <p>This PhD Thesis was dealing with the problem of how to establish the pedagogue‟ s<br />professional identity in modern school culture. In this project, we, also, were occupied with<br />the pedagogue‟ s professional development and his new roles. Total sample in this study were<br />30 school pedagogues, collaborators in primary and secondary schools in Kolubara district: 4<br />men and 26 women: 18 o f them work at city schools and 12 of them at village schools. Apart<br />from these variables we also considered the years spent working at schools and the education<br />level.<br />In the context of the teachers professional education, the idea of reflexion can be<br />definied in different ways: Smit and Hatton sum up the meanings (models) of the reflexion: 1)<br />it considers not only the action but thinking of the action as well, 2) it is not only an analytical<br />process which needs certain time, but also, a short and intuitive process which occurs during<br />the action, 3) problem solution is not only an integral part of the reflexion but it exists also<br />beyond the problem solution and 4) reflexion is often found in thinking of the methods and the<br />effects of teaching process, but it can also include wider ethical and social education questions.<br />To study the reflexion of the pedagogue s professional identity we focused on the<br />quality research, and the phenomenon of the research is observed in its natural surrounding, at<br />school.This is a qualitative research, seen from the viewpoint of the interpretative paradigm<br />made of the accident study plan.<br />In modern schools the &ldquo; development of the pedagogues competences demands new<br />pedagogical visions all the time as well as perception and creation of the new workfields and<br />the positive environment for supporting the realization of the pedagogue‟ s activities and the<br />transparency in the realization process.&rdquo; (Floric, 2008: 6)<br />Through the qualitative process and different points of view we looked into the<br />phenomenon of the school pedagogue‟ s professional identity.In this research it is used the<br />halfstructured interview made by the author especially for the purposes of the research, which<br />contents the questions concerning: the &bdquo; education, his experience, his mentor &bdquo;s activity, his<br />methodical work, his cooperation with the school manager, and the other teachers,monitoring<br />and evaluation of the school function, the iniciatives for improvement and evaluation of the<br />pedagogue‟s position.<br />- IX -<br />The results show that, in the frame of the initial education, certain answers came up the<br />surface and bring satisfaction of the initial education, evaluation of the professional<br />competences and need to change that initial education.<br />In connection to the experience of people starting their jobs at school, there are certain<br />cathegories of answers concerning the adaptation to the surrounding and work conditions.<br />Next cathegory concerns mentor‟ s activity.More than a half of examined people had<br />the opportunity to have mentor‟ s support which created appropriate conditions for getting<br />more knowledge and skills to perform successful professional work.<br />Concerning methodical work, pedagogues emphasize that, during their study,they were<br />engaged in methodical work but not in the methods of different subjects,which is important<br />and needed to follow different lessons.<br />Collaboration with school manager, is mostly, good, and experiences are positive. But<br />there are,also, other experiences. More then a half of the examined, agree that the relation to<br />the manager is full of understanding and respect, while the other stress that they don‟ t have<br />manager‟s support for their activities.Interaction with the other colleagues is marked as quite<br />satisfied, but there is room for improvement.<br />Monitoring and evaluation of the school functioning is very important part. All the<br />pedagogues are very active, they are pretty often on head of the teams for selfevaluation and<br />development planning.<br />Temptations nowadays, when we talk about consulting work with pupils, teachers and<br />parents, show that parents aren‟ t motivated and prepared to collaborate and participate in the<br />school activity, teachers need support in inclusive education and pupils have problem with<br />violence and intolerance.<br />When we come to the pedagogue‟ s initiatives and practical changings, we, firstly,<br />mean to reduce unnecessary administrative job and increase work with children.<br />Also, it s suggested to raise the criteria when the students register at a university, as<br />well as they apply for work.<br />Most of examined think, that pedagogue‟s position is worse nowadays than it was<br />earlier:key elements are:improvement of the work condition (physical and financial)better job<br />division, more autonomy and clear laws</p>

The purpose of this study is to examine collaboration between social services and secondary education in a municipality in Sweden regarding adolescents diagnosed with ADHD. Swedish legislative texts stipulate that authorities working with adolescents should collaborate in matters relating to children in risk of harm. Earlier research shows that children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD often behave contrary to how students are expected to behave in the classroom, that they may need support from social services, and that they rarely get such support to manage their education. The method used in this study was qualitative and the empirical data were obtained through semi structured interviews. Eight respondents participated in total, four social workers and four school counsellors. The results were analysed using profession theory and collaboration theory. The results show that the two professions both have a positive attitude towards collaboration, but that it rarely happens and when it does it feels unstructured and irregular, particularly for the social workers. Almost none of the respondents had any experience of working with students in secondary education diagnosed with ADHD, and instead spoke generally about their experience of collaboration. There seems to be a gap between the tendency to direct efforts, both divided and conjoined, to adolescents in an educational setting after they move on from elementary school.

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the experiences of school counselors who implement yoga into a comprehensive school counseling program. Over the past decade, yoga has gained popularity as a prevention and intervention tool in public school settings. Prior to this study, the role of the school counselor in this process has not been explored. This study investigated the lived experiences of 10 school counselors who integrate yoga into a comprehensive school counseling program. Through data analysis, five significant themes and subsequent subthemes emerged: 1) intentionality (personal experiences with yoga impacts professional intentions, yoga intentionally tied with comprehensive school counseling goal); 2) yoga integration (organic commonalities between school counseling and yoga, methods of yoga delivery, overlap of yoga philosophies and ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors standards); 3) logistics of yoga integration (accessibility of yoga, managing yoga myths and stereotypes, program supports); 4) perception of yoga impact, (overall impact on school, impact on student, examples of students taking yoga “off the mat”); and 5) impact of yoga integration on school counselor (yoga as a self-care strategy, yoga is a meaningful aspect of school counselor role). Findings from this study suggest that yoga is a viable and valuable tool to include in a comprehensive school counseling program. Moreover, as the yoga in schools movement continues to grow, school counselors should be regarded as essential stakeholders in the development, implementation, and evaluation process. Results from this study provide a foundation for future research concerning school counselors and yoga.