<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of academic advising at a tertiary institution in Jamaica and how it has influenced teacher-efficacy and instructional attentiveness among student teachers. The participants included twelve student teachers and four lecturers who have been intimately involved in academic advising. The student teachers selected have been engaged in academic advising for two to four years while the lecturers have been advising for ten to sixteen years. </p><p> This qualitative study explored how academic advising is related to teacher efficacy and instructional attentiveness among a set of second to fourth year student teachers at a teacher training college in Jamaica. All participants were actively receiving and giving academic advising in a government-owned teacher training institution. The primary source of data was unstructured interviews with student teachers and lecturers. Data were acquired over a two-month period by means of unstructured interviews and field notes. These tools afforded the opportunity to extend the conversations and generate meaning from the responses thereby providing rich descriptive notes of the phenomenon. Data were prepared using triangulation matrices, data coding and the Constant Comparison Approach to generate categories showing patterns and relationships of meaning. </p><p> The findings on the perspectives of the study participants indicate academic advising has significantly influenced teacher-efficacy among the student teachers as their level of confidence increased, appreciation of teamwork blossomed, instructional competency broadened and misbehaviors controlled. Additionally, their valuing of self and acceptance of other personalities grew immensely which positively affected their relationship with various tiers of staff in the learning environment. The interview data garnered from student teachers indicate that instructional attentiveness improved through the use of multiple teaching methods which included authentic assessment, field experience and student-centered learning. Other factors that boosted instructional attentiveness were good relationships with advisors who were understanding of their differences and commended simple efforts. As a result of the academic advising received, there are several implications for practice and policy which need to be addressed in order to help student teachers to identify their strengths and weaknesses, remain on task, avoid drop out and maintain equilibrium between academic and social experiences as they navigate their way through college.</p><p>

<p> An estimated 10-15% of students miss an entire month of school each year. Past research on students who are chronically absent finds that, relative to their peers who consistently attend school, chronically absent students are more likely to experience negative academic outcomes (e.g., grade retention, dropping out), to be under- and unemployed, to be incarcerated, and even to die prematurely. Although there has been a significant amount of quantitative research on patterns of chronic school absenteeism and on the student, family, school, and community factors with which it is correlated, surprisingly little research has examined parents&rsquo;/guardians&rsquo; decisions to keep their children out of school.</p><p> In an effort to address this gap in the literature, the present study interviewed 22 parents/guardians of chronically absent elementary and middle school students to understand their perspectives on chronic absenteeism and to discover what support they felt they need to ensure that their children attended school each day.</p><p> The results of the study reveal that the primary reasons parents/guardians identified for their children&rsquo;s chronic absenteeism include challenges related to the child&rsquo;s mental health, parent activities, interactions with other children at school, and transportation. Factors that parents/guardians identified that would help them to improve their students&rsquo; attendance include increased communication about absenteeism and family issues, expressed compassion and interest in reasons why students are absent, and specific provisions to help children make up missed instruction and school assignments. The study concludes with recommendations for chronic absenteeism policy and practice, and directions for future research.</p><p>

<p> As more opportunities abound for students to accelerate their learning during middle and high school, research is limited in the relationship between accelerated learning and the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents. This explanatory correlational research study provided additional empirical evidence of the relationship between accelerated studies, psychosocial adjustment, and the coping strategies adolescents utilize. Participants were 93 eighth to twelfth grade students enrolled in accelerated learning courses in a northwestern state in the United States. Students were administered instruments measuring their perceptions of: stress, life satisfaction, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, suicidal ideation, academic beliefs and task values, school climate, and coping strategies. Correlation coefficients determined relationships between psychosocial adjustment, age, number of accelerated learning program classes, gender and coping variables of students participating in accelerated learning programs. Results suggest that additional research is needed in the exploration of the relationship between a number of accelerated learning program classes adolescents participate in and their psychosocial adjustment. Gender had few significant relationships to other variables and grade level correlated with psychological factors, life satisfaction, motivation, school climate, and grade point average. There were statistically significant, strong to weak correlations amongst psychosocial adjustment variables; and in particular, an intricate association between psychological indicators of possible mental health issues, stress, life satisfaction, school functioning, age, and coping strategies.</p><p>

<p> The following research study answered the following question: &ldquo;What is the experience of high school counselors implementing an ASCA-based school counseling program?&rdquo; School counselor experiences of the process were largely absent in the current and previous literature, as well as the profession&rsquo;s representation in qualitative research. To fully understand the results and experiences they had, an education change theory was incorporated that not only benefitted the study, but was also bolstered and extended into another compatible profession. Generic qualitative research was conducted through interviewing 10 Pennsylvania high school counselors. To participate, school counselors were required to have involvement in implementing comprehensive programming at the high school level. Their interviews were transcribed by an outside transcriptionist, and an inductive thematic analysis was conducted to organize the data. Results indicated that high school counselors were generally only involved in the career domain of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model, administrators were vital in the support and promotion of school counselors, their programs, and their identities, and the level of resources greatly impacted their roles and responsibilities. Additionally, involvement in comprehensive program implementation increased professional identity, and in turn, job satisfaction even for those who reported negative relationships with administrators.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation examined community college transfer students&rsquo; perceptions of how mental health concerns interfere with academics, the ability to stay in school, graduate, and transfer to a 4-year university. The study also examined if community college transfer students perceive that mental health counseling improves their ability to stay in college, graduate from community college, and overcome barriers that interfere with the ability to transfer to a 4-year university. The study employed descriptive statistics and one-way between subjects ANOVAs to examine the effects of demographic characteristics and presenting mental health concerns on the ability to remain in community college, graduate from community college, and transfer to a 4-year university. Eta squared post hoc test revealed medium to large effect sizes. The participants were 65 transfer students consisting largely of white, female community college graduates between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four from a mid-sized, southeastern United States university. Significant findings for differences in perceptions were found based on students&rsquo; presenting concerns for counseling and demographics.</p><p>

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a play-based teacher consultation (PBTC) program on individual teachers’ interpersonal classroom behaviors and teacher-child relationships. The research questions addressed the application of child-centered play therapy principles and PBTC increasing teacher responsiveness, decreasing teacher criticism, and enhancing teachers‟ perceptions of the teacher-child relationship in elementary school classrooms. Single-case design was utilized to examine eight teachers‟ perceptions over 16 weeks. The sample included 8 White female teachers from three local elementary schools. Teacher ages ranged from 28 to 59 years old. There were 5 kindergarten, 1 first grade, and 2 second grade teachers. The teachers participated in one educational training session followed by play sessions with children of focus and interactive modeling sessions. Trained observers, blind to the study’s purpose, utilized the Interaction Analysis System in classroom observations of the teachers, three times per week, to examine teachers’ interpersonal skills. Additionally, the teachers completed the Student Teacher Relationship Scale for the children of focus before and after the play session phase to examine change in the teacher-child relationship. Visual analysis of the data indicated the PBTC’s overall positive impact. 5 out of 8 teachers demonstrated increases in teacher responding scores at mildly to very effective criteria levels. All 8 teachers demonstrated decreases teacher criticism at effective to very effective criteria levels. The teacher-child relationships indicated mixed results, with 5 out of 8 teachers indicating positive changes in teacher-child relationships. Discussion includes implications for future research regarding single-case design, measurement of teacher change, and modifications of the PBTC model.

This nation-wide study investigated elementary school counselors (ESC) self-reported: (a) professional background and training; (b) general knowledge of autism spectrum disorders (ASD); (c) attitudes towards ASD; and (d) roles performed with students identified with ASD. Also investigated was the predictive relationships between professional background, training, knowledge, and attitudes on roles (counseling, consultation, curriculum, and coordination) performed with students identified with ASD. Descriptive statistics were utilized to address professional background, training, knowledge, attitude and characteristics of ESC participants. These variables were also examined in relationship to the four role types. Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to test for significant relationships. A series of four multiple regression analyses predicting each of the total roles scores for counseling, consultation, curriculum, and coordination were also conducted. Results of the study suggest (a) ESC have limited training experiences of ASD, leading to self-education about this population of students, (b) ESC possess general knowledge about ASD, (c) overall, ESC have positive attitudes towards ASD, and (d) ESC perform all conceptualized roles in the education of students with ASD. Regression models revealed eight predictors found to influence roles: total knowledge, attitudes, geographic setting, U.S. region, years practiced, conference training, self-education, and ASD caseload. Significantly associated with performing roles across all four domains was the number of students with ASD on ESC caseload.

Substance abuse is the foremost health problem in the United States, with an estimated annual cost of over $400 billion and is linked to over 400,000 preventable deaths each year. Adolescents are among those abusing drugs and alcohol. Approximately one-half of high school students use alcohol and one-fourth smoke marijuana, and by their senior year of high school, over half will have used an illicit drug. Effective substance use interventions for young adults are important in preventing the progression toward other drug use disorders and harmful consequences of frequent drug use. Schools have been identified as a viable setting in which to conduct brief interventions to reduce adolescent substance use. However, a standard therapy for implementing motivational interventions in the school setting has not yet been established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a motivational intervention on substance use in a school-based adolescent population and to test the hypotheses that motivational interviewing, compared to assessment only, would result in a reduction of substance use and an increase in each participant’s readiness to change. The proposed study utilized a randomized controlled design in which participants received one of two conditions, two 30-minute sessions of a motivational intervention or assessment only. Assessments were administered before and one month following the intervention. Results demonstrated that the intervention was effective in reducing daily cigarette use and symptoms of cigarette dependence for participants in the experimental group. These results are consistent with past research investigating the effectiveness of motivational interventions on reducing adolescent substance use, yet the current findings are unique because this is the first school-based motivational intervention delivered by school personnel to effectively reduce adolescent substance use. Results indicate that the current intervention could be implemented as a standard therapy for using motivational interventions to decrease adolescent substance use in the school setting.

The purpose of the study was twofold: to explore how school counselors and athletic educators experienced implementing the 2010 Massachusetts Anti-bullying law and to explore how participants experienced using the Sharevision structured group reflection process as the format for group discussions. The Sharevision structured group reflection process provided the safety and support school counselors and athletic educators said they needed. Participants eagerly shared their experiences with one another. They used the Sharevision process to discuss the list of participant generated questions they posed during the individual interviews. They exchanged ideas and were able to generate new ways to respond to anti-LGBTQ bullying and gender-based harassment as a result of their reflective group discussions. The participants said that the Sharevision meetings relieved stress, were productive and inspired them to continue working together to take action on their ideas. After the study was over, members of the group met over the summer with the GSA Advisor to continue to work together. They designed and then co-facilitated their fall orientations for incoming students, athletes and parents proactively promoting diversity, their GSA and a positive LGBTQ school climate.

To be able to connect the school counseling program to standards-based reform, school counseling initiatives such as The Education Trust's Transforming the School Counseling Initiative and The American School Counseling Association (ASCA) have called for a paradigm shift in the understanding of the school counselor's role, from a service provider to a key player in the success of all students. Consequently, emphasis on advocacy, leadership, teamwork and collaboration, accountability, use of data and systemic change infuses the school counseling literature. As a result of these efforts, a new understanding of school counseling has emerged and leadership is considered to be at the core of the other essential roles of the counselors. Even though school counselors' leadership is a hot topic, studies that holistically examine the leadership practice of school counselors are absent from the school counseling literature. The goal of this paper is to investigate how school counselors play a part in the overall school leadership practice for system-wide improvement. The distributed leadership framework was chosen as an analytical framework to analyze the leadership practices of the school counselors. This paper offers the idea that distributed leadership is a useful tool to understand school counselors' effort on school improvement holistically because this framework calls the unit of analysis not with individual leaders, but their interactions. Briefly, in this study leadership practice is the core unit of analysis in trying to understand school leadership from a distributed perspective. The qualitative research methodology chosen for this study is ethnography and this ethnographic study conducted in Mid West in a high school setting. The data were analyzed with the line-by-line coding technique. The findings indicated that the school counselors at the research site made important systemic changes. These changes mostly happened as a result of the counselors' personal willingness to be part of the leadership in the school. However, the institutionalized opportunities for counselors to lead were limited therefore many changes stayed at the idiosyncratic level and the counselors often relied on their informal working relationships to shape the leadership practice. This paper concluded that a school counselor needs to work in an integrated situation with distributed leadership to be able to create system-wide change and there is a need to ensure institutionalization of school counselor leader roles. The findings of this dissertation study provide some implications for the school principals, school counselors in practice, and those who educate and train school counselors. Principals can provide some opportunities for counselors to engage in formally-constituted multidisciplinary leadership teams. School counselors can think about the ways of being an active participant in school leadership and can learn more about the nature of organizational change. In addition to that they need to raise other school members' awareness about the counselors' appropriate functions and to seriously consider the other school members' perceptions. Graduate programs need to teach students the concept of leadership and organizational change.