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Virginia Tech

Perceptions of School Principals on the School Counselor Role

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Throughout the past century, many changes in the conceptualization of the school counselor have occurred. Although most states endorse a national model developed through the American School Counseling Association (ASCA), not all school and district personnel have changed their views of the school counselor role to the most current conceptualization. The focus of this study was to gather current information on principal perceptions of appropriate and inappropriate school counselor activities based on the ASCA model. Differences were examined in principal perceptions at the elementary and secondary levels, and between appropriate and inappropriate activities to see if principals ranked appropriate activities more highly. Differences were also examined in schools with Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) designation and schools without RAMP designation. Results showed differences in perception between elementary and secondary principals, with secondary principals rating all counseling activities significantly higher than elementary school principals, although there were similarities in ratings between groups. Appropriate activities were rated significantly higher than inappropriate activities by principals overall as well as the elementary principal group and secondary principal group. There were no significant differences overall in RAMP versus non-RAMP school principal perceptions. Discussion includes reviewing specific activities where perceptions differed; how these results fit with previous research; and implications for policy and practice, future research, and higher education.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Counselor Education
Department dc:contributor.department
Education, Community College
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2019

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Rose, Caitlin Joanna
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Bodenhorn, Nancy E.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Welfare, Laura E.
  • Farmer, Laura Boyd
  • Glenn, William Joseph

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:19013
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/88384

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Rose, Caitlin Joanna. Perceptions of School Principals on the School Counselor Role. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/88384