School Counselors in Large Public High Schools: Roles and Responsibilities and Their Effects on Latinos/as A-G College Course Completion Rates
This paper explores the research question and literature pertaining to school counselors and their roles and responsibilities and how they can have an effect on Latino/a students and their A-G college course requirement completion rates. Latinos/as students are the lowest academic achieving students in the nation among their peers and the lowest in enrolling in four-year colleges and universities (Ochoa, 2013). This research paper explores the institutional and systemic barriers in large public schools, specifically, the role of the school counselor in assisting Latino/a students prepare, encourage, disseminate information, meet, and apply to colleges and universities. This topic is of importance not only for Latino/a students and their educational success and social class mobility but for the success of all underrepresented, low-income, first-generation students. A mixed methods approach was used with a quantitative method in the form of a survey distributed to all school counselors in one high school district and a survey to junior and senior students of selected classes in the same high school district, and a qualitative method in the form of a semi-structured, open-ended interview to school counselors. Findings indicate that school counselors report that they are not offered professional development, workshops/conferences and that their roles and responsibilities do not allow them to meet with students adequately to provide the college information as set by the American School Counselors Association (ASCA) standards. These findings are concerning and are a call for immediate action to address the needs of Latino/a students in large public high schools by redefining the role of the school counselor and their true purpose.
A-G college course completion, Institutional Barriers, Latino/a students, School Counselors, Social Capital
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