A survey of assessment and evaluation activities of school counselors.

How often school counselors performed various assessment and evaluation activities is reported. The results provided the rationale for development of the Competencies in Assessment and Evaluation for School Counselors, a joint project of the American School Counselor Association and the Association for Assessment in Counseling (ASCA & AAC, 2000).

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Assessment has been associated with professional school counseling, from the guidance as science of vocational choice movement of the early 20th century to current trends in comprehensive or developmental school counseling. During this time period, a number of approaches to school counseling were advocated, each prescribing specific counselor skills in assessment.

Accordingly, school counselors have been challenged to select and apply those assessment strategies that have the potential to assist them in performing their professional responsibilities. With the Parsonian Model (Shertzer & Stone, 1981), counselors used informal measures to identify career choices that were congruent with student interests, temperaments, skills, and abilities. In accordance with the Guidance as Distribution and Adjustment Model (Shertzer & Stone), the outcomes of assessment were initially used to help students with curriculum choices and the transition to the world of work. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Clinical Practice Movement (Shertzer & Stone) required that counselors be familiar with informal diagnostic measures as an essential skill for therapeutic intervention. When the Constellation of Services Model (Shertzer & Stone) was introduced in the wake of Sputnik in the late 1950s, school counselors were asked to ensure that students' academic abilities, especially in science, were fully assessed and realized. This resulted in reliance on standardized testing, especially aptitude and intelligence measures, as predictors of academic achievement. The current emphasis on developmental school counseling has challenged counselors to become more adept at designing, developing and conducting comprehensive needs assessments to determine the focus of counseling programs as well as conducting formative and summative evaluations of program effectiveness.

According to a survey of 390 certified counselors by Sampson, Vacc, and Loesch (1998), work behaviors related to assessment were considered fundamental to the general practice of counseling. Similarly, training in good test-use practices was one of three competencies Tymofievich and Leroux (2000) reported that counselors must use for adult assessments at personal and career intake.

In the coordination role, as noted in the ASCA Role Statement (ASCA, 1990), school counselors engage in activities such as the coordination of student needs assessment or the interpretation of standardized tests. School counselors must be adept at tailoring tests and other, less formal, measures to fit the problems that student clients present (Baker, 2000; Gibson, Mitchell, & Basile, 1993; Hitchner & Tifft-Hitchner, 1987; Stone & Bradley, 1994). At the programmatic level, it has been suggested that school counselors examine the congruence between how they actually function and stakeholder demands for counseling programs and services (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000; Trotter, 1991; Wilgus & Shelly, 1988). In addition, school counselors must be skilled at making informed choices regarding the application of more formal assessments at the school systems level. An overall perspective, as stated by Baker, "Without basic knowledge of measurement principles, test users are navigating without compasses" (p. 278).

Previous research has found that both school teachers (Schafer & Lissitz, 1987; Stiggins, 1995) and school administrators (Trevisan, 1999) lack the measurement and assessment training and skills needed to meet their professional responsibilities. Not surprisingly, they often turn to school counselors for assessment and evaluation information and technical assistance. Schafer and Lissitz found that among teachers, administrators, and counselors, the counselors had the strongest background in assessment. In a study that compared counselors, principals, and teachers at both the elementary and secondary level, Impara and Plake (1995) found that counselors had a better understanding of assessment information than teachers and secondary school principals, especially in regard to test selection, validity, communication of test results, and ethical practices.

A number of contemporary authorities have described the role of the professional school counselor and the assessment competencies needed to serve effectively in this capacity (e.g., ASCA, 1990; Engels & Dameron, 1990; Herbert, 1985a, b, c; Sears, 1991). In addition, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs standards for the preparation of all counselors (CACREP, 2001), the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification standards for the approval of school counseling programs (NASDTEC, 1991), and state requirements for the credentialing of school counselors all identify expected competencies, including many which emphasize assessment and evaluation. Though consistent with existing CACREP and NASDTEC standards, the Competencies in Assessment and Evaluation for School Counselors (ASCA & AAC, 2000) focus on individual counselors rather than on the content of counselor education programs.

There has been little documentation of counselors' assessment skills and practices. Elmore, Ekstrom, Diamond, and Whittaker (1993) found that 67% of a group of 423 ASCA members considered testing and assessment an important or very important part of their work. These counselors were most often involved in test interpretation and test administration. An earlier survey of secondary school counselors (Tennyson, Miller, Skovholt, & Williams, 1989) found they frequently administered their schools' testing program and helped students and parents interpret test information. Hutchinson and Bottoroff (1986) reported that secondary school counselors provided testing services to 20% to 37% of students. Wilgus and Shelley (1988) found that elementary school counselors were involved in testing for about 7% of their working time. Elementary school teachers see test interpretation as a part of the school counselors' helper role (Ginter, Scalise, & Presse, 1990).

The research described in this article was conducted as part of a joint project of the American School Counselor Association and the Association for Assessment in Counseling. The goal of the project was to develop a statement, in collaboration with practitioners themselves, about the assessment competencies needed by school counselors. Determining how often school counselors perform various assessment and evaluation activities was seen as a first important step in providing a description of the knowledge and skills that school counselors need in these areas.

METHOD

Survey Instrument

In order to identify the assessment and evaluation skills needed by school counselors, the assessment training requirements and performance expectations, as indicated in state certification materials (Farrell, 1996), were reviewed and a list of assessment- or evaluation-related activities that states are likely to expect school counselors to perform was developed. These 39 activities became the basis of the questionnaire used in this survey. The activities included assessments conducted as part of counseling program development and evaluation as well as assessment activities carried out to provide information for counseling individual students. It should be noted that, although all of these activities appear in one or more state descriptions of school counselors' work, they may not always be appropriate or typical expectations for school counselors.

In this survey the respondents were asked to indicate how frequently they carried out each activity, using the response options: 3 = often, 2 = occasionally, and 1 = seldom or never.

Participants

Surveys were sent to a random sample of 600 ASCA members who indicated they were school counselors. Each school counselor in the sample was mailed a questionnaire along with a cover letter, signed by the ASCA president and by the chair of the ASCA/AAC committee, describing the importance of the survey. A postage-paid return envelope accompanied each survey.

Useable responses were received from 179 school counselors (a response rate of 30 percent). However, only 161 indicated that they worked as elementary, middle, or high school counselors. Of these 161 responding school counselors, 79 (44%) were elementary school counselors, 32 (18%) were middle school counselors, 50 (28%) were high school counselors. The remaining respondents reported other job titles including counseling administrator or supervisor.

With regard to level of education, 129 (72%) held a master's, 36 (20%) a specialist, and 13 (7%) a doctoral degree. Most (77%) had a degree in school counseling/guidance; 10% reported a degree in counseling/school psychology. Sixty-eight percent said they had taken at least one class, in-service training course, or workshop in testing or assessment during the 5 years preceding the survey.

Data Analysis

The number and percent of the 161 responding elementary, middle school, and high school counselors who indicated that they perform each assessment activity often, occasionally, or seldom was computed, as were the number and percent responding to the questions about work setting and education. The number and percent of the 79 elementary school counselors, 32 middle school counselors, and 50 high school counselors performing assessment activities were also computed. For each item statistically significant differences in the frequency with which each assessment activity is performed by counselors in the different work settings was determined using a 3 x 3 (work setting by response) chisquare. Effect sizes were calculated for these items using Cohen's (1988) w index. Cohen also provides guidelines for magnitudes of w that constitute small, medium, and large effect sizes; these are .10, .30, and .50, respectively. To determine which categories were major contributors to the significant chisquare, the standardized residual was computed for each cell (Hinkle, Wiersma, & Jurs, 1994).

RESULTS

In regard to assessment-related responsibilities of the total sample, 29% were responsible for selecting tests, 63% for administering tests, and 71% for interpreting tests. More high school counselors reported having responsibility for selecting, administering, and interpreting tests than did counselors working in elementary and/or middle schools (See Table 1). Differences in frequency of responsibility by work setting were significant for test selection ([chi square] (2) = 8.59, p =.014, w = .23), test administration ([chi square] (2) = 24.88, p = .001, w = .39), and test interpretation ([chi square] (2) = 24.45, p = .001, w = .40).

Frequency of School Counselors' Assessment Activities

Table 2 shows the frequency with which the 39 specific assessment activities are carried out by the school counselors who responded to the survey.

The nine assessment activities that at least 80% of the responding school counselors reported as per forming often or occasionally involve:

* Referring students to other professionals, when appropriate, for additional assessment/appraisal-98%

* Interpreting scores from tests/assessments and using the information in counseling--91%

* Reading about and being aware of ethical issues in assessment--86%

* Reading about and being aware of current issues involving multicultural assessment, the assessment of students with disabilities and other special needs, and the assessment of language minorities--84%

* Synthesizing and integrating test and nontest data to make decisions about individuals--84%

* Reading a variety of professional literature on topics such as use of testing and assessment in school counseling, school counseling research, and career counseling research--84%

* Communicating and interpreting test/assessment information to parents--81%

* Communicating and interpreting test/assessment information to teachers, school administrators, and other professionals--80%

* Helping teachers use assessments and assessment information--80%

Differences in Activities

The roles and functions of school counselors may vary according to the educational level (elementary, middle school, and high school) at which they work. There were significant differences by work setting for 9 of the 39 assessment activities. These activities and the percent of elementary, middle school, and high school counselors doing them often, occasionally, or seldom are shown in Table 3.

Activities that involve career counseling (Items 6 and 15) are done significantly more often than expected by high school counselors and less often than expected by counselors working in elementary school settings ([chi square] (4) = 48.41, p = .001, w = .78; [chi square] (4) = 59.27, p = .001, w = .86). Activities involving the administration of standardized tests (Items 8 and 9) are more likely than expected to be done by high school counselors and seldom by elementary school counselors ([chi square] (4) = 35.42, p = .001, w = .67; [chi square] (4) = 22.60, p = .001, w = . 53). Elementary school counselors are more likely than expected to seldom schedule testing or assessments (Item 30, [chi square] (4) = 22.32, p = .001, w = .53) and less likely than expected to often interpret scores from tests/assessments and use the information in counseling (Item 14, [chi square] (4) = 20.74, p = .001, w = .51). Elementary school counselors are more likely than expected to seldom use assessment information to place or group students (Item 18, [chi square] (4) = 20.55, p = .001, w = .51).

Middle school counselors are also more likely than expected to often design or adapt assessment instruments for use in planning or evaluating school counseling programs (Item 5, [chi square] (4) = 9.95, p = .041, w = .35). They are also more likely than expected to often read professional literature on topics such as use of testing and assessment in schools (Item 35, [chi square] (4) = 13.99, p = .007, w = .42).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence that school counselors engage in a variety of assessment activities, many of which are discussed in the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors (ASCA, 1998). For example, the most frequently performed assessment-related activity of school counselors is referring students to other professionals, as appropriate, for additional assessment or appraisal. Both the ASCA Ethical Standards and the Role Statement (ASCA, 1990) emphasize the importance of referrals. As noted in the Role Statement, "School counselors are aware of their own professional competencies and responsibilities within the school setting. They know when and how to refer or involve other professionals" (p. 5). Section A5 of the ASCA Ethical Standards states: "The professional school counselor makes referrals when necessary or appropriate to outside resources" (p. 5).

The frequency with which school counselors report making referrals can also be seen as an indication of the consistency between job performance and Ethical Standard El, which states that professional school counselors should function within the boundaries of their individual professional competence and their professional code of conduct. Large caseloads also contribute to the need for referrals.

Several counselor behaviors in evaluation, assessment, and interpretation are prescribed in section A9 of the Ethical Standards. Prominent among these is adhering to professional standards regarding the selection, administration, and interpretation of assessment measures. But only 66% of the school counselors responding to this survey said they read and referred to standards for assessment such as the Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education (Joint Committee on Testing Practices, 1988). The Ethical Standards specifically refer to the Code as a resource for school counselors.

The ASCA Ethical Standards emphasize the importance of maintaining professional competence. Standard El.c. specifies that the professional school counselor "Strives through personal initiative to maintain professional competence and keeps abreast of scientific and professional information" (p.10). Yet 26% of the responding counselors did not feel that evaluating their strengths and areas needing improvement in assessment and evaluation and developing a plan for personal and professional growth was part of their professional responsibility. Furthermore, 16% of the counselors said they did not read about and were not aware of current issues involving multicultural assessment, the assessment of students with disabilities and other special needs, and the assessment of language minorities. Thus, while this research shows that assessment is an important aspect of school counseling, it also shows that some school counselors need additional training to reach the expectations articulated in the ASCA Ethical Standards, especially with regard to knowledge of assessment standards and maintenance of their professional competence in assessment.

This research suggests that many schools may not be making the best use of school counselors' professional expertise and training. Although 65% of the responding counselors said their work involved scheduling testing or assessments, many in the field feel this is not a wise use of expertise and not an appropriate activity for a professional school counselor. (See, for example, Campbell & Dahir, 1997.) However, some states mandate that school counselors do such scheduling.

This research highlights the need for school counselor professional development opportunities in assessment. We recommend that school counselors and counselor educators become familiar with the full text of Competencies in Assessment and Evaluation for School Counselors, which also appears as Chapter 8 in Assessment: Issues and Challenges for the Millennium (Joint Committee of the American School Counseling Association and the Association for Assessment in Counseling, 2001). This document states "School counselors should meet each of the following nine numbered competencies:

1. School counselors are skilled in choosing assessment strategies.

2. School counselors can identify, access, and evaluate the most commonly used assessment instruments.

3. School counselors are skilled in the techniques of administration and methods of scoring assessment instruments.

4. School counselors are skilled in interpreting and reporting assessment results.

5. School counselors are skilled in using assessment results in decision making.

6. School counselors are skilled in producing, interpreting, and presenting statistical information about assessment results.

7. School counselors are skilled in conducting and interpreting evaluations of school counseling programs and counseling-related interventions.

8. School counselors are skilled in adapting and using questionnaires, surveys, and other assessment instruments to meet local needs.

9. School counselors know how to engage in professionally responsible assessment and evaluation practices."

As the preface to the document indicates, "The competencies can be used by counselors and assessment educators as a guide in the development and evaluation of school counselor preparation programs, workshops, in-service, and other continuing education opportunities. They can also be used by school counselors to evaluate their own professional development and continuing education needs."

LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

The role of school counselors continues to evolve and change. It would be useful to review current state documents to determine if there are new expectations about counselors' skills and knowledge regarding assessment and evaluation. These expectations should be incorporated into any future research on school counselors' assessment and evaluation activities.

This research was based on a random sampling of school counselors who were members of ASCA. Similar research with samples of counselors who are not ASCA members is needed to determine if these findings are applicable to all school counselors.

Continued research into the assessment and evaluation activities of school counselors is needed. We also need to know more about the assessment-related expectations that administrators, teachers, parents, and students have of counselors. This knowledge is fundamental to the preparation of future school counselors. It also can help current counselors continue their professional development.

Table 1. Percent of Elementary, Middle, and High
School Counselors with Responsibility for Selecting,
Administering, or Interpreting Tests (N = 161)

                Elementary   Middle
                  School     School   High School

Selecting          20%        26%         44%
Administering      44%        72%         86%
Interpreting       53%        81%         92%

Table 2. Percent of Professional School Counselors Doing Various
Assessment Activities Often or Occasionally (N = 161)

Item                         Activity                          Percent

1      Make decisions about the type(s) of assessments to        56%
       use in planning and evaluating counseling programs

2      Make decisions about the type(s) of assessments to        78%
       use in counseling groups or individual students

3      Select assessment instruments to use in planning and      50%
       evaluating counseling programs

4      Select assessment instruments to use in counseling        73%
       groups and individual students

5      Adapt or design surveys or other instruments to use       64%
       in needs assessments for counseling program planning
       and/or in counseling program evaluations

6      Select, administer, and interpret instruments for use     53%
       in career counseling

7      Design and implement plans to collect data for use in     54%
       counseling program planning and evaluation

8      Administer standardized group tests for counseling        43%
       program use

9      Administer standardized tests for educational and         57%
       curriculum planning

10     Make assessment modifications or select testing           48%
       techniques to meet the special needs of students
       with disabilities

11     Administer individual standardized tests for              29%
       counseling program use

12     Administer individual standardized tests for              34%
       diagnostic purposes

13     Conduct non-standardized testing and assessments          51%

14     Interpret scores from tests/assessments and use the       91%
       information in counseling

15     Communicate and interpret test/assessment information     71%
       to students and help them use it for educational and
       career planning

16     Communicate and interpret test/assessment information     81%
       to parents

17     Communicate and interpret test/assessment information     80%
       to teachers, school administrators, and other
       professionals

18     Use assessment information to place or group students     43%
       in classes

19     Use appraisal techniques to identify exceptional          50%
       students

20     Use appraisal techniques to identify, students who        68%
       would benefit from specific counseling programs or
       other interventions

21     Conduct case studies to obtain information for            46%
       counseling

22     Synthesize and integrate testing and non-testing          84%
       data to make decisions about individuals

23     Interpret data from needs assessments and other           65%
       counseling program planning assessments

24     Interpret data from the evaluation of counseling          56%
       programs and activities

25     Use statistics, graphs and other techniques to            51%
       explain group testing results

26     Use statistics, graphs and other techniques to            31%
       explain evaluations of counseling programs

27     Use computers and other technology to process and         45%
       manage assessment information

28     Use computers and other technology to process data        30%
       from counseling program needs assessments and
       evaluations

29     Refer students to other professionals, when               98%
       appropriate, for additional assessment/appraisal

30     Schedule testing/assessments                              63%

31     Develop assessment plans                                  50%

32     Use assessment information to evaluate student            78%
       performance

33     Use assessment information to monitor student             78%
       performance

34     Help teachers use assessments and assessment              80%
       information

35     Read a variety of professional literature on topics       84%
       such as use of testing and assessment in school
       counseling, school counseling research, and career
       counseling research

36     Read about and be aware of current issues involving       84%
       multicultural assessment, the assessment of students
       with disabilities and other special needs, and the
       assessment of language minorities

37     Read about and be aware of ethical issues in              86%
       assessment

38     Read or refer to test use standards such as               66%
       "Responsibilities of Users of Standardized Tests" or
       the "Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education"

39     Evaluate my strengths and areas needing improvement       74%
       in assessment and evaluation; develop a plan for
       personal and professional growth

Table 3. Items with Significant Differences in Percent of
School Counselors Reporting a Given Frequency for an Activity

                Elementary                 Middle School
Freq.
Item       3         2         1         3         2       1

5       18%       49%       33%       38% (1)   38%       25%
6        6% (2)   20%       73% (3)   44%       31%       25%
8        5% (2)   18%       77% (3)   13%       50% (5)   38%
9       15%       25%       59% (3)   22%       50%       28%
14      33% (2)   54% (5)   13%       69%       28%        3%
15      16% (2)   32%       52% (3)   47%       38%       16%
18       8% (2)   19%       73% (3)   28%       34%       38%
30      27%       20%       53% (3)   53%       22%       25%
35      28%       48%       24%       53% (1)   41%        6%

                High School
Freq.
Item       3         2         1

5       16%       36%       48%
6       46% (1)   34%       20% (4)
8       32% (1)   32%       36%
9       42% (1)   30%       28%
14      68%       24%        8%
15      76% (1)   24%        0% (4)
18      30%       28%       42%
30      40%       42% (5)   18% (4)
35      26%       64%       10%

Note. Often = 3, Occasionally = 2, Seldom = 1 by Counselors' Work
Setting (Elementary, n = 78; Middle School, n = 32; High School,
n = 50). Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.

(1) = "often" more than expected, (2) = "often" less than expected,
(3) = "seldom" more than expected, (4) = "seldom" less than expected,
(5) = "occasionally" more than expected.

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Ruth B. Ekstrom, Ed.D., is principal research scientist, retired, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ. Patricia B. Elmore, Ph.D., is professor and associate dean, College of Education and Human Services, Southern Illinois University Carbondale. William D. Schafer, Ed.D., is affiliated professor, emeritus, University of Maryland at College Park. Thomas V. Trotter, Ph.D., is a professor, Counseling and School Psychology, University of Idaho, Coeur d'Alene, ID. Barbara Webster, Ed.S., is a school counselor, Niver Creek Middle School, Thornton, CO.