Attitudes of American School Counselor Association members toward utilizing paraprofessionals in school counseling.

School counseling professionals often experience challenges finding ample time for providing direct counseling and guidance services to students (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000). Specifically, noncounseling duties assigned to school counselors may interfere with implementing counseling programs and with counseling students (Baker, 2000). Many school counselors must strategically balance their time between actual counseling and guidance with students and numerous noncounseling responsibilities including lunch supervision, hall duty, extracurricular activity supervision, substituting for absent teachers, administering achievement tests, scheduling and registering students, supervising study halls and detention, and assisting with various duties of the principal's office (Gysbers & Henderson, 2000; Wilgus & Shelley, 1988).

As the number of noncounseling tasks delegated to school counselors increases, the amount of time devoted to counseling with students suffers. Studies have indicated school counselors generally spend only about 50% of their time in direct guidance and counseling contact with students (Partin, 1993; Wilgus & Shelley, 1988). Furthermore, one of the primary reasons students fail to seek out the school counselor for help is the perception that the counselor does not have time to see them (West, Kayser, Overton, & Saltmarsh, 1991). Not surprisingly, many articles in the school counseling literature have addressed time-management strategies and time-saving ideas for school counselors (e.g., Eddy, Richardson, & Allberg, 1982; Fairchild, 1986; Fairchild & Seeley, 1994, 1995; Kareck, 1998; Partin, 1983, 1993; Wilkinson, 1988). Clearly these suggestions attempted to maximize the percentage of time school counselors spend providing direct counseling services.

In addition to numerous noncounseling responsibilities, elevated counselor-student ratios place further strain on school counselors' time available for providing direct counseling services to students. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 1999a) suggested that the ideal counselor-student ratio was 1 counselor per 250 students. By contrast, Moles (1991) found that high school counselor-student ratios nationwide averaged 1 counselor to 350 students, while Marino, Sams, and Guerra (1999) reported the nationwide counselor-student ratio at 1 counselor per 513 students. Such elevated ratios ultimately reduce school counselor availability to counsel with students (Borders & Drury, 1992).

One solution proposed for increasing school counselors' time for providing direct services to students involves employing school counseling paraprofessionals (Carlson & Pietrofesa, 1971; McCollum, 1996; Zimpfer, 1974b). Counseling professionals introduced paraprofessionals into school counseling during the 1960s in order to alleviate critical school counselor shortages (Carlson & Pietrofesa, 1971) and to supplement the heavy caseloads required of school counselors (Zimpfer, 1974b). Their rationale was that paraprofessionals could reduce the noncounseling-related duties of the school counselor and assist school counselors in a variety of direct and indirect counseling services (Carlson, Cavins, & Dinkmeyer, 1974; Carlson & Pietrofesa, 1971). In turn, school counselors would have more time to develop and implement counseling programs for students.

To clarify the specific role of paraprofessionals in school counseling, the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA, 1967) outlined suggested job duties. The policy statement by APGA (1967) clearly differentiated the roles of the professional school counselor and counseling paraprofessional staff. The counselor was to provide actual counseling services, whereas the paraprofessional performed tasks and functions that contributed to the overall guidance program including direct helping, indirect helping, and clerical tasks. A position statement was also developed by ASCA to clarify the role and specific duties of paraprofessionals in school counseling. After a series of changes since its original adoption in 1974, the revised ASCA (1999b) position statement emphasized the clerical role and resource functions of counseling paraprofessionals. Suggested clerical tasks of counseling paraprofessionals included collecting and maintaining files, duplicating materials, assisting with student recordkeeping, monitoring group tests, and preparing and organizing answer sheets for scoring group tests. Suggested resource tasks of counseling paraprofessionals included establishing and maintaining connections with outside agencies and organizations; cataloging and filing educational, occupational, avocational, and personal student materials; assisting the counselor with various tasks within the guidance program; operating audio-visual equipment; and collecting and analyzing data (ASCA, 1999b).

Based upon the APGA (1967) policy statement regarding counseling paraprofessionals, Zimpfer (1974a) developed a survey and sampled 435 American School Counselor Association members to assess their attitudes toward introducing paraprofessionals into school counseling. The survey also examined attitudes toward specific job duties assigned to counseling paraprofessionals. Zimpfer (1974a) reported that 87% of the ASCA sample supported the use of paraprofessionals in school counseling. The highest endorsement of job duties centered on indirect helping tasks including information gathering and processing, placement follow-up, and program management. Other paraprofessional job functions strongly supported by Zimpfer's (1974a) sample involved audio-visual operations, obtaining and maintaining information of the world of work, obtaining and preparing supplies, and contacting sources for records. The least endorsed paraprofessional job functions included making student referrals to outside agencies and leading group discussions.

Although Zimpfer (1974a) concluded that school counselors strongly supported the utilization of counseling paraprofessionals, many researchers and scholars debated the introduction of paraprofessionals. Specifically, Odgers (1964) argued that the standards of counseling would be compromised if paraprofessionals were used in school counseling programs. Gust (1968) argued that role confusion would blur the distinction between the functions of the counselor and the paraprofessional. Patterson (1965) echoed this sentiment with his recommendation to limit support personnel to noncounseling, clerical tasks. Other criticisms regarding the use of paraprofessionals in counseling centered around the negative impact it might have on student needs, uncertainty about the degree of paraprofessional training, and the influence of paraprofessional tasks upon the job duties of the counselor (Carson, 1973).

Nearly 40 years have passed since the introduction of paraprofessionals into school counseling, yet the last national survey of attitudes toward school counseling paraprofessionals occurred with Zimpfer's (1974a) study in 1969. Furthermore, ASCA (1999a) recognized that some schools were using counseling paraprofessionals; however, no current literature documenting support or need for them was found. We therefore decided to re-examine ASCA members' attitudes toward utilizing paraprofessionals in school counseling and posed the following research questions:

1. What are the current counselor-student ratios in participants' schools?

2. What percentage of time do participants report spending in direct counseling and guidance services with students?

3. What are the attitudes of participants toward utilizing a paraprofessional in the school counseling office?

4. What job duties do participants endorse for school counseling paraprofessionals?

Method

Participants

Participants in this study consisted of 207 ASCA members employed as school counselors. All states except Arkansas and West Virginia were represented. The sample consisted of 95 (46%) elementary school counselors, 54 (26%) middle school counselors, and 58 (28%) high school counselors. Participants' school locations included 88 (43%) suburban, 63 (30%) rural, and 52 (25%) urban schools; 4 participants (2%) did not respond). The degrees held by participants included 184 (89%) master's degrees, 14 (7%) education specialist degrees, 7 (3%) doctoral degrees, and 2 (1%) bachelor's degrees. The participants' mean number of years of experience in school counseling was 8.4 (SD = 5.8), and the majority of participants were females (85%).

Instrument

A survey was developed for this study based upon Zimpfer's (1974a) research and the ASCA (1999b) position statement regarding paraprofessionals in school counseling. The instrument consisted of demographic questions including state of residence, school setting (elementary, middle, or high school), school location (urban, suburban, or rural), number of counselors, number of students served, percentage of time involved in providing direct counseling services to students, highest earned degree, years of experience as a school counselor, and gender. For the remainder of the survey, participants responded to 35 items using the following 5-point scale: 5 = strongly agree, 4 = agree, 3 = uncertain/neutral, 2 = disagree, and 1 = strongly disagree. Two items assessed attitudes about participants' reported counselor-student ratios, two items assessed attitudes regarding participants' percentage of time involved in providing direct counseling services to students, and two items assessed participants' support for utilizing counseling paraprofessionals in their schools. Participants also answered three questions assessing support for utilizing counseling paraprofessionals in elementary, middle, and high school settings, respectively. The remainder of the survey consisted of 26 items assessing participants' attitudes toward specific paraprofessional job duties including direct helping (six items), indirect helping (seven items), and clerical tasks (13 items). At the end of the survey, participants were provided the opportunity to write comments.

Cronbach's alphas were calculated to test internal consistency reliability of survey items assessing counselor-student ratios (.83), views of time available to provide direct services (.67), and overall support for using counseling paraprofessionals (.86). Internal consistency was also tested for items assessing support for specific job domains, including clerical duties (.83), indirect helping tasks (.71), and direct helping tasks (.87).

Procedures

Participants were drawn from a systematic random sample (Rea & Parker, 1997) of the ASCA 1999-2000 Membership Directory (ASCA, 1999a). The sample was stratified by state to maximize obtaining a representative national sample of ASCA members. From the ASCA membership of approximately 12,000 members, a sample of 600 members was drawn, representing about 5% of the current membership. Rea and Parker (1997) cited low response rates as a major limitation of mall surveys. To increase the return rate of this survey, respondents were entered in a drawing for a digital video disc (DVD) player.

Surveys were mailed to the 600 randomly selected ASCA members along with an introductory letter, an entry card for the DVD player drawing, and a stamped envelope for return. A total of 186 surveys (31%) were returned within 15 days of the initial mailing. A follow-up postcard requesting the completed survey was mailed to participants who had not responded within 15 days of the initial mailing. After the postcard mailing, 55 additional participants returned their surveys. Data collection ended on the 28th day subsequent to the initial mailing. The final return consisted of 241 surveys representing a 40% return rate. Of the returned surveys, only those participants currently employed as school counselors were used. This yielded a final sample of 207 ASCA members for this study.

Results

What Are the Current Counselor-Student Ratios in Participants' Schools?

The mean counselor-student ratio of the participants was 1 counselor per 465 students (SD = 312). A one-sample t test indicated this ratio significantly exceeded (t = 9.87, p < .000) ASCA (1999a) recommendations of 1 counselor per 250 students. Elementary school counselor participants had the highest mean counselor-student ratio of 1 counselor per 594 students (SD = 393). Middle school counselors had a mean ratio of 1 counselor per 387 students (SD = 206), while high school counselors had the lowest counselor-student mean ratio of 1 counselor per 338 students (SD = 122). A polynomial contrast of the counselor-student ratio showed a significant linear trend (F (1, 203) = 25.19, p < .001). Thus, counselor-student ratios decreased as school level increased. The majority of participants (60%) reported an inadequate counselor-student ratio at their schools. Furthermore, the majority of participants (52%) indicated that the counselor-student ratio at their school hindered their ability to serve students.

What Percentage of Time Do Participants Report Spending in Direct Counseling and Guidance Services with Students?

Participants' mean reported percentage of time involved dally in direct counseling and guidance services was 61% (SD = 27). A one-sample t test indicated this percentage fell significantly below (t = -4.45, p < .000) ASCA (1999a) recommendations of 70%. Elementary counselors had the highest dally percentage of time involved in direct counseling and guidance services with 67% (SD = 29), followed by middle school counselors with 63% (SD = 26), and high school counselors with 53% (SD = 25). A polynomial contrast of the percentage of rime involved in direct counseling and guidance services showed a significant linear trend (F (1, 201) = 9.145, p < .01). Thus, participants' time in direct counseling and guidance services decreased as school level increased. More than two thirds (68%) of participants indicated a lack of time available to provide direct counseling and guidance activities to students. Furthermore, the majority of participants (62%) indicated that rime spent in nondirect counseling tasks hindered their ability to serve students.

What are the Attitudes toward Utilizing a Paraprofessional in the School Counseling Office?

Support for utilizing counseling paraprofessionals in participants' schools was assessed by looking at combined responses to "A counseling paraprofessional would be helpful at my school" and "My school does not need a counseling paraprofessional." Of the participants, 59% strongly agreed or agreed with utilizing a counseling paraprofessional at their schools, 23% indicated uncertainty or neutrality, and 17% disagreed or strongly disagreed. In addition, 67% of participants indicated that counselor paraprofessionals are needed at the high school level, while 64% indicated a need at the middle school level, and 57% indicated a need at the elementary school level.

About 8% of the participants wrote comments at the end of the survey strongly supporting the use of counseling paraprofessionals. Typical examples of these responses included "a paraprofessional with the right training could most definitely be an asset to my particular workplace," and "If utilized appropriately, counselor paraprofessionals would greatly enhance the services school counselors are able to provide." One participant wrote, "It would be nice to have help, because it is the students who end up winning and reaping the benefits." Other comments likewise emphasized the beneficial impact on services to students and underscored the value of having a trained paraprofessional to help the school counselor.

Although support was found for using paraprofessionals in school counseling, about 7% of survey participants presented comments indicating opposition to utilizing paraprofessionals in school counseling. Concerns expressed included loss of current school counselors to lower-paid and less-educated paraprofessionals, lack of knowledge and experience by paraprofessionals, inadequate education and preparation of paraprofessionals, and a negative impact on the professional status of school counselors. One respondent wrote:

   I'm aware we have shortages but I'm fearful of substitution. I think the
   shortages would be better served with things like more active recruitment
   of counseling majors at the college level, and more promotion by ACA and
   this state organization. I don't think we're desperate enough yet to
   compromise.

Another participant wrote, "These people do not have the training or the education to be counseling in schools. They flit in and out and do not know school protocol. [My] district is finally getting away from this."

What Job Duties Do Participants Endorse for School Counseling Paraprofessionals?

Support for job duties was assessed using three primary job categories: clerical tasks, indirect helping tasks, and direct helping tasks. More than two thirds of the participants (69%) supported assigning clerical tasks to counseling paraprofessionals. A majority of participants (53%) supported assigning indirect helping tasks to counseling paraprofessionals. However, most participants (72%) opposed utilizing paraprofessionals for direct helping tasks.

See the Table showing the ranked mean ratings for the 26 job duties assessed. Clerical tasks comprised 8 of the 10 highest ranked duties for counseling paraprofessionals. The most highly ranked clerical duties included database management, maintaining supplies, maintaining occupational data, designing brochures, and appointment scheduling. Indirect helping tasks generally fell in the middle of the task rankings. The highest ranked indirect helping duties included assisting students with information gathering, administering career center tools, and putting clients at ease. Finally, items assessing support for direct helping tasks ranked exclusively at the bottom of the job duties. Of the direct helping tasks, interviewing students received the most endorsements. Crisis management, group counseling, and individual counseling represented the lowest ranked direct helping tasks.

Discussion

Despite the ASCA (1999b) position statement defining and clarifying the use of supportive staff in school counseling, few researchers since the 1970s have examined the level of support for, and the recommended duties of, paraprofessionals in school counseling. The present study explored ASCA members' attitudes toward utilizing school counseling paraprofessionals and the duties endorsed for paraprofessionals.

Participants reported spending less than the ASCA (1999a) recommended 70% of their time providing direct counseling and guidance services to students. Furthermore, participants reported counselor-student ratios in their schools that exceeded the ASCA (1999a) recommendation of 1 counselor per 250 students. Considering these findings, it appeared that participants could benefit from additional personnel support, and we found the majority of participants supported utilizing counseling paraprofessionals in their schools.

Survey participants most strongly supported the use of counseling paraprofessionals in high schools and least supported their use at the elementary level. Interestingly, elementary school counselors reported the highest percentage of time spent in direct services to students, despite the highest counselor-student ratio. Conversely, high school counselors reported the lowest percentage of time spent in direct services, despite the lowest counselor-student ratio. The underlying reason for high school counselors' decreased time spent in direct services, despite lower counselor-student ratios, might be explained by the survey respondents. They indicated high school counselors have substantially more paperwork and administrative tasks as part of their routine job duties than do elementary school counselors. Thus, participants' support for utilizing school counseling paraprofessionals at each school level appeared most related to the perceived lack of time available to provide direct counseling services.

Survey participants who expressed criticism over the use of paraprofessionals in school counseling reiterated the concerns discussed previously (e.g., Gust, 1968; Odgers, 1964; Patterson, 1965). In particular, some participants expressed fears that school counselor positions would be cut by administrators in favor of less costly paraprofessionals. Likewise some participants indicated that utilizing school counseling paraprofessionals might compromise the professional status of school counselors. It is interesting, however, to note that the 7% of participants who wrote negative comments came from the 17% who disagreed that counseling paraprofessionals would be helpful in their schools. By contrast, the 8% of participants who wrote favorable comments about using counseling paraprofessionals came from the 59% who agreed counseling paraprofessionals would be helpful. This finding suggests that those who disagree with using paraprofessionals in school counseling may be a relatively smaller but more vocal group.

Although survey participants demonstrated support for using paraprofessionals in school counseling programs, they expressed distinct differences in support for various job duties. Participants most highly supported assigning clerical tasks to counseling paraprofessionals. These tasks comprise many noncounseling-related duties required of school counselors that time-management strategies attempted to minimize (e.g., Eddy et al., 1982; Fairchild, 1986; Fairchild & Seeley, 1994, 1995; Kareck, 1998; Partin, 1983, 1993; Wilkinson, 1988). Participants thus concurred with the ASCA (1999b) position statement regarding assignment of clerical duties to school counseling support personnel. Indirect helping tasks, which parallel the resource tasks suggested in the ASCA (1999b) position statement, received less support than clerical tasks. Indirect counseling duties such as administering career center instruments and putting clients at ease, appear to be tasks that require a higher level of skill specific to counseling. Therefore, indirect helping tasks performed by paraprofessionals may, as the ASCA (1999b) position statement emphasized, require careful supervision by the school counselor. Lastly, participants expressed opposition to the assignment of direct helping tasks to counseling paraprofessionals. Direct helping tasks such as individual and group counseling clearly require an advanced level of education and preparation. Consistent with the ASCA (1999b) position statement, participants specified that direct counseling duties should remain exclusively in the domain of the professional school counselor.

The results of this study contrasted with Zimpfer's (1974a) findings of support for counseling paraprofessionals. Zimpfer found that 87% of participants in his study supported the use of school counseling paraprofessionals. In contrast, 59% of participants in the present study supported utilizing paraprofessionals in school counseling. Thus, support levels for paraprofessionals in school counseling appear to have declined. This decrease in endorsement is likewise reflected in the school counseling literature, which contains no recent references regarding attitudes toward, or support for, school counseling paraprofessionals. Although a decrease in support was found, a majority of participants in this study favored the use of school counseling paraprofessionals.

Limitations and Future Research

Results of this study must be viewed in light of several limitations. First, although a systematic random sample was drawn from the ASCA membership directory, the participants may not have comprised a representative sample of ASCA members. Second, despite the use of an incentive to enhance survey response rates, only 40% of the sampled 600 ASCA members returned useable surveys. Of those, only the surveys of employed school counselors were used, yielding a sample of 207 that represented approximately 1.7% of the ASCA membership. For these reasons, results of this study may not represent attitudes of all school counselors.

Future studies on the use of counseling paraprofessionals might include a larger sample of current school counselors obtained through school districts nationwide. Such a sample may help provide additional information about the attitudes of school counselors toward utilizing counseling paraprofessionals. A related study might involve examining the attitudes of school administrators and directors of school counseling programs toward utilizing counseling paraprofessionals. Results of quantitative and qualitative studies in schools currently employing counseling paraprofessionals may be used to enhance the design and implementation of counseling paraprofessional preparation. Issues explored in such studies might include attitudes of counselors toward paraprofessionals, assigned paraprofessional tasks, training of paraprofessionals, and role differentiation between paraprofessionals and professional counselors.

Recommendations

Based on the results of this study, we present recommendations regarding the employment, job functions, and preparation of counseling paraprofessionals. First, in order for school counselors to have ample time to provide direct counseling and guidance services, we recommend that they work with their state education agencies, school districts, and school building administrators to create the counseling paraprofessional position with clearly specified job duties. Furthermore, the school counseling paraprofessional should be hired, assigned duties, supervised, and evaluated exclusively by the on-site lead school counselor, with input from administrators where appropriate. In school districts where resources are limited or where counseling paraprofessionals are introduced gradually, we recommend that high school counseling programs be given priority in being staffed with a counseling paraprofessional.

Second, a clear job description should be developed that specifies the scope and limits of the position. The job description should clearly indicate that the counseling paraprofessional never exists in lieu of the school counselor but rather exists only as support for, and under the supervision of, the school counselor. It should also include an explanation of the various clerical and indirect helping tasks involved in the position, and it should specify that all direct counseling and guidance duties are the exclusive responsibility of the school counselor. Corresponding with the job description, we recommend the creation of a position title that clearly differentiates the paraprofessional from the school counselor.

Finally, concerning the preparation of counseling paraprofessionals, we recommend the development of a standard program that orients future counseling paraprofessionals to the functions and goals of school counseling programs. Although many of the duties assigned to counseling paraprofessionals may be clerical in nature, we believe that their preparation should be distinguished from general clerical and secretarial programs. In order for counseling paraprofessionals to contribute meaningfully to school counseling programs, their preparation should emphasize functions of school counseling programs, components of effective school counseling services, and an exploration of the unique role and responsibilities of the counseling paraprofessional. One means for implementing uniform training standards involves the development of a standard curriculum and certification program that could be offered nationally through professional development seminars or workshops.

Conclusion

Considering the findings of support by school counselors in this study, it follows that utilizing counseling paraprofessionals may help fill a critical need in the delivery of school counseling and guidance services. However, professional counselors have yet to develop uniform preparation standards or qualifications for school counseling paraprofessionals. Furthermore, the impact of utilizing counseling paraprofessionals upon the school counseling profession remains to be seen. Although numerous questions still remain, utilizing counseling paraprofessionals shows promise in enhancing the quality of support services that elementary and secondary schools provide to students.

Participants' Rankings of School Counseling Paraprofessional Job Duties

Rank   Job Category       Job Duty                         M      SD

1      Clerical           Database management             4.14   0.85
2      Clerical           Maintaining supplies            4.10   0.77
3      Clerical           Maintaining occupational data   4.02   0.83
4      Clerical           Designing brochures             3.89   0.94
5      Indirect Helping   Assisting students with
                            information gathering         3.89   0.89
6      Clerical           Appointment scheduling          3.79   1.14
7      Indirect Helping   Administering career center
                            tools                         3.78   1.03
8      Clerical           Accessing and maintaining
                            student records               3.76   1.17
9      Clerical           Supervising work study
                            students                      3.70   0.97
10     Clerical           Recording minutes for group
                            meetings                      3.61   1.12
11     Indirect Helping   Putting clients at ease         3.58   1.00
12     Indirect Helping   Providing information about
                            colleges                      3.51   1.12
13     Clerical           Standardized testing
                            assistance                    3.50   1.27
14     Clerical           Managing the counseling
                            office                        3.47   1.18
15     Clerical           Making reports                  3.39   1.08
16     Clerical           Collecting and analyzing data   3.39   1.09
17     Clerical           Budgeting and purchasing
                            supplies                      3.38   1.20
18     Indirect Helping   Locating and making referrals   2.95   1.22
19     Indirect Helping   Explaining counseling           2.81   1.08
20     Indirect Helping   Leading small topic groups      2.48   1.13
21     Direct Helping     Interviewing students           2.36   1.13
22     Direct Helping     Classroom guidance              2.32   1.14
23     Direct Helping     Interviewing parents            2.20   1.05
24     Direct Helping     Crisis management               1.91   1.07
25     Direct Helping     Group counseling                1.88   1.00
26     Direct Helping     Individual counseling           1.70   0.87

Note. Means correspond to responses on a 5-point Likert scale
(5 = Strongly Agree; 4 = Agree; 3 = Uncertain/Neutral; 2 = Disagree;
1 = Strongly Disagree); N = 207.

References

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Randall L. Astramovich,
Ph.D., is an assistant professor
of Counseling, Idaho State
University, Pocatello. E-mail:
[e-mail].

Janice Miner Holden, Ed.D.,
is a professor of Counseling,
University of North Texas,
Denton.