Counselor education accountability: training the effective professional school counselor.

With recent calls for accountability in school counseling, it is imperative that counselor educators are structuring the professional identity development of counselors-in-training through guided learning experiences with a focus on demonstrated effectiveness. The author presents examples of course objectives and learning experiences from five courses in a counselor education program that specifically address training the effective professional school counselor. Suggested classroom activities, projects, and resources are included. An action research project undertaken by the author demonstrates her accountability through a disciplined process of inquiry to improve counselor education practice for training the effective professional school counselor.

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The current environment in which professional school counselors are practicing is shaped by calls for accountability, which can be defined as demonstrating to others the effectiveness of the program in measurable terms (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2005). The charge for accountability by demonstrating effectiveness as a counselor is reflected in the ethical standards for school counselors (e.g., ASCA, 2004), in counselor education accreditation standards (e.g., Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP], 2001), in the scientist-practitioner training model (e.g., Borders, Bloss, Cashwell, & Rainey, 1995; Haring-Hidore & Vacc, 1988), and in the school counseling literature (e.g., Gysbers, 2004). The ASCA National Model[R] (2005) places accountability in the top quadrant of the model framework and challenges school counselors to answer the question, "How are students different as a result of the school counseling program?" (p. 59).

The standards (e.g., American Counseling Association's Code of Ethics, the Ethical Standards for School Counselors, the CACREP Standards) that guide our professional training and practice intimately link effectiveness with accountability. How does one define effectiveness (e.g., quality or state of being effective)? Effective, as defined in the Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary (2001), means

   producing a result, causing a result, especially
   the desired or intended result; having a striking
   result, successful, especially in producing a
   strong or favorable impression on people;
   actual, actual or in practice, even if not officially
   or theoretically so; officially in force,
   operative, or applicable; ready for action, fully
   equipped and ready for action. (p. 457)

So, how does one demonstrate effectiveness? The focus of effectiveness can be outcome assessment (e.g., student improvement, reduction of symptoms/behaviors), counselor performance, counseling functions, best practices, or technique competence (Granello & Granello, 2001; Loesch, 2001). What is consistent across definitions of effectiveness is that you need to determine what you want to know (e.g., outcome assessment of students, activities, caseload, program), to use several sources of effectiveness data (e.g., objective measures, subjective measures), and to determine who measures the effectiveness (e.g., counselor, students, external evaluators). Resources abound that will inform the counselor educator about identifying a focus for demonstrated effectiveness; see Appendix A for a sampling of books, articles, and Web-site resources.

Accountability to demonstrate and share with others one's effectiveness in the school counseling program includes assessing needs, evaluating effects, and sharing the results with others (Baker & Gerler, 2004). Competencies for school counselors (Engels & Associates, 2004) include using program evaluation to ensure the program is meeting the needs of the schools, to disseminate program outcomes, and to revise and improve the program. This periodic evaluation of program effectiveness and the use of findings to improve school counseling effectiveness are means of operationally defining accountability for professional school counselors. School counselors should embrace accountability as a professional obligation and as a reflection of one's professional identity by reporting the effectiveness of the services and of the program.

Developing one's professional identity as an effective school counselor begins during the training program. The mission of the counselor education program can be grounded in "training effective school counselors"; faculty members can collaborate to imbue courses with the values, ways of knowing, and tools for counseling effectiveness. This parallel process between the courses in the training program and the practice of school counseling provides an opportunity for counselor educators to be accountability gatekeepers for the profession and to model program accountability by planning, analyzing, and improving the training program. A pragmatic, "learn by doing" approach throughout the training program will provide counselors-in-training with the necessary knowledge, skills, and application for demonstrating the effectiveness (i.e., accountability) of the school counseling program. Therefore, it is imperative that counselor educators suffuse accountability throughout the training program so that demonstrating effectiveness as a school counselor develops as part of one's professional identity.

The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a framework and practical applications that infuse accountability as part of the professional identity development of school counselors. I share a description of the courses, objectives, and learning activities that are specific in training school counselors for accountability. The final section of the article presents an action research process for counselor educators to continually improve the counselor education program and to be accountable for training the effective professional school counselor. Appendix A includes suggested resources to assist counselor educators in training school counselors for accountability.

PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT AS AN EFFECTIVE SCHOOL COUNSELOR

Professional accountability resonates throughout our ethical standards, training guidelines, and professional literature. The ethical standards for professional practice set forth by the American Counseling Association (ACA) and ASCA specify accountability in one's ethical practice (ACA, 1995; ASCA, 2004). The ACA Code of Ethics specifies that counselors should continually monitor their effectiveness as professionals and seek out supervision to evaluate their efficacy as counselors (see ACA, 1995, C.2. Professional Competence). As stated in Ethical Standards for School Counselors, professional school counselors should use accountability measures to assess the effectiveness of their programs in having impact on students' academic, career, and personal/social development (see ASCA, 2004, A.9.g.). Further, the professional school counselor develops a systematic program evaluation process and is guided by evaluation data in planning programs and services (ASCA, D.1.g.).

CACREP's 2001 Standards speak to curricular studies in the areas of research and program evaluation as well as standards for school counseling programs (CACREP, 2001). In research and program evaluation, the Standards identify outcome-based research, program evaluation, use of findings to effect program modifications, and use of research to improve counseling effectiveness. Standards for school counseling programs require students to have curricular experiences and demonstrated knowledge and skills in the methods to plan, develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate a comprehensive developmental school counseling program. Further, to use data from school-based information to improve student outcomes and to evaluate specific strategies that meet program goals and objectives.

In a review of the literature related to training professional counselors, a historical perspective and a variety of themes related to counseling effectiveness emerge. These themes include counselor self-efficacy (Larson & Daniels, 1998; Thompson, 2004), practitioner-scholar model (Stoltenberg et al., 2000), constructivist training and practice (Sexton & Griffin, 1997), counseling outcomes (Sexton & Whiston, 1996), and, recently, training evidence-based practitioners (Chwalisz, 2003). From a historical perspective, the interest in counseling effectiveness seems to have surfaced during the mid 20th century. A review of the abstracts for published articles in Counselor Education and Supervision on counseling effectiveness in counselor training programs dates back at least to 1967 (e.g., Johnson, Shertzer, & Linden, 1967). Further, the literature surrounding school counselor effectiveness and accountability dates back at least to the 1950s (e.g., Kaczkowski & Rothney, 1956; Rothney, 1958).

Clearly, as counselors and educators, we recognize the importance of professional accountability as reflected in our ethical standards, training standards, and the literature. However, little has been written on how to teach accountability in our counselor education programs. There is a need to focus counselor education on not only training effective school counselors but also providing counselors-in-training with a practical application of accountability for demonstrating their effectiveness.

Rather than approaching each counselor education course as a discrete entity, the training program can be viewed as a dynamic opportunity for learning that speaks to the structuring phase of professional identity development. Brott and Myers (1999) proposed a grounded theory of school counselor professional identity development that consists of four phases (structuring, interacting, distinguishing, evolving) in a process for the blending of influences. The structuring phase is an external perspective or influence based on the experiences during the training program (e.g., courses), which initially shapes one's professional identity development. This professional identity serves as a frame of reference for carrying out one's role, making significant decisions, and developing as a professional. Therefore, the training program (structuring phase) becomes a critical aspect for developing one's self-conceptualization as a professional school counselor. So it follows that the emphasis on accountability (e.g., demonstrating effectiveness) be a central mission of the training program as an influence shaping the professional identity development as an effective school counselor.

CACREP's 2001 Standards can be used as a framework from which to identify components for training the effective professional school counselor, namely Program Objectives and Curriculum, Clinical Instruction, and Standards for School Counseling Programs. Faculty members can include the language of "training effective school counselors" in a program mission statement and specify program objectives that are measurable, which will hold counselor educators accountable. Language included in course descriptions and related syllabi can specify how students are trained as "effective school counselors." Practicum and internship experiences can focus on "demonstrating one's school counseling effectiveness."

Following are highlights from five courses in a counselor education program where I am integrating an approach for training the effective school counselor and providing opportunities for counselors-in-training to practice accountability. The CACREP components (related courses given in parentheses) include the following: Helping Relationships (theories of counseling), Assessment (appraisal in counseling), School Counseling (school counseling), and Clinical Instruction (practicum in counseling, internship in counseling). Each highlight includes a brief description of the course objectives and learning activities specific to training the effective professional school counselor; the clinical capstone experience focuses on accountability as the interns demonstrate the effectiveness of their counseling services and the school counseling program. Table 1 provides a summary of these components/courses, key objectives, and learning activities. I begin with the foundations course on counseling theories where students frame a personal model of counseling based on knowledge about human behavior and a survey of counseling theories.

Helping Relationships (Theories of Counseling)

The course that I teach is a survey of counseling theories, and the specific course objective related to accountability is for students to build a personal model of counseling by applying knowledge of human behavior and counseling theories. Interactive learning experiences are provided to guide students' knowledge acquisition about counseling theories. These learning experiences are provided so that students retrieve and test information numerous times and learn the same information in a variety of ways. Therefore, the learning activities include acquiring knowledge about a range of counseling theories, applying theoretical knowledge to lived experiences and in new contexts, and writing a personal model of counseling that blends knowledge into a new context.

Students can construct interactive games (e.g., "Jeopardy," "Twenty Questions") for reviewing and reinforcing information about counseling theories, such as names of theorists, key concepts, counseling goals, and techniques. The game of Jeopardy can be adapted as discrete knowledge "answers" about counseling theories to which students respond with the correct "question" for obtaining the answer. This game can be played in small groups or with the entire class. Another game is Twenty Questions; pairs of students can play at the same time with one student selecting a theory and the partner asking questions based on key information to "find" the theory the partner has selected.

Case studies are opportunities for students to apply their "new" theoretical knowledge. Each student can write a case study based on lived experiences. Each week, three or four of the student-written cases can be randomly selected by the instructor. Teams of students are assigned a theory from which they discuss the case and then present to the class the case from a given theoretical perspective. To work in new contexts, the teacher can select popular culture (e.g., TV shows, movies, books) from which to present cases. For example, characters from The Lion King have been found to be excellent client cases for theoretical application (e.g., Scar goes to psychoanalysis, Mufassa delves into existential issues, young Simba goes to the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy school counselor, the hyenas are referred to family counseling). In small groups, students discuss the character's presenting problem, conceptualization of the problem from a theoretical perspective, and possible goals for treatment. Large group discussion explores the application of the theory to the presenting problem with the teacher using open-ended questions to engage the students in processing the information and demonstrating their comprehension.

The capstone activity for the course is for students to write a personal model of counseling as a formal paper that is based on principles of human behavior and integrates two or three core theories from which the counselor-in-training envisions the counseling process. The paper includes the following sections: introduction, thoughts on human behavior, the change process, counseling goals, counselor role, counselor-student relationship, and counseling techniques. Evaluation of the paper is based on a logical selection of counseling theories that reflects the student's view of human behavior, appropriate application of the theories, consistent theoretical themes across the sections, and following the writing style based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2001). The personal model of counseling is then revisited in other courses and revised as needed. For instance, during practicum and internship, each counselor-in-training implements the personal model of counseling and determines his or her effectiveness (see the description later in this article under "Clinical Instruction"). With the counselors-in-training having articulated a personal model of counseling, I next focus on using the appraisal in counseling course to build a vocabulary and decision-making process to address counseling effectiveness.

Assessment (Appraisal in Counseling)

The assessment course objective specific to training the effective professional school counselor is to construct a cognitive framework for accountability. Although the main focus of the assessment course is to provide an understanding of individual and group approaches to assessment, a unit on accountability with didactic presentations and interactive learning activities is included to introduce the vocabulary related to and knowledge about counseling effectiveness.

The accountability unit within the course includes learning activities to develop vocabulary and definitions for effectiveness, identify counseling best practices, determine a decision-making framework for accountability, become familiar with available resources and instruments, and write a proposal for an effectiveness project. Classroom activities include brainstorming, group exercises, and individual applications to draw on students' prior knowledge and to increase metacognitive processing. A brainstorming activity is used as a cognitive exercise to identify words and phrases that the student associates with the term "counseling effectiveness." An alternative would be for the instructor to provide a list of words and phrases that could be used to describe counseling effectiveness and ask the students to circle the words/phrases they believe describe counseling effectiveness. From the words and phrases that the student subscribes to, a definition is written (e.g., "Counseling effectiveness is ..."). The student definitions are shared with classmates, and the ensuing group discussion explores the similarities and differences among the definitions. The class then discusses ways in which a counselor could assess counseling effectiveness that would be complementary to the definition. Again, the group explores the similarities and differences among assessments selected, whether the assessments selected complement the definition, and suggest other forms of assessment.

Following these activities, a didactic presentation by the instructor covers the literature on counseling effectiveness and the accountability decision-making process. The purpose of the presentation is for students to build cognitive knowledge and application strategies. Topics include vocabulary (e.g., effective, effectiveness, efficacy, outcomes), determining what you want to know (e.g., measures of change, symptom reduction), best practices (e.g., technique, activity), assessment (e.g., student-client satisfaction, clinical ratings), and program evaluation (e.g., peer mediation, parent education, psycho-educational groups). Application strategies cover measures of outcomes and determining who is involved with measuring. Measures of outcomes can be grouped as objective-based with psychometric properties (e.g., counselor performance, indicators of student-client behavior change) and as subjective-based with face validity (e.g., self-assessment, rating scales). Determining who measures effectiveness includes the counselor, student-client, and external evaluators (e.g., peers, supervisor, administrator).

After the didactic presentation, students revisit their definitions of counseling effectiveness and methods of assessing. Opportunities are provided for students to articulate and refine their definitions and assessments, such as small group discussions and student-to-student collaborations. Another learning activity is to include a question on the final exam related to counseling effectiveness. My class has a take-home final exam, and one of five questions given on the exam is specific to accountability; the question asks that the student defines effectiveness, cites literature to support the definition, identifies effectiveness measures, determines who will be involved in the evaluation of effectiveness, and how the information will be shared with stakeholders. In the next course, I am able to focus specifically on school counseling applications and to provide the counselors-in-training with the tools for demonstrating the effectiveness of the school counseling program.

School Counseling

In the school counseling course, one of the course objectives is to develop skills for reporting accountability based on the ASCA National Model (2005). This objective is based on the cognitive framework (e.g., vocabulary, knowledge) associated with effectiveness and provides student learning experiences to develop skills that link school counseling practice with demonstrated effectiveness. Learning activities include assembling a professional portfolio, linking interventions to state and/or national standards (i.e., academic development, career development, personal/social development), identifying effectiveness projects, designing Excel charts to visually display data, and developing results reports that demonstrate accountability.

The instructor can model for the students an accountability project by using the course content to demonstrate effectiveness in teaching the accountability unit. Pre--and post-tests based on the unit objectives are given to the students. The items on the pre- and post-tests include Likert scale responses that generate quantitative data and open-ended questions that generate qualitative data. The instructor provides the class data to the students; the assignment is to categorize the compilation of the qualitative data, place the quantitative data in an Excel spreadsheet, calculate the descriptive statistics, construct at least one chart displaying the data, and develop a one-page report summarizing the effectiveness of the unit taught by the instructor (i.e., goal, results, impact, program implications). These reports are shared in class, and the program implications are discussed as suggestions for future presentations in this course.

Group projects are aimed at engaging the counselors-in-training to actively use knowledge from previous courses and construct developmentally appropriate school counseling programs. At times, the students can be divided by school level (elementary, middle school, high school) and at other times as a school counseling staff representing all levels (K12). The instructor can provide challenges for the groups to address, such as bullying, No Child Left Behind mandates, academic achievement, and interpersonal issues. In developing the professional portfolio, counselors-in-training write a mission statement for school counseling, revise their personal model of counseling from the theories class to reflect the school counseling setting, identify developmentally appropriate responsive services, plan a school counseling calendar, and develop accountability projects to demonstrate the effectiveness of the school counseling program. With the professional portfolio in hand, the counselors-in-training move to the clinical instruction components of their training and focus on the direct application of what they have learned about accountability in practicum and internship.

Clinical Instruction (Practicum in Counseling)

For clinical instruction, the key accountability objective in practicum is for the instructor to model a counseling effectiveness project; in other words, to walk-the-talk. Learning activities include demonstrating effectiveness of counseling services offered by counselors-in-training and gathering data from student-clients regarding effectiveness of services received. The practicum supervisor constructs an accountability component as part of the counseling practice and requires counselors-in-training to monitor client progress, to evaluate counseling strategies, and to report the assessment of student-client progress and counseling strategies as a part of the student-client's termination report.

A recent opportunity in our counselor education program to provide counseling services to Returning Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) became a laboratory to involve the clients (i.e., RPCVs) in the assessment of counseling services provided by the practicum counselors-in-training. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8; Attkisson & Greenfield, 1999) was selected as the standardized subjective instrument to be completed by the RPCVs. The CSQ-8 was disseminated to the clients as an online survey after counseling services were terminated; the return rate was 100%. Results indicated that 85% of the RPCVs were satisfied with the counseling services provided by the practicum counselors-in-training, 69% indicated that most or all of their needs were met, and 100% recommended the continuation of counseling services to RPCVs. An open-ended question ("Any comments or suggestions?") elicited further comments regarding the services provided: "Nice if a full-time counselor was always available," "I just wish it was longer and more time to help [me] develop these skills necessary for the next step." A summary report written by the practicum supervisor provided descriptive statistics, pie charts of the statistics, and themes based on qualitative data; the report was shared with the counselors-in-training, the counseling program faculty, and the RPCVs coordinators. In addition to the client rating scale of satisfaction with services provided, the counselors-in-training plotted the Global Assessment of Functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) of their clients over time and wrote the termination report to include individualized client outcome assessment based upon stated goals from the treatment plan. The challenge for the counselors-in-training was identifying objective and/or subjective measures to determine client outcomes, which demonstrates one's effectiveness.

Throughout the practicum semester, the counselors-in-training are applying and revising their personal models of counseling, which were originally written during the Theories of Counseling course. Case presentations can be made from a theoretical perspective, group processing during supervision can incorporate alternate theoretical perspectives, and a mid-semester paper that critiques the personal model of counseling applied to working with student-clients can contribute to active processing. At the end of the semester, each counselor-in-training submits to the supervisor a revised personal model of counseling paper, which will serve as the theoretical basis for beginning the internship experience.

As the capstone experience in the training program, the internship is where I set an accountability project as an assignment for the interns to demonstrate their effectiveness as school counselors. The interns are now at a point in the structuring phase of their professional identity development to be challenged with the importance of decision making in determining the program and services; therefore, the internship assignment is to identify a project, develop a measurable goal and strategy (e.g., individual counseling, group counseling, classroom guidance unit, parent education program), collect data, and present posters to summarize their effectiveness projects, which are presented as a mini-conference to all students in and staff related to the counselor education program.

Clinical Instruction (Internship in Counseling)

During the school counseling internship, the key course objective is to embrace accountability as a professional school counselor. Learning activities include developing and carrying out an effectiveness project during the school counseling internship and reviewing case presentations from a theoretical perspective that is articulated as a personal model of counseling. The effectiveness projects are developed, carried out, and presented as action research (Sagor, 2000): Select a focus, clarify theories, identify research questions, collect data, analyze data, report results, and take informed action. I have developed a report format that allows professional school counselors to present the effectiveness project on one page that consists of a goal (e.g., focus of the project, participants, timeframe, standards addressed, method for data collection), results stated in measurable terms, impact statements, and program implications. The acronym GRIP is used as a mnemonic to remember the parts of the report: Goal, Results, Impact statements, and Program implications.

The school counseling interns' effectiveness projects generally focus on individual counseling, group counseling, classroom guidance, or a parent education program; however, another focus for the interns' effectiveness project can be on demonstrating the effectiveness of an aspect of their personal model of counseling, which was originally written during the counseling theories course and revised during practicum. At the end of the semester, a poster presentation session is held with all students and faculty members in the program invited to the presentations. The interns present posters that display their respective projects and answer questions from other students and faculty members regarding their projects. Not only are the interns presenting the results of their respective effectiveness projects, they also are learning about a mode of presentation that is frequently found at professional conferences (e.g., poster sessions). Interns are encouraged to submit their effectiveness projects as presentation proposals for consideration at state counseling conferences.

Another opportunity for school counseling interns to engage in active processing is during group supervision. Case presentations can be framed from the intern's personal model of counseling. This is an opportunity for interns to apply their counseling models to a school setting; it is also an opportunity to revise and refine the personal model of counseling. When using the peer group supervision model (Borders, 1991), a theoretical "voice" can be incorporated as one of the components during case review. This is a good practice for using a variety of theoretical perspectives and has been found to be an excellent review of theories in preparation for the master's comprehensive examination.

Next Steps for Training the Effective Professional School Counselor

Next steps in the development of this approach are to introduce the effective school counselor concept during the admissions process and to expand the infusion model into the initial training course (Principles of Professional Counseling). By introducing the concept of the effective school counselor in our admissions interview process, we communicate to applicants our philosophy of training. Applicants to our program participate in a group interview with one component of the interview being a writing sample. The writing sample can include questions to the applicants that reflect the philosophy of training the effective practitioner: "What qualities do you possess that will contribute to you becoming an effective counselor?" "What are the challenges faced by professional counselors that impact their ability to be effective?"

Another step is to expand the concepts of effectiveness into the initial course that the students take in the master's counseling program. This step will allow us to provide the effective school counselor framework as the guiding focus in this course and all subsequent courses. For an assignment in this class, students interview professional school counselors, and one question will be to ask the practitioners, "How do you know you are effective as a school counselor?"

AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT FOR TRAINING THE EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELOR

I have undertaken action research as a method to evaluate and improve the practice of training professional school counselors for accountability (Brott, 2005). Action research is a disciplined process of inquiry to improve practice (Sagor, 2000). I view this research method to be compatible in viewing and refining the pedagogy of training effective entry-level professional school counselors. Four research questions have been identified: What literature exists on teaching counseling effectiveness? What are the strategies used to teach counseling effectiveness? What strategies will master's-level counselors-in-training use to demonstrate effectiveness? What recommendations can be given to counselor educators on teaching counseling effectiveness?

Initial qualitative data collected from recent graduates who are practicing school counselors indicate that the effective practitioner approach has instilled the knowledge, skills, and application for being an effective school counselor. However, the realities of professional counseling present major stumbling blocks for the entry-level school counselor. Lack of time, lack of support, and work overload are the major factors cited that impede our graduates' ability to be effective practitioners. One school counselor stated, "Just let me make my PIES one at a time." When asked what she meant by "PIES," she said, "Well, you said plan, implement, evaluate, synthesize, so I'm going to make my PIES one at a time starting with a plan." The acronym of PIES is something that has resonated for this professional school counselor in tackling accountability for demonstrating effectiveness.

The next phase in the action research project includes gathering qualitative data from a focus group of program graduates who are currently practicing as school counselors, gathering quantitative data from an on-fine survey of program graduates, and presenting the results of the data to program faculty with implications for training the effective school counselor. Questions to be explored include the following: Now that you are practicing in your profession, what is your definition of counseling effectiveness? Do you see yourself as an effective school counselor? How do you know you are effective? In what ways did your training prepare you to be an effective school counselor? What do you wish you had been taught or experiences you wish you had as a student in the training program? What three suggestions can you give the program faculty to improve the training of effective school counselors?

An integral component of accountability is to share results with stakeholders; therefore, the results data (i.e., qualitative and quantitative) are being presented to program faculty, and implications for training the effective school counselor are being discussed. The GRIP model (goal, results, impact statements, program implications) will be used to report progress of the action research project. As the action research project evolves, long-range data will become available, and faculty members will have opportunities to engage in dialogue with other counselor educators to discover new ideas and practices that focus on training for accountability by demonstrating the effectiveness of professional school counselors.

CONCLUSION

Counselor educators are a critical influence in structuring the professional identity development of school counselors, so it is imperative that the mission of counselor education be grounded in training the effective professional school counselor. Further, faculty members can engage in conversations with program graduates to stay informed on critical issues facing the professional school counselor, which will further inform counselor educators on how to train the effective practitioner. Specific recommendations to other counselor educators with an interest in training professional school counselors for accountability are (a) determine what is meant by being an effective school counselor, (b) identify specific teaching and learning strategies to be implemented in the counselor education curriculum, (c) model for the counselors-in-training how to be an effective practitioner by being an effective counselor educator, and (d) engage in action research as ongoing improvement in training the effective professional school counselor.

APPENDIX A

Resources on Effectiveness in Counseling

American School Counselor Association. Effectiveness of school counseling. Retrieved October 7, 2004, from http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.cfm?L1=1000&L2=88

Center for School Counseling Outcome Research home page. Retrieved October 7, 2004, from http://www.umass.edu/schoolcounseling/index.htm

Fonagy, P., Target, M., Cottrell, D., Phillips, J., & Kurtz, Z. (2002). What works for whom: A critical review of treatments for children and adolescents. New York: Guilford Press.

Granello, D. H., & Granello, P. F. (2001). Counseling outcome research: Making practical choices for real-world applications. In G. R. Walz & J. C. Bleuer (Eds.), Assessment: Issues and challenges for the millennium (pp. 163-171). Greensboro, NC: CAPS Publications.

Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. D. (2002). Essentials of outcome assessment. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Loesch, L. C. (2001). Assessment of counselor performance. In G. R. Walz & J. C. Bleuer (Eds.), Assessment: Issues and challenges for the millennium (pp. 265-268). Greensboro, NC: CAPS Publications.

Maruish, M. E. (Ed.). (1999). The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ogles, B. M., Lambert, M. J., & Fields, S. A. (2002). Essentials of outcome assessment. New York: John Wiley.

Sexton, T. L., Whiston, S. C., Bleuer, J. C., & Walz, G. R. (1997). Integrating outcome research into counseling practice and training. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

Thomas, J. C., & Hersen, M. (Eds.). (2003). Understanding research in clinical and counseling psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wiger, D. E., & Solberg, K. B. (2001). Tracking mental health outcomes: A therapist's guide to measuring client progress, analyzing data, and improving your practice. New York: John Wiley.

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American School Counselor Association. (2005). The ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.

Attkisson, C. C., &Greenfield, T. K. (1999).The UCSF Client Satisfaction Scales: The Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8. In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment (2nd ed., pp. 1333-1346). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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In G. R. Walz & J. C. Bleuer (Eds.), Assessment: Issues and challenges for the millennium (pp. 163-171). Greensboro, NC: CAPS Publications.

Gysbers, N.C. (2004). Comprehensive guidance and counseling programs: The evolution of accountability. Professional School Counseling, 8, 1-14.

Haring-Hidore, M., & Vacc, N. A. (1988).The scientist-practitioner model in training entry-level counselors. Journal of Counseling and Development, 66, 286-288.

Johnson, D., Shertzer, B., & Linden, J. E. (1967).The relationship of counselor candidate characteristics and counseling effectiveness. Counseling Education & Supervision, 6, 297-304.

Kaczkowski, H. R., & Rothney, J. W. (1956). Discriminant analysis in evaluation of counseling. Personnel & Guidance Journal, 35, 231-235.

Larson, L. M., & Daniels, J. A. (1998). Review of the counseling self-efficacy literature. The Counseling Psychologist, 26, 179-219.

Loesch, L. C. (2001). Assessment of counselor performance. In G. R. Walz & J. C. Bleuer (Eds.), Assessment: Issues and challenges for the millennium (pp. 265-268). Greensboro, NC: CAPS Publications.

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Pamelia E. Brott, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in counselor education at Virginia Tech-Northern Virginia Center, Falls Church. E-mail: [e-mail]

Table 1. Summary of Components/Courses, Key Objectives, and Learning
Activities in Training the Effective Professional School Counselor

                           CACREP Components
                           (Courses)

Key Objectives             Learning Activities
                           Helping Relationships
                           (Theories of Counseling)

To build a personal        * Acquire knowledge about a range of
model of counseling        counseling theories
by applying knowledge
of human behavior and      * Apply theoretical knowledge to lived
counseling theories        experiences and in new contexts

                           * Write a personal model of counseling

                           Assessment
                           (Appraisal in Counseling)

To construct a             * Develop a vocabulary and definitions
cognitive framework        for effectiveness
for accountability
                           * Identify counseling best practices

                           * Identify a decision-making
                           framework for accountability

                           * Become familiar with available
                           resources and instruments for
                            accountability

                           * Write a proposal for an effectiveness
                           project

                           School Counseling
                           (School Counseling)

To develop skills for      * Assemble a professional portfolio
reporting accountability
based on the ASCA          * Link school counseling interventions
National Model             to state/national standards

                           * Identify effectiveness projects

                           * Design Excel charts to display data

                           * Develop results reports to
                           demonstrate accountability

                           Clinical Instruction
                           (Practicum in Counseling)

To model a counseling      * Demonstrate effectiveness of counseling
effectiveness project      services offered by counselors-in-training

                           * Gather data from student-clients
                           regarding effectiveness of
                            services received

                           Clinical Instruction
                           (Internship in Counseling)

To embrace                 * Complete an effectiveness project
accountability as
a professional school      * Review case presentations from a
counselor                  theoretical perspective articulated as
                           a personal model of counseling