Publication Date

1966

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Haddock, Ruth||Schmidt, Wesley I.

Degree Name

M.S. (Master of Science)

Legacy Department

Department of Education

LCSH

Counseling in elementary education

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the variances in practices among the elementary school districts having separate guidance programs in Cook, Lake and DuPage Counties, Illinois, not including the city of Chicago, and to find prevailing treads in elementary school guidance as it is practiced in those districts. The study asks (1) how the guidance program is implemented, (2) the duties of the guidance counselor, (3) the techniques and methods used by the guidance counselor, and (4) the methods used in carrying out guidance recommendations. A questionnaire consisting of pertinent fill-in questions about the particular guidance program of the district and sixty-four objective questions was sent to the forty-four elementary school districts listing a separate guidance program in their county directories. Of these, thirty-six, or 82 per cent, were returned. Twenty-three, or 64 per cent, of these have guidance in all grades (K-8) while thirteen, or 36 per cant, have guidance only in the junior high school grades (sixth or seventh through eighth). There were three important trends reported from all the guidance districts concerning the implementation of the guidance program in their districts. The teachers are informed of their functions in the guidance program, the purpose and [?] of the guidance program are clearly defined, and all the teachers were informed of the functions of the guidance program before it began. Important negative trends are that surveys were not taken of the classroom teachers asking what they thought should be the responsibilities of the guidance program, mostt districts do not have a guidance committee, and not all of the districts having guidance committees have classroom teachers on them. Important trends in the duties and responsibilities of the guidance counselor appeared. The guidance counselor administers individual intelligence tests and achievement tests, conducts case studies of pupils presenting adjustment problems, evaluates the guidance services and recommends changes in the curriculum. Guidance counselors do not allot punishment, teach classes, or develop or teach units on how to study or on social and emotional adjustment. In districts where the individual schools set up their own standards and where the individual administrator is responsible for guidance in his own school the duties-of the guidance counselor differ somewhat. Over two-thirds of all these districts have counselors interview all new students entering the district and all of them have counselors make time available for children who want to be seen. Techniques and methods used differed from district to district, but in all districts the guidance counselor works with children who have some sort of adjustment problems. Almost all districts reported their counselors have individual conferences for children as well as for teachers who have specific classroom problems. The guidance counselor also keeps a record of counseling interviews and prepares case studies in most districts. There were two important negative trends in methods used by guidance counselors in the responding districts. They do not administer sociometric inventories to find peer adjustment problems and they do not conduct sessions in which staff members may discuss their concerns. In districts where teachers are allowed to evaluate the guidance program the following are important trends in guidance while they are important negative treads where this is not done. The guidance counselor conducts group sessions in which staff members may discuss their concerns, conducts in-service education for the staff regarding the effective use of school records and on the functions of the guidance program, meets periodically with small groups of teachers who are encountering the same type of problem, and conducts surveys of opinions of teachers to determine the additional services they feel are needed.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

3, v, 76 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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