Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Underwood, Ray Joe

Committee Member

Hermann, Mary

Committee Member

Looby, J. Eugenie

Committee Member

Taylor, Jan

Committee Member

McGrath, R. Vincent

Date of Degree

5-5-2007

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Counselor Education

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education

Abstract

The researcher examined school counselors? perceptions of the readiness level of school districts in Mississippi to implement the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) National Model. The researcher also addressed certain school and counselor characteristics that could be predictors of this level of readiness. The predictor variables included grade level of counselor?s school (elementary, middle, high school/vocational), number of years of counseling experience, years of experience as a classroom teacher, student-to-counselor ratio, age, race, and level of education (M.S., Ed.S., Ph.D.). The dependent variable was the school counselor?s perceived level of readiness of the school district based on their overall scores on the ASCA National Model District Readiness Survey. The researcher also examined the perceived readiness level of school districts in the State of Mississippi in each of the 7 ASCA National Model readiness indicators (i. e., community support, leadership, guidance curriculum, school counselors? beliefs and attitudes, school counselors? skills, district resources, and staffing/time use). Based on mean scores for the seven readiness indicators on the ASCA National Model District Readiness Survey, school counselors perceived two indicators as being ready to implement the ASCA National Model: School Counselors? Beliefs and Attitudes and School Counselors? Skills. School counselors perceived three indicators as being minimally ready: Community Support, Leadership, and Guidance Curriculum. School counselors perceived two indicators as being not ready to implement the ASCA National Model: District Resources and Staffing/Time Use. Based on school counselor perceptions, the ?overall? readiness level of Mississippi school districts to implement the ASCA National Model is a minimal level of readiness. For the dependent variable overall readiness level, student-to-counselor ratio and gender were the most influential predictor variables. Female school counselors perceived their school districts as being more ready to implement the ASCA National Model than male school counselors. Also, schools with lower student-to-counselor ratios perceived their school districts as more ready to implement the ASCA National Model than schools with higher student-to-counselor ratios.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/15173

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