The Counselor\u27s Role as Perceived by Administrators, Counselors, and Teacher-counselors in South Dakota High Schools

The role of the counselor in the secondary school is not always well understood. Confusion and poor communication about the degree of responsibility for various activities may interfere with effective work. Guidance programs in secondary schools are confronted with many problems. Possibly, the lack of understanding of the role of the counselor, plus the opinions and attitudes of the school personnel, are hindering the effectiveness of guidance programs in many of the secondary schools of South Dakota. With the Wrenn Report, the American Personnel and Guidance Association gave impetus to guidance programs in American schools by better defining the school counselor\u27s task in a changing world, making recommendations for the improvement of counseling, and promoting the school counselor as a professional person. The interest of the federal government in counselor education was manifested with the passage of the National Defense Education Act of 1958 and its extensions. Since guidance is being recognized as an integral part of an effective school setting every effort should be made to provide the best guidance programs possible. The purpose of the study was to (1) compare the perceptions of the counselor\u27s role .by administrators, counselors, and teacher-counselors; and (2) determine the differential effects of the degree held, the number of years in education, the number of years in their present position, the number of students in the school, age, and sex on the perceptions of these individuals