The Counselor's role in assessing needs for and implementing an intermediate-school career guidance program

Includes bibliographical references (pages 85-88)The purpose of this thesis is to study the role of the counselor in assessing the needs for and implementing a career guidance program at Sequoia Intermediate School, in Newbury Park, California.\ud Responding to a current emphasis on career development in elementary and secondary education at the school, district, county, state and federal levels, the counselor applied for and received limited funding and consultant services from the state to help Sequoia School establish a career program tailor-made to its needs. To help in the implementation, a committee was formed comprised of six teachers, the counselor, both administrators, and a parent.\ud Working closely with the counselor, I designed an instrument to Survey the desired outcomes and needs in career content at Sequoia. In November 1976 the survey was administered to randomly selected groups of students and parents and to the entire faculty.\ud Desired outcomes and needs were ranked, with equal weight being given to responses by all three participating groups. Overall, the highest ranking desired outcomes were those concerned with students' self-exploration of interests, abilities, attitudes, values, and achievements, and with the relationship of those categories to the students' career plans.\ud The counselor and I met with the other committee members and a consultant from the state department of education to plan a systematic introduction of the desired outcomes and needs into the social studies and study skills programs at Sequoia, with the possibility of interesting other areas of study at a later time. (See more in text.