Dr. Michele Goodman Seibert

-a significant part of the career development process -a lifelong process that includes early childhood -a process that occurs from early childhood throughout the life span

 Virginia’s College and Career Ready Initiative (2010) – VDOE  President Obama’s Educate to Innovate campaign (2009)  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of “progress toward college and career ready standards”  Virginia’s State School Counseling Standards (2004)

 Goal for grades K-5:  “Students will investigate the world of work in order to make informed career decisions.”

 Created a national model as a framework for school counseling programs in 2004  Includes career development standards for all students in grades K-12  Virginia uses the career development standards from the ASCA national standards  Accountability is considered by ASCA as one of the four components of school counseling programs

Middle School Counseling Students with various levels of career exploration Affects middle school planning What is being used by elementary counselors? Different studentsDifferent career exploration materials Lack of Data for Elementary Career Development What is being done? How are students exposed to this information?

What career practices are being used? Do counselors believe they are meeting Virginia Counseling Standards? Are certain practices used more than others?

To what extent do counselors believe they are meeting VA Counseling Standards? Is there a relationship between conducting specific career practices and counselor self –efficacy in meeting standards?

Consistency in Guidance Curricula Structured list of activities that meet standards Same career development foundation to transfer to middle school VDOE method for accountability Provide examples to counselors on specific practices Gives ways to demonstrate accountability Increase awareness of career development practices Provides information on what is being used in Virginia Broadens the scope of career development Promotes “best practices” based on research

Increase actual time spent on career development Provides elementary students with additional opportunities to explore careers by identifying specific practices Assist counselor educators in preparing counselors to meet state and national standards

1. What career development practices and activities were being implemented by school counselors in Virginia’s Elementary Schools in the school year? 2. Over the school year, to what extent did elementary school counselors believe he or she met the Virginia School Counseling Standards for elementary career development (K-3) and (4-5)? 3. Are specific career development practices related to the level of counselor self efficacy in regard to meeting VA Elementary Career Development Standards?

4.4. What is the relationship, if any, between school counselor career development practices and the level in which each counselor believes he or she is meeting Virginia Elementary Career Development school counseling standards?.5 What is the relationship, if any, between the number of school counselor career practices and counselor self efficacy scores?

 Florida School Counselor’s Survey 2000 ◦ Demographics ◦ Assess specific career development activities and practices ◦ Chosen because it was successfully used in previous studies ◦ ( Osborn & Baggerly, 2004)  School Counselor Self Efficacy Scale ◦ Adapted from the Academic/Career subscale ◦ Measure school counselor self efficacy related to elementary career development ◦ SCSE could be used as an outcome measure for School Counseling Education Programs ◦ (Bodenhorn & Skaggs, 2005)

 Public Elementary School Counselors across the state of Virginia  106 of 133 city and county divisions were contacted  1,083 schools  1,178 addresses were obtained

 Electronic web based survey  1,178 elementary school counselors contacted through  Survey Monkey Gold Plan with enhanced security (SSL)

Non experimental design Survey approach Answers limited to the counselor’s personal perspective

 Questions 1-6 (Demographics)  Frequency Counts and Percentages were reported to summarize demographic information including: ◦ Gender ◦ Education level ◦ Ethnicity ◦ Location of school (area description) ◦ Regional location of school (8 regions of Virginia) ◦ *Practicing elementary school counselor in school year ◦ * Elimination Question

 Questions 7-14 (Demographics & additional information that could be used in future analysis)  Frequency Counts and Percentages were reported to summarize demographic information including: ◦ Grade Levels counselors worked with ◦ Number of years of experience as an elementary school counselor ◦ Training on elementary career development ◦ Professional development in elementary career development ◦ Training ◦ Counselor education program training ◦ Time needed for elementary career development ◦ Total hours spent on elementary career development (K-3) & (4-5)

Who responded? ◦ s were sent March 2012 ◦ -6 bounced back (incorrect address) (.51%) ◦ -19 (1.62%) opted out of receiving s ◦ -729 did not respond (63.23%) ◦ -424 did respond (36.77%) ◦ -387 met the criteria for the survey ◦ Criteria: Part time or full time elementary school counselor for school year

Missing data: Item non response (Graham, 2012) -Respondents completed part of the survey & left individual questions or parts of questions blank -Data cleaning procedures were applied for specific data types for each individual question

Who answered? Demographics

Demographics: Education

Demographics: Ethnicity EthnicityPercentageNumber Caucasian82.10%345 African American15.50%65 Asian1.00%4 Biracial0.70%3 Hispanic0.20%1 Native American0.20%1 Not Listed0.20%1 * Four participants skipped the question

Demographics: School Location N=119 N=73 * Skipped by 1 participant N=6

Demographics: School Region School Region Northern VA36.60%142 Central VA14.69%57 Tidewater13.66%53 Western VA11.09%43 Valley9.80%38 Northern Neck6.45%25 Southwest5.93%23 Southside1.81%7 Skipped8.49%36 Total of 388 answered/ 36 skipped (8.5%)-considered NMAR

421 answered the question and 3 skipped the question (.71%) total eligible to complete the survey n=387

Range = (87.5%-89.1% largest difference =1.6%. Grade levels appeared to be equally represented.

377 Responded  Range 1-35 years  Mean years  Median 10 years  Mode 5 years (n=27) 2 Skipped Question  At this point in the survey 377 counselors responded  10 skipped the question  8 of the 10 that skipped stopped the survey completely  Adjusted total 379

Basic Demographics & Additional Information  Questions 9-14  Training (Time and Types)  Professional Development Activities  Training in Counselor Education Programs  Frequency Counts and Percentages were reported

How often have you attended training on elementary career development within the past 4 years?

Question 11: In order to be more effective at my school more training could be helpful Answer Options Response Count Response % Yes, a lot7720.5% Yes, some % I have enough % Yes, very little 143.7% No, none92.4%

Would more time be useful to implement career development? Answer OptionsResponse Count Response % 4-5 hours/class184.88% 2-3 hours/class % 1 hour /class % Not sure % No, all time was provided % 369 responded 10 Skipped

Total hours spent on career development grades K-3 Mean: 8.49 hoursMode: 2 hoursMedian: 5 hoursRange: 0-70 Outliers: 126, 200, 420 hours/ 319 responded and 60 skipped the question

Total hours spent on career development grades 4-5 Mean: hoursMode: 2 hoursMedian: 6 hoursRange: hours Outlier: 200 hours/ 327 responded/52 skipped

Research Question 1:  What practices of career development were currently being implemented by school counselors in Virginia’s Elementary schools in the school year?  Grades (K-3)  Grades (4-5)

Research Question 1: Research Question 1: What practices of career development were currently being implemented by school counselors in Virginia’s Elementary schools in the school year?  Questions 15 (18 practices listed)  Counselors selected “yes” or “no” to indicate if a specific activity was conducted to facilitate career development with students  A frequency distribution of the career development materials and activities marked as conducted was prepared for a descriptive data analysis  Career activities/materials were identified in rank order

Research question 1: What career development practices are currently being implemented by Virginia Elementary school counselors? Classroom Career Exploration (93.29%) Used print materials (85.9%) Online career exploration programs (70.3%)

3 practices used the least Job Shadowing (7.2%) Used CD Roms (18.8%) Career Exploration Field Trips (21.9%) Research question 1: What career development practices are currently being implemented by Virginia Elementary school counselors?

Career Development activities in rank order Activity % yes Classroom Career Exploration90.59% Print Materials84.21% On line Career Exploration Programs66.76% Completed a Career Search w/students 62.33% Introduced Career Clusters61.22% Guest Speakers52.08% Hands On Career Exploration Activities 50.14% Individual Career Exploration48.76% Distributed Community Career Related Materials 42.94% Activity % yes Provided career exploration materials to parents 41.83% Career Day or Career Fair39.62% Informed parents of career development school counseling standards 37.68% Informed teachers of ways to incorporate career development in the classroom 35.74% Student Career Dress Up Day30.75% Involved parents in a career exploration activity with students 26.87% Career Exploration Field Trips21.9% Career Exploration CD ROMs17.46% Job Shadowing Opportunities for students 6.65%

Research Question 2: Survey question 16  Over the school year, to what extent do you believe that you met the Virginia Counseling standards:  For grades K-3 career development?  Answers were assigned using a 5 point Likert scale including a “not applicable option”  Most of the standards were met-37% n=133  All of the standards were met-33.1% n=118  *357 counselors responded/ 22 skipped

Research Question 2: Survey questions 16 & 18  Over the school year, to what extent do you believe that you met the Virginia Counseling standards:  For grades 4-5 career development?  Answers were assigned using a 5 point Likert scale including a “not applicable option”  Most of the standards were met 31.8% n=111  All of the standards were met 36% n=127  351 responded/ 28 skipped the question

School Counselor’s Beliefs about the use of career materials meeting the Virginia Career Development Standards for grades K-3 (EC1-EC6) and 4-5 (EC7-EC10) Scale 1-not at all – 5 completely met standard Question 17 & 19 School Counselor Career Development StandardsRating Avg. EC1: Understand the concepts of job and career3.98 EC2: Understand that behaviors such as punctuality, courtesy, proper dress and proper language are essential to current and future success, 3.71 EC3: Understand the relationship of individual effort, hard work, and persistence to achievement, 4.12 EC4: Understand the importance of teamwork in working towards a common goal, 4.16 EC5: Demonstrate the decision making process,4.03 EC6: Demonstrate goal setting,4.04 EC7: Recognize the benefits of both individual initiative and teamwork,4.10 EC8: Recognize that the changing workplace requires lifelong learning, 3.79 EC9: Identify hobbies and interests, and4.18 EC10: Identify career choices through exploration.4.05

Research Question 2 : Research Question 2 :Over the school year, to what extent do you believe that you met the Virginia Counseling standards: Grades K-3 Grades K-3 Not Aware 2.5% (n=9) None.3% (n=1) Some 25.8% (n=92) Most 37.0% (n=133) All 33.1 N/A 1.4% (n=5) 357 responded / 22 skipped the question

Research Question 2 : Research Question 2 : Over the school year, to what extent do you believe that you met the Virginia Counseling standards: Grades 4-5 Grades 4-5 Not Aware 1.4% (n=5) None.3% (n=1) Some 24.4% (n=85) Most % (n=111) All 36.4% (n=127) N/A 5.7% (n=20) 351 Responded / 28 skipped the question

Research Question 3:  Are specific career development practices related to the level of counselor self efficacy in regard to meeting Virginia Elementary Career Development Standards?  School Counselor Self Efficacy Scale used 7 activities representing academic and career planning standards.  Score 1-5 (not confident – highly confident)  Scores could range from 7- 35

Research Question 3: Analysis  A general statistical analysis was performed for each of the 7 elements listed including:  Frequency Counts & Mean Scores Table 14  Mean, Variance, Standard Deviation, Std. Err. Mean Table 15  Median, mode, and range Appendix R

Research Question 3: Determined through the School Counselor Self Efficacy Scale: (Avg score 1-5) Top 4 listed below: Foster an understanding of the relationship between learning and work Teach Students to apply problem solving skills toward their academic, personal, and career success; Deliver age appropriate programs through which students acquire the skills needed to investigate the world of work Teach students how to apply time and task management skills

Research Question 3: Determined through the School Counselor Self Efficacy Scale: (Avg score 1-5) Bottom 3 listed below: Offer appropriate explanations to students, parents, and teachers of how learning styles affect school performance Use technology designed to support student successes and progress through the educational process Implement a program which enables all students to make informed career decisions

Research Question 3: Analysis  Dependent variable: SCSE score  Independent variable: career exploration practices and materials  T- Tests were conducted for each participants’ self efficacy total score compared to each of the 18 listed activities.  Based on assuming unequal variances with a significance level of 0.05

Research Question 3: Analysis  Test of statistical significance was conducted to estimate the relationship between counselor self efficacy and the use of specific career exploration materials and practices exists and is not merely a result of chance.  P-value (primary index of statistical significance) was used to determine the chance of error and if previous findings were valid.

Research Question 3: Results  Activities showing a p value <.0001*Table 16 School Counselor Self Efficacy Scores compared to the Use of Specific Career Development Materials and Activities p>[t] value Used online career exploration programs<.0001 Informed parents of career development school counseling standards <.0001 Informed teachers of ways to incorporate career development into the classroom <.0001

What Activities are being used by Counselors with the Highest Self Efficacy? Used online career exploration programs Informed parents of career development school counseling standards Informed teachers of ways to incorporate career development into the classroom

Research Question 4: What is the relationship if any, between school counselor career development practices and the level in which each counselor believes he or she is meeting VA Elementary Career Development school Counseling Standards? What is the relationship if any, between school counselor career development practices and the level in which each counselor believes he or she is meeting VA Elementary Career Development school Counseling Standards?

Research Question 4: Analysis  Correlation table created  # of counselors who conducted specific career development activities compared to the level he or she believed they met VA school career development standards for grades K-3/ 4-5  Survey Question 15 activities  Survey Questions 16 & 18 (K-3/ 4-5)  Results: Table 17

 K-3 All standards were met ◦ Classroom Career Exploration (101) ◦ Using Print Materials (98) ◦ Completed online career exploration programs (82)  4-5 All standards were met ◦ Classroom Career Exploration (106) ◦ Using Print Materials (99) ◦ Completed online career exploration programs (89) These results matched the top 3 career activities used overall from research question 1: -Classroom Career Exploration : 90.59% (n=327) -Using Print Materials: 84.21% (n=304) -Completed online career exploration programs: 66.76% (n=241)

 What is the relationship, if any, between the number of school counselors career practices and counselor self efficacy scores?  Analysis: ◦ Regression Model ◦ Independent variable (x)-# of career development practices ◦ Dependent variable (y)- self efficacy scores ◦ Counselor activities totals were combined (0-18) ◦ Compared with each counselor’s self efficacy score ◦ 331 participants were used in the analysis

 What is the relationship, if any, between the number of school counselors career practices and counselor self efficacy scores?  Analysis/ Results: ◦ Participants with self efficacy scores of 0 were excluded for not completing the self efficacy portion of the survey ◦ Activities questions skipped were not included ◦ Overall mean of self efficacy responses=27.38 ◦ Activities total mean=9.31 ◦ Standard deviation for self efficacy total = 5.26 ◦ Standard deviation for activities total =3.89

Self efficacy overall mean: Activities mean: 9.31 Standard deviation for self efficacy total: 5.26 Standard deviation for activities total:3.89 Standard Deviation: How spread out the numbers are from the mean

-Higher self efficacy totals are shown by participants completing 4-12 activities -Self efficacy scores of 28 and higher are concentrated with 9-14 activities -Parameter estimates indicate if a counselor increased activities by 1, self efficacy would drop by.48 -Not meaningful on a scale total of 7-35

-Analysis of Variance -Computed F Ratio= prob >F= <.0001* -At least one significant effect in the model -R-Square value =0.13 indicates a12.7% of the variation in self efficacy scores can be explained by associating the number of career activities conducted. -R-Square of 0.13 is closer to 0 than 1, the fit predicts the response no better than the overall mean response. Indicates a weak model and there was no predictive effect.

-Parameter Estimates table measures the strength of the interrelationships among the variables -Activities total = Indicates the variable (activities) is not associated with higher self efficacy scores. -If the number was positive the opposite would be true

 -8 regional statistics combined for student enrollment school year  Each region was given a percentage based on number of students in each region  Responses were comparable to the overall student population in grades K-5 in the school year.  Overall the study represented 1/3 of elementary school counselors

Demographics: School Region School Region Northern VA36.60%142 Central VA14.69%57 Tidewater13.66%53 Western VA11.09%43 Valley9.80%38 Northern Neck6.45%25 Southwest5.93%23 Southside1.81%7 Skipped8.49%36 Total of 388 answered/ 36 skipped (8.5%)-considered NMAR

 25 school divisions were not contacted  Represented 103 elementary schools  Divisions not contacted represented 37,623 K-5 students in  A total of 6.68% of students were not represented in this study  Virtually all of the school divisions not contacted were in small rural areas.

Study% Female% Male This Study (K-5 counselors) 93.9%6.1% Demato & Curcio 2004 K-5 counselors 94.61%5.39% Bane, 2006 Middle School Counselors 83.9%16%

Study% Caucasian % African American HispanicAsianBiracial This Study (K-5 counselors) Demato & Curcio 2004 K-5 counselors n/a.67 Bane, 2006 Middle School Counselors n/a

Study% Master’s% Doctorate This Study (K-5 counselors) 94.7%4.8% Demato & Curcio (2004) K-5 counselors 92.31%Not included Bane, 2006 Middle School Counselors 94.4%2.4%

StudyMean years as an elementary counselor This Study (K-5 counselors)11.30 Demato & Curcio (2004) K-5 counselors 9.81 Bane, 2006 Middle School Counselors 9.18

 Sample of only Virginia elementary counselors employed during the year  27 counties/cities were not contacted  A glitch on the initial survey may have discouraged counselors from completing the second survey  Self Report Bias  Nonresponse error (Dillman et. al 2009) response rates of <25% increase risk of non-response error this survey had a 36% response rate

 Web Survey- ◦ Dillman et al. (2009) some internet users prefer to complete questionnaires by mail ◦ Mixed mode methods may be best  Student Feedback and Outcomes ◦ Lack of student data ◦ Did not measure results of information gained by students during career development activities

 Provide counselors with different career development practices used in programs across the state of Virginia  Broaden the scope of activities which may increase time spent on elementary career development

 Approximately 30% of Virginia elementary school counselors may not actively pursue the goal to meet career development standards.  School counselors may not be held accountable for meeting state standards for career development (affecting transition to the middle school)  Assists counselor educators to prepare students to meet the state and national standards in particular for career development at the elementary level.

 Review and Revise Career Development Standards  K-3 (6 standards)  4-5 (4 standards)  EC1 & EC2 focus on concepts, behaviors, and their relation to the future  EC8 refers to a “belief” including the changing workplace and lifelong learning  Are these concepts too complex?  Can they be measured in elementary school?

 Virginia Legislation House Bill No. 576 Public schools: teacher contract and evaluation policies  Results of this study may suggest ways to implement counselor evaluations using specific activities to define effective career development standards at the elementary level.  Create a list of activities designed to meet career development standards.

Two SCSE elements with the highest mean scores: “Foster an understanding of the relationship between learning and work” (4.19 mean score) “Teach students to apply problem solving skills toward their academic, personal, and career success” (4.05 mean score) Promote Teacher Involvement in Career Development

 SCSE competencies with the lowest mean scores:  “Implement a program which enables all students to make informed career decisions.” (3.65)  “Use technology designed to support student successes through the educational process” (3.70)  Future research may include information such as:  Are counselors given the time and resources to meet these competencies such as computer lab access, time to work with students individually, etc?

 Conduct a qualitative analysis  Improve participation by offering a print survey to be mailed  Focus on practices and backgrounds for those with highest self efficacy scores  Conduct another study to determine if the same results apply in 2013

 Compare practices from this study to those at both the middle and high school levels.  Conduct a qualitative analysis  Do counseling students believe counselor educators are preparing them to meet state and national standards, particularly in career development?

 Use the demographic data collected to analyze the SCSE scores to determine if any relationship exists between: ◦ Years of experience ◦ Professional development activities attended ◦ Education on career development in counselor education program ◦ School location  Are counselors given the time and resources to meet these competencies such as computer lab access, time to work with students individually, etc.

 Survey counselors, parents and teachers to determine if parents and teachers implement career information activities that are disseminated to them by the counselor.  Identify what online career exploration programs Virginia Elementary School counselors are using, frequency of use, and grade level use.  Are there ways to increase the variety of career development activities implemented? ( Mentoring instead of Job Shadowing, etc.)

 Survey counselors at the national level  Compare information to localities, state expectations, and long term data such as graduation rates, and other statistics already calculated by the government  Relate specific career development practices to support: ◦ College and Career Readiness Initiatives ◦ National “Educate to Innovate” campaign ◦ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009