The Cost of Efficiency: The High School Counselor Trade-Off

• In Event: 4451 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 2: Teaching and Administrative Practice

Abstract

High school counselors work in an environment of scarce resources, large caseloads, and role ambiguity and conflict. Because there are limits to the amount of time and attention counselors can devote to all aspects of the job, it is usually improbable for them to fully dedicate their time to all students and all relevant issues.

High school counselors do have some latitude when deciding how to do their jobs in the context of these constraints because school principals and district superintendents cannot directly oversee the day-to-day decisions of counselors, nor their individual interactions with students. These administrators can set expectations, deadlines, and control resources to complete these responsibilities, but the counselors are the ones on the ground actually engaging with students. Knowing this, how do high school counselors respond with their time and attention in this environment of constraints? In this article, I help illuminate the aspects of the job that influence how high school counselors make decisions about their time management and their attention using Lipsky’s ([1980] 2010) research on street-level bureaucrats and year-long observations and interviews with high school counselors in a midsized Midwestern community. I examine the techniques counselors use to manage their responsibilities and the many obstacles in their jobs within the schools. In so doing, I shed light on how structural constraints influence school counselors’ job performance, providing insight into how students likely do not receive the support they need despite this potential instilled in school counselors in their graduate training.

Author

• Mary Kate Blake, Montana State University