TPC-Journal-V2-Issue2

The Professional Counselor \Volume 2, Issue 2 157 Table 4 Regression Analyses for the Elementary, Middle and High School Sample Outcome Variables Adj R 2 SE Stan β t Zero-order Partial Significance Elementary School Outcomes a Reading .028 .010 -.203 -1.80 -.203 -.203 .08 Math .007 .013 -.141 -1.24 -.141 -.143 .22 Attendance -.002 .001 .103 0.90 .103 .103 .37 Middle School Outcomes b Reading -.053 .038 .113 0.44 .113 .113 .67 Math -.052 .061 -.118 -0.46 -.118 -.118 .65 Attendance -.056 .004 .098 0.38 .098 .098 .71 High School Outcomes c English .378 .031 -.645 -3.27 -.645 -.645 .01 Algebra .218 .022 -.517 -2.34 -.517 -.517 .03 Attendance .210 .009 .506 2.35 .506 .506 .03 Graduation Rate .145 .031 .442 1.97 .442 .442 .06 Note. a Elementary school sample n = 78; b Middle school sample n = 17; c High school sample n = 18. Type I error set at Significance (p) < .05; p < .10 indicates a trend. Discussion The purpose of the study was to determine whether level of ASCA National Model (2005) program implementation predicted student outcomes (i.e., achievement scores, attendance and graduation rates). Results indicated that no prediction was observed at either the elementary or middle school levels on any of the outcome variables (reading, math or attendance). At the high school level, the data showed that as program implementation increased the percentage of students scoring basic on the MSA English and algebra decreased, which is a positive result. Likewise, at the high school level when program implementation increased, so did attendance and the related trend of increased high school graduation rates. Thus, the hypothesis that higher program implementation would predict better student achievement received mixed support and suggested a need for high school counselors to implement comprehensive developmental programs in order to benefit all students and improve important school and student outcomes. Why these high school findings were not replicated at the elementary and middle school levels is puzzling, as the extant literature demonstrates a significant relationship between program implementation and student outcomes at all levels of schooling. One explanation may lie in the samples used for this study. The sample sizes used at the middle and high school levels were small, 17 and 18, respectively, reducing the power of the analyses, while the elementary sample was much larger ( n = 78). A cursory inspection of the means and standard deviations from these three samples (see Table 1) indicates that the elementary sample had the lowest level of overall program implementation and the largest spread in scores ( M = 215.1, SD = 66.3), compared to middle school ( M = 222.4, SD = 53.7) and high school ( M = 243.6, SD = 47.5). However, usually greater variations in scores lead to better predictions. Study Limitations and Areas for Future Research Additional inquiry regarding the implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs and student outcomes is necessary to determine the link between student outcomes and school counseling services. Some researchers have pointed out that previous investigations into this area of study have yielded deceiving results (Brown & Trusty, 2005; McGannon et al., 2005). For example, many of the studies used research designs and procedures that did not justify