GUIDANCE SERVICES IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF MICHIGAN By DONALD ARTHUR DAVIS AN ABSTRACT Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Administrative and Educational Services Year 1960 Approved DONALD A. DAVIS ABSTRACT PROBLEM A study was designed to determine the extent of existing guidance services in the secondary schools of Michigan* Such a study had not been executed since 1948* Considering the length of time that has elapsed and the fact that enabling legislature for the National Defense Education Act had been passed, it seemed advisable to investigate guid­ ance services in Michigan further* The investigation would establish a base line from which to measure future changes and improvements and would provide a basis for recommending possible worthwhile changes* METHODOLOGY Letters were sent to all of the state departments of education and to selected counselor training institutions requesting sample guidance questionnaires and bibliographical data that might be helpful* The responses (about 70 percent) were perused for useable items and others were improvised* This list of items was inspected and modified by some thirty guidance people ranging from university professors to local teacher-counselors* A pilot study was planned and carried out involving a random stratified sample of twenty schools* The final five page questionnaire was sent out to 549 public secondary schools in Michigan of which 538 responded (98 percent). Because of DONALD A« DAVIS ABSTRACT of the unusually high returns considerable reliance may be placed on the answers. A validity coefficient of .55 and a reliability coefficient of .80 were later determined for the instrument. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. All school districts which do not have a minimum of 450 students in the secondary schools should be reorganized. In schools smaller than this available money is used apparently for needs other than guidance services. 2. Equalization of per pupil valuation for poorer school districts should occur so that all schools will have more fairly balanced resources available. 3. Local norms should be developed on many tests used in the testing program, since they are best for local prediction. 4. The staff of the State Department of Public Instruction should be enlarged to include enough guidance consultants to meet the needs of the local schools. 5. Since most of the schools deem money and supplies as the most common major barrier to improving guidance services and lack of qualified personnel a close second, more students should be encouraged to enter the profession of personnel work* DONALD A. DAVIS 6* ABSTRACT Most cumulative records are filed in an adminis­ t r a t o r ^ office, some of them under lock and key. It is recommended that: a. Each school study carefully better locations for these files and more satisfactory means of get­ ting the information into the hands of those most needing it. b. State and university consultants place continu­ ing emphasis on making the cumulative record easily available to the local staff. 7. Each school should provide one period of released counseling time free of conflicting duties for every 50-75 students. This would provide 3-4 full periods of consultation per student per year. The data in this study, although not conclusive, indicate that the present ratio is about 200:1 in Michigan secondary schools. 8* Parents should be involved more in the educational pro­ cess, particularly at the secondary level. At the present time they are consulted only on special or emergency occasions by counselors and administrators. 9. It is recommended that all secondary schools provide opportunity for work experience to their students as a regular part of the curriculum. DONALD A. DAVIS 10. ABSTRACT It is recommended that consultants and local staffs and administrators emphasize research as a means of evaluating approaches to specified education goals in local situations. 11. It is strongly recommended that administrators in local schools insure that there be at least one person in each school who is thoroughly aware of the meaning, strengths and weaknesses of test results and is familiar with valid methods of interpretation. 12. Further research is needed. The assumption underlying this and similar studies that increasing complexity produces greater adjustments on the part of the student needs to be experimentally established. It may be that increased services have little effect on the student or that a point of diminishing returns is reached relatively soon. GUIDANCE SERVICES IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF MICHIGAN By Donald Arthur Davis A THESIS Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Administrative and Educational Services 1960 ProQuest Number: 10008644 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10008644 Published by ProQuest LLC (2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Acknowledgments The writer hereby acknowledges his sincere appreciation to Dr* Gregory A* Miller for his continuing understanding, encouragement and advice during the preparation for and the writing of this dissertation* The writer is also grate­ ful for the assistance and guidance given him by Dr. Don Grummon, Dr. Walter F. Johnson, and Dr. John Krumboltz, members of his guidance committee, and to Glenn E. Smith, Chief of Guidance Services for the State of Michigan, for his generous aid in this study. Appreciation is also extended to his col­ leagues in the Michigan Department of Public Instruction for their cooperation during the data-gathering phase of the study. But most of all, gratitude is expressed to Valerie Davis and her daughters, Linda and Susan, for their thoughtful and considerate acceptance of the stresses placed upon them during the past two years. It is doubtful that this study would have reached fruition without their constant encourage­ ment, assistance and self-denial. Donald Arthur Davis candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Final Examination, May 13, 1960, 10:00 A.M., Department of Administrative and Educational Services Dissertation: Guidance Services in the Secondary Schools of Michigan Outline of Studies Major Subject: Education (Counseling and Guidance) Minor Subjects: Educational Psychology, Higher Education Biographical Items Born August 4, 1915, Filer, Idaho Undergraduate Studies, Compton Junior College, 1932-1935, University of California at Los Angeles, 1946-1949 Graduate Studies, University of Southern California, 1957-1958, Michigan State University, 1958-1960 Experience: Teacher and Counselor, Trona Unified School District California, 1949-1958; Counselor, Camp Brighton, Michigan, 1958; Psychological Examiner, Michigan State School for the Blind, Lansing, Michigan, 1958; Education Consultant and Research Specialist, Department of Public Instruction, Lansing, Michigan, 1958-1959; Assistant Professor of Education, Western Michigan University, 1959-present Member of: American Personnel and Guidance Association, National Vocational Guidance Association, Division of Rehabilitation, National Associ­ ation of Guidance Supervisors and Counselor Trainers, American School Counselors Associ­ ation, Michigan Association of Local Guidance Directors, Phi Delta Kappa, Southwest Michigan Guidance Association TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . .............................. vi Chapter I. THE PROBLEM .......... 1 Introduction Statement of the Problem Delimitations of the Study Definition of Terms Theoretical and Operational Assumptions Overview of Thesis Organization II. CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE . . . . . . . 10 Introduction Total Enrollment Per Pupil Valuation Combination of Both III. M E T H O D O L O G Y .............. ..................... . 2 8 Overall Design of the Study Population Sample Instrumentation Pilot Study Final Questionnaire Validity Reliability IV. ANALYSIS OF THE D A T A .................. . 45 Descriptive Analysis Determination and Assignment of the Complexity Score Analysis of Variance V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . Conclusions Guidance Services in Typical Schools Recommendations ............ 158 BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX LIST OF TABLES Table I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. Page Schools Responding to the Questionnaire * • • . 47 Classification of Personnel Replying to Questionnaire • 49 Schools Maintaining a Cumulative Folder for Each Pupil • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • 50 Location of Cumulative Folders 51 • • • • • • • • Schools Using the CA-39 State Cumulative Folder • . • • « . • • • • • • • • • • • • • 53 After Examining Several Random Samples of Folders, the Schools Indicate the Follow* ing are Regularly Recorded in the Cumulative Folders • • • « . • • • • • • • • 54 Schools Using Intelligence or Scholastic Aptitude Tests in their Testing Program . . 56 Schools Using Achievement Tests in their Testing Program ........ • * • • • • . . . • 57 Schools Using Multiple Aptitude Tests in their Testing Program • • • . • • • • • • • • 59 Schools Using the Interest Inventories Test in their Testing Program • • • • • . . « < > • 61 Schools Using the Personality Test in their Testing Program • • • . . • • • • • • • • o . 62 Schools Using the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Tests in their Testing Program . . 63 Schools Using the Scholarship Qualifying Test in their Testing Program . . • • • • • • « • 64 Schools Testing Students Individually per Month (Not in Groups) • • • • • • .......... 65 Schools Having Local Norms Developed on Standardized Tests used in the Testing Program • • • • » • • • * » ........ . . . . 67 vii age The Number of 1958-59 Post High School Catalogues from Different Institutions which the Schools Report Having • • • • • • • 69 Where the Schools Make the Catalogues Available to the Student * • • • * • • • • • • 71 Percentage of Schools Having Occupational Books and Pamphlets which were Published Since 1954 • • ...........• • • • • • • • • • 73 Percentage of Schools Indicating where Occupational Books and Pamphlets are made Available » • • • • • • • • • * • • « , • 75 Percentage of Schools Indicating the Degree to which Occupational Information is Provided by Community Persons and Agencies * . 77 Percentage of Schools Maintaining Results of Studies made Within Last Three Years of Local Labor Conditions and Occupational Opportunities on File and Available to the Student • • • • • • • • • • • « • * « • • • • 79 Percentage of Schools Maintaining Information Concerning Educational Opportunities Available Outside of High School • • • • • • 80 Percentage of Schools Having Current (Last Two Years) Information on Scholarships, Loans and other Financial Assistance on File and Available to Student • • • • • » « • 82 Schools Reporting Percentage of Classes in which Teachers Use Audio-Visual Equipment and Materials Related to Occupational and Educational Planning as Regular Part of the Class Work ........... 83 Percentage of Guidance or Mainly with Needs • « « 85 Schools Reporting Group Orientation Class Concerned Studentfs Interests and • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • viii Table XXVI* Page Percentage of Schools Reporting Occupational Units Integrated with School Courses . . . . 88 Percentage of Schools Having a Career Day for the Students in 1958-59 * * * * * o * * * 87 Percentage of Schools Reporting a Business, Industry and Education Day for Teachers in 1958-59 88 Percentage of Schools Reporting a Day Scheduled for Students to Visit Colleges * * 89 Percentage of Schools Reporting Scheduled Visits by Representatives from Colleges . * . 90 Percentage of Schools Reporting Classes Making Field Trips to Business, Industry ............ and/or Farming 1958-59 91 Numbers of People Officially Designated as Counselors or Guidance Directors Free from Conflicting Duties such as Teaching, Sub­ stitution, Administration, etc*, with Five or More Periods per Day of Released Time for Counseling • • • • • • • • • • • • • * • 93 Number of Officially Designated Part-time Counselors with an Average of Two or More Periods Per Day of Released Time Free from Similar Conflicting Duties • * « • • • • * , 95 Amount Counselors are Paid More Than Teachers on Comparable Levels (Professional Increment) * • • • « • • • « • # • • • * • . 97 XXXV. How the Schools Assign Students to Counselors * 99 XXXVI. Average Number of Semester Hours of Training in Guidance and/or Counseling as Recognized by a Higher Institution of Learning per Counselor per School * * • « • • • • « * • • • » • * . 99 XXVII« XXVIII* XXIX* XXX* XXXI* XXXII* XXXIII* XXXIV. XXXVII* Recency of Additional Training in Guidance from College or University (Average if More than One Counselor) • • « « * * * * * 0 * * * * * 101 ix Table XXXVIII, XXXIX. XL. XLI. XLII. XLIII. XLIV. XLV. XLVI. XLVII. XLVIII. Page Total Number of Periods of Released Counseling Time per Day per School (Time Included for All Counselors in Each School • • • • • < . • • 1G5 Person Reported Counseling if there is No Officially Designated Counselor • • • • • • • 106 Percent of Students Normally Contacted by Counselor is Result of Request by . . • . . « 108 Schools Reporting Counseling Rooms or Offices in which Counseling can be Conducted out of Sight or Hearing of Anyone Else . . • • • • • 110 Percentage of Schools Reporting Scheduled Con­ ferences Held by the Counselor in which Both the Student and One or Both Parents are Present During the School Month • • • • . • • Ill Schools Reporting Consultations with Parents by Counselors • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • 113 Interpretation of Recently Administered Standardized Tests as Reported by the ................ Schools 115 Percentage of Schools Reporting to Whom the Responsibility for Job Placement is Assigned. 117 Schools Reporting Yes or No in Answer to the Question— If you have an Organized Job Placement Service, do Over 75% of the Total Number of Employers know who is in Charge Of it? 119 Schools Reporting the Person Handling Job Placement Unofficially if no one has been Assigned this Responsibility • • • • » » • • • 120 Schools Reporting Persons to Whom Responsibility for Educational Planning with the Student for Both High School Classes and College has been Assigned 122 X Table XLIX. L. LI. LII. LIII* LIV* LV. LVI. LVII. LVIII. LIX. LX. LXI. Page Schools Reporting the Persons Doing the Educational Planning with Students if No One has been Assigned the Responsibility Officially • * . . • • • ......... • • • * • 124 Schools Reporting Percentage of Student Body which was Issued Work Permits in 1958-59 • . 125 Schools Reporting the Number of Students Working Part-time that were Placed by the School 127 Does your School have a Cooperative Arrange­ ment with the State Employment Service on Job Placement? • • « • • • • • • • • • • • • 129 Schools Having a Cooperative Arrangement with a Community Placement Service . . . o • • • 130 Schools Having a Cooperative Work-Study Plan in Use which gives School Credit for Work Experience. 131 Schools Using Test Results and Other Objective Data Regularly when Recommending Students . 133 Appropriate Group(s) for which Job Placement Assistance by the School is Available . . . 134 Percentage of Graduating Seniors who went on to Post-High School Institutions in 1958 * 136 Schools Reporting Having Made a Formal Followup Study Within the Last Two Years • • • • 138 Manner Information Obtained in Follow-up Studies Used • • • • • • • • • • « • • • • 140 Number of In-School Students Participating in Formulating and Implementing Follow-up and Research Studies in 1958-59 ........ 142 Number of Separate Research Studies (FollowUps, Local Test Norms, Experimental Sutdies, etc.) were Developed and Executed by Schools 1958-59 . . . . * ......................... 144 xi Table LXII* LXIII* LXIV, LXV. LXVI* LXVII« LXVIII. LXIX. LXX. LXXIo Page Number of Members of Teaching Staff Participat­ ing in Formulating and Implementing' Research Studies 1958-59 • « • • • • • • • • • * • • • 143 Number of Schools Having Standing Guidance Committees which have the Responsibility of Evaluating and Recommending Changes in the Guidance Program 148 Composition of Standing Guidance Committee 0 • 149 Schools Reporting Having Adequate Files and Record Space for their Guidance Program * • • 150 Schools Having a Program in Operation for Im­ proving the Entire Staff in the Area of Guidance 151 Major Barriers to Improving the Guidance Programs as Reported by the Schools . « • * 152 Guidance Services Ranked, Strongest as 1, Next Strongest as 2, etc* • • • • • • • • • • 154 Would you like More Help from State or Other Outside Consultant Resources? » • • • • • • • 155 Would you like more Information on Guidance Services from State Sources? 156 Do you Want a Copy of the Conclusions of this Study After the Data have been Compiled and Analyzed? • * * • • • « • • # » • • • • • • • 157 CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM INTRODUCTION Facilitative services are offered in most schools in order to fulfill more adequately the educational goal of optimal development of each school child* These services, which include special education classes, remedial reading classes, visiting teacher program, school psychological facilities, psychometrician facilities, guidance services, health services and others, seem to be present to some ex­ tent either formally or informally in all schools. They also range in expansiveness from very little to very much in all schools. Assuming that guidance services do achieve better 1 adjustment for each school child and that the more complex and intricate these services are the better the adjustment, the importance of this problem becomes obvious. It is not only vital that facts be accumulated as has been done in so many places and so many times by means of survey but also that generalizations or laws concerning the facts be derived that will permit greater understanding and prediction. In connection with the above assumption Travers states that one cannot assume the validity of guidance procedures.'1' ^R. M. Travers, "Critical Review of Techniques for Eval­ uating Guidance." Educational and Psychological Measurement, 9 (1949): 211-225. 2 He feels that the extent to which specific guidance procedures are achieving specific guidance goals is unknown and therefore certain techniques such as the survey method must be rejected. Conversely, Lindquist asserts that, "The ultimate objective of psychological and educational research in gen­ eral is to develop a more complete theory— of learning, of mental organization, of school organization, etc ."2 Again, this study may be considered one of a phase of school organi­ zation and as such need not be intimately concerned with the outcomes of learning. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM In order to delineate the problem and at the same time to simplify it, the following purposes are proposed: I. To secure evidence concerning the existing state of affairs of guidance services in the sample, This informa­ tion was to be used as the basis for determining extent of guidance services in each school. In addition to measuring the above the information could be used for comparative pur­ poses. Guidance services are improved most intelligently and efficiently if continuous appraisals are made of the existing conditions and possible worthwhile changes and modifications considered as an outcome of the evaluation. 2E . F, Lindquist, Design and Analysis of Experiments in Psychology and Education, Haughton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1953, p* 5. 3 School districts, according to Hatch and Stef fire, *'# , * cannot escape making value judgments about their various services since even the continuation of the present situa­ tion itself implies an evaluation— an evaluation that in­ cludes, fWhat we are doing is all right# l.et us continue 3 our present course#1** A meaningful question to be decided by state and local school staffs is whether the evaluation is to be conscious and systematic, or instinctive and dis­ organized# II# To^ identify standards or norms with which to compare future conditions. Enactment of the National Defense Education Act, Part A of Title V will authorize appropriations to the Superintendent of Public Instruction a total of more than one million dollars during the years 1959-1962 to devel­ op, maintain, improve and evaluate local secondary school programs of testing and counseling# The impact of this national defense money will be widespread and will result in many changes in the school systems. It would be wise to have a realistic picture of these changes and thus a means of determining the effects of such changes on the students in the schools* Gathering of such information would establish a base line and would serve as a yardstick for future surveys, R# N. Hatch and B# Stefflre, Administration of Guidance Services, Prentice-Hall, Inc,, Englewood Cliffs, N# «J•, 1958, pp, 251—254# 4 Annual or biennial follow-ups would aid the schools in per­ forming necessary evaluations of their guidance services and would help implement the State’s responsibility of determin­ ing how the federal and local monies are being spent. Ill, To^ provide data upon which can be built a^ sound program of public information and public relations. Gather­ ing data concerning the present status of guidance services throughout the state will help to answer the question, MHow 4 much are we doing what we want to do?M Early identification of the quality of these services will aid local school staffs and the State Department of Public Instruction to supply more intelligent resources and to institute satisfactory modifica­ tions. Also the data may be used to advantage in order to apprise the community and local school boards of weak areas and of areas of which they can be justifiably proud. DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The area selected to be studied was the guidance services of the secondary schools in Michigan. Only the public secondary schools (569) of Michigan were included in this study. To have included junior high schools, elementary schools, post-high school institutions, and private and parochial schools would have made the task impossible in terms of time, data, and finances available for the study. ^Ibid. 5 DEFINITION OF TERMS Public Secondary School# All schools in Michigan financed by public funds, having a local board of education, and ending with the twelfth grade were included in the sample# "Financed by public funds" excluded private, non-profit, and parochial schools# "Having a local board of education" excluded certain specialized ones such as the school for the blind and schools used by higher institutions of learning in the training of teachers# "Ending with the twelfth grade” ex­ cluded junior highs, elementary schools, kindergartens, and post-high school institutions# However, the beginning grade was the seventh, the eighth, the ninth, or the tenth depending upon the administrative organization of the school# The population of which the schools actually studied were a sample is one described in terms of the definition above# It is to this population that the conclusions of the study will be generalized. II# Guidance Services# The guidance process consists of a group of services which assist individuals, student and adult alike, to secure cumulative 6 knowledge of the abilities, attitudes, interests, personality factors, achievements, and problems of the student* These, in turn, are used to make the studentfs self concept, his concept of others, and othersf concept of him increasingly more realistic so that more satisfactory adjustments in all areas of life result* These services will vary considerably with the authority* The ones used as a frame of reference in this study are the ones most commonly found in texts on guidance* Glenn E* Smith refers to them as the individual inventory service, the information service, the counseling service, the placement service, and the follow-up service. They have been defined further as: A* Individual Inventory* A system of cumulative records should be maintained and used, including such information as home and family background and environment; scholastic record; health record; expressed and measured interest; hobbies; co-curricular activities; work experience; educational and vocational plans; scholastic and other abilities, including special talents or deficiencies; and evi­ dence of personal traits and per­ sonal adjustment problems* 5Glenn E* Smith, Principles and Practices of the Guidance Program* Macmillan Co., New York, 1951, p. xi* 5 7 B. Informational Services, Informational materials which are carefully organized and utilized by staff members and pupils through the guidance program shall include: 1. 2. 3. C. Occupational information Educational information Personal adjustment information and materials* Counseling Services, Provision is made for counseling services for all pupils. An acceptable concept of counseling makes pro­ vision for a qualified counselor and pupil to consider together in a private, permissive situation (1 ) data about the pupil and (2 ) related information pertinent to the problem at hand in order to open the way for intelligent selfdecision and self-direction on the part of the pupil, Group Guidance Services, Provision is made for the use of group tech­ niques whenever guidance objectives can be reached most effectively or efficiently through organized group activities. Placement and Adjustment Services, Provision is made for helping students plan and take steps ahead. This ser­ vice includes placement in any appropriate situation— in a classroom, in a school activity, with an agency for special service, in a post-high school training program, or vocational placement. F. Besearch and In-Service Education Services, Provision is made for sim­ ple research studies and in-service education activities related to the 8 guidance program such as (1 ) surveys of pupil needs, (2 ) staff discussions, (3) case conferences, and (4) com­ mittee activities pointed at meeting the guidance needs of pupils or evaluating existing guidance activities ,0 THEORETICAL AND OPERATIONAL ASSUMPTIONS Good, bad, or indifferent, guidance services exist to some extent in all schools at all levels. The guidance inventory used in this study is complete and comprehensive. It adequately represents all of the com­ monly accepted services. The items in the inventory may be considered a random sample of a universe of such items. Each of the items was interpreted in relatively the same way by each of the respondents, OVERVIEW OF THESIS ORGANIZATION The balance of the thesis will be devoted to analyzing the data, reporting the results, and drawing conclusions and recommendations. In order to do this, a review of the literature will be carried out. What has already been conjectured and 0George E, Hill, Evaluating the Schoolfs Testing Program. Center for Educational Service, College of Education, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, Pupil Services Series, No, 2, 1959, 9 determined experimentally about the problem will be inves­ tigated* This procedure should help to refine the problem further and perhaps provide additional meaningful hypotheses. The methodology will be explained in detail. The design of the study will be determined and the instrumenta­ tion necessary for collecting the data delineated. The population will be defined as precisely as possible and the method of sampling explained. The data will be analyzed within a tabular framework and a summary and implications will be drawn from the analysis. An appendix and a bibliography will accompany the study in order to enable the reader to understand the con­ clusions better and to replicate the study if so desired. The next chapter will be devoted to an investigation of the literature pertinent to this study. Sucy an inves­ tigation should permit avoidance of others* mistakes, poor designs, and faulty generalizations. It should reveal what has been done already concerning the problem of complexity in guidance and related fields* Finally, it should eventuate in a clearer understanding of the problem and its ramifica­ tions. CHAPER II CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE INTRODUCTION One of the purposes in this study was to establish a basis of operations for future developments in guidance. A critical review of the literature is indicated in order to determine what independent variables in schools may be effecting changes in facilitative services such as guidance. .Also, such a review will permit a better understanding of the problem and avoid possible mistakes of others. We need'to know what effect increasing the size of a school has on its educational program. We also need to know what effect increasing available financial resource has on the educational program. Such knowledge will help to sub­ stantiate or to refute the position of educational theorists who feel that both are necessary for improvement. In terms of guidance services alone, it may very well be that increasing per pupil valuation has little or no effect on such services. It may also be that guidance services will be improved just at certain levels of enrollment by increas­ ing revenues. On the other hand, it may be that increasing enrollment has no effect on complexity of guidance services. 11 This hypothesis is much more difficult to accept, consider­ ing the empirical evidence at hand. Large schools have more services on the average than do smaller ones. In addition, it may be that increasing enrollment has different effects at different levels of per pupil valuation. This hypothesis seems more feasible than the former one. The intent, then, of this chapter will be to investi­ gate studies that have been reported in the literature which are in any way related to this problem, TOTAL ENROLLMENT, The studies indicated below are reported in order to clarify what has been done concerning the effects or rela­ tionships of total enrollment and complexity of educational services in local schools, McLure made an educational cost analysis of thirty Illinois school systems in which the following five variables were examined: 1) percentage of total current expenses for each budget category, 2) amount in dollars spent per pupil unit in each budget category, 3) size of student population in each school district, 4) breadth of each educational pro­ gram and 5) current expenditure level expressed as total amount per pupil unit,1 W i l l i a m P, McLure, Educational Cost Analysis, Urbana: University of Illinois, Bureau of Educational Research, March, 1957, 28 pp. 12 Among other things, he found that small enrollment has a limiting effect on the educational program which could not be overcome entirely by increasing financial conditions. This study tends to bear out the hypothesis that the total enrollment of the school would have more effect on the com­ plexity of guidance services than would increasing financial resources if each were investigated separately. It would also imply that increasing per pupil valuation has no appre­ ciable effect on complexity of guidance services at least in the smaller schools. As is the case in most of the studies available, this study was a descriptive one and only judgmental inferences may be made to other schools in other states from these con­ clusions. In a most comprehensive study of school district reorganization, Chrisholm found data which indicated that school district reorganization was moving toward its goals of improving efficiency of operation and equalizing educational opportunities for larger numbers of pupils.2 He felt that increasing the size of schools has a positive effect on the educational program offered to students. The above observation is subject, of course, to the usual criticisms of empirical inspection and subjective 2Leslie L. Chrisholm. School District Reorganization. Chicago: Midwest Administration Center, tlniversity of Chicago, 1957, 97 pp* 13 evaluation. There is a definite need for studies testing the underlying assumption that size of schools changes the behavior of students in the school in a correlative way. Another descriptive study done in Texas is relevant to our purposes. The Texas Research League reported, as a result of state-wide studies of Texas Public Schools, that inadequate district structure impairs the foundation program. Attendance is better in a larger school, the range of subjects broadens substantially as the size of the high school increases, and the per pupil cost goes from $255 in schools of under 500 pupils down to $213 in schools of over 1,000 pupils in average 3 daily attendance. This study indicates that there is a direct relationship between the size of the school and subjects offered and an inverse correlation between cost and size of school. A survey in Michigan of 100 school districts formed through reorganization since 1940 showed such improvements as local pupil-teacher ratios, increased holding power, more use of outside consultants in program planning and evaluation, more and better transportation service, greater use of school buildings for community meetings and study groups, introduction 3Texas Research League, Texas Public Schools under the Minimum Foundation Program. Report No. 1, A Summary of a Sur­ vey for the State Board of Education, Austin: The League, 1954, 91 pp. 14 of speech correction services, the accreditation of high schools that formerly had not formally met the accreditation standards, and the addition of courses to the high school curriculum.^ Evidently the students in these 100 school districts benefited by opportunities to attend larger high schools. Considerable evidence of a descriptive nature is available, which bears out the hypothesis that larger schools provide better services. There is relatively little information available, however, that shows the effects of varying financial resources. Fitzwater reports that a study of 552 reorganized dis­ tricts in eight states revealed such program improvements as the employment of nurses, psychologists, guidance-counselors, physicians, speech correctionists, and dental hygienists. Marked improvement was also cited in this study for music, art and vocational-educational programs. It was found that the new teaching staffs had a higher level of college preparation than 5 teachers employed in the old districts before reorganizing. This is one of the few studies that mentioned specifi­ cally guidance personnel as a part of program improvements which were a result of reorganizing. 4 J. F. Thaden, Equalizing Educational Opportunities Through Community School Districts. Michigan State University, 1957, 43 pp. 5Charles 0. Fitzwater, Educational Change in Reorgan­ ized School Districts. U. S. Office of Education Bulletin 1953, No. 4 G.P.O., 1953, 53 pp. 15 Several studies made under the Cooperative Program in Educational Administration, which examined the impact of dis­ trict reorganization on the school structure in particular states, show that many districts are too small to be efficient and that small size precludes effective administrative leader­ ship, Students attending small schools are often handicapped by inadequate curricula, lack of resources and poorly trained teachers,*5 Many recommendations have been made to increase the size of schools so that more students may be enrolled. It is apparently universally held that larger schools not only pro­ vide more services but also better ones, Strolle pleads the following case, adequacy of enrollment immediately arises. "The question of Size of enrollment does not necessarily have a direct relationship to the quality of program, nevertheless, enrollment is one factor that is recognized as a criterion for adequate school district organi­ zation, Having seventy-five pupils in each grade will make it possible to provide a flexible program and begin more nearly 7 to meet the needs of the students," ^Encyclopedia of Educational Research, 3rd Edition, American Educational Research Association, Macmillan Co., New York, I960, p, 1242, 7 R. S, Strolle, "A Study of School District Reorgani­ zation in Michigan," (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Michigan State College, 1955) p, 8, 16 The National Commission on School District Reorgani­ zation recommended seventy-five students per grade as a minimum g for high school purposes, Cushman in an article in the Phi Delta Kappan strongly recommends much more specific standards of enrollment which calls for a minimum enrollment of 1200 students K through 12 9 with a minimum of forty classroom teachers employed, ”The quality and scope of the educational program im­ proves with school district reorganization, Because of certain descriptive studies and many other empirical data the consensus in the literature seems to be that increasing total enrollment in schools up to a minimum of seventy-five students or so per grade has beneficial effects on the quality and quantity of educational services offered to students, PER PUPIL VALUATION A more specific explanation of how per pupil valuation is determined may be appropriate here, tion, 8National Education Association, Key to Better Educa­ Special Bulletin, 1947, Washington, D, C , , p. 8, 9M* L, Cushman, "The Ideal School District,” Delta Kappan, 32:313-16; 1950, ■^Encyclopedia, op# cit,, p, 1197, Phi 17 The independent variable of per pupil valuation selected as a possible concomitant of complexity of guidance services is based upon the local tax structure* More specifically, the valuation is arrived at in the following manner: The job of assessing property is assigned by law to the respective township supervisors and in cities to an employee usually called the 'assessor.* The valuation assigned by these people to each parcel of property is the 'assessed valuation.* A 'Board of Review' equalizes valuations between parcels of property. The reports of the assessors are filed with the county board of supervisors for review and 'equal­ ization. * The reviewing is done by a committee of supervisors which recommends action by the entire board for equalization between cities and town” ships of the county. The object of equalization is to provide 'A uniform rule of taxation* (Const. 1908, Art. 10, No. 3). Equalization has for its objective the bringing of assessments of the dif­ ferent parts of a taxing district to the same relative standard in order that there will be equality in the burden of taxation (Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority V. Boards of Supervisors in Five Counties, 304 Mich., 328, 339, 340). Equalization between counties and on appeal within a county is accomplished by action of the State Board of Equalization. This process if called 'state equalization* as distinguished from 'county equali­ zation. * The state equalization is used as the base to which the deductible millage is applied in fig­ uring state aid to schools by the equalization formula in the schools aid law. Any supervisor on the county board who votes against the report of the county equalization committee may appeal to the state tax commission for a revaluation of property within the county. Local officials have no voice in deter­ mining such revaluations. However, a county board of supervisors may by a majority vote petition the state for assistance in equalizing valuations 18 and retain for itself the right of ultimate de­ cision. (Midland County in 1950).H M. L. Cushman, in discussing the size of the tax base as a criterion for school district reorganization, said, in part: The ideal community school district is one which has . . . an adequate tax base that gives the community a certain degree of financial lee­ way in order that its people may pioneer in the development of a new educational practice, a better than average effort in developing a pro­ gram of education to meet the needs of all its people, a more than average expenditure per pupil to furnish its citizens with that educa­ tion which will set them somewhat above the accomplishments of the average districts of the state and effective utilization of state funds -^2 from the statefs financial equalization program. The number of studies comparing financial resources and complexity of services is few. Most of those reported use either per pupil valuation, total valuation, or per pupil cost as valid financial considerations. Green made a comparison of expenditures for education in various sizes of school districts and found that smaller districts spend more per pupil when the school district con­ tained fewer than 7,000 pupils. The largest school district spent $213 per pupil, and the smallest spent $225 per pupil. "property Valuations and Tax Allocations for School Purposes in Michigan." Vol. 1, No. 1, December, 1953, Central Michigan School Administrators Research Assn., Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, p. 4. l^M. L. Cushman, "The Ideal School District," School District Reorganization, Phi Delta Kappan. March-April, 1951, p. 19-20. 19 After comparing these school districts in Missouri before and after reorganization, Green also found that the median assessed valuation increased one million dollars in the reorganized districts. Services added as a result of reorganization were curriculum development, special ser­ vices, supervision of instruction, instructional materials 13 and personnel services. Other studies on per pupil cost indicate similar data. The larger the school district the less expensive is the educational process per school child. Obviously, this re­ duction in cost would release more money for facilitative services which do not exist in the smaller schools. It would be interesting to know at what size of student enrollment such services begin to be added. Leaders queried by Fitzwater in studying reorganiza­ tion in sixteen states were in common agreement that an adequately reorganized school district was able to provide at less cost the same services provided by the old districts it replaced, and that where expenditures had increased, significant educational improvements had been made. 13 14 Harold E. Green, A Comparison of School Districts in Missouri Before and After Reorganization! ^Doctor*s Thesis, Columbia: University of Missouri, 1953, 368 pp. Abstract. Dissertation Abstracts 13:1063-64; No. 6, 1953. ^Fitzwater, op. cit. . p. 321. 20 A good many exhortative articles are available urging increase in size and money-of which the following by Moore is typical* “Except for a few scattered studies, the vast problem of adequate local district finances is yet to be studied and solutions reached. The tax burden borne by school districts in an age of inflation make imperative a thorough examination of local, intermediate, State and Feder­ al tax resources so that there can be adopted adequate and equitable schemes to tap our abundant economy for the support 15 of schools”, Fitzwater seems to have summed up the typical approach to the problem of financing an educational program. There seems to be an almost instinctive drive to increase per pupil valuation and school enrollment and then to evaluate it by subjective observation which in turn is always positive. A thorough study of relative school costs before and after reorganization was not attempted— that in itself would have constituted a major undertaking. The general conclusion of the State leaders ques­ tioned on this, however, was that an adequate reorganized unit was able to provide at less cost the services provided by the old districts it re­ placed; and that where total school expenditures had been increased, significant educational im­ provements had resulted therefrom. Pertinent to A. Moore, Jr., Studies in School Administration. American Association of School Administrators, Washington 6, D. C . , 1957, p. 141. 21 this was the observation of the director of one of the most successful State programs; that in his experience reorganization of the districts in a community had almost always been very closely associated with bringing about major school im­ provements; and that the improvements made, while usually resulting in increased expenditures, could not otherwise have been accomplished with efficiency and economy except through the formation of the larger administrative unit.16 COMBINATION OF BOTH The State of Iowa made an interesting review of per pupil cost in 1947-48. Below is the information presented in tabular form. Enrollment 0 25 50 75 100 200 300 400 500 - 2 4 - 49 - 74 - 99 - 199 - 299 - 399 - 499 and over Number of Schools 41 209 197 114 149 41 24 11 19 Per Pupil Cost $417 326 290 260 238 222 224 202 211 16 C. 0. Fitzwater, School District Reorganization. Special Series No. 5, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1957, pp. 87-88. ■^State Department of Public Instruction, "Your School District.” Des Moines, Iowa, p. 8. 22 Evidence shows the decreasing per pupil cost as the size of the school gets larger. It is interesting to note that the least expensive per pupil cost occurs in schools of 400 to 499 student population. The critical figure at which finances make an important difference in increasing the com­ plexity of guidance services may be the same as the above. Tracy, in a study of the reorganization of schools in one county in Colorado in which the number of school dis­ tricts were reduced from forty-two to one, indicated that adequate total enrollment and per pupil valuation resulted. As a result of these reorganizations, educational opportun­ ities now exceed those available to any student prior to reorganization, the teaching staff was upgraded, administra­ tive staff developed, and specially trained personnel were 18 added in art, music and physical education. This study was a descriptive one and the conclusions probably should not be generalized to a greater population. In addition, the effects of per pupil valuation and total enrollment were not separated so that one does not know what the effects of each alone were. However, the study does indicate that increasing total enrollment and per pupil val­ uation has certain definite effects in terms of educational 18Neal Herred Tracy, Educational Changes Accompanying Reorganization in Jefferson County. Colorado. (Ed.D. Dis­ sertation, University of Colorado, 1958. Dissertation Ab­ stracts. 1959, Vol. 19, p. 2522. 23 facilitative services* It is unfortunate that he did not include guidance services in his study. McQuinn found that fewer small schools (150 or less) have guidance programs than larger schools do and that, in general, adequate financing is possible if there is a full realization of the benefits of an effective guidance program in the smaller school. He reported that some districts are too weak financially to support adequately any of the func­ tions of education. In these cases only re-districting and/ or a broader base of financial support would make an adequate 19 school program possible. Here again the hypothesis is implied that making a school district larger in terms of numbers of students or providing a broader base of financial support would result in adequate school programming. Since this was also a descrip­ tive study, care should be taken about applying the conclu­ sions in other locations. McQuinnfs conclusions conflict somewhat with McLurefs study reported above, since the latter found that adding money to a small school may not necessarily result in adequate educational programs because of the hampering effect of size alone• 19 John Clifford McQuinn, Major Handicaps that Interfere with the Organization and Administration of Guidance Programs, (Doctoral Dissertation, University of Nebraska Teachers Col­ lege, 1958. Dissertation Abstracts. Vol. 19, pt. 7-9, p. 1629. 24 Monroe reinforces this feeling by stating that many school districts are too small to provide a satisfactory educational program or to use educational resources efficiently.'*® In a study related to the problem of the effect of ser­ vices on student behavior, Anspaugh, after separating the top and bottom fifteen percent of 1100 graduating seniors, in a Chicago high school, found that success in high school is closely associated with high interest, extensive guidance services by the school, regular attendance, limited dating, limited outside work for pay and regular homework* 21 If extensive guidance services contribute to success in high school as shown by this study, and if extensive guidance services are found only in larger high schools, obviously the recommendation should be to increase the size of high schools to the level which would permit extensive guidance services. What this level is was not reported in this study, nor is it reported in any other studies in a definitive way. 20 Encyclopedia, o p . cit.. p. 1195. 21Anspaugh, A. E., "Qualities Related to High Scholar­ ship in Secondary School." Scholarship Report 61:337-40:1953. 25 CONCLUSIONS Hall and others point out rather forcefully the dan­ gers connected with interpreting available studies of relationships between schools and communities* "The lit­ erature and quantitative data pertinent to school district reorganization need to be interpreted with care lest in­ appropriate practices be adopted resulting in permanent harm to schools, communities, and basic principles of education in a free society. . . . There are few data which conclu­ sively show a positive relationship between such factors and the development of the kinds of citizens the public schools are designed to cultivate." 22 In addition, it might be well to point out there is not complete agreement as to the "kind of citizen" the public schools are designed to cultivate. This is a difficult problem and has many ramifications and will take the talents of many people to unravel. The reader will note that there have been very few studies based on theory, preconceived designs, statistical methods and experimentation. Apparently little research has been done in this area other than strictly normative or de­ scriptive studies. ^%toy M. Hall, Feathers, Frank P., and Roberts, Chas. T . , "Organization of Schools and Administrative Units." Re ­ view of Educational Research, Vol. XXV, No. 4, Oct., 1955, p. 339. 26 Flesher and others expressed this rather common obser­ vation in the following manner, "As has been true in the past, there is an almost complete absence of studies based on a pre-conceived design of experimentation which sets forth hypotheses to be tested through controlled use of money, 23 material or program#" Griffiths and Iannaccone feel that the lack of researdi is not due to lack of concern with the problem of complexity. "It is interesting to note that there was a persistent con­ cern with the problems posed by the complexity of large organizations, but parenthetically there was an almost com­ plete dearth of research on them in educational administration."24 This problem is extremely difficult to research experimentally# It is almost impossible to manipulate variables such as total enrollment, per pupil valuation, administrative philosophy, school-community relations and the like in a school district. Such restrictions, however, should William R. Flesher, Kenneth Crim, and Walter G. Hack, "Financingj Housing, and Operating School Programs." Rev, of Educ. R e s. , Vol. XXVIII, No. 4, October, 1958, p. 330 24 Daniel E* Griffiths and Laurence Iannaccone, "Admin­ istrative Theory, Relationships, and Preparation." R e v , of Educ. R e s . , Vol. XXVIII, No. 4, October, 1958, p. 346. 27 not rule out causal comparative studies and other appro­ priate designs* More sophistication in research design on the part of advisors in some educational colleges would be an improvement* Research has tended to substantiate the correla­ tion between various measures of school quality and expenditure levels* Yet it is very probable that communities which tend to have higher expenditures (except when they are the result of inefficiency) tend to be the communities with the conditions essential for obtaining higher quality with the money, , . * If the problems are approached from the finance side, then it becomes necessary to learn to what extent money or money in combination with controllable factors will lead to school im­ provement*25 As was mentioned before, there have been no experi­ mental studies reported in the literature having to do with the total enrollment and financial resources of schools as they affect the complexity of educational services offered or the quality of such services* Some descriptive studies are reported, and the more relevant ones have been considered in this chapter. It might be well to stress again that recommendations from descriptive studies may be inferred to a population like the sample only in a judgmental way. This caution is over­ looked or ignored by most reviewers. The next chapter will be concerned with the methodology of the study. A discussion of design and instrumentation wilL be included. ^Encyclopedia, o p . cit. , p. 556. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY Very briefly again, the purposes of the study were to determine the status of guidance services in the high schools of Michigan in order to measure future modifications and/or growth* OVERALL DESIGN OF THE STUDY In order to execute these purposes the following steps were taken* First, real populations to which inferences might be made were defined* was explained* Second, Third, an instrument the method of sampling was developed which per­ mitted collection of all pertinent data concerning guidance services in the schools* Fourth, certain predications of the reliability and validity of the items selected were made* Fifth, f o l l o w u p procedures were planned in order to approach as closely as possible a 100 percent response* Thus, valid inferences to the total population would be justifiable. If responses drop below the 80 percent level, such inferences can be made with only the greatest of caution. The balance of the chapter is of the above steps in greater detail. devoted to an explanation 29 POPULATION Sampling statistics are used to explain how well the statistics obtained from measurements of samples probably represent the populations from which the samples were taken. "Populations,” according to Guilford, "are a well defined group of individuals or observations.”* The real population in this study consists of all the publicly supported schools in Michigan having a local board of education and ending with the twelfth grade. Since it was impossible to draw schools from this population strictly at random, manipulate the variables as desired, and report the conclusions, the researcher had to be content with the schools readily available to him. Lindquist reports this as being a rather common occurance.^ The population, then, consists of all schools within Michigan meeting the criteria mentioned above. SAMPLE The sample used in this study included all schools in Michigan having a local board of education, supported by ^■J. P. Guilford, Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1956, p. 5. o E. F. Lindquist, Design and Analysis of Experiments in Psychology and Education, Haughton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1953, p. 73. 30 public funds, ending with the twelfth grade, and responding to the direct-mail questionnaire. Having a local board of educa­ tion excluded training and demonstration schools associated with colleges and universities and such special schools as the Michigan State School for the Blind, schools for the deaf, the physically handicapped, and the mentally retarded. Sup­ ported by public funds (state aid and millage from state equalized valuation) barred private and parochial, profit and non-profit schools. Ending with the twelfth grade ruled out junior highs and elementary schools* It did not establish the lowest grade of the high school, however. range from the seventh to the tenth. Beginning grades These schools were taken Q from Michigan Education Directory and Buyerfs Guide 1958-59. A smaller sample might have been more economical but because of the imminence of enabling the National Defense Education Act by the Michigan State Legislature and the con­ sequent necessity for a description of the guidance services of each school in the state, it was decided at the State level that it would be more efficient to survey all schools. INSTRUMENTATION Considering the number of schools to be contacted, the distance involved, costs and other factors, the direct 3Michigan Education Directory and Buyer *s Guide 1958-591 Michigan Education Directory, Lansing, Michigan, 1958. 31 mail questionnaire was deemed the most feasible method of gathering the data. In recent years research on the validity and relia­ bility of direct mail questionnaires has brought to light some rather serious considerations which must be dealt with if a useful and valid survey is being contemplated. Biases are introduced into the results by many variables, some of which were entirely unexpected until fairly recently. The researcher must have in mind an exact definition of the population to which he intends to make generalizations. His sampling must be such that each member of the population is given a chance to be selected. He must frame the questions so that they are not biased or leading, so that they are crystal clear to the reader, and so that they do not make un­ warranted assumptions about the interest and/or ability of the respondent. In other words, the questions should require answers which the great majority of the respondents might be expected to know. Furthermore, the items should not call for too much extra work on the part of the informant. Responses which demand involved mathematical calculations and detailed research should be avoided. In this particular inventory the answers to questions which call for opinions or evaluations by local administrators or counselors would be quite difficult to assess and were, 32 therefore, eliminated as much as possible. Other language difficulties such as level of vocabulary, confessed or un­ confessed lack of knowledge, resentment against invasion of privacy, response sets, and errors arising from the nature of the language itself had to be taken into account during the process. With the above criticisms in mind and with a desire to obtain factual responses to relatively simple questions which could be counted and reported meaningfully, the ques­ tionnaire used in this study was developed in the following way: I. A letter was sent to the guidance directors of all the states and territories requesting samples of inventories they had used in the past and biblio­ graphical data which might be pertinent. Seventy percent responded to this request and the material was utilized in selecting items which met the above criteria. II. A letter was sent to each of the counselor train­ ing institutions in Michigan requesting the same kind of thing. There were no responses to this letter. III. Dissertations were studied for useable items, in particular those of Sorrels IV. 4 and Horn. 5 Most of the better texts in guidance and counsel­ ing were consulted for suggested items. V. The items which had been selected as being satis­ factory from the above sources plus others which had been developed by the researcher were then arranged under seven rubrics and the list was run off on dittos. VI. Several revisions of the items selected were made based upon the advice of approximately thirty people among whom were numbered: three professors at the University of Michigan, seven at Michigan State University, the State Guidance Director, the State Chief of Business Education, the Research Specialist in the Office of Vocational Education, an Assistant Superintendent of Education in Pon­ tiac, local counselors at Holt, Lapeer, and St. Johns High Schools, and the Director of Pupil Personnel for the St. Clair River Area. VII. This revision was presented to the Advisory CounciL to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction ^Daniel J. Sorrells, Guidance Practices in Selected Small High Schools: An Analysis of the Organization and Admin istration of Specific Services. (Unpublished doctoral thesis, Michigan State College, College of Education, 1951-52.) 5 Carl M. Horn, A Survey of Services and Practices in Michigan Public Schools. (Unpublished doctoral thesis, Michi­ gan State College, College of Education, 1950-51.) 34 for its approval, since the survey was being sponsored by the Michigan State Department of Public Instruction. Approval was granted for the survey. VIII. A pilot study was developed and executed. PILOT STUDY The pilot study had certain obvious advantages since the questionnaire had never been used before. In order to in­ sure that the survey might yield returns which were meaningful and which were secured in the most efficient manner possible, it was believed that a pretest of a small number of schools would eliminate many unforseen stumbling blocks. study is of inestimable value if properly cuted. A pilot designed and exe­ It will reveal shortcomings of instructions, proce­ dures, and even how positioning of the items in the schedule will affect response. The purposes of such a study were multiple. An advance knowledge of the kinds of experiences and problems which were to be encountered was both desirable and necessary in order to perfect the final design of the instrument and the survey. Since the use of IBM equipment was being considered (in order to reduce the expenditure of money and man hours), several problems needed to be solved. Efficient ways of coding in­ formation, the number of cards per school to be used, whether 35 to single or multiple punch, ways of tabulating the data for ease of analysis, and the like were among the problems to be considered* Varying methods of follow-ups needed to be used in order to obtain as large a return as possible and still remain within reasonable economic bounds* The items had been scrutinized countless times by many people* but this did not guarantee clear-cut, unambiguous, realistic ones* Lead­ ing items, emotionally charged ones, questions which were evaluative in nature and not solely descriptive as was the intent of the study needed to be improved or omitted* In order that all of the types of problems that were likely to appear in the comprehensive study to follow be exposed in the pilot study, a sample much like the final sam­ ple of schools was needed* A representative proportion of schools was randomly selected from each of five strata which was in turn determined by school enrollment. One school was selected from those having an enrollment of seventy-five or less, five schools from those having seventy-five to two hun­ dred, six from schools of two hundred to four hundred, five from those of four hundred to nine hundred, and three from schools of more than nine hundred students for a total of twenty schools. Those twenty schools represented 3*4 per­ cent of the total 567 public secondary schools, a proportion adequately large to meet the needs of the pilot study, yet 36 not too large to detract from the results of the final survey. Since experience from this limited survey indicated that revision of the questionnaire was necessary, the results of this small study were not included in the analysis of the later survey, nor were the twenty schools included in the final sample. The time elapsed from the date that the questionnaires used in the pilot study (appendix A ) were sent out and the date the last one was returned was twenty-seven days. A 100 percent response was achieved by the following means 9 Within two weeks of the original request for the answers, 60 percent of the schools had answered. A post card was then sent to the eight remaining schools which brought in four more responses or a total of 80 percent within one week more. Registered letters were then sent to the remaining four schools and all answered within one more week. This response was far more successful than most surveys, although Rothney reports a like one in his recent book Guidance Practices and Results. The calibre of professional relationship which the Department of Public Instruction maintains with local schools undoubtedly was a contributing factor as was the professional interest 6John W. M. Rothney, Guidance Practices and Results. Harper & Bros., New York, 1958. 37 exhibited by the respondents* In any event, a prediction was made from this study of ninety to one—hundred percent response on the final study* A review of the responses obtained from the pilot study was helpful in changing ambiguous items, eliminating some which did not pertain to all schools, and in improving the wording of still others on the final questionnaire* FINAL QUESTIONNAIRE The final revision (appendix B ) was delivered to Pub­ lications for printing and copies were sent out to all schools to be filled out and returned. On© of the more common criticisms leveled at the in­ adequacies of the direct mail questionnaire is the typically poor response that is exhibited in most situations* Travers reports that under favorable conditions one may expect a twenty percent response. With follow-ups this response may be anticipated to reach thirty percent and rarely exceeds 7 forty percent* Good and Scates agree that a high percentage of responses is difficult to achieve and substantiate this with an analysis of the numbers of responses to questionnaires which were part of studies done at Columbia University, 7 Robert M* W, Travers, An Introduction to Educational Research. Macmillan Co., New York, 1958, p. 248* 38 Indiana State College, and. others reported in the Journal of Q Educational Research# A seventy to ninety percent response is considered quite good# A few years ago it was felt that those who responded to questionnaires were no different than those who did not and were, therefore, representative of the population which was being studied# It is now known that these people do differ significantly# For example, those with college edu­ cations will respond more often than those without# This fact may have influenced the response in this study. In any case, it appeared that the analysis would be biased if the non-respondents were not accounted for in some way# A significant part of the methodological procedure in this study was the follow-up which was necessary in order to satisfy this quite legitimate criticism# Among the methods which have been found helpful in obtaining unusually high responses are: preparing the respondent ahead of time, sending him follow-up form letters, personal letters, post cards, phone calls, and appealing to relatives for cooperation. Parten suggests that the color of the paper of the questionnaire, the tint of the stamps on the ^Carter V. Good and Scates, Methods of Research# Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc#, New York, 1954, p. 627. 39 envelopes, the day of the week, and other such seemingly inconsequential variables are, in reality, highly significant.^ As was reported above, the method used in the pilot study was very successful* A sixty percent initial response was obtained, a post card brought in twenty percent more, and a registered letter accounted for the balance. A similar pattern was planned for the main study with one exception. The expense of the registered letters (68 cents each) ex­ cluded them as a practical possibility when dealing with a possible twenty percent of the 569 schools in the total sample. Consequently, an ordinary letter with an additional copy of the questionnaire was substituted for the registered letter in hopes that similar results would be obtained.1** A goal of ninety-five percent total response did not seem un­ reasonable in view of the success of the pilot study. If this were reached, the non-respondents would not bias the analysis of the study to any significant degree. As it turned out, the final response was over ninetyeight percent (538 schools of 549), and thus a study of the non-respondents was obviated. 9 Mildred Parten. Surveys. Polls, and Samples. per & Bros., New York, l§50, tEaptiF-Vf.----------- Har- 10See appendix C for copies of the letters which were used. 40 There is no way of knowing, of course, how much the answers of the non-respondents would have affected the analysis of the data had they responded* However it is practically certain that because of the small number of them that this Offeet would have been insignificant, if not indistinguishable* VALIDITY Before an analysis of the data is made, the researcher should have an idea of the extent to which the instrument is measuring what it purports to* Authorities seem to be pretty much in agreement that there is more than one method of validation and that the problem of validation is difficult and complex. Face validity of the questionnaire* Face validity is more a question of the apparent reasonableness of the instru­ ment to its respondent than it is of its objectivity, and despite that is perhaps just as desirable in some ways* Men­ tion was made earlier in the chapter of the measures which were taken to insure acceptance and meaningfulness of the inventory by its recipients* Authorities were consulted, texts were reviewed, state directors of guidance contacted, and other theses perused for desirable format and other physical aspects. Captions, rubrics, titleds, size and color of the paper, design and spacing of the items, and multilithing process were all selected in order to insure a professional 41 and attractive inventory. To the extent that this purpose was accomplished, face validity was established. Content validity. Another aspect of validity has to do with the content of the instrument. How adequately do the items sample each service and how well is each service rep­ resented proportionately in the study? A satisfactory answer to this question involved an apriori description of the ser­ vices in order that a proportion of items in each category be obtained. A pilot study was executed in order to weed out irrelevant factors. Items were carefully analyzed for ambiguities and misleading syntax. It is apparent that face validity and content validity are established by judgmental approaches. It seems a reasonable estimate that the instru­ ment developed in this study satisfied the criteria of proper content. Empirical validity. Anastasi states, "For most test­ ing purposes, there is no satisfactory substitute for empirical validity. Essentially, such validity refers to the relation between test scores and a criterion, the latter being an independent and direct measure of that which the test is designed to predict." 12 Since it was impossible to visit a random selection of schools and make independent measurements of their 12Anne Anastasi, Psychological Testing. New York, 1954, Chapter VI. Macmillan Co., 42 guidance services, the following and less satisfactory method was used* Nine graduate students enrolled at Western Michigan University were asked to make an independent inventory of guidance services in the high schools in which they work* After being given specific and detailed instructions, they filled in the items as appropriate for their schools* A comparison of these scores with those sent in six months before by the original respondents was interesting* A Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient of validity was determined between the two sets of nine scores* There were three MA fl schools, three MB'* schools, one #*C” school and two "D” schools* The correlation coefficient was .55* Obviously, there is no way of knowing how representa­ tive these schools are of the total sample or of the popula­ tion, and therefore the correlation coefficient of .55 is not presented here as an inference to that sample or popula­ tion. However, it is the best estimate of the validity of the questionnaire that is available and for that reason is reported here. RELIABILITY It has been suggested that a defensible method of establishing the reliability of a survey instrument is that 43 of comparing the score of the even numbered items with the ■10 score of the odd numbered items* The method used in this study to obtain an odd-even comparison of inventory results is explained here. After all 538 questionnaires had been returned, thirty of them were selected by use of a table of random numbers. Four "A" schools, seven "3” schools, ten MC Tf schools and nine "D” schools made up this sub sample. The odd numbers and the even numbers of the thirty items composing the complexity score were summed for each of the thirty schools and placed on a scatter diagram. An r^A of .664 was obtained. Since this represented the reliability of only half the items, that is the odds compared with the evens, the Spearman Brown Formula was then used to estimate the reliability of all the items. An r ^ of .80 resulted. Again, the validity coefficient is applicable to only the nine schools used as a sample since they may or may not represent the total sample. However, it is felt that the coefficient of reliability is based on a sub sample truly representative of the total sample of 538 schools and thus is applicable to the population as defined in this chapter* 13Parten, o p . cit. . Chapter XI. 14Helen M. Walker and Joseph Lev, Statistical Inference. Henry Holt and Co., New York, 1953, appendix. 44 The next chapter will be concerned with an analysis of data of guidance services in the high schools of Michigan* CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF THE DATA Analysis of the data will take the following form: results will be reported in percentages and in tabular form* Seventy or more items as indicated by five hundred and thirty eight schools will be presented* The unusually high response (98 per cent) plus the fact that almost all answered each item should lend satis­ factory credence to these reports. Following are the tables which will present numerically the responses of the schools together with descriptions of each table* The data have been reported in percentages for ease of reading and interpretation* Most of the tables have a category, "schools respond­ ing to this item,” which indicates the percentage of total responses* 100 percent. The tables treat those who responded as being This is sometimes seen as, "of those who responded (100 percent), 93 percent indicated . . . etc.” Some columns do not add to exactly 100 percent because all percentages were rounded to the nearest whole number before adding* A few of the items were omitted in this analysis be­ cause of ambiguity of response or because of relatively few responses to the item* 46 The section on specialized student services, which had been added at the request of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, is not reported here since it is normally not considered a part of guidance services. The section on the planned use of Title V monies is not reported since these data are not descriptive of present services but simply opinion held by administrators on the possible use of the money. DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS Due to a pressing need for a determination of the status of guidance services in our schools and to the possibite enabling of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, a guidance questionnaire was sent out to 549 schools in the state of Michigan. Over 98 percent of these schools responded to the questionnaire. This sample consisted of schools that ended with the twelfth grade, were supported by public funds, and had local boards of education. Thus, there were no elementary schools, no private schools and no parochial schools. Since the sample is a stratified one in terms of en­ rollment, each school has been categorized into A, B, C, D or E according to the number of students enrolled. The A schools have an enrollment of 900 or more students; the B schools have 400 to 899 students; the C schools have 200 to 47 399; the D schools have 76 to 199; the E schools are those in the upper peninsula that have less than 76 students. TABLE I SCHOOLS RESPONDING TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE Class of School A B C D Total Number of Schools in the Sample 95 130 169* 13 S' 17 549 Number that Responded 94 130 166 132 16 538 100 98 95 94 98 mmm Schools Responding to the Questionnaire 99 Table I E Total indicates the total number of schools con- tacted in each category and the number that responded. It can be seen that the percentage of responses varies from 100 percent in the B schools to 94 percent in the E schools and that the total average of responses is 98 percent. In numbers, this represents 538 responses out of a possible 549 schools contacted. high. This return is unusually In addition, it shows a consistently high response across the board. The tendency is for the smaller schools not to respond as readily, but in this case the differences 48 are not large enough to be significant* To the extent that the questionnaire is valid and reliable, the information gained will be almost without question indicative of guidance practices in Michigan* 49 TABLE II CLASSIFICATION OF PERSONNEL REPLYING TO QUESTIONNAIRE Class of School A Superintendents B C 4% 1% 9% Total Percent D E 20% 44% 10% Other Administrators 62 57 77 71 50 67 Guidance Personnel 27 36 11 5 0 18 Not Stated 11 3 4 4 6 5 Table II reveals the classification of personnel that replied to the questionnaire. Interestingly enough in the A schools, which almost without exception have guidance person nel, 63 percent of the questionnaires were filled out by administrators. In B schools, which also have guidance per­ sonnel for the most part, 61 percent of the questionnaires were filled out by administrators. A large percentage of administrators filled out the questionnaire in the C, D and E schools, but this is to be expected since many of them do not have guidance personnel. It may be accepted that to a significant degree the responses are reflections of adminis­ trative judgment rather than that of guidance personnel, since only 18 percent of the questionnaires were filled out by the latter. 50 TABLE III SCHOOLS MAINTAINING A CUMULATIVE FOLDER FOR EACH PUPIL Class of iSchool A Yes 100% No 0 Schools Responding to this Item 98% B C D 98% 99% 98% 2 1 2 99% 98% 100% Average Percent E 100% 99% 0 100% 1 99% As is indicated by Table III, 98 percent of the schools maintain cumulative folders on each student* There are minor differences in the percentages, but these differences are not significant. It is apparent that the percentages fall slightly from 100 percent in the A schools to 98 percent in the D schools, which tends to bear out the hypothesis that complexity is established by the total population in the school* The 100 percent response by the E schools may or may not substantiate this hypothesis since there were only six­ teen schools in the sample* Ninety-eight percent of the schools responded to the questionnaire; and of these, 99 percent responded to this item, so a very significant degree of confidence may be entertained as to the validity of the figure* 51 TABLE IV LOCATION OF CUMULATIVE FOLDERS* Class of School Average Percent A B C D S Administrator *s Office 50% 81% 89% 96% 94% Guidance Director*s Office 16 19 11 4 0 11 Counselor fs Office 56 18 5 3 0 16 Library 0 0 0 0 0 0 Home Rooms 8 2 1 2 6 3 Teachers* Classrooms 1 2 4 6 6 4 96% 95% 98% Schools Responding to this Item 99% 100% 83% 97% *Some reported more than one place* Of the schools that responded to the questionnaire, 97 percent answered this item, and the total percentages can be accepted as being definitive. Eighty-three percent of the schools keep the cumulative folders in the administrator^ office, and it is interesting to note that this percentage is inversely related to the total population of the school. As the school decreases in size the cumulative folders tend to be kept more often in the administrator's office. 52 This factor may be somewhat misleading unless it is understood that many of the smaller schools, particularly those in the D and E classification, have no guidance director*s or counselor*s offices. Eleven percent of the schools keep the cumulative folders in the guidance director*s office and 16 percent keep them in the counselorfs office* The library is not used for this purpose, and the home rooms and teachers* classrooms very little* An obviously desirable goal would be to encourage the establishment of guidance offices in each school and to en­ courage that the cumulative records be kept in the guidance office, since these are indeed the necessary tools of the counselor * 53 TABLE V SCHOOLS USING THE CA-39 STATE CUMULATIVE FOLDER Class of 1 School Average Percent E A B C D Yes 56% 91% 98% 98% No 44 9 2 2 0 11 Schools Responding to this Item 93% 99% 96% 98% 94% 97% 100% 89% Again, of the 98 percent of the schools that responded to the questionnaire, 97 percent responded to this item, and there seemed to be no significant differences in the number that responded in each classification. It is noteworthy, how­ ever, that although 89 percent of the schools in Michigan use the CA-39, only 56 percent of the A schools use them. This may be because the CA-39 does not meet the needs of larger schools, and since the A schools have more per­ sonnel available, more satisfactory folders have been developed. An additional possibility, of course, is that the CA—39 folder is meeting the needs of the B, C, D and E schools. 54 TABLE ri AFTER EXAMINING SEVERAL RANDOM SAMPLES OF FOLDERS, THE SCHOOLS INDICATE THE FOLLOWING ARE REGULARLY RECORDED IN THE CUMULATIVE FOLDERS Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Photo of Student 81% 87% 90% 93% 94% 89% Health and Physical Data 87 92 87 88 94 89 Test Data 99 99 99 99 94 99 Achievement Grades or Marks 97 97 97 99 100 98 Family Data 90 92 93 87 94 90 Pupil Plans— Educa­ tional and Vocational 69 68 59 40 13 57 Extra-School Activities 76 74 59 54 50 64 Record of Inter­ views 68 52 46 31 19 47 Pupil-Teacher Conference Data 59 42 42 30 31 42 Unusual Accomplish­ ments, Conditions, Experiences 75 62 51 42 56 56 Autobiographies 55 58 48 30 13 46 Anecdotal Records 60 57 54 50 25 54 99% 99% 99% Schools Responding to this Item 100% 100% 99% 55 This was a very popular item. Ninety-nine percent of the schools responded, and again there were no significant differences in the percentages that responded in each classif ication. The photograph of the student, health and physical data, test data, achievement grades or marks, and family data were those which are most frequently recorded, averaging from 89 percent up to 99 percent. Some of the larger schools feel, as a result of varying pressures, that the photograph of the student may be used in a discriminatory way and thus have not placed them in the folders. Since the purpose of a cumulative folder is to keep a record of all those factors which tend to differentiate the students one from another, it would seem that one of our most usual and valuable devices is the physical appearance of the student. Those items from pupil plans down through anecdotal records are not entered more than in about half of the fold­ ers, and the percentages range here from 42 percent to 64 percent. Interestingly enough, these data seem to be a function of the size of the school and are directly proportional to the size of the school, and the larger schools tend to include more information than the smaller schools, whereas the first five items seem to bear no relation to the size of the school. 56 TABLE VII SCHOOLS USING INTELLIGENCE OR SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TESTS IN THEIR TESTING PROGRAM* Class of School Grade Average Percent A B £ £ E 7 24% 43% 55% 49% 67% 46% 8 24 22 38 37 47 31 9 42 66 63 55 67 58 10 27 27 31 24 27 27 11 23 31 40 41 27 34 12 39 32 36 30 53 34 99% 99% 98% 91% 94% 96% Schools Responding to this Item ♦Many schools marked more than one grade level. Fifty-eight percent of the schools use intelligence tests at the 9th grade level. This is apparently the most popular grade level for intelligence tests. Forty-six per­ cent report using them at the 7th grade level, 34 percent at the 11th and 12th grade levels and 31 percent at the 8th gracfe level. Of all of the different kinds of psychological tests, the intelligence or scholastic aptitude test and achievement tests appear to be the most popular. 57 TABLE VIII SCHOOLS USING ACHIEVEMENT TESTS IN THEIR TESTING PROGRAM* Class Gf School Average SxAds. 4 E. £ £ 4 7 17% 34% 43% 40% 53% 36% 8 32 53 53 52 67 49 9 24 28 34 26 47 29 10 40 18 26 27 20 26 11 29 28 30 24 27 28 12 30 25 32 30 53 30 99% 99% 98% 91% 94% 96% Schools Responding to this Item *Many schools marked more than one grade level. Thirty-six percent of the schools indicate using achievement tests at the 7th grade level, and 49 percent at the 8th grade level. The latter seems to be the most popu­ lar grade level for achievement testing. The balance of the grades 9 through 12 are tested with achievement tests in about 28 percent of the schools. The percentages in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades for A and B schools may be somewhat misleading here, since many of the A and B schools did not report 7th, 8th and 9th grade results since they only consisted of the 10th, 11th and 12th grades. 58 If just the 10th, 11th and 12th grade results are considered, there does not seem to be much variance of the level at which testing occurs* 59 TABLE IX SCHOOLS USING MULTIPLE APTITUDE TESTS IN THEIR TESTING PROGRAMS Class of School Grade A 7 B 0% C D Average Percent E 2% 2% 3% 0% 2% 8 10 7 9 6 0 8 9 20 16 21 14 0 17 10 21 20 18 22 7 19 11 10 9 15 15 0 12 12 8 17 12 13 0 12 65% 71% 76% 74% 7% 69% Schools Responding to this Item Multiple Aptitude Tests do not appear to be used by many of the schools. Nineteen percent of the schools use them at the 10th grade level, 12 percent at each of the 11th and 12th grade levels, 17 percent at the 9th grade level and 8 per­ cent at the 8th grade level, with only 2 percent at the 7th grade level. There may be several factors which are inhibiting using of Multiple Aptitude tests by the schools— one being the expense involved and another being the comparative recency of their appearance on the testing market. 60 Many schools, and in particular the smaller ones, may not be aware of the advantages which a multiple aptitude test can offer as an integral part of the testing program. 61 TABLE X SCHOOLS USING THE INTEREST INVENTORIES TEST IN THEIR TESTING PROGRAMS* Class of School Grade A B C D Average Percent E 7 0% 2% 3% 4% 13% 3% 8 8 6 9 8 7 8 9 39 53 54 46 27 49 10 17 16 16 21 13 17 11 22 28 26 22 13 24 12 10 19 33 32 27 25 92% 99% 98% 91% 94% 95% Schools Responding to this Item *Some schools marked more than one grade level. Interest Inventories are used by 49 percent of the schools at the 9th grade level. About 25 percent of the schools use them at the 11th and 12th grade level and 17 percent use them at the 10th grade level. Eight percent or less use interest tests at the 7th or 8th grade levels. 62 TABLE XI SCHOOLS USING THE PERSONALITY TESTS IN THEIR TESTING PROGRAM Class of ; School Grade A B D C E Average Percent 7 o% 2% 4% 2% 13% 3% 8 0 3 6 3 77 3 9 11 11 10 11 13 11 10 12 4 8 7 13 8 11 8 5 5 7 7 6 12 6 6 6 8 7 6 34% 30% 41% 36% 60% 36% Schools Responding to this Item Personality tests seemingly are not very widely used in the schools* Eleven percent of the schools reported using them at the 9th grade level and 8 percent or less at all other levels* Considering the lack of reliability and validity of most of these tests, it is probably best that such a situation exists* Group personality tests are apparently weak in their descriptive and predictive functions, and the schools seem to be aware of this* 63 TABLE XII SCHOOLS USING THE NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP QUALIFYING TESTS IN THEIR TESTING PROGRAM* Class of School Average Percent A B C D E 11 76% 81% 80% 64% 33% 75% 12 29 20 21 16 13 20 99% 99% 98% 80% 47% 93% Grade Schools Responding to this Item ♦Some schools marked both grade levels When asked to indicate whether or not they used the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in their testing program, all of the A, B and C schools use it at either the eleventh or twelfth grade level or both. About 80 percent of the D schools use it and only 4 percent of the E schools. They total an average of 93 percent. 64 TABLE XIII SCHOOLS USING THE SCHOLARSHIP QUALIFYING TEST IN THEIR TESTING PROGRAM Class of School Grade Average Percent A B C D E 11 40% 28% 32% 28% 33% 32% 12 54 52 40 32 20 43 95% 81% 72% 60% 53% 75% Schools Responding to this Item Ninety-four percent of the A schools use the Scholar­ ship Qualifying Test in their testing programs at either the 11th or 12th grade level. Eighty percent of the B schools use this test, 72 percent of the C schools, 60 percent of the D schools and 53 percent of the E schools, with a total percent­ age of schools being 75 percent. The larger schools use it significantly more than the smaller schools do* 65 TABLE XIV SCHOOLS TESTING STUDENTS INDIVIDUALLY PER MONTH (NOT IN GROUPS)______ Class of School A 0 Students 7% Average Percent B C D E 28% 35% 65% 80% 37% 1-5 59 52 50 26 13 45 6-10 25 13 11 4 0 12 11-20 5 6 3 2 0 3 21-40 2 1 2 3 7 2 41-51 1 0 0 0 0 0 Mean Number of Students per School 5*8 3.7 3.4 2.2 2.4 3.5 Schools Responding to this Item 86% 95% 92% 89% 94% 91% Of the schools that responded to the questionnaire, 91 percent responded to this item. The mean number of stu­ dents tested individually per month is 3.5, and 45 percent of the schools test this number. The next most popular num ber is 0 students per month, and 37 percent of the schools indicated this number. 66 Schools that test six or more students per month individually only comprise 17 percent of the total sample* An examination of Table XIV reveals that the number of students tested per month is a function of the size of the school* Larger schools tend to test more students individ­ ually per month* For example, only 7 percent of the A schools test no individuals and 80 percent of the E schools test none* Twenty-five percent of the A schools test from 6 to 10 stu­ dents per month and no E schools test this many per month* One of the E schools checked the category 21-40 students per month, which raised the average of the E schools considerably. It may be that this item was misread. 67 TABLE XV SCHOOLS HAVING LOCAL NORMS DEVELOPED ON STANDARDIZED TESTS USED IN THE TESTING PROGRAM School Class of j Average Percent A B C D E 51% 64% 78% 84% 53% 71% 1 15 15 12 9 13 13 2 11 9 7 5 33 9 3 2 7 1 2 0 3 4-6 17 3 2 1 0 4 7-11 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 Local Norms Mean Average per School 1*6 .8 .4 .3 .8 •7 Schools Responding to this Item 89% 96% 91% 89% 94% 91% Ninety-one percent of those who responded answered this item, which indicates that a considerable degree of confidence can be placed in the results. It appears that, although it may be a desirable practice, the schools are not developing local norms to an appreciable extent as yet, 71 percent of them indicating that they have no local norms, 13 percent one local norm and 9 percent two local norms. 68 The balance of 8 percent have three or more local norms developed* Here again it seems that the size of the school is an influential variable when correlated with the number of local norms developed* The larger schools tend to have more local norms than smaller schools* The smaller schools probably have no one in most cases adequately trained to carry out this function whereas the larger schools may have both the necessary trained per­ sonnel and time allotted for developing local norms* The state average is less than one per school, and only the A schools develop more than one per school. 69 TABLE XVI THE NUMBER OF 1958-59 POST HIGH SCHOOL CATALOGUES FROM DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS WHICH THE SCHOOLS REPORT HAVING Class of School A B C D Averagt Percen E 0-5 Post High School Catalogues 0% 0% 1% 6-10 2 2 4 19 44 8 11-20 7 11 31 42 44 25 21-30 12 13 22 17 6 16 31-50 13 29 26 14 0 21 51-75 15 24 11 3 0 13 50 21 3 3 0 16 Mean Average Number of Catalogues per School 62.2 46.7 31.8 22 .6 12.1 38.4 Schools Responding to this Item 98% 99% 98% 98% 76 / (85) 2% 6% 100% 1% 99% Of the 98 percent responding to the questionnaire, 99 percent of the schools responded to this item* Only 1 per­ cent of the schools report having 5 or less post-high school catalogues. The modal number is 15 catalogues, reported by 70 25 percent of the schools* Sixteen percent of the schools reported more than 76, and the writer assumed that the average number here would be 85* Although the mean average number of catalogues per school is 38*4, the larger schools report having more than 60 and the smaller schools less than 15* Since these cata­ logues in large part are free for the asking, it would appear that the smaller schools either do not know that they are available or that they are not desirable* Here again, larger schools tend to have more cata­ logues than do smaller schools, ranging from 62*2 in the A schools to 12*1 catalogues in the E schools* 71 TABLE XVII WHERE THE SCHOOLS MAKE THE CATALOGUES AVAILABLE TO THE STUDENT Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Administrator *s office 13% 39% 64% 64% 81% Guidance Director's office 36 44 28 10 6 28 Counselor's office 74 45 20 8 6 32 Library 78 72 73 70 56 73 Home Rooms 9 2 5 3 6 5 Teachers' Classrooms 4 3 6 5 25 5 98% 99% 100% 99% Schools Responding to this Item 97% 100% 50% ♦Some schools mentioned two or more places Ninety-nine percent of the schools responded to this item* Fifty percent of the schools keep the catalogues in the administrator’s office, and this varies according to the size of the school* Thirteen percent of the A schools main­ tain this practice and 81 percent of the E schools* 72 Seventy-three percent of the schools keep the cata­ logues in the library, 28 percent in the guidance director*s office and 32 percent in the eounselor*s office. Many schools mentioned that the catalogues are kept in two or more places, and it may also be true that in some cases the administratorfs office, the guidance directorfs office and/or the counselor*s office may be the same office, since some administrators look upon themselves as carrying oat all three functions. However, in most cases it seems reasonable that the schools have more than one copy of each catalogue and have them .distributed in two or more places. The fact that 73 percent of the schools keep the catalogues in the library easily available to the student is encouraging* In addition, the fact that many of them are kept in administrators* offices may be viewed with some degree of criticism since students do not normally use the administra­ tor* s office as a center of traffic and would thus be denied the use of these catalogues without some protocol. 73 TABLE XVIII PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS HAVING OCCUPATIONAL BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS WHICH WERE PUBLISHED SINCE 1954 Class of School B A 10-19 Occupational Books and Pamphlets C D E Average Percen* 10% 7% 17% 27% 56% 17% 20-29 8 5 13 18 6 11 30-39 7 7 7 10 19 8 40-49 7 13 20 12 6 13 60“79 9 5 8 9 0 8 80-120 10 22 10 12 13 13 120 / 51 40 25 11 0 28 Schools Responding to this Item 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% When asked to indicate the number of occupational books and pamphlets which they have on hand that were pub­ lished since 1954, the A, B and C schools indicated more than 120. The modal number for the C, D and E schools, however, was much less. 74 The latter indicated the most popular number as being around 15* Apparently the size of the school influ­ ences the number of recent occupational books and pamphlets which are on hand, with the larger schools having more than the smaller schools* 75 TABLE XIX PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS INDICATING WHERE OCCUPATIONAL BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS ARE MADE AVAILABLE* Class of School A Administrator *s Office 5% Average Percent B C D E 13% 32% 43% 63% 27% Guidance Director*s Office 26 34 27 9 0 23 Counselor*s Office 70 47 20 6 0 31 Library 84 82 78 77 69 80 Home Rooms 5 2 2 5 6 4 Teachers* Classrooms 22 15 9 11 37 14 to this Item 98% 98% 98% 100% 100% 99% *Many schools marked two or more places Apparently the majority of the schools make their occupational books and pamphlets available to the students in the library. Eighty percent of the schools indicated this to be the case, with the range from 69 percent in the E schools to 84 percent in the A schools. It is interesting to note that this material is also kept in the administrator*s office to a greater extent as 76 the school decreases in size* Only 5 percent of the administrators of A schools keep this information in their offices, whereas 63 percent of the administrators of £ schools maintain this material in their offices* Those schools that have guidance offices seem to keep this information available in those offices as well in the library* as This occurs in 96 percent of the A schools and in 81 percent of the B schools* decreases as the schools get smaller. Again, the percentage Very few occupational books and pamphlets are made available in homerooms or in teachers* classrooms* About 4 percent of the homerooms have this informa­ tion and 14 percent of the teachers* classrooms. Since 99 percent of the schools that responded responded to this item, the data may be accepted with a good deal of confidence* 77 TABLE XX PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS INDICATING THE DEGREE TO WHICH OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION IS PROVIDED BY COMMUNITY PERSONS AND AGENCIES Class of School Average Percent A B C D E In Written Form Yes No 85% 15 68% 32 45% 55 35% 65 60% 40 56% 44 Schools Responding to this Item 90% 85% 80% 83% 94% 84% In Oral Form Yes No 94% 6 86% 14 69% 31 57% 43 69% 31 74% 26 Schools Responding to this Item 87% 86% 90% 90% 100% 89% Eighty-four percent of the schools responded to the first item and 89 percent to the second item. It appears that about half of the schools are obtaining information in written form about occupational matters from community persons and agencies and about three-quarters are obtaining such in­ formation in oral form. 78 The A schools report a much larger percentage in both cases than do any of the other schools. Apparently the C and D schools rely to a much greater extent upon oral in­ formation than they do written. 79 TABLE XXI PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS MAINTAINING RESULTS OF STUDIES MADE WITHIN LAST THREE YEARS OF LOCAL LABOR CONDITIONS AND OCCUPATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ON FILE AND AVAILABLE TO THE STUDENT Class of School B C D Yes 56% 34% 24% 15% 13% 29% No 44 66 76 85 87 71 94% 95% Schools Responding to this Item 95% 94% 98% 94% E Average Percent A Twenty-nine percent of the schools said that they have results of studies made within the last three years of local labor conditions and occupational opportunities on file and available to students. Seventy-one percent indicate no such information is available. This, again, seems to be fairly well correlated with the size of the school in that 56 percent of the A schools have such information available and only 13 percent of the E schools indicate such a situation. 80 TABLE XXII PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS MAINTAINING INFORMATION CONCERNING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE OUTSIDE OF HIGH SCHOOL Class of School B Evening School 94% 70% 65% 49% 25% 66% Part-time School Opportunities 87 39 58 54 50 64 Correspondence Courses 85 93 93 87 94 92 Private, Trade, Technical and Business Schools 98 96 96 81 94 92 Other Guides to Home Study 69 68 60 41 44 58 99% 99% 99% 100% 99% schools Responding to this Item 100% C D Avera ge Percent A E Ninety-nine percent of the schools responded to this item, and 66 percent of those have information concerning evening schoolf and 64 percent have information concerning part-time school opportunities. Ninety percent of the schools have information on correspondence courses, and 92 percent of the schools have information on private, trade and 81 technical and business schools, and 58 percent of the schools have on file and available to the student other guides to home study. Only in the areas of evening school and part-time school opportunities is there a significant difference, which is correlated with the size of the school. Ninety-four percent of the A schools have evening school information on hand, and only 25 percent of the E schools have such infor­ mation. Perhaps this is due to the fact that evening school classes as a rule are offered in the larger schools and not in the smaller schools. 82 TABLE XXIII PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS HAVING CURRENT (LAST TWO YEARS) INFORMATION ON SCHOLARSHIPS, LOANS, AND OTHER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE ON FILE AND AVAILABLE TO STUDENT Class Of ! School A yes No D 2 99% 98% 80% 0 1 2 20 1 99% 99% 99% 94% 99% mmm 100% 0 Percentage Responding to this Item 99% Average Percent C B 100% 99% It is apparent from Table XXIII that information on scholarships, loans and other financial assistance is on file and available to practically every student in Michigan® Ninety- nine percent of the schools responded in the affirmative to this question, and only 1 percent reporls not having such in­ formation on file. Twenty percent, or 3, of the E schools, however, re­ port such lack of information, which may mean that the small schools do not receive this information and are not on appro­ priate mailing lists. 83 TABLE XXIV SCHOOLS REPORTING PERCENTAGE OF CLASSES IN WHICH TEACHERS USE AUDIO-VISUAL EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS RELATED TO OCCUPATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AS REGULAR PART OF THE CLASS WORK Class of School A 0-4% of Classes Using Audio-Visual 21% Average Percent B C D E 24% 24% 19% 13% 22% 5-9% 15 19 18 14 13 17 10-19% 24 23 27 28 27 26 20-39% 18 15 11 18 13 15 40-59% 9 14 13 12 27 12 60-100% 13 7 7 8 7 8 Schools Responding to this Item 93% 96% 95% 96% 94% 95% For the main part, the schools report that in about 15 percent of the classes the teachers use audio-visual equipment and materials relating to occupational and educa­ tional planning as a regular part of the classwork. Twenty-six percent of the schools report such a modal frequency* Twenty-two percent of the schools report 84 about 2 percent of the classes using audio-visual equipment and the balance of the schools range from 7 percent to 50 percent, with only 8 percent of the schools reporting more than 60 percent of the classes using such audio-visual equipment. 85 TABLE XXV PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS REPORTING GROUP GUIDANCE OR ORIENTATION CLASS CONCERNED MAINLY VITH STUDENT'S INTERESTS AND NEEDS ClassI Of i School Average Percent A B C D E Yes 60% 45% 37% 36% 25% 42% No 40 55 63 64 75 58 Schools Responding to this Item 99% 95% 100% 99% 100% 99% Forty-two percent of the schools report having group guidance or orientation classes concerned mainly with stu­ dents' interests and needs. The total size of the school seems to influence the number of classes, since 80 percent of the A schools have such classes and only 25 percent of the E schools report such classes. This may be due to availability of teaching per­ sonnel and flexibility of the schedule of classes. 86 TABLE XXVI PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS REPORTING OCCUPATIONAL UNITS INTEGRATED WITH SCHOOL COURSES Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Yes 78% 80% 69% 65% 67% 72% No 22 20 31 35 33 28 Schools Responding to this Item 97% 98% 97% 96% 94% 97% The schools report that 72 percent have occupational units integrated with school courses and 28 percent do not. There is apparently little range from school to school in response to this item. The D schools report 65 percent having such occupa­ tional units and the B schools 80 percent, a range of only 15 points. 87 TABLE XXVII PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS HAVING A CAREER DAY FOR THE STUDENTS IN 1958-59 nlass of School Average Percent A B C D E Yes 51% 41% 45% 53% 44% 47% No 49 59 55 47 56 53 Schools Responding to this Item 98% 99% 99% 100% 100% 99% Table XXVII Suggests thtit about half of the schools report having a career day for the students and the other half do not. There seems to be little correlation here with size of school* 88 TABLE XXVIII PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS REPORTING A BUSINESS, INDUSTRY, AND EDUCATION DAY FOR TEACHERS IN 1958-59 Class of 3School Average Percent A B C D E Yes 24% 17% 16% 12% 25% 17% No 76 83 84 88 75 83 Schools Responding to this Item 98% 99% 99% 99% 100% 99% Ninety-nine percent of the 98 percent responding to the questionnaire filled out this item* In response to a question asking if the school has a business, industry and education day for the teachers this year, 17 percent re­ sponded that they did have and 83 percent responded that they did not have such a day set aside for teachers to visit community agencies* In the schools that do have this visiting day, the larger schools appear to provide this opportunity to teachers more frequently than do the smaller schools* 89 TABLE XXIX PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS REPORTING A DAY SCHEDULED FOR STUDENTS TO VISIT COLLEGES Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Yes 40% 45% 62% 49% 63% 51% No 60 55 38 51 37 49 Schools Responding to this Item 93% 90% 97% 91% 100% 93% When asked to report if they have a day scheduled for the students to visit colleges, the schools were about evenly divided* Of the 98 percent who responded to the total questionnaire, 93 percent responded to this item. Of that percentage, half indicated that they do have a day scheduled to visit colleges and the other half said no* However, of those who responded no, many replied that the students were permitted to visit colleges informally as occasions arose* There does not appear to be any significant differ­ ences in scheduling days due to the size of the schools. schools and D schools report about the same percentages* A 90 TABLE XXX PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS REPORTING SCHEDULED VISITS BY REPRESENTATIVES FROU COLLEGES Class Of ; School Average Percent A B c D E Yes 89% 85% 73% 74% 53% 79% No 11 15 27 26 47 21 Schools Responding to this Item 98% 95% 94% 94% 94% 95% In reap onse to the question of yearly scheduled visits by representatives from colleges, 95 percent of the schools responded. 21 percent said no. Of that number 79 percent said yes and Eighty-nine percent of the A schools report such scheduled visits, whereas only 53 percent of the E schools Report visits by representatives from colleges. It would seem that students in larger schools may have more opportunity for contacts with college representatives than do students in smaller schools. TABLE XXXI PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS REPORTING CLASSES MAKING FIELD TRIPS TO BUSINESS, INDUSTRY AND/OR FARMING 1958-59 Class of School B C D AVERAGE PERCENT E 0 Classes on Field Trips 1% 1-3 9 13 22 36 56 23 4-6 26 34 37 36 25 35 7-11 24 28 22 20 6 23 H* to 1 to o A 19 18 9 3 6 11 21 / 19 4 6 0 0 6 Schools Responding to this Item 88% 95% 98% 98% 3% 2% 2% 6% 100% 2% 95% Table XXXI reveals the percentages of schools responding to the question of how many classes will have made field trips to business, industry and/or farming this year. Two percent of the schools report no classes making field trips; 23 percent report approximately two field trips 35 percent of the schools report approximately five field trips per school; 23 percent report approximately nine field 92 trips per school; 11 percent about sixteen field trips; and 6 percent more than twenty-one field trips* Ninety-five percent of the schools responded to the item and interestingly enough, fewer of the larger schools reported than did the smaller schools. This was probably due to the fact that the person filling out the question­ naire would not have this information easily available to him in the larger schools where he would have it in the smaller schools. The modal number of trips taken by classes in the A schools is five per year; the B schools report taking five class field trips; the C schools also report five per year and the D schools report between two and five trips per year; the E schools only two trips and the modal average for all of the schools was five trips for the school year 1958-59. Although the range of figures may not be significant, it seems that in general the larger schools report more trips than the smaller schools. 93 TABLE XXXII NUMBERS OF PEOPLE OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED AS COUNSELORS OR GUIDANCE DIRECTORS FREE FROM CONFLICTING DUTIES SUCH AS TEACHING, SUBSTITUTION, ADMINISTRATION, ETC*, WITH FIVE OR MORE PERIODS PER DAY OF RELEASED TIME FOR COUNSELING class of iSchool A Total Number Average Number per School Schools Responding to this Item B C 66 21 3 1/2 99% 97% 276 D E Total 5 0 1/8 1/26 0 99% 98% 368 100% 99% When asked in Table XXXII to state the number of people officially designated as counselor(s) or guidance director(s) free from conflicting duties such as teaching, substitution, administration, etc., with five or more periods per day of released time for counseling, the schools reported a total number of 368 such personnel* Of the 98 percent of the schools responding to the questionnaire, 99 percent responded to this item, so the figure can be given much credence. By far the largest SA percentage of these people (75 percent) are in the A schools and an additional 18 percent are in the B schools. The re­ mainder are in the C and D schools. The A schools have an average of three full-time people in guidance and counseling. The B schools report one full-time person for every two schools; the C schools report one full-time person for every eight schools and the D schools one in every twenty-six schools. The £ schools report none. If we add the total number of counselors full-time and the total number part-time as revealed in Table XXXIII, the total number of part-time and full-time counselors in schools ending with the twelfth grade in Michigan is 944, It should be pointed out here that this figure does not include those counselors or guidance personnel in junior highs and/or elementary schools, which are not a part of schools ending with the twelfth grade. There are probably three to four hundred more guidance personnel in the junior highs and elementary schools which would bring the total to approximately 1400, :ss TABLE XXXIII NUMBER OF OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED PART-TIME COUNSELORS WITH AN AVERAGE OF TWO OR MORE PERIODS PER DAY OF RELEASED TIME FREE FROM SIMILAR CONFLICTING DUTIES (TABLE XXX) Class of School A B C Total Number per Class of School 222 166 113 Average Number Per School 2.5/1 1.3/1 1/1.4 Schools Responding to this Item 94% 97% 99% D E Total 576 68 7 1/2 1/2 1/, per school 97% 94% 97% The question responded to in Table XXXIII was how many people do you have officially designated as part-time counselor(s) with an average of two or more periods per day of released time free from similar conflicting duties. The similar conflicting duties are defined in Table XXXII. The analysis of the data shows that there are a total of 576 such counselors in the local schools ending with the 96 twelfth grade. A very high percentage of the schools (97 percent) responded to this item, so the figure is probably quite accurate. Considering average numbers per classification of schools, the A schools have 2 1/2 such counselors per school; the B schools have 1 1/3 part-time counselors per school; the C schools have less than one per school; the D schools report one part-time counselor for every two schools, as do the E schools. Three hundred and eighty-eight of the 576 part-time counselors, or 69 percent, are in the A and B schools. It is apparent that the larger schools provide more counseling services in terms of numbers of counselors to the students than do the smaller schools. TABLE XXXIV AMOUNT COUNSELORS ARE PAID MORE THAN TEACHERS ON COMPARABLE LEVELS (PROFESSIONAL INCREMENT) Class of School A Average per Class of School Schools Responding to this Item $228.00 99% B C $69.90 91% D $52.60 $10.85 82% 80% E $0.00 87% Total Average $78.00 91% When asked how much the counselors are paid more than teachers on comparable levels as a professional increment in the salary, the total average throughout the state was $78 per counselor, and since 91 percent of the schools responded to the item, it seems that this figure can be accepted with con­ fidence. However, like many averages, it is somewhat misleading for several reasons. The smaller schools do not have coun­ selors and therefore could not pay them extra. The A schools, although reporting $228 per counselor, have a spread from over $900 down to nothing. The twenty-three A schools in Detroit affected this figure to a considerable degree, since 9a they pay their counselors $900 or more per year than the teachers receive on comparable levels* It seems obvious, however, from the results of the table that larger schools pay more than smaller schools for professional training and advancement* ^99 TABLE XXXV HOW THE SCHOOLS ASSIGN STUDENTS TO COUNSELORS* Class of 1School Average Percent A B C D E By Grade 35% 39% 40% 40% 55% 39% By Sex 12 16 6 5 9 10 On a Voluntary Basis 16 42 36 33 18 32 By Home Room 16 8 12 13 9 12 Alphabetically 27 6 4 1 0 9 Definite Assignment 15 17 11 11 18 14 Random Assignment 12 13 17 11 9 13 84% 73% 64% Schools Responding to this Item 100% 69% 78% *Some schools marked more than one item. Table XXXV reveals how the students in the schools are assigned to counselors. Thirty-nine percent of the schools assign students to counselors by grade level, and this is the most popular way of assigning students. 10 per­ cent of the schools assign them by sex, 32 percent permit the students to select their counselors on a voluntary basis, in 12 percent of the schools the counseling is done by home­ rooms, in 9 percent of the schools the students are assigned 100 alphabetically, and in the remaining 27 percent the assignment is done by either definite or random assignment* These last two categories are poorly defined and should be viewed with some skepticism* Although 78 percent of the schools responded to this item, the range was from 100 percent in the A schools down to 64 percent in the D schools* This kind of a spread is to be expected since not all of the schools, particularly the smaller schools, have counselors* 101 . TABLE XXXVI AVERAGE NUMBER OF SEMESTER HOURS OF TRAINING IN GUIDANCE AND/OR COUNSELING AS RECOGNIZED BY A HIGHER INSTITUTION OF LEARNING PER COUNSELOR PER SCHOOL Class of School A Average Hours per Counselor per School Schools Responding to this Item B D E^ Total Average 18.5 18.2 13.1 7.8 5.1 14.1 93% 89% 76% 72% 81% 82% Table XXXVI indicates the average number of semester hours of training in guidance and/or counseling as recognized by a higher institution of learning per counselor per school. Eighty-two percent of the schools responded to this question with the larger schools answering the item more frequently than the smaller schools. Counselors in the larger schools have about eighteen hours of training and counselors in the smaller schools about ten hours of training. The often expressed feeling that counselors are operating in the schools without any training is not substantiated by these figures. It appears that counselors in the local schools in Michigan have had on 102 the average about fourteen hours of professional training and are continually receiving more. 103 TABLE XXXVII RECENCY OF ADDITIONAL TRAINING IN GUIDANCE FROM COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY (AVERAGE IF MORE THAN ONE COUNSELOR) Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Last Year (1958) 23% 36% 32% 30% 33% 31% Within the Last Two Years 29 18 14 16 0 18 Within the Last Three to Five Years 38 34 33 23 55 33 Not Within the Last Six Years 10 13 21 30 11 18 Schools Responding to this Item 97% 86% 72% 60% 36% 76% Although 76 percent of the schools responded to this item, the range was from 36 percent in the E schools to 97 percent in the A schools. It is suggested that the few responses from the C, D and E schools are due to lack of counselors in those schools. The responses from the A and B schools seem to be fairly adequate in number and may in­ dicate more valid figures. Considering only the A and B schools, the recency of training seems to be spread out fairly evenly over the 104 years— about 12 percent receiving training not within the last six years; about 35 percent took courses within the last three to five years; about 25 percent within the last two years and about 30 percent last year* 105 TABLE XXXVIII TOTAL NUMBER OF PERIODS OF RELEASED COUNSELING TIME PER DAY PER SCHOOL (TIME INCLUDED FOR ALL COUNSELORS IN EACH SCHOOL) Class of School Average per School A Sl £, £. £ Total Average 24 »60 6.15 3.20 2,28 ,86 7*65 95% 93% 85% 77% Schools Responding to this Item 87% 87% Eighty—seven percent of the schools who responded to the questionnaire responded to this item. be accepted with confidence. The results may When asked to indicate the total number of periods of released counseling time per day per school, with time included for all counselors in each school, the A schools reported an average of 24.6 periods per day for counseling. The B schools reported 6.1 periods, the C schools 3.2 periods, the D schools 2.3 periods, and the E schools less than one period per day. The average for all schools seems to be about eight periods per day. However, this average is heavily influenced by the large number of periods available in the A schools. 103 TABLE XXXIX PERSON REPORTED COUNSELING IF THERE IS NO OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED COUNSELOR* B B s a H a H B a w B a B M g M B H a B a B H a a H H M H B a a B E E H M B a M a H n M E a H a B Class of School A Average Percei B C D I 84% 94% 93% 88% 92% Principal 100% Assistant Principal 50 34 5 2 6 8 Teacher 50 68 43 51 37 49 0 5 7 2 0 4 Coach 50 5 5 11 13 8 Other (Supt, in most cases) 50 45 15 29 44 22 29% 66% 80% 100% School Nurse Schools Responding to this Item 2% 51% ♦More than one person checked It is interesting to note that in Table XXXIX that although the total average responding to the item was only 51 percent, the range was from 2 percent in the A schools to 100 percent in the E schools, which probably gives the reader quite a clear picture of the adequacy of counseling services in the local schools. It is evident from the figures that schools use more than one person for counseling where there is no counselor ,107 available* In most cases this person appears to be the principal* Ninety-two percent of the schools report that he does counseling where there is no officially designated counselor* In 49 percent of the cases the teacher partici­ pates in this role, and the assistant principal, school nurse and coach are relatively minor figures as counselors* Surprisingly enough, 22 percent of the schools re­ port that the superintendent is involved in the counseling* This may be more readily understood when one realizes that in the smaller schools, D and E schools in particular, the superintendent is the principal figure in the student#s life and the principal, where there is one, teaches part or full time* The results of this item indicate that 2 percent of the A schools have no officially designated counselor, 29 percent of the B schools, 66 percent of the C schools, 80 percent of the D and 100 percent of the E schools have no full or part-time counselors* This correlates rather well with the information in Tables XXXII and XXXIII* 108 TABLE XL PERCENT OF STUDENTS NORMALLY CONTACTED BY COUNSELOR IS RESULT OF REQUEST BY:* Class of School A B C D E Counselor 55% 40% 41% 44% 58% 45% Student 30 36 34 30 25 34 7 15 24 20 29 19 14 14 15 24 3 17 7 7 7 8 1 7 84% 89% 87% 80% 75% 85% Administra tor Teacher Parent Schools Responding to this Item Total *Some reported more than one category The item in Table XL was not quite as popular with the schools as some of the others, since only 85 percent of them responded to it. This may in part be due to the fact that many schools do not have formally assigned counseling personnel. However, it appears that in most cases the student is contacted normally as a result of a request by the counselor or counselor surrogate. The next most popu­ lar method of contacting the student is by a self-referral. The student seems to be referring himself for consultation in approximately 30 percent of the cases. Teacher and 109 administrator referrals are relatively infrequent, and parents refer their children seldom. Of course, it would be ideal if the widely-held axiom that self-referrals provide the most satisfactory counseling experiences that all con­ tacts by the counselor be the result of self-referrals. How­ ever, due to limitations of time and space, this is not always a possibility. Situations should be encouraged, however, in which the student feels free to come in whenever he wishes to talk things over. TABLE XLI SCHOOLS REPORTING COUNSELING ROOMS OR OFFICES IN WHICH COUNSELING CAN BE CONDUCTED OUT OF SIGHT OR HEARING OF ANYONE ELSE Class of School Total A B C D E Yes 78% 84% 84% 80% 80% 82% No 22 16 16 20 20 18 Schools Responding to this Item 90% 99% 95% 95% 94% 95% Of the 98 percent of schools that responded to the questionnaire, 95 percent responded to the question concern­ ing the availability of counseling rooms or offices in which counseling can be conducted out of sight or hearing of any­ one else. Eighty-two percent of the schools report such facilities available, and the differences according to size of schools are not significant. The range is from 78 percent in the A schools to 84 percent in the B and C schools. Eighty percent of the D and E schools report such rooms available. Apparently adequate counseling rooms or offices are not a major barrier to conducting counseling experiences in private. Ill TABLE XLII PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS REPORTING SCHEDULED CONFERENCES HELD BY THE COUNSELOR IN WHICH BOTH THE STUDENT AND ONE OR BOTH PARENTS ARE PRESENT DURING THE SCHOOL MONTH Class of iSchool Average Percent A B C D Less than One per Month 34% 48% 70% 88% 93% 64% One per Month 10 9 11 6 7 9 Two or More per Month 18 23 11 4 0 13 Three or More per Month 38 20 8 2 0 14 Schools Responding to this Item 88% 94% 90% 94% 87% 92% E M M When asked how many scheduled conferences are held by the counselor in which both the student and one or both parents are present during the school year, 64 percent of the schools responded that they hold less than one per month. The range is from 34 percent in the A schools to 93 percent in the E schools. Obviously, the larger schools are involving parents more than the smaller schools. Thirty eight percent of the A schools hold three or more such con­ sultations per month and none of the E schools report such 112 conferences that often. Ninety-two percent of the schools responded to this item, so it may he accepted that, in general, parents are not a significant aspect of the guidance picture in the local schools. 113 TABLE XLIII SCHOOLS REPORTING CONSULTATIONS WITH PARENTS BY COUNSELORS* Class of School In Regularly Scheduled Interviews Average Percent A B C D E 28% 25% 15% 11% 20% 19% In Just Emergency and Special Cases 84 86 91 89 87 89 Schools Responding to this Item 93% 98% 95% 93% 94% 95% ♦Some schools marked both items * Again, 95 percent of the schools responded to this particular item, which is a very high response. The results of the item may be accepted with a great deal of confidence. Some schools responded affirmatively to both parts of this item, feeling that consultations are held with parents by counselors in both regularly scheduled interviews and in emergency and special cases* However, the vast majority of the schools report that such consultations are held with parents only in emergency and special cases* Eighty-nine percent of the schools state this to be the case, and only 19 percent hold regularly scheduled in­ terviews. If the goals of a more complete understanding of the student by his parents is a justifiable one, then would seem that the schools are not fulfilling this responsibility to any significant degree. 115 TABLE XLIV INTERPRETATION OF RECENTLY ADMINISTERED STANDARDIZED TESTS AS REPORTED BY THE SCHOOLS* Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Individually to All Students 58% 56% 45% 43% 40% 50% Students and Parents Together 39 26 25 15 20 22 Parents Only 11 10 5 3 7 7 Groups of Students 25 31 32 23 13 28 Faculty and Administration 60 53 52 55 80 55 Students on Request 29 37 36 26 47 33 Schools Responding to this Item 95% 99% 97% 99% 94% 96% ♦Some schools answered more than one category* The schools responded satisfactorily to the question regarding interpretation of recently administered standardized tests. Ninety-six percent completed this question, and of the 96 percent approximately 50 percent interpret the results of standardized tests individually to all students and to the faculty and administration. Thirty-three percent of the schools interpret these results to students on request and 116 28 percent interpret the results to groups of students, 22 percent to students and parents together, and only 7 per­ cent to parents only. If these percentages are valid, school personnel are faced with a real challenge. It is obvious that in order for a student to reach a better understanding of himself that he be apprised of all of the information the schools have concerning him. In addition, it is the schoolfs responsibility to make the concept of the parents regarding their children as realis­ tic as possible, and this can be done to some extent through test interpretation. So it would seem that the schools are only partially fulfilling their responsibility to the stu­ dent and very inadequately their responsibility to the parent• 117 TABLE XLV PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS REPORTING TO WHOM THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR JOB PLACEMENT IS ASSIGNED* Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Counselor 29% 26% 15% 11% 14% 19% Administra tor 11 24 35 39 57 29 Vocational Staff or Coordinator 51 24 6 1 7 17 Teacher 10 4 5 1 0 5 No One 18 39 52 58 43 44 to this Item 97% 96% 95% 86% 88% 93% ♦Some schools checked more than one item. When asked to whom the responsibility for job place­ ment has been assigned, 44 percent of the schools responded to no one. The balance of the schools in the main indicated that the administrator has been assigned this responsibility. How­ ever, this seems to be again a function of the size of the school. In the larger schools the counselor and/or vocational coordinator is doing job placement, and in the smaller schools the administrator is implementing this responsibility. In very few of the schools is the teacher a vital part of this 118 area. Ninety-three percent of the schools responded, so we may accept the results as definitive. The results of this item do not bear out the feeling that the public schools have accepted the responsibility of job placement. 119 TABLE XLVI SCHOOLS REPORTING YES OR NO IN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION— IF YOU HAVE AN ORGANIZED JOB PLACEMENT SERVICE, DO OVER 75% OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYERS KNOW WHO IS IN CHARGE OF IT? Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Yes 54% 51% 41% 33% 56% 46% No 46 49 59 67 44 54 56% 35% 39% 56% 49% Percentage Responding to this Item 77% Only 49 percent of the schools responded to the ques tion, if you have an organized job placement service, do over 75 percent of the total number of employers know who is in charge of it? This may indicate that the item is a poor one* The answer to this question may mean that there is no organized job placement service or it may mean that not over 75 percent of the employers know who is in charge of it, or it may mean both* For the main part, the larger schools felt that local employers were aware of this service more than communities surrounding the smaller schools* It is recommended that the results of this item be accepted with caution. 120 TABLE XLVII SCHOOLS REPORTING THE PERSON HANDLING JOB PLACEMENT UNOFFICIALLY IF NO ONE HAS BEEN ASSIGNED THIS RESPONSIBILITY Class of School Average Percent E A B C D Counselor 64% 54% 28% 11% Administra tor 28 71 80 86 92 75 Vocational Staff or Coordinator 38 18 7 1 8 11 Teacher 8 14 17 6 0 12 No One 5 9 11 12 8 10 42% 60% 83% 79% Schools Responding to this Item 8% 81% 31% 69% It is apparent from adding the average percentages on Table XLVII that many schools have more than one person handling job placement unofficially; that is, persons not assigned this responsibility as a part of their job. Again, it may be noticed that in the larger schools guidance personnel and vocational people tend to be fulfill­ ing this function for the most part, whereas in the smaller schools this is carried out in most cases by the administra­ tor. Sixty^-nine percent of the schools responded to this item, which means that probably about 30 percent of the 121 schools have an organized job placement service* If this is true, then placement services in the schools are being neglected by the majority of schools* 122 TABLE XLVIII SCHOOLS REPORTING PERSONS TO WHOM RESPONSIBILITY FOR EDUCATIONAL PLANNING WITH THE STUDENT FOR BOTH HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES AND COLLEGE HAS BEEN ASSIGNED* Class of School Average Percent A B C D & Counselor 98% 79% 43% 29% 23% 58% Administrator 17 52 76 74 69 59 6 4 6 0 8 4 18 24 28 20 15 23 2 2 6 14 31 7 97% 99% 93% 89% 81% Vocational Staff or Coordinator Teacher No One Schools Responding to this Item 94% ♦Many schools checked more than one item. Since 94 percent of the 98 percent of the schools responding to the questionnaire responded to this item, considerable confidence may be placed in the percentages indi­ cated in Table XLVIII, It appears that only 7 percent of the schools have not assigned anyone to the responsibility of educational planning with students for both high school classes and colleges. The larger schools use counselors for this function, and the smaller schools use administrators and teachers— administrators primarily. The vocational staff 123 or coordinator is not used to a significant degree by any of the schools* same degree* All schools use the teacher to about the The average for all schools is 23 percent, ranging from 50 percent in the E schools to 28 percent in the C schools* Since many of the smaller schools do not provide counseling services and most of the larger schools do, it is immediately apparent why counselors are not used in the smaller schools. The smaller schools have none* 124 TABLE XLIX SCHOOLS REPORTING THE PERSONS DOING THE EDUCATIONAL PLANNING WITH STUDENTS IF NO ONE HAS BEEN ASSIGNED THE RESPONSIBILITY OFFICIALLY* Class of School B A Counselor 10% 5% 6% Average Percent E D C 5% 6% 6% Administrator 1 12 X 37 44 69 27 Vocational Staff or Coordinator 4 3 1 0 0 2 Teacher 3 5 10 10 31 8 No One 1 0 1 1 0 1 14% 15% 39% 45% 69% 31% Schools Responding to this Item ♦More than one person was checked by some schools. In most schools, according to Table XLIX, educational planning with students has been officially assigned to some­ one. Table XLIX reveals that schools in which no such assignment has been made rely upon the administrator for the most part for this duty. 125 TABLE L SCHOOLS REPORTING PERCENTAGE OF STUDENT BODY WHICH WAS ISSUED WORK PERMITS IN 1958-59 Class of School A 0-2% of Students Issued Work Permits B 8% 7% Average Percent C D E 33% 41% 33% 25% 3-5% 14 28 34 34 27 30 6 -10% 40 31 21 16 27 25 11 -20 % 22 22 8 7 7 14 21-30% 11 10 2 1 7 5 31% / 5 2 1 0 0 1 Modal Number 8 8 4 1 1 4 81% 92% 94% 91% Schools Responding to this Item 95% 92% On the average about 4 percent of the student body in each school is issued work permits by the school. This figure is somewhat misleading, since many of the A and B schools do not issue work permits in the school itself, so it may be that more than 4 percent of the students are get­ ting work permits whether issued or not by the schools. However, the results of Table L indicate again that larger 126 schools issue larger percentages of work permits than do smaller schools. This is part may be due to the fact that job placement in urban centers requires actual possession of work permits whereas many jobs in rural areas do not. 127 TABLE LI SCHOOLS REPORTING THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS WORKING PART TIME THAT WERE PLACED BY THE SCHOOL School Class of I Average Percent A B C D E 14% 31% 72% 84% 81% 55% 6 20 18 13 13 15 10-19 16 25 8 3 0 12 20-39 28 18 2 0 6 10 40-75 12 5 0 1 0 3 76 / 26 2 0 0 0 5 Average Number Placed by School 38 15 4 3 4 12.4 pez school Schools Responding to this Item 88% 95% 93% 90% 0-4 Students Placed 5-9 100 % 92% Ninety-two percent of the schools responded to this item. Fifty-five percent of the schools report that 4 or less students were placed on part-time jobs by the school. Forty-five percent have placed 5 or more students. Larger schools tend to place a greater percentage of students than do smaller schools. If it is the responsibility of the schools to help students find part-time work while in school, then 128 the larger schools are discharging this responsibility to a much greater extent than are the smaller schools* 129 TABLE LII DOES YOUR SCHOOL HAVE A COOPERATIVE ARRANGEMENT WITH THE STATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE ON PLACEMENT? Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Yes 43% 34% 16% 11% 19% 24% No 57 66 84 89 81 76 Schools Responding to this Item 94% 98% 97% 95% 100% 96% Ninety-six percent of the schools responded to this item, and of those who responded 24 percent have a coopera­ tive arrangement with the State Employment Service on Place­ ment, 76 percent have no such arrangement. Again, it is evident that of the schools that have such arrangements the larger schools are predominant, ranging from 43 percent in the A schools to 19 percent in the E schools. 130 TABLE LIII SCHOOLS HAVING A COOPERATIVE ARRANGEMENT WITH A COMMUNITY PLACEMENT SERVICE Class of 1School E D A B C Yes 15% 11% No 85 89 98 97 Schools Responding to this Item 93% 91% 95% 92% 2% 3% Average Percent 12% 88 100 % 7% 93 93% It may be stated with some confidence that over 90 percent of the schools have no cooperative arrangement with community placement services. This in most cases is pro­ bably not the result of poor planning by the schools but because of the fact that there are no community placement services in many communities. Of the 7 percent that indicated such cooperative arrangement, the A and B schools have the vast majority. 131 TABLE LIV SCHOOLS HAVING A COOPERATIVE WORK-STUDY PLAN IN USE WHICH GIVES SCHOOL CREDIT FOR WORK EXPERIENCE Class of School A Reimbursed from Vocational Education 33% Funds Non-Reimbursed None Schools Responding to this Item C B Average Percent E D \ 27% 6% 1% 6% 15% 62 7 4 1 0 14 4 65 89 98 94 72 98% 99% 96% 94% 100 % 97% Of the 98 percent of the schools that responded to the questionnaire, 97 percent responded to this item. Apparently 72 percent of the schools have no program of cooperative work experience in which the students get school credit for the class* The range is from 4 percent in the A schools having no program to 94 percent in the E schools, so it would seem that larger schools provide this kind of ex­ perience for their students and the smaller schools do not. Fifteen percent of the schools have reimbursed programs and 14 percent have non-reimbursement programs. The reimbursed programs are spread out more throughout the schools than are 132 the non-reimbursed programs. Apparently non-reimbursed programs are offered only in the large schools and the State reimbursed programs are also offered in the B and C schools to some extent. It is evident from this table that most of our students in Michigan do not have access to such programs. 133 TABLE LV SCHOOLS USING TEST RESULTS AND OTHER OBJECTIVE DATA REGULARLY WHEN RECOMMENDING STUDENTS Class of School For Job Placement Yes No B w* C D E 98% 2 95% 5 93% 7 88% 12 80% 20 93% 7 97 3 94 6 93 7 97 3 90% 84% 87% 89% For Post High School Institution Placement Yes 99 No 1 Schools Responding to this Item Average Percent A mrm 94% 100 0 91% Eighty-nine percent of the schools responded to this item* It is apparent from the results that practically all of the schools use test results and other objective data regularly when recommending students for job placement and/or post high school institution placement* There do not seem to be significant differences due to the size of the schools; however, there seems to be an indication that larger schools tend to use this information more than do smaller schools* This may be due to the fact that larger schools have more information available and more personnel available to in­ terpret the information* 134 TABLE LVI APPROPRIATE GROUP(S) FOR WHICH JOB PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE BY THE SCHOOL IS AVAILABLE* Class of School E Average Percent A B C D Graduate 70% 72% 61% 54% 62% 63% Drop-Outs 57 46 38 31 56 42 In-School Students 90 86 61 53 69 70 3 9 19 23 31 15 96% 98% 89% 86% None to this Item 100 % 92% ♦Schools marked more than one item. In answer to the request to check the appropriate group(s) for which job placement assistance by the school is available, 63 percent of the schools indicated that such assistance was available for graduate students and 42 percent of the schools said that assistance was also available for drop-outs. Seventy percent of the schools responded that they were helping in-school students and 15 percent of the schools indicated that no help was available to anyone. As a cursory examination of the data will reveal, job placement assistance is more frequently made available to both in-school and out-of-school students in the larger schools than in the 135 smaller schools* Apparently the drop-outs are given the least consideration by the schools in terms of job placement assistance and the in-school students are given the most consideration* 136 TABLE LVII PERCENTAGE OF GRADUATING SENIORS WHO WENT ON TO POST-HIGH SCHOOL INSTITUTIONS IN 1958 Class of School A Mean Percentage B C D E 34,57% 38.55% 30.42% 23.50% 28.00% 93% 97% 96% 96% 94% Schools Responding to this Item Total Mean 3 1 3 3% 96% Table LVII reveals the percentage of graduating seniors who went on to post high school institutions in 1958, Post high school institutions would include other institutions than just colleges or universities, such as apprentice pro­ grams, business training, nurses training, vocational educa­ tion schools, etc* Of the 98 percent that responded to the questionnaire, 96 percent of the schools responded to this item, and con­ siderable confidence can be placed in the results, A total mean percentage throughout the state of 31,33 percent of the graduating seniors go on to further training. The larger schools send more students on than do the smaller schools. This may be a function of size but undoubtedly is also a function of isolation. 137 Students who are geographically close to institutions of higher learning tend to go on more than do students who are farther away from such institutions. It is hypothesized here that smaller schools are usually farther from insti­ tutions of higher education than are larger schools. J.38 TABLE LVIII SCHOOLS REPORTING HAVING MADE A FORMAL FOLLOW-UP STUDY WITHIN THE LAST TWO YEARS* Class of School E Average Percent A B •mm C D Of Graduates Who Go to College 81% 94% 96% 92% Graduates Who Do Not Go to College 47 51 42 65 70 51 Drop-Outs 50 30 35 31 50 37 Schools Responding to this Item 26% 38% 44% 53% 37% 41% 100% 91% ♦Many schools checked more than one* Forty-one percent of the schools responded to this item, and of those that responded 91 percent make a formal follow-up of graduates who go to college, 51 percent of graduates who do not go to college, and 37 percent of drop­ outs. Some schools are evidently making follow-up studies in two or more of these categories. It is interesting to note that as the size of the school decreases fewer drop­ out studies are indicated and more follow-ups of graduates who go to college are indicated. This may be due to lack of personnel or lack of interest in the student. 139 Since only 41 percent responded to this item, it would be well not to generalize these data to all high schools in Michigan* X40 TABLE LIX MANNER INFORMATION OBTAINED IN FOLLOW-UP {STUDIES USED* Class of School Average Percent A B C D E 62% 71% 79% 74% 50% 71% Evaluate the guidance services 62 64 41 43 60 53 Give further assis­ tance to school leavers 33 22 20 31 20 38 Benefit the faculty 72 57 44 44 20 53 Help the Administration 68 59 48 59 40 57 Locate job and further educational oppor­ tunities for in-school youth 14 13 12 7 20 12 Schools Responding to this Item 42% 47% 37% 43% Modify the curriculum 27% 54% ♦Many schools checked more than one category. Less than half of the schools that responded to the questionnaire responded to this item. Since 41 percent on Table LVIII indicated making formal follow-up studies, the information in Table LIX above pertains only to those schools, and since the percentages are 41 percent making follow-up 141 studies and 43 percent using this information, we can be fairly certain that the same schools are involved in both tables* Of those schools who made follow-up studies, 71 percent used the information to modify the curriculum* C schools used this procedure in 79 percent of the cases, and E schools in 50 percent* About 50 percent of the schools used the information to evaluate the guidance ser­ vices, benefit the faculty and help the administration* Thirty-eight percent used it to give further assistance to school leavers and 12 percent to locate job and further educational opportunities for in-school youth* It is obvious that many schools checked more than one category, since the total percentage is more than 100 percent, indicating that schools are using the information in a variety of ways* Not enough schools answered this one to permit generalization to all schools* 142 TABLE LX NUMBER OP IN-SCHOOL STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN FORMULATING AND IMPLEMENTING FOLLOW-UP OR RESEARCH STUDIES 1958-59 _ •* 1 Class of School Average Percent A B C D E 76% 78% 86% 81% 54% 1-2 6 5 3 4 23 5 3-5 6 4 3 5 15 5 6-8 3 4 3 2 0 2 9-12 4 4 0 3 0 2 13-20 0 2 2 1 0 1 2 1 -/- 6 3 2 2 8 3 24% 22% 20 % 31% 19% 24% 0 Schools Responding to this Item 81% It is obvious that this item 1was not popular with the respondents. Although 98 percent of the schools responded, only 24 percent responded to this item, so the results of the question should be viewed with considerable caution. Of those who responded, 81 percent indicated that no students are participating in follow-up or research studies. Ten per­ cent indicated from one to five students are taking part in 143 such activities, and the balance indicated six or more students actively doing research* These results suggest that very few schools use stu­ dents in formulating and implementing follow-up of research studies* 144 TABLE LXI NUMBER OF SEPARATE RESEARCH STUDIES (FOLLOW-UPS, LOCAL TEST NORMS, EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES, ETC.) WERE DEVELOPED AND EXECUTED BY SCHOOLS 1958-59 Class of School Average Percent A B C D E 0 Studies 17% 34% 53% 62% 54% 44% 1 29 30 24 13 15 24 2 12 14 16 13 15 14 3 14 14 6 5 15 9 4 12 4 1 5 0 4 5-10 17 4 1 1 0 4 11 / 1 0 0 0 0 1 Average Number Per School Schools Responding to this Item 2.82 1.49 .84 .81 .92 1.33 84% 89% 93% 79% 81% 87% As indicated above, 44 percent carried out no studies, If this is added to those who did not respond, less than 50 percent of the schools reported having done research of any kind during 1958-59. The modal number of studies for those 145 who did them was one* Again, the size of the school seems to correlate with the number of studies done, A schools reporting slightly less than 3 per school, B schools 1 1/2, C, D and E schools slightly less than one per school for the year 1958-59. 146 TABLE LXII NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF TEACHING STAFF PARTICIPATING IN FORMULATING AND IMPLEMENTING RESEARCH STUDIES 1958-59 Class of School Average Percent A B c D E 0 22% 35% 56% 53% 31% 44% 1-2 25 25 19 23 46 23 3-5 22 19 11 12 23 15 6-8 12 12 5 7 0 8 9-12 4 7 3 4 0 4 13-25 4 1 5 1 0 3 26 / 11 1 1 0 0 3 Average per school 6*5 3*2 2.8 1.9 1.6 3.3 Schools Responding to this Item 86% 87% 90% 78% 81% 85% The raw data upon which this tablei was based suggeste< that only 79 teachers in the high schools of Michigan were in­ volved in formulating and implementing research studies in the year 1958-59* The average number of teachers in the A schools was 6*5, in B schools 3*2, in C schools 2*8, in D schools 1*9 147 and in £ schools 1,6* The average number of teachers for all of the schools was 3.3 during the year 1958-59. It would seem that in order for the public schools to maintain and improve adequate educational programs, that these changes be based upon findings of experimental research projects. It is unfortunate that so little is being done at the present in this area. 148 TABLE LXIII NUMBER OF SCHOOLS HAVING STANDING GUIDANCE COMMITTEES WHICH HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EVALUATING AND RECOMMENDING CHANGES IN THE GUIDANCE PROGRAM Class of ; School A B C Yes 77% 39% 20% No 23 61 80 100% 98% 98% Schools Reponding to this Item D E Average Percent 13% 32% 91 87 68 96% 100% 98% 9% The schools appear to vary widely as to whether they have a standing guidance committee which has the responsi­ bility of evaluating and recommending changes in the guidance program* The description of these committees seems to be highly correlated with the size of the school* Seventy-seven percent of the A schools report having such a committee, 39 percent of the B schools, 20 percent of the C schools, and only 9 percent of the D schools. It would seem that the smaller schools could probably use a committee of this nature to an advantage since many of them do not have active guidance personnel. More efforts should be made by a H concerned to encourage such a procedure on the part of the smaller schools. 149 TABLE LXIV COMPOSITION OP STANDING GUIDANCE COMMITTEE Class of School A Counselors 19% Counselor(s) and Administrator(s) 51 B C 4% D 0% Average Percent E 9% < 10% 25 17 18 0 33 Counselor(s) and Teacher(s) 17 20 18 0 12 Counselor(s), Admin­ istrator (s) and Teacher (s) 28 49 57 36 100 41 Administrator(s) and Teacher(s) Schools Responding to this Item 18 6 73% 41% 18% 8% 4 13% 31% Those schools (32 percent) which have standing guidance committees indicated that they are composed largely of coun­ selors, administrators and teachers* The next most popular structure for this committee is counselors and administra­ tors. These two kinds of committees make up 74 percent of the guidance committees in the state. The balance are counselors, counselors and teachers and administrators and teachers* 150 TABLE LXV SCHOOLS REPORTING HAVING ADEQUATE FILES AND RECORD SPACE FOR THEIR GUIDANCE PROGRAM Class of School Average Percent A B C D E Yes 77% 71% 51% 49% 60% 62% No 23 29 49 51 40 38 Schools Responding to this Item 90% 87% 77% 60% 63% 77% Sixty-two percent of the schools indicate having adequate files and record space for their guidance program. Thirty-eight percent say they do not have such files and space. Again, there is a rather distinct correlation with size of school— more larger schools having space available than smaller ones. 151 TABLE LXVI SCHOOLS HAVING A PROGRAM IN OPERATION FOR IMPROVING THE ENTIRE STAFF IN THE AREA OF GUIDANCE* Class of School Average Percent A B C D E None 25% 38% 39% 39% 50% 37% Faculty Meetings 70 56 57 54 43 58 Case Conferences 24 20 23 7 14 15 Work Shops 17 6 8 4 0 8 In-Service Training 35 27 19 20 14 24 Schools Responding to this Item 94% 95% 94% 92% 87% 93% *Some use more than one approach* Table LXVI points out the fact that the majority of the schools use faculty meetings as the most frequent method for improving the entire staff in the area of guidance* The next most popular one is in-service training, which probably means extension courses, A rather startling 37 percent in­ dicate that they have nothing going on in the way of improve­ ment for the staff in the area of guidance. 152 TABLE LXVII MAJOR BARRIERS TO IMPROVING THE GUIDANCE PROGRAMS AS REPORTED BY THE SCHOOLS* Class of School B C D E Lack of Qualified Counseling Personnel 22% 35% 43% 42% 75% 41% Other Personnel Needed More 31 24 16 25 50 26 Money and Supplies 59 64 78 76 75 76 Not Needed 1 3 2 6 13 4 Need Help 6 6 9 8 25 9 No Community Support 1 4 5 7 13 5 Teacher Indifference 13 12 8 6 13 10 7 9 6 3 0 7 89% 90% 95% 93% 100% 93% A Administra tive Indifference Schools Responding to this Item Total ♦Some schools checked more than one item* When asked to indicate what they considered the major barriers to be in improving guidance programs in the local schools, the respondents replied that three areas are the most critical* Other personnel are needed more, qualified counseling personnel is not available, and/or more money and supplies are needed* 153 Of the three mentioned, 76 percent of the schools felt that money and supplies are the most pressing needs, and the smaller schools indicated this to a greater degree than did the larger schools* The remaining categories, including improvement not needed, more help needed, lack of community support, teacher indifference, and/or administrative indifference, were men­ tioned by the schools but not to a significant degree, nor were the differences between these areas significant. It appears that the schools need money and supplies at the present time more than anything else in order to im­ prove their guidance programs* 154 TABLE LXVIII GUIDANCE SERVICES RANKED, STRONGEST AS 1, NEXT STRONGEST AS 2, ETC. Class of School A B C D E Total Individual Inventory 3 1 1 1 1 1st Information Service 1 2 2 2 2 2nd Counseling Service 2 3 3 3 3 3rd Placement Service 4 4 4 4 4 4th Research Service 5 5 5 5 5 5th Schools Responding to this Item 99% 97% 93% 86% 87% 93% When asked to rank their guidance services from strong­ est to least strong, the schools indicated the usual ranking. Individual inventory was first, information service second, counseling service third, placement service fourth and re­ search service fifth. The only schools that differed from this order were the A schools, who feel that information ser­ vice is the best, counseling service second, individual in­ ventory third, placement fourth* and research fifth. 155 TABLE LXIX WOULD YOU LIKE MORE HELP FROM STATE OR OTHER OUTSIDE CONSULTANT RESOURCES? School Class of 1 Average Percent E A B C D Yes 88% 86% 90% 95% No 12 14 10 5 0 9 Schools Responding to this Item 90% 90% 91% 83% 81% 89% 100% 91% Ninety-one percent of the schools would like more help from State or other outside consultant resources. It seems that school administrators feel that present consultant re­ sources are inadequate and that they should be expanded in order to meet the needs of the schools* This need could be met by an expansion of the office of guidance services in the Department of Public Instruction and/or by provision of additional personnel in the area of guidance by institutions of higher learning who would be capable of acting as consul­ tants to local schools upon demand. 156 TABLE LXX WOULD YOU LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON GUIDANCE SERVICES FROM STATE SOURCES? Class of School Yes No B C D 92% 89% 94% 99% 6 1 0 6 95% 87% 94% 93% 8 Schools Responding to this Item Average Percent A 95% 11 95% E 100% 93% Ninety-three percent of the schools would like more information on guidance services from State sources. Lack of guidance information is apparently handicapping the schools in maintaining and enhancing guidance programs. 157 TABLE LXX1 DESIRE FOR A COPY OF THE CONCLUSIONS OF THIS STUDY AFTER THE DATA HAVE BEEN COMPILED AND ANALYZED Class of School Yes No Schools Responding to this Item E Average Percent 99% 100% 99% 1 1 0 1 98% 93% B C D 100% 99% 99% 0 1 98% 97% A 100% 96% Ninety-nine percent of the schools request a copy of the conclusions of this study after the data have been com­ piled and analyzed. A compilation of the conclusions should be drafted and sent out at least to all of the 538 schools that took part in the survey. Chapter V will be devoted to discussing the con­ clusions in detail and recommendations derived from the descriptive study of guidance services in the secondary schools of Michigan. CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS CONCLUSIONS Because of a lapse of twelve years since the last guidance survey was made and because of the enabling of the National Defense Education Act a study was designed to measure existing guidance services in the secondary schools in Michigan by means of a direct-mail question­ naire* Of the five hundred and sixty-nine schools con­ tacted, five hundred and fifty-eight responded* Twenty of these were involved in the pilot study and were not included in the final number of respondents (538 or 98%) upon which these data are based* The direct-mail questionnaire was carefully designed using selected items from a wide variety of other inven­ tories and additional items which were found to be needed. The best estimate of the validity of the instrument is *55 and the reliability is .80. GUIDANCE SERVICES IN TYPICAL. SCHOOLS Concluding remarks about guidance services in typical (modal) schools follow. rollment. The schools are classified by en­ All are publicly supported and are secondary schools ending with the twelfth grade. 159 THE TYPICAL A SCHOOL. The typical A school (900 Qr more students) has these services provided for facilitating the mental and emotional growth of the student. This information is based on 94 out of 95 A schools responding to the questionnaire. Individual Inventory. Each A school has CA-39 cumulative folders which are kept in the counselors office. These contain a photograph of the student, health and physical data, test data, achievement grades or marks, family data, pupil plans— educational and vocational, extra-school activ­ ities, unusual accomplishments, conditions, experiences and anecdotal records. Intelligence tests are given at all grade levels but most often in the ninth grade. Achievement tests are also offered in grades seven through twelve, but most often in the tenth grade. Multiple aptitude tests are given most often in the ninth and tenth grades and interest tests in the ninth gr a de. The typical A school does not give personality tests. The National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test is given at the eleventh grade level and the Scholarship Qualifying Test in the twelfth grade. Three students are tested individually per month (not in groups). Information Service. The A school has more than 76 post-high school catalogues from different institutions which are housed in the library and the counselorfs office. In 160 addition, there are more than 120 occupational books and pamphlets published since 1954 kept in the guidance director*s or counselorfs office and in the library. Oral and written occupational information is provided by community persons and agencies and results of studies made within the last three years of local labor conditions and occupational information are kept on file and available to the student. Information concerning educational opportuni­ ties outside of high school in the form of evening school, part-time school opportunities, correspondence courses, private, trade, technical and business schools and other guides to home study is on file and available to the student. Current (last two years) information on scholarships, loans, and other financial assistance is on file and available to the student. Fifteen percent of the classes use audio-visual equipment and materials related to occupational and educa­ tional planning as a regular part of the class work. A group guidance or orientation class concerned mainly with student*s interests and needs is offered, also occupational units are integrated with school courses. The typical A school has a career day for the stu­ dents but does not have a business, industry and education day for the staff. A day is not scheduled for students to visit colleges, but visits by representatives from colleges are 161 scheduled* Field trips to business, industry and farming are made each year by five classes* Counseling Service* The A school has three guidance directors or counselors full time (five or more periods per day of released time for counseling) and 2j part time (two or more periods released for counseling) counselors* These people are paid $228 more per year than teachers on compara­ ble levels* Students are assigned by grade to the counselor* The counselors have 18*5 semester hours of training in guidance and/or counseling as recognized by higher insti­ tutions of learning, and these were taken within the last three to five years. Twenty-four and six tenths periods are released for counseling per day. Most of the students are contacted as a result of a request by the counselor and are counseled in rooms or offices out of sight or hearing of anyone else. One or more scheduled conferences are held by the counselor in which both a student and one or both parents are present dur­ ing the school month, and these are held in just emergency and special cases* Standardized tests recently administered are inter­ preted individually to all students and to the faculty and administration. Placement Service* Responsibility for job placement is assigned to the vocational staff or coordinator, and over 162 75 percent of the employers know who is in charge of it. If job placement has not been assigned officially, the coun­ selors handle it. Educational planning is assigned to the counselors. Eight percent of the student body were issued work permits in 1958-59, and thirty-eight students were placed by the school in part-time jobs* A non-reimbursed cooperative work study plan is in use which gives school credit for work experiences. Test results and other objective data are used regularly when recommending students for job and post high school institution placement. Job placement assistance by the school is available to graduates, drop-outs, and in­ school students. Research and Follow-up Service* Thirty-five percent of students went on to post high school institutions in 1958* Follow-up studies within the last two years were made of the graduates who go to college and of drop-outs. This informa­ tion was used to modify the curriculum, evaluate the guidance services, benefit the faculty, and help the administration. No students participated in these studies* Two and eighty-two hundredths separate research studies (follow-ups, local test norms, experimental studies, etc.) were developed and executed in 1958-59. Six and one- half members of the teaching staff participated in formulating and implementing research studies in that same year. 163 Organization and Administration of Guidance Services* The A school has a standing guidance committee which has the responsibility of evaluating and recommending changes in the guidance program. This committee is composed of counselors and administrators* The school has adequate files and record space for the guidance program* Faculty meetings are the most popular method of im­ proving the entire staff in the area of guidance* Money and supplies are needed most to improve guidance services* The A school ranks its guidance services from strong­ est to least strong in the following order: 1) information service, 2) counseling service, 3) individual inventory, 4) placement service, and 5) research service. This school wants more help from state or other out­ side consultant resources and more information on guidance services from state sources. It also wants a copy of the conclusions of this study after the data have been compiled and analyzed. THE TYPICAL B SCHOOL. Guidance services in the B school are much like those in the A school with some important differences. These data are based on a 100 percent response, 130 B schools 164 out of a total of 130 responded. Individual Inventory. The B school has a CA-39 cumulative folder which is filed in the administrator’s office instead of the counselor’s. The folder contains a photo of the student, health and physical data, test data, achievement grades or marks, family data, pupil plans— educational and vocational, extra­ school activities, record of interviews, unusual accomplish­ ments, conditions, experiences, autobiographies, and anecdotal records. It does not have pupil-teacher conference data as does the A schools folder. An intelligence or scholastic aptitude test is given most often in the ninth grade, achievement tests most often in the eighth grade, multiple aptitude tests in the tenth, interest tests in the ninth grade, and no personality test is offered. The National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test is given to juniors and the Scholarship Qualifying Test to seniors. Three and seven tenths students are tested indivi­ dually per month (not in groups). No local norms are developed. Information Service. The B school has 46.7 post- high school catalogues from different institutions. 16 less than the A school has. This is These are kept mostly in the library. The B school, like the A school, has more than 120 occupational books and pamphlets published since 1954. 165 These are available to the student in the library. Occupa­ tional information is provided to the B school by community persons and agencies in both oral and written form. Unlike the A school, the B school has no results of studies made within the last three years of local labor con­ ditions and occupational opportunities on file and available to the student. Available to the student, however, is in­ formation concerning educational opportunities outside of the high school, such as evening school courses, part-time school opportunities, correspondence courses, private, trade, tech­ nical and business schools, and other guides to home study. Current (last two years) information on scholarships, loans, and other financial assistance is on file and available to the student. Teachers use audio-visual equipment and materials related to occupational and educational planning as a regular part of the class work in 15 percent of the classes. The B school does not have a group guidance or orientation class concerned mainly with students* interests and needs; the A school does. It does have, however, occupa­ tional units integrated with school courses. The B school does not have a career day for the students nor does it have a business, industry and education day fpr teachers. It does not have a day scheduled for students to visit colleges, but does have scheduled visits by representatives from colleges. 166 Five classes made field trips to business, industry and/or farming in 1958-59, Counseling Service, The B school has an officially designated counselor free from conflicting duties such as teaching, substitution, administration, etc,, with 6,15 per­ iods of released time for counseling. This person is paid $69,90 a year more than teachers on comparable levels. The students in the B school are assigned on a voluntary basis. The counselor has 18,2 semester hours of training in guidance and/or counseling as recognized by a higher institu­ tion of learning and has had some training within the last year (1958), Forty percent of the students are contacted by the counselor at his (the counselor*s) request, 36 percent by the student, and the balance by administrators, teachers and parents. The school has counseling rooms or offices in which counseling can be conducted out of sight or hearing of anyone else. The B school has less than one scheduled conference held by the counselor per month in which both the student and one or both parents are present. Conferences with parents are held just in emergency and special cases. Test results of recently administered standardized tests are reported in­ dividually to all students and to the faculty and adminis­ tration. 167 Placement Service. Job placement is assigned either to a counselor, an administrator or coordinator, and if the school has an organized job placement service, over 75 per­ cent of the total number of employers know who is in charge of it. Educational planning with the student for both high school classes and college is assigned to both the counselor and an administrator. Eight percent of the student body was issued work permits in the school year 1958-59, and fifteen students working part time were placed by the school. The B school does not have a cooperative arrangement with the State Employment Service on placement nor does it have a cooperative arrangement with a community placement ser­ vice. It has no cooperative work study plan in use which gives school credit for work experience. The*B schod uses test results and other objective data regularly when recommending students for job placement and for post high school institution placement. Job place­ ment assistance by the school is available to graduates and to in-school students but is not available to drop-outs. Research and Follow-up Service. Thirty-nine percent of the graduating seniors went on to post-high school in­ stitutions in 1958. A formal follow-up study has been made within the last two years on graduates who go to college 168 and on graduates who do not go to college. study has been made of drop-outs. No follow-up The information gained by these follow-up studies is used to modify the curriculun , to evaluate the guidance services, to benefit the faculty and to help the administration. None of the B school students participated in form­ ulating and implementing follow-up or research studies in the school year 1958-59. One and forty-nine hundredths separate research studies (follow-ups, local test norms, experimental studies, etc.) were developed and executed by the B schools in 1958-59, whereas 3.2 members of the teach­ ing staff participated in formulating and implementing re­ search studies in 1958-59. The school does not have a standing guidance com­ mittee which has the responsibility of evaluating and recommending changes in the guidance program. Th© B school does have adequate records and file space for its guidance program and uses faculty meetings as the most popular meansfor improving the entire staff in the area of guidance. Lack of money and supplies are reported to be the major barrier to improving the guidance program. The B school ranks its guidance services strongest to least strong in the following order: 1) individual 169 inventory, 2) information service, 3) counseling service, 4) placement service, and 5) research service* The B school would like more help on guidance services from state sources* It also wants a copy of this study after the data have been compiled and analyzed* THE TYPICAL £ SCHOOL* rollment of 200 to 399* This school has a student body en­ The data reported here is based (check scheduled test s by grades) Intelligence tests or scholastic aptitude CEASESs 7 a . 9 _ „ 10 - ________ ~ 12 b» Interest inventories 7 * ct-r^aj 1ir r— 8 ™ c Multiple aptitude 7.___ 8 d* Personality teats 7 _ 8 ™ ©* Achievement tests 7 8 _ - 9 _ _ 10 fo Other 7 _ 8__ . _ _ h« Io j» 9 9 _ __________ _ ~ _______ 12 7 „ a _ 7 8.. - 9 _ ____________ 7 ,8 _ 9 ■K ZO ^ iMMdSnuB - 11^ 9.___ i o _ _ 11 _ _ 11.... 12 IS 7__ 8 _ 12 11 10,___ 11 9 . , 10 9 „ , 10 ______ ^_ ______ ___ _ 11 9 _ 10,___ 11 *2. 20__ U _ _ 12 10__ ii__ How many students do you tost individually per month? (not in groups) a* K 0 1=5 Co 6-10 do 11-20 5S 21-■to f. 7 ® Bo you have local norms on test results established? the manhor of test© that apply« Check hi 4- a- 0 b. 1-3 c c ti—6 &« ? -/ Be IHPOHMATION SKRYICff 1 . How wnnj 1958~59 post-high school catalogues do you have from different institutions? 2 e How m a y of these are available ins su a* b„ Co d* eo f. 0-5 6-10 11“20 21-30 31~50 51 /• administrator8© office 'h„ ccanselor^s office c * library d c teach©,?©:J rooms othsik r t (explain,) .. 3o 4, Bo you have a file of occupational "books and poiaphictc which you ‘believe adequately meets the needs of your counselor and students? If so, where are they kept? a, b, c a, e< , 5- 6« 8. 9* 10 o No administrator*8 office counselor^ office teachers9 rooms library other __ ___ (explain) Do you have a file of educational books and pamphlets which you believe adequately meets the needs of your counselor and students? Yets Ho If so, where are they kept? a0 "bo Gc d» e. 7* 1G3 administrators offie© counselor9s office teachers9 rooms library other (explain) Do community persons or agencies provide occupational information to your school in written or oral form? Yes No Are results of studies made within the last three years of local labor conditions and occupational opportunities on file and easily available to the student? Yes No Yes. No No" Is information on file and easily available to the student regarding? eu evening school b» part-time school opportunities Co correspondence courses do other guides to home study Yes_ Yes Yes'" Is currant information regarding scholarships, loans, and other financial assistance to pupils on file and easily available to the student? Yes No No’ Ho IX a What percentage of the teachers use occupational posters, charts, films, and exhibits in their classes? a„ 0 *20$ __ b. 20~40$ _ c„ 40-60$ _ dt. 60«8Q$~ Go 80~!OOSP2 Do you have a group guidance or orientation class concerned solely with students0 interests and needs? Yea^ !To_ 13. Do you have occupation units integrated with school courses^ Yes. No_ 14. Did you or will you have a career day for the students this year? Yes Ho 12. 15* Bid you or will you have a busings „ tndvz try* and education day for the teachers this year? l6 o Do you havo _ Ho. a P a college day h„ yearly scheduled visits by counselors fi’ora colleges 1?o How many field trips will your students mak© to business and industry this year? Yes ho. Yea__ No_ Ho 0 CQUNSSLXN& SMICI 1 o How many people do you hove officially designated as counselor(s) free from conflicting duties such as teaching, substitution, administration, etc*, with five or more clock hours per day of released counseling? Ho., 2. Kow many people do you have officially designated as part-time counselor(s) with two or more clock hours per day of released time fi*Q® from similar conflicting duties? 3o Ho. If you have no officially designated counselor, who doe® the counselings a . administ rat or be teacher Co school nuro© &• other _^ (explain.) 4 0 How many semester hours of training inclasses, recognized as guidance and/021 counseling by a higher institution of learning, has the counselor had? (average per counselor, if more than one counselor) Si> b0 o0 do s. What is the total number of clock hours of released counseling time per day that you have for your school? (include time of al 1 c Guns el ors) _ _ 0„i* h2.v,. 5-9 hrs, 10-14 hrsr_ 15-19 h r s __ 20 ■/ hrs„ 5o Does (do) the counselor(s) secure additional guidance training from a college or a university; (on the average) a. every year bo every two years Co svery three-five years do less than every five years 60 Check Ho <>__ What per cent of the students contacted normally by the counselor are due to as a r. request by counselor b» request by student c c request by administrator d» 2"equ.est by teachers e. 0th er__________ ________ ( n.ia ) Cheok __ 80 Isthere a counseling room inwhich counseling cc.n ho conducted in privacy? 9* 7oo_ pupil is interviewed hy the counselor during the school year; a® h6 ca do ( Check __ ,,.rr __ ___ one oi' more times two or more times three or more times some less than one time 10* How many scheduledconferences does the counselor hold in which “both student and parent are present? & O on© per day h* on© per week Co two per month do one per month Oo less than one per month lla All parents are consulted hy the counselors a, h# jTo__ Check 1 Check regularly scheduled interviews just in emergency and special cases __ 12„ Standardised test results recently determined ar® interpreted; a» individually to all students________________ ___ h 0 to students and parents together __ c* to parents_________________________________ ___ d 0 to groups of students __ ©o other (explain) 13* How many referrals to community or specialist services h&s your school made this school year; &0 0 __ 1=5 c * 6-10 _ &0 11=20 1^1 8c 21-50 h„ Iko How many referrals were made by your school this year to; a* ho Co do eD £* 15* state child guidance clinic other child guidance clinics mental health clinics welfare ageneloo service groups other (explain) What percentage of the counseling time is devoted tos aa "b, Co personal-social needs educational needs occupational needs go? 160 What percentage of the balance of the released ccuncclirtjg time is normally devoted to2 &<> "be Co do preventive discipline punitive discipline attendance procedures administrative duties >' . r3 _j£ ^.3 Q0 substituting to supervising study halls, buses, lunch rooms, and the like_______________ ___^ 1?o How much more are counselors paid than teachers on comparable levels in your school? (professional increment) ac be C0 de Op fo I80 How is the student assigned to his counsel©!'? a. bo Go d<, ©o f« m C S M lo $0 1-100 ioi~2qo_ 201-300 30i-500_ more Check by grades _ _ by sex ___ on a voluntary basis______ __ ^ by home room alphabetically____________ ___ other ___________________ (explain) SERVICE Has your school assigned the responsibility of ^ob placement to; a* bo Co d« e0 Check counselor________________________________ ___ administrator____________________________ ___ vocational staff or coordinator no on©_____________________________________ other (explain) If no one lias been assigned this responsibility* who docs it Qhcch unofficially? a. c ouns elor _ bo administratoi’ Co vocational staff or coordinator___________ __ do other ______ (explain) 3* Has your school assigned the responsibility of educational placement in both high school classes and college tos a» b„ Co da counselor administrator vocational staff or coordinator other __ _Qhec] _ _ If no ono has been assigned unofficially! a0 b. c. de one o this responsibility, vi:c> does it conns ©lor edminlstrator vocational staff or coordinator oth er ____ (explain) If you have a systematic job placement service* do all employers in the community know who is in charge of it# Yes Of the total number of students who are working part-time this yearE what pore ©atago was placed by th© school? ?» 8„ 9® 10. 11c 12, 13® 0-4 a, b< c< d« *^«pQ 10 19 j4 20-40 Is there a coopei’ative arrangement with the State Employment Service on placement? Ho Is there a cooperative arrangement with a community placement service? Yes la there a cooperative work-stu&y plan in use which gives school credit for work experience? Yea Is placement mad© selective through, coordination of th© counseling and placement services so that suitable jobs and college placement are provided? }iO Seldom Ho Cee. Often Has there been a survey within the last two years of possible full-time jobs for those who havo left school? Ho Has there been a survey within the last two years of possible part-time jobs for those who have left school? Yes Ho Is job placement assistance by th© school available to all; & 0 graduates b o drop-outs Co in-school students do none 14* During this school year, approximately how many occupational placements have been made by the school; ^i b, 15. What percentage of your graduating seniors went to post high school institutions last year? full'-ti'so part-tlsie RESEARCH SERVICE I® Does your school make formal follow-up studies ofs a, b0 c* d» Cheal.: graduates who go to college graduates who do not go to college drop-outs other ____ ____ (explain) __ ___ 2* If so, is the information obtained used to: Check a® modify the curriculum b„ evaluate the guidance services c. give further assistance to school leaveid d * other (explain) 3 c How many in-school students participated in formula ting and implementing research studies this year? No. 4® How many separate research studies (follow-ups, local test norms, experimental studies, etc*) were developed and executed this year by your school? No. 5* How many of your teaching staff participated in formulating and implementing research studies this year? __ No. ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION 1® Do you have a standing guidance committee which had th© responsibility of evaluating and recommending changes in the guidance program? 2o If so, how is it composed? a* b* c* d* Sc 3* 4e 5* Check counsclorCs) counselors) and administrator^) counselors) and teacher(s) adininlstrator(s) and teacher(3 ) other . _______ _ (explain) __ __ Do you have adequate files and record space for the guidance program? ^e' 3 Is there a definite well-planned in-servic© program in operation for improvement of th© entire staff In th© area of guidance? Tes_ ^_ What do you consider th© major barriers to improving your guidance program to be? a c qualified personnel not available bo other personnel needed, worse c® lack of money for salary and supplies d. not particularly needed for this school e* need help in organisation of program f * lack of community support go teacher indifference ’ : __ One?:]:. _____ __ " " 6 # Would you rank the guidance services that you have uu 5.ig wl 11 as the strongest, n2 ” as th© next strongest, etc 0 R A M ~ 1, 2 , 3 , h t 5 a« individual inventory (cumulative record, testing program) ”bc information service (catalogues, pamphlets, posters, otc0) cc counseling sorvic© d» placement service (occupational, educational) ©p research service (follow-ups, test norms, experimental) G* SPEC IALI2ED S T T O M SERVICES 1 0 Does your school use the services of? non© a, ho c «> d* e. f. go h. io ja k- nurse doctor psychologist diagnostician psychometric* speech correctionist hearing testing service vision testing service physical therapist occupational therapist visiting teacher L dentist m„ n. o* p* dental hygienic* pcyehiatri at reading specialist teacher counselor for physically handicapped teacher consultant for mentally handicapped homehound and hospitalised teacher q, r, parttime full° time . _____ Do you have in your school a class or classes for: Tea a* K aa do ©» fo emotionally disturbed mentally handicapped behavior problems slight saving and blind deaf and hard of hearing crippled., cardiac, and other physical handicaps g Q remedial reading ho programs for the gifted No He GEHBRAI. STATEMENTS Assuming that your school would ho partially reimbursed for the improvement of testing and counseling services from Federal fimdsj as defined "by the National Defense Education Act# Title ?, Fart As &« Do you plan to apply for participation in: i£52 59-60 60^61 61=6; (1) (2 ) bo 2* reimbursement for testing program only reimbursement for testing plus counseling time Will any of the money be used to pruchase guidance mat©riala and/or office equipment? Co Do you plan to use present or new personnel for your testing program? d* Do you plan to use present or new personnel for your counseling? Yea_ » No, Present New Would you like more help from Stat© or other outside consultant resources? Yes No 3 o Would you like more information on guidance services from State sources? Yes Ho Do you want a copy of the conclusions of this study after the data have been compiled and analysed? Yes Ho REACTIONS w y — ■a. t o i *i.» i i »-iw i w h iu j 1 0 Was the questionnaire comprehensive enough? 2 0 Row long did it take you to fill it out? No___ &• be e« dc 6« 20 min„ 25 min« 30 mine ^0 mine 50 rain. fc mci'® ... __ __ __ (indicate 3o Did you check all of th© questions difficult to understand? No i+P Do any other questions occur to you that were not on the quQctionnairo? (indicate on back) No^ ^ 5o Do you think that this information will satisfy what youwould like to know about guidance services in th© local schools? 6* Was th© questionnaire too long? _ Yes__ 2Jo^ _ _ Ht>__ hppandix B GUIDANCE SERVICES DIVISION OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION LANSING, MICHIGAN S T A T E M E N T NOTE: 0 F G U I D A N C E S E R V I C E S The purpose of this form is to ascertain the extent of existing guidance services in our schools. The information will be confidential. Please complete all items and return this form to: Chief of Guidance Services. P. 0. Box 928. Lansing A. Michigan. Name of school________ _______________________ School district________________ Address Report made by_________________ lour position ___________________ ______ Date__________________________ EIROLLMENT: 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12____ TOTAL________ A. INDIVIDUAL INVENTORY SERVICE 1. Does your school maintain a cumulative folder for each pupil: 2. Where are they filed: 3. Do you use the CA-39 State Cumulative Record? A. Which of the following is filed in the cumulative folder: (Indicate information regularly recorded as shown by examining several random samples. Check those which apply.) a. b. c. d. e. f. Yes____ No administrator’s office guidance director’s office counselor’s office library home rooms teachers’ classrooms Yes____ No a. Photograph of student b. Health and physical data c. Test data d. Achievement grades or marks e. Family data f. Pupil plans— educational and vocational g. Extra-school activities h. Record cf interviews i. Pupil-teacher conferences data j. Unusual accomplishments, conditions, experiences k. Autobiographies 1. Anecdotal records 5. Your testing program for all students: a. Intelligence tests or scholastic aptitude GRADES: (check scheduled tests by grades) 7 8 9 10 11 12 b. Interest inventories 7 8 9 10 11 12 c. Multiple aptitude 7 8 9 10 11 12 d. Personality tests 7 8 9 10 11 12 e. Achievement tests 7 8 9 10 11 12 f . N.M.S.Q.T. 7 8 9 10 11 12 g- S.Q.T. 7 8 9 10 11 12 h. Other 7 8 9 10 11 12 (indicate) 6. 7. How many students do you test individually per month? (not in groups) On how many standarized tests, that you use in your testing program, have you developed local norms? a. b. c. d. e. f. a. b. c. d. e. f. 0 I-5 6-10 II-20“ 21-4-0 a-51 0 1 2 3 4.-6 7-11 INFORMATION SERVICE 1. 2. How many 1958-59 post-high school catalogues do you have from different institutions? a . 0-5 6-10 11 20 b. c. d. e. f. g- - How many of these are available to your students in: aD b. c. d. e. f. “ 21-30 31-50 51-75 76 (indicate) administrator’s office guidance director’s office counselor’s office library home rooms teachers’ classrooms 3. How many occupational books and pamphlets do you have ■which were published within the last five years? 4. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-59 60-79 80-120 120 (indicate) Where are these occupational books and pamphlets kept? a. administrators office b. guidance director's office c0 counselor's office d. library e. home rooms f. teachers* classrooms Do community persons or agencies provide occupational information to your school in a. written form______ Yes____ No_ b. oral form Yes No 6. 7. Are results of studies made within the last three years of local labor conditions and occupational opportunities on file and available to the student? Is information on file and available to the student regarding: a. b. c. d. e. 8. 9. 10. Yes____ No_ Yes No_ evening school ____ part-time school opportunities ____ correspondence courses_____________ ____ private, trade, technical, and business schools ____ other guides to home study_________ ____ Is current information (last 2 years) regarding scholarships, loans, and other financial assistance to pupils on file and available to the student? In what percentage of the classes do your teachers use audio-visual equipment and materials related to occupational and educational planning as a regular part of the class work? Yes a. b. c. d. e. f. No 0-4% 5-9% 10-19% 20-39% 40-59% 60-100% Do you have a group guidance or orientation class concerned mainly with students' interests and needs? Yes No 11. ? Do you have occupations units integrated with school courses * Yes No 12. Did you or will you have a career day for the students this year? Yes No Did you or will you have a business, industry, and education day for the teachers this year? Yes No 13. 14. Do you have a. b. 15. a day scheduled for the students to visit colleges Yes____ No_ yearly scheduled visits by representatives from colleges Yes. a. b. c. d. e. f. How many classes will have made field trips to business, industry and/or farming this year? No 0 ____ 1-3 4-6 7-11 12-20 ___ ___ ___ ___ 21 -/ ____ (indicate) COUNSELING SERVICE 1. Check one State the number of people officially designated as counselor(s) a. 0 - g. 6 or guidance director(s) free from conflicting duties such as h. 7 teaching, substitution, administration, etc., with five or more b. 1 c. 2 i. 8 periods per day of released time for counseling? d. 3 ,i« 9 e. 4 k. 10 f. 5__ _ 1. 11__ 2 . How many people do you have officially designated as part-time counselor(s) with an average of two or more jjeriods per day of released time free from similar conflicting duties? 3. How much more are counselors paid than teachers on comparable levels in your school? (professional increment) a. b. c. d. e. f. 0 R. 6 1 h. 7 2 I. 8 3 __ j. 9 4 _ k. 10 5 _ _ 1. 11 a. b. c. d. e. f. $0 1-:100 101--200 201--300 301--500 501 / (indicate) 4* How is the student assigned to his counselor: Check a. by grades (9th, 10th, etc.) b. by sex c. on a voluntary basis d. by home room e. alphabetically f. definite assignment g. random assignment 5. How many semester hours of training in classes, recognized as guidance and/or counseling by a higher institution of learning, has the counselor had? (average per counselor, if more than one counselor) a. b. c. d. e. 0-4 hrs o 5-9 hrs, 10-14 hrs. 15-19 hrs. 20-26 hrs. f. 27 (indicate) 6. Has the counselor(s) secured additional guidance training from a college or a university? (average if more than one counselor) a. b. c. d. 7. 8. Check last year within last two years within last three-five years not within last six years What is the total number of periods of released counseling time per day that you have for your school? (include time of all counselors) a. 0__ b. 1__ c. 2__ d. 3-5_ e. 6-8_ f. 9-11 If you have no officially designated counselor, who does the counseling? a. principal b. ass't. principal c. teacher d. school nurse e. coach f . other _____________ (explain) g. h. i. J. k. 12-16 17-21 22-30 31-40. 41-60 Check (For questions 9-16, if there is no officially designated counselor, the word counselor will refer to the person who does the counseling as indicated in in No. 8 above.) 9. 10. 11. What percentage of the students normally contacted by the counselor is the result of a request by: a. the counselor b. the student c. the administrator d 0 the teacher e . the parent Is there a counseling room or office In which the counseling can be conducted in privacy? (out of sight or hearing of anyone else)Yes Each pupil is interviewed by the counselor during the school year: a. b. c. d. 12. 13. No. Check some less than one time one per month two or more times per month______ three or more times per month On the average throughout the school year, how many scheduled conferences does the counselor hold in which both student and one or both parents are present? a. less than one per month b. one per month c. two or more times per month d. three or more times per month ___ ____ ___ ___ Check ____ ____ ___ ____ Parents are consulted by the counselor in: Check a. regularly scheduled interviews ___ b. Just emergency and special cases ___ 14. Results of standardized tests recently administered to students are interpreted: a. individually to all students b. to students and parents together c. to parents only d. to groups of students e. to faculty and administration f . to students only when requested Check 15. How many referrals were made by your school this year to: Check a. b. c. d. e. f. g. state child guidance clinic other child guidance clinics mental health clinics welfare agencies service groups police or juvenile agency local community doctor or hospital Check 16. What percentage of the counseling time is devoted to: a. b. c. d. e. f gh. i. . educational planning needs occupational planning needs personal-social needs preventive discipline punitive discipline attendance procedures quasi-administrative duties sub stituting supervising study halls, buses, lunch rooms, and the like — ii ___ ___ $> — t _i ___ % ___ $ PLACEMENT SERVICE 1. Check Has your school assigned the responsibility for job placement to; a. counselor b. administrator c. vocational staff or coordinator d. teacher e . no one 2* 3. 4. If you have an organized job placement service, do over 751° of the total number of employers know who is in charge of it? Yes_ If no one has been assigned unoff icially ? a. b. c. d. e. No___ this responsibility, who does it Check counselor administrator vocational staff or coordinator teacher no one Has your school assigned the responsibility for educational planning with the student for both high school classes and college to: Check a* b. c. d. counselor administrator vocational staff or coordinator teacher 7. 5. If no one has been assigned this responsibility, who does it unoff icially? a „ counselor b. administrator c. vocational staff or coordinator d. teacher e. no one Check 6. What percentage of your students have been issued work permits this year? a. b\ c. d. e. f. 7. Of the total number of students who are working part-time this year, how many were placed by the school? 0- 2% 3-5% 6- 10% 11- 20%" 21-30% 31 -/ (indicate) Check 0-4 5-9 10-19 20-39 40-75 76 - a. b. Q. d. e. f. 4 one ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ (indicate) Does your school have a cooperative arrangement with the State Employment Service on placement? 9. Does your school have a cooperative arrangement with a community placement service? Yes No Yes No 10, Does your school have a cooperative work-study plan in use which gives school credit for work experience? a. b. c. none reimbursed from vocational education funds non-re imbursed 11. Are tests results and other objective data regularly used when recommending students for: a. job placement b. post high school institution placement Yes___ No_ Yes No_ 12. Check the appropriate group(s) for which job placement Check assistance by the school is available: a. graduates__________________ ___ b . drop-outs ____ c. in-school students_________ ____ d . none ____ 13. What percentage of your graduating seniors went to post-high school institutions last year? a . 0-10% b. 11-15% c. 16-20% d. 21-25% e. 26-30% f. g. h. i. j• 31-40% 41-50% 51-60% 61-70% 71* -. (indicate) 4 RESEARCH SERVICE ln> Within the last two years, has your school made formal follow-up studies of: a* graduates who go to college b. graduates who do not go to college c. drop-outs Check 2. Check If so, was the information obtained used to: a. b. c. d. e. f. 3- modify the curriculum evaluate the guidance services give further assistance to school leavers benefit the faculty help the administration locate job and further educational opportunities for in-school youth How many In-school students participated in formulating and implementing follow-up or research studies this year? a. 0 b. .1-2 c. 3-5 d. 6-8 ' e. 9-12 ’ f 13-20 g* 2 1 4-\ (indicate) . How many separate research studies (follow-ups, local test norms, experimental studies, etc.) were developed and executed this year by your school? a. b. c. d. e. f. 0 1 ___ 4 5-10 ___ g. 11—^ _____ (indicate) 5. How many members of your teaching staff participated in formulating and implementing research studies this year? a. 0 ___ b . 1-2 c. d. e. f. g- __ 3-5 ___ 6-8 ___ 9-12 ___ 13-25___ 2 6 -/ ___ (indicate) ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION 1. Do you have a standing guidance committee which has the responsibility of evaluating and recommending changes in the guidance program? Yes No 2. If so, how is it composed? a. b. c. d. e* 3* Check counselors counselor(s) and administrator(s) counselor(s) and teacher(s) administrator(s) and teacher(s) counselor(s), administrator(s), and teacher(s) Do you have adequate files and record space for this guidance program? yes___No___ Does your school have a program in operation entire staff in the area of guidance? a. b. c. d. e. for improving the none faculty meetings case conferences work shops in-service training Check ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 5* What do you consider to be the major barrier to improving your Check guidance program? a. lack of qualified counseling personnel ___ b. other personnel needed more ___ c. lack of money for salary and supplies_____ ___ d. not particularly needed for this school ___ e. need help in organization of program______ ___ f. lack of community support_________________ ___ g. teacher indifference_________________________ h. administrative indifference_______________ ___ 6. Rank your guidance services, indicating the strongest as 1, the next strongest as 2, etc., down to 5* a. individual inventory ___ (cumulative record, testing program) b . information service (catalogues, pamphlets, posters, etc.) ___ c. counseling service_______________________ ___ d. placement service (occupational, educational)_____________ ___ e. research service (follow-ups, test norms, experimental) ___ SPECIALITY) STUDENT SERVICES 1. Does your school provide directly the services of, or make referrals of students to, a: none a. h. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. nurse doctor psychologist diagnostician p sychometri st speech correctionist hearing testing service vision testing service physical therapist occupational therapist parttime fulltime 10, nohe k. 1* m. n. o„ p. q. r. 2. parttime fulltime Yes No visiting teacher dentist dental hygienist psychiatrist reading Specialist teacher counselor for physically handicapped teacher consultant for mentally handicapped homebbund and hospitalized teacher Does your school, or school system, provide classes for: a. emotionally disturbed b. mentally handicapped c„ behavior problems d. sight saving and blind e. deaf and hard of hearing f. crippled, cardiac, and other physical handicaps go remedial reading h, programs for the gifted Ho GENERAL STATEMENTS 1. Assuming that your school would be partially reimbursed for the improvement of testing and counseling services from Federal funds as defined by the National Defense Education Act. Title V, Part A: a. Do you plan to apply for participation in: (1) (2) b. 2. 3. A. reimbursement for testing program only reimbursement for testing plus counseling time 1959 59-60 60-61 61-62 ___ ___ Will any of the money be used to purchase guidance materials and/or office equipment? ___ ___ ___ ___ __ __ Yes____ No_ c. Do you plan to use present or new personnel for your testing program? Present d. Do you plan to use present or new personnel for your counseling?___________________________________________ __ _ New ___ Would you like more help from State or other outside consultant resources? Yes__ No^ Would you like more Information on guidance services from State sources? Yes__ No_ Do you want a copy of the conclusions of this study after the data have been compiled and analyzed? Yes__ No_ M IC H IG A N D E P A R T M E N T O F P U B L IC IN S T R U C T IO N L A N S IN G LYNN M. BARTLETT SUPERINTENDENT April 8, 1959 Dear Sir: Michigan*s anticipated participation in activities under Part A of Title V of the National Defense Education Act and the continuing emphasis on the need for improvements of guidance and counseling services in the local schools make necessary the immediate collection of some data regarding junior high and high school guidance programs in the state. I therefore urge your cooperation in such a study to obtain quickly information about guidance personnel, their qualifications and assignments, group testing programs, and estimates of urgent needs in guidance. You will receive a copy of the questionnaire to be used in this study within a week or ten days. Because of the urgency of time, replies to the survey should be received by the Division not later than April 30, 1959. I recognize that this request comes at a busy time of year, but the survey will provide information urgently needed in the further development of plans for the improvement of Guidance Services in Michigan. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Glenn E. Smith, Chief of Guidance Services, or Donald A. Davis, Research Specialist, Division of Vocational Education. Thank you very much for your assistance. Sincerely yours, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION LYN N ynflGBoi M . B A R T L E T T . S U P E R IN T E N D E N T DIVISION OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION P. O. BOX 928. LANSING. MICHIGAN E D G A R L . G R IM d epu ty FO R R O B E R T M . W IN G E R s u p e r in t e n d e n t A S S IS T A N T IN S T R U C T IO N FO R April 15, 1959 Dear Sir: The purpose of* this study is to initiate a survey of guidance services in order to determine state and local needs and to establish a base line of descriptive data concerning such services* The information derived from these reports will be confidential. It will be used to implement the anticipated National Defense Education Act in local schools and for determining descriptive data. The results will not be used to identify individual local schools. The enclosed questionnaire has been designed to save you time. Almost all of it consists of statements which can be answered by check marks. A few minutes of your time will be of considerable value to your students, to you, and to the Department of Public Instruction. Two copies of the questionnaire are enclosed, one of which you may keep for your files. This study offers mutual benefits. For example: 1. You may wish to compare your school with other schools of similar sizes. 2. You may wish to publicize favorable aspects of your program. 3. You may wish to point out to your community and board, areas which need strengthening. The results of the survey will be broken down by classes A, B, C, D, and E schools and by total number of schools for reporting back to you. We thank you for your cooperation in the project and will get the results back to you as soon as possible. Sincerely, Donald A. Davis ' Research Specialist DAD: jsc Enclosures S U P E R IN T E N D E N T V O C A T IO N A L E D U C A T IO N May 2 0 f 1959 Some time ago questionnaires were sent to all of the public secondary schools in Michigan in order to determine the present status of guidance services at that level* As of this date a little over 80$ of the schools have responded and all of theia have indicated a desire for copies of th© data after analysis has been completed. It is quite possible thats 1. The questionnaire did not reach you,, or It was lost or mislaid, or 3. Tan have been too busy to fill it out. Another questionnaire has been enclosed for your us®, W© really need your help on this In order to insure that the analysis will be accurate and rapres&ntativo of all of th© schools. If you have responded already,, please ignore this request* you. as soon as possible. Cordially yours. Donald A . Davis Hesearch Special!at DAD: Sfenlosur^ May w© hear firom Yours was among 560 schools to whom we sent our recent questionnaire relating to guidance activ­ ities and probable benefits under the National Defense Education Act* Most of them have been returned* If you have not already returned your copy, will you please return it to us at your earliest con­ venience* Cordially yours, Donald A* Davis Research Specialist