The purpose of this study was to investigate principals' perceptions of school counselor roles and responsibilities. Participants completed perception surveys prior to and following a training on state and national models of school counseling practice. Analysis of demographic data and pre- and posttest survey responses showed training on state and national models of practice impacted principal perceptions of certain school counseling tasks. Data also showed a relationship between perceptions and years of experience. Qualitative data further examined principals' perceptions of school counselor roles and comprehensive school counseling programs.

This qualitative study analyzed the perceptions of public school principals and assistant principals regarding the appropriateness of school counselor duty assignments. Perceptions of the participants were compared to the recommendations published in 2005 by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) in its National Model. Further comparisons were made between the perceptions of elementary and secondary administrators. Participants (N=91) represented 15 of the 16 school districts in one south central county in Pennsylvania. A survey was used to collect data as well as subsequent interviews with 12 randomly-selected participants. Results indicated that although most participants rated themselves as only slightly familiar with the ASCA National Model, their perceptions regarding which counselor duties were important and which were not important matched the recommendations in the model. The duty ranked most differently by elementary and secondary principals was the delivery of classroom guidance lessons, which the elementary principals felt was much more important than the secondary principals. Although some non-counseling duty assignments were discovered during the data collection process, results indicated a very favorable outlook for school counselors who wish to comply with the ASCA National Model and implement an effective comprehensive guidance program for their school.

Despite the development of the American School Counseling Association's National Standards for school counseling programs, the school counseling profession continues to struggle with role ambiguity and role conflict. In an effort to gain additional information regarding the school counselors' role, this study employed a research survey design to examine the principals' and counselors' perceptions of the school counselors' role and to investigate the similarities and differences between those perceptions. A purposeful sample of 141 public school principals and 149 counselors from elementary and secondary schools located within Region 4 in southeast Texas were solicited to complete a modified version of the School Counselor Activity Rating Scale (SCARS) (Scarborough, 2005). The researcher analyzed the data obtained from the SCARS by calculating frequency distributions and percentages for each statement of the SCARS to determine which activities were perceived by principals and counselors as most and least important. The findings of this study indicate the majority of principals and counselors have similar perceptions on 35 of the activities and differing perceptions on 15 of the activities measured on the SCARS.

Principals and school counselors can be partners in the school setting or they can be at odds in their understanding of the counselor role. The counselor and principal may show congruence in some areas of the counselor role. Because of their separate training, principals and counselors may see the needs of students differently. The purpose of this study is to determine if school counselors and principals have different perceptions of the counselor role, and if they do perceive the counselor role differently, what effect do these differences have on the overall counselor program.