Does Holding a Teacher Education Degree Make a Difference in School Counselors' Job Performance?.

An important hiring criterion maintained by some school districts is that school counselors possess a teaching certificate and prior teaching experience. The present study examined the actual job performance of novice school counselor (interns) in relation to whether they had teacher certification and at least two years of teaching experience, or entered the school counseling profession as non-teachers. Results showed that standardized supervisors’ evaluations of counselor interns’ performance in four main skill areas (Professional Behavior, Clinical Skills, Teaching Skills, Hireability) were not associated with prior teacher training and/or experience. However, male, novice counselors were rated somewhat lower on the domain of Professional Behavior than female counselors. The methodological advantages of studying the teachercounselor question using novice counselors and expert supervisor-evaluators are discussed. The implications for graduate program training and hiring practices are summarized.