School Counselors' Impact on School-Level Academic Outcomes: Caseload and Use of Time.

Using the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, we investigated school counselors' caseloads, how they spent their time, and the impact of those factors on schools' academic outcomes. Results showed that approximately 85% of the school counselors had a caseload of 455 or fewer students, with roughly one quarter reporting caseloads equal to or less than 250, and that school counselors spent more of their time on college, scheduling, and personal/social/academic/career development. We also found that how school counselors spent their time was predictive of ninth-grade retention rates, the percentage of students who enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and the percentage of students who enrolled in 4-year universities. We provide discussion and implications for school counselors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]