Impact of Guidance Counselors on Academic Performance of Elementary School Students at the Emiliano Espaillat, Padre Fantino, Proyecto Agrario, and Rancho schools in Fantino Educational District 16-02, 2005-2006 school year The purpose of this study is to

Abstract

Guidance counseling is conceived as a helping process aimed at all people throughout their lives, with the purpose of fostering the development of the whole personality (Bisquerra Alzina, Rafael, 1998). According to research applied to guidance counselors and psychologists who have been providing services within the system since before 1992, when the Ten-Year Education Plan was launched, the main problems in guidance counseling are behavioral issues and learning-related violence. The work of the guidance counselor must fulfill a series of functions linked to the director, teachers, students, and the community at large, since fulfilling all of these functions can enable students to achieve good academic performance. This research was framed within a cross-sectional design, in which data were collected at a single point in time; its purpose was to describe variables and analyze their incidence. The population of this study consisted of students, directors, teachers, and guidance counselors at the basic education level of the Emiliano Espaillat, Padre Fantino, Proyecto Agrario, and El Rancho schools. The instruments applied in this research were four (4) questionnaires developed based on the purposes and indicators proposed in the study. It was also found that a minority of students present attention deficit and hearing and vision problems. On the other hand, it was shown that the learning problems that most affect the student population are dyslexia and perception difficulties. According to directors and teachers, aggressive and abnormal behavior occurs occasionally, and they state that the guidance counselor works appropriately with students who display these types of behavior. Regarding adaptive behavior, it was found that a high percentage of guidance counselors state that it is displayed almost always. According to the questionnaire administered to students, it was confirmed that a high percentage consider that the guidance counselor efficiently handles discipline problems and treats students with learning problems privately.

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