Practice school counselor exam test 8

Practice School Counselor Exam Test

Test 8
1. An incident occurs in which the integrity of a teacher-made test is compromised. In discussing the
incident with students, several comments are made. Which of the following comments shows the
most advanced critical thinking skills? (Use Kohlberg and Gilligan’s model)
A.
B.
C.
D.

Your parents have a right to expect you to carry out their best wishes for you.
You may cheat but don’t get caught.
Cheating tends to feed itself, becoming an increasingly harmful way of life.
Are you sure you want others to know you’re a cheat? Your opportunity to lead will be lost.

2. Over the past two years, significant changes have occurred in your school’s population. Most of
the students are latch key kids. They come unprepared to school. When parents are contacted,
only rarely do the parents get involved to help the students. In this situation, your role could best
be conceived as
A. an advocate for school as a place of safety.
B. a facilitator of order and direct intervention for specific students.
C. a change agent who engages the students and adults in responding to this new population of
learners.
D. a voice of conscience to impress parents of the importance of their choices.
3. In a group of middle school boys, one boy comments to another, “You are such a dork.” The boy
replies, “Well, you’re a zero.” Several others speak up, “You’re both losers.” Which of the following
will best help the boys examine their attitudes and prejudices?
A. Point out how unfair the boys are being and develop a system for disciplining offenders.
B. Ask the boys to step back and observe themselves, then to discuss how they feel about these
interactions and to identify what they are trying to accomplish.

C. Ask the boys how they decide which label to use and which label they would like used for
them.
D. Inform the boys that this stereotyping is actually misplaced aggression.
4. Which of the following statements about anxiety is/are particularly relevant during puberty?
A. Growing up in a controlled atmosphere tends to diminish anxiety and to promote courage.
B. Anxiety about how others will see them may cause teens to work harder to be included in peer
groups.
C. At this age, pressure to achieve from teachers is of little consequence.
D. At this age, a small amount of anxiety can motivate the youth to achieve.
5. James, a third grader, is withdrawn from his peers and is falling behind in his schoolwork. In
planning an intervention, you utilize which of the following awarenesses?
A.
B.
C.
D.

At James’ age, isolation by peers has a negative impact on self-concept.
If James perceives himself as failing, he will develop a personal sense of inferiority.
Your perception of James will most likely be very important to him at this age.
If a group is planned, members need to all be male.


6. Your school is working to emphasize diversity. A white teacher insults an African American student
with a put down. The parents of the child call you. Your first response is to
A. plan and conduct a meeting for parents, faculty, and staff to explore issues of racism and
multiculturalism in your school.
B. ask the principal to meet with you and the teacher.
C. invite the African American student to participate in a diversity group that you are leading.
D. discuss the incident with the teacher in question.
7. The father of Janet, a 7th grader, calls to request Janet’s school records to learn how his daughter

is doing in school. He’s learned from Janet that she is having frequent conflicts with peers. Also,
Janet has told her dad to expect some D’s and F’s on her report card. Janet’s dad and mom are
divorced and school records show that Janet lives with her mother.
A. You first visit with Janet’s teacher and with the principal to see if there are any concerns they
have. Then, you contact Janet’s dad and offer to send him a record of Janet’s grades.
B. You prepare a packet for Janet’s dad, with a corollary packet for her mom and send both home
with Janet to give to her parents.
C. You call Janet’s dad to discuss Janet’s performance and ask that he come to the school to
obtain the records.
D. You call Janet’s dad, informing him that with a release of information from Janet’s mother, the
custodial parent, that you will be glad to send him Janet’s records.
8. For the upcoming school year, you adopt a different ethnic or cultural group per month, in order to
learn more about their traditions and styles of relating within their families. From this plan, you can
hope to accomplish which of the following?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Model your own continual learning as a way of changing the culture of the community leaders.
Learn better ways to respond to the needs of your community.
Encourage the different groups to see how much they share.
Prevent student conflicts that result from isolation and ignorance.

9. Peer mediators are important because:
1) they encourage diverse, multiple perspectives.
2) they assist in making subjective decisions.
3) they provide an outlet for emotions without being judgmental.
4) they act as a judge in a conflictual situation.
A.

B.
C.
D.

1 and 3
1 and 4
1, 3, and 4
Only 2

10. Which of the following is NOT one of Adler’s list of three main tasks of life?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Successful interactions and dialogue with others
Rewarding or loving relationships
Meaningful, engaged work
Success in personal decision-making


11. Consider the content area “Cross-cultural Effectiveness” in the guidance curriculum. Your design
calls for elementary students to identify the cultural practices their families appreciate and how
they affect their feelings of self-worth. Specifically, your plan states that 4 th graders will develop a
picture of their family participating in a holiday and then will explain their participation and feelings.
They use a feelings chart to illustrate their feelings. This is an example of learning at which level?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Awareness
Application
Skills development
Evaluation

12. Miriam, a fifth grader, tells you that she wants to spend the summer with her grandparents and
that maybe she won’t have to return home next year but stay with them. You are concerned that
Miriam may have a stressful, if not abusive, situation at home. You act first by
A. inviting Miriam to join a short-term coping skills group that you are offering.
B. sending a note home with Miriam inviting her parents to the upcoming parent involvement
dinner and program.
C. checking Miriam’s school records to see if any record of previous concerns exist.
D. talking with Miriam’s teacher to see if he has noticed any changes or behaviors that could
indicate stress or abuse for Miriam.
MY STORY
Age: 11
Grade: 5
Name:
Kamil
I am from:
Pakistan
Things I like to do: play soccer
People I like to be with:
my friends and grandparents
If I had three wishes, I would want:
1. new brothers
2. a new soccer shirt
3. a new bike
Father:

age 58, janitor
Mother:
age 52, seamstress
Siblings:
brother, John – age 29; brother, Tim – age 20
The best things about school are: lunches and recess
What I don’t like at school:
staying in my seat, listening to the teacher
At school I wish:
I could beat upon the boys who make fun of me
13. Kamil’s teacher has referred him to you for an assessment. During the past two months, Kamil
has gotten into repeated fights, has failed to complete any of his homework, and has often
disrupted class discussions with speaking out loudly in class. Which of the following actions do
you take first?
A. Call a conference in which you invite Kamil’s teachers, the school nurse, the school
psychologist, and a special education representative.


B. Call Kamil’s parents and ask them to obtain an evaluation from a neuropsychiatrist.
C. Develop a comprehensive treatment plan which you share with both Kamil’s parents and
teachers.
D. Visit with Kamil to build a basis for a working relationship.
14. Hal, a senior in high school, is confused about what he wants to do upon graduating. He likes
music and painting, but hates math and tends to be a loner. As the school counselor, which of the
following actions will most likely benefit Hal?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Encourage Hal to attend career night.
Invite Hal to take a battery of career assessments.
Send Hal to talk with several people who work as artists.
Encourage Hal to start college with an undeclared major and to take several courses to see
what interests emerge.

15. As the counselor in a secondary school, you are shifting the focus from the tasks that you do, to
managing a comprehensive school-counseling program. Which of the following steps would be the
best place to start?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Survey students, parents, faculty, and staff to learn their expectations.
Plan a number of parent conferences in which the students are involved.
Begin with the guidance program and follow with responsive services.
Outline a plan and distribute it to the principal and teachers for their feedback.

16. You want to institute several significant changes at your school. To garner support for the
changes, which of the following steps should be taken first?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Assign each teacher one important piece of the overall task.
Ask each teacher to nominate one parent to serve on an advisory committee.
Thoroughly research and develop a written rationale for your proposed changes.
Rotate yourself among classes, demonstrating the skills you expect to see.

Marion, who is fifteen and a tenth grader, comes to your office crying because she suspects that she
is pregnant. She is asking you for information about how to get an abortion.
17. In the case of Marion, your first response is
A. you tell Marion that you will need for her to get information before finalizing her decision.
B. you ask Marion to visit the school nurse before making a decision.
C. you comment that you can tell she’s upset by her tears and ask her to tell you more about how
she is feeling about her options.
D. you tell Marion that before you give her this information, you would like for both her and her
boyfriend to visit with you about their choice.
18. In the same case of Marion, who suspects that she is pregnant, you
A. confer with both a classroom teacher and with the principal before giving her any advice.
B. remind her that you can give her the information but that you will also need to involve the
boyfriend and his parents.
C. inquire as to her goals and her awareness of implications of choices such as either abortion or
carrying the baby to term. Then, you schedule a second visit in order to allow Marion the
opportunity to clarify and to sort through her choices.


D. provide Marion with the names and contact information for three local mental health resources
and ask her to keep you informed of her choices.

19. As a middle school counselor, you work closely with your principal to meet the counseling needs
of the students. In your district, the position of Director of Counseling is new, so the Director is
initiating changes to bring your district’s program in alignment with the Texas Guide for
Comprehensive School Counseling program. The new Counseling Director has asked you to be a
part of the counseling leadership committee. The meeting conflicts with the period when you
relieve the principal in his office. Your best or first choice will be
A. ask your principal if it is okay to not relieve him once a week.
B. inform the director that you are pleased to be asked but decline the invitation.

C. invite the director to visit with you and the principal together to explain his vision and to explain
the direction for the district school counseling program.
D. tell the principal that the new Texas law prescribes that you must comply with the Director’s
invitation.
20. Which of the following approaches will most likely produce a thorough evaluation of your
counseling program?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Clarify the counselor’s roles in the schools.
Emphasize responses of graduating high school seniors in order to gather the outcome data.
Focus only on the guidance component of the program.
Both B and C are inconsistent with conducting a comprehensive evaluation.

21. As the school counselor, you participate on a campus wide improvement planning committee. The
committee decides to monitor closely how students progress in relation to school goals for the
upcoming year. Which of the following practices will most likely help you contribute to this plan?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Ensure that all results are reported in standardized form.
Move to pass-fail grading.
Coach teachers how to teach to the test in terms of performance measures.
Use multiple measures of progress.

22. During a recent self-esteem class, several girls indicated that they had almost no idea of what

types of career opportunities existed for them beyond traditional teaching, nursing, and office jobs.
Which of the following would be the best way to help these girls?
A. Start a program to involve both parents and students in discussion groups.
B. Strongly advise the girls to model their approaches after successful male CEO’s.
C. Begin an open door policy for the girls to informally stop by your office to talk about their hopes
and dreams.
D. Provide the girls with websites, biographies, and invite successful females to be speakers, who
bring experiences into the classroom.
23. The high school teachers ask you to help them to implement the drug prevention program. Which
of the following teaching methods is most likely to generate positive results?


A. Small group sessions to watch and discuss video programs of successful teens.
B. Question and answer sessions with faculty leaders.
C. Completion of study guides that include information about causes and consequences of drug
usage.
D. Activities such as visiting local prison and keeping a journal.

24. Your school has just had a campus-wide meeting of faculty and staff to discuss the increase in
reported incidents of sexual harassment. The principal asks you to chair a committee that
develops a program to address the issue. Which of the following statements best describes the
program that you will want to develop?
A. Students must be helped to identify school-based resources.
B. Students must be helped to build self-esteem and to handle difficult situations.
C. Students who tease and embarrass others must be met with firm, zero tolerance of their acting
out.
D. Sexual harassment programs offer information and rich strategies.
25. Julie, a third grader, has cystic fibrosis. Her parents want her to be included in regular classes.
Some of the children have been teasing her because of her cough and have asked her what is
wrong with her. As the school counselor, which of the following actions will you first take?

A. You meet one-on-one with the students involved to address how to relate with people who are
different.
B. You invite Julie to your office to visit about her special condition.
C. You visit the classroom to observe how Julie interacts with her peers.
D. You make a home visit to talk with Julie and her parents.
26. Debbie, a tenth grader, tells you that she had a bad scene last night at her house. Her mom was
drunk and started a fight with her because she hadn’t done her homework. After thirty minutes or
so, Debbie’s dad asked Debbie to be grown up and to apologize to her mom. Debbie said she
thought, “Why can’t my mom ever be the grown up?” Your first priority for Debbie is
A.
B.
C.
D.

help her realize that it isn’t her job to be grown up.
to help her set goals for reducing conflict with her mother.
encourage Debbie’s teachers to watch out for and provide extra support for her at school.
to assess Debbie’s degree of safety and support for dealing with her mom and her drinking.

27. Michael, a first grader, lives alone with his mother, following his father’s suicide six months ago.
Michael’s mother explains that he went through potty training as a toddler with no apparent
difficulty. Ever since his father’s death, Michael has had problems with diurnal and nocturnal
enuresis. He dreams of wetting the bed, arguing with his dad, and then his dad shooting himself.
Michael’s mom has talked with Michael’s teacher who asks you what you think needs to be done.
You first
A. ask the teacher to send Michael to your office so that you can do an initial assessment.


B. ask that the teacher calls Michael’s mom to explore her openness to the idea of talking with
you.

C. call Michael’s mom and ask for her permission to have Michael see you weekly for six to eight
weeks for brief grief work.
D. call Michael’s mom and offer her the name of three community resources.
28. Mike Martin, a ninth grader, has threatened suicide to his friends. Friends found a large unlabeled
bottle of pills in his locker and reported them to you. Your first obligation is to
A.
B.
C.
D.

implement the campus policy for suicide prevention and intervention.
initiate communication with Mike to attempt to determine how serious his threats are.
notify Mike’s parents that you are very concerned about his safety.
tell the principal and school nurse of your concern for Mike’s safety.

29. Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez came to the school to complain that their daughter, Savita, a fifth grader,
was upset by comments made by other students during a guidance class, about her clothing and
poor language skills. Your first action is
A.
B.
C.
D.

talk with Savita and plan a meeting with her and the other students who have insulted her.
send a note home with Savita, telling her parents that you will give attention to their needs.
invite the parents to sit in on a guidance class.
invite the parents to express their concerns.

30. Hallie, a sixth grader, comes in crying, saying that her friend has told her that she thinks she
should tell you about how her mom has been treating her. Hallie reports that her mom makes her

dress like Barbie and then shows her off to her boyfriends. Which of the following actions, on your
part, would not be appropriate?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Be sure to say nothing that could be construed as negative about the mother.
Comment that this is not Hallie’s fault and offer to help her defend herself with her mother.
Ask several questions to elaborate and to clarify sufficient details about what has occurred.
Take notes on the information you are being told.

31. Jim’s mother, Mrs. Jeffery, calls you saying that CPS has informed her and her husband that a
complaint has been filed against them for neglect of their four children, including Jim. She is very
angry, charging that she knows you’re the snitch who filed the complaint and you’d better watch
your backside. You respond,
A. “Calm down Mrs. Jeffery. You’re becoming way too upset.”
B. “Mrs. Jeffery, I can tell that you’re very upset that someone has made a charge against you.
Can you help me understand more about how Jim is doing at home?”
C. “Mrs. Jeffery, I’ve noticed how the quality of Jim’s work has changed lately. Also, he seems to
have lost quite a bit of weight, and last week, I noticed a large bruise over his left ear. I think
that for his welfare, he needs help.”
D. “Wait, Mrs. Jeffery, you’re upset about the wrong thing. I’m here to help you and your family.
Somehow, Jim is being hurt. Can you tell me what you and your husband are doing to help
him?”
32. In the incident with Jim’s mother when she calls upset that someone has reported her and her
husband to CPS, you choose to first respond,


A. “Mrs. Jeffery, you sound very upset. I, too, am concerned for Jim. I would like to be helpful, if

possible.”
B. “Mrs. Jeffery, I admit that I did call CPS, but I did it in your son’s best interest.”
C. “Mrs. Jeffery, I can understand you having feelings about someone saying that you and your
husband are poor parents, but something isn’t right about Jim these days.”
D. “Mrs. Jeffery, you have every right to be upset about someone outside of your family getting
involved. How can I help you?”
33. In an eighth grade communications group that you lead, two of the students report that they feel
closer to their dads than their moms because their dads let them take the car out and occasionally
have a beer. You first respond to this information by
A. asking what they think their moms would say if they knew.
B. sharing with the group that these dads’ choices, while seeming cool, are actually offenses that
constitute child abuse and that, by law, you must report the behavior to CPS.
C. asking them if they know their dads are breaking the law.
D. inviting the group to explore their feelings upon hearing this and to explore reasonable choices.
34. Mrs. Woods, ninth grade algebra teacher, pushes into your office, demanding that Matt be taken
out of her class immediately and placed within special education. You pull up Matt’s record on the
computer in your office and learn that prior to this semester Matt has had no record of any
academic and/or classroom difficulties. Your first action is to
A. ask Mrs. Woods if she minds you calling in the principal and also forming a committee to
process what is best for Matt.
B. assure Mrs. Woods that you will call Matt’s parents and ask them to talk with their son.
C. ask Mrs. Woods to calm down and to explore what has been happening between her and Matt.
D. invite Mrs. Woods to help you have a more detailed picture of the problems that she’s seeing in
Matt.
35. Robert, a seventh grader, has been involved in drugs and gang activity. He is in an alternative
program now. How can you, as the school counselor, help Robert?
A. Give Robert face-to-face reminders to see his probation officer.
B. Work with Robert and his parents to develop a plan for at home and at school to help Robert
academically and socially.
C. Provide clear and detailed limits on Robert’s activities until he demonstrates being straight for

three (3) months.
D. Assign Robert to mentor two (2) sixth graders having similar problems and have him talk about
the mistakes he’s made and how he is changing.
36. Last week at your school, two students rushed past the metal detector with knives and guns and
began shouting at the students in the dining room. Then, they fired several shots. No one was
injured, but it is an incident that has been written up in the paper, and numerous parents have
been calling you. Several students have not yet returned to school. Which of the following
responses would be most appropriate?
A. Implement a communications network to explain and provide information to any/all interested
people.
B. Keep communications to a minimum in order to not incite further fears.


C. Refer questions to the in-house communiqué and to the School PR Coordinator.
D. Develop a standard reply to use with each inquiry.
37. Todd, a gifted and talented tenth grader, has been failing math. He scores above ninety (90)
percent on his examinations but fails to submit most of his homework. You, the counselor, the
teacher, and his mother are working to develop a plan to help Todd improve his grades. Which of
the following methods will probably be the most effective with Todd?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Ask the parents to reevaluate Todd’s performance toward goals at the end of each week.
Plan for the teacher to complete and sign a daily check sheet and to send it home by Todd.
Consult with Todd’s mother once a week until he is earning at least a B.
Ask Todd, with input from his parents and the teacher, to work out a plan and communicate it
to you.

38. Jenny, grade five, has just completed a battery of tests. Her mother asks you to speak only with
her, because she sees Jenny’s dad as losing it and becoming over-demanding. What do the
guidelines in the state of Texas say that you, as the school counselor, must do?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Jenny’s father cannot gain access to any of the testing results for Jenny.
If Jenny states it is her preference, then her dad can be given the results.
Jenny’s mother must first give written permission if the dad is to obtain a report.
The school can provide both parents with the same information about Jenny.

Answers
1. C
2. B
3. C
4. B
5. B
6. D
7. A
8. C
9. A
10. D
11. A
12. C
13. A
14. B
15. A
16. C

17. C
18. C
19. C
20. A
21. D
22. D
23. D
24. D
25. B


26. D
27. B
28. B
29. D
30. B
31. B
32. A
33. D
34. D
35. B
36. A
37. D
38. D