GACE School Counseling 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A counselor is working with a student who refuses to speak during sessions. Which counseling technique is MOST appropriate for engaging a resistant adolescent?
- Confrontation to address the resistance directly
- Termination of sessions until the student is ready
- Motivational interviewing strategies to explore ambivalence (Correct answer)
- Referral to a psychiatrist for medication evaluation
Correct answer: Motivational interviewing strategies to explore ambivalence
Motivational interviewing uses open-ended questions and reflective listening to engage resistant clients and explore their ambivalence about change.
Question 2: In a school counseling program, 'indirect services' BEST refers to:
- One-on-one individual counseling sessions
- Small group counseling interventions
- Consultation with teachers and referrals to outside agencies (Correct answer)
- Classroom guidance lessons delivered by the counselor
Correct answer: Consultation with teachers and referrals to outside agencies
Indirect services involve the counselor working on behalf of students through consultation, collaboration, and referral rather than direct student contact.
Question 3: A school counselor observes that African American male students are disproportionately placed in special education. The counselor's MOST appropriate systemic response is to:
- Counsel individual students to improve their classroom behavior
- Analyze disaggregated data and present findings to administration as an advocacy effort (Correct answer)
- Advise teachers to lower expectations to reduce referrals
- Refer all students with concerns to outside mental health providers
Correct answer: Analyze disaggregated data and present findings to administration as an advocacy effort
Analyzing and presenting disaggregated data to stakeholders is a key systemic advocacy strategy for addressing inequitable educational outcomes.
Question 4: Which document outlines the professional ethical standards that school counselors in Georgia are expected to follow?
- Georgia Code of Professional Conduct for Educators
- DSM-5 Clinical Guidelines
- ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors (Correct answer)
- IDEA Procedural Safeguards
Correct answer: ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors
The ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors is the primary ethical framework governing school counseling professional practice.
Question 5: A counselor is facilitating a psychoeducational group for students with test anxiety. This type of group is classified as:
- Process/interpersonal group
- Counseling group (Correct answer)
- Psychotherapy group
- Task/work group
Correct answer: Counseling group
A psychoeducational group focused on a specific issue like test anxiety is classified as a counseling group, which addresses personal growth and situational concerns.
Question 6: When a student with an IEP transitions from middle school to high school, the school counselor's role in the transition planning meeting is to:
- Chair the IEP committee and make final placement decisions
- Provide input on the student's academic and career development goals (Correct answer)
- Diagnose the student's disability and recommend updated services
- Serve as the parent's legal advocate during the meeting
Correct answer: Provide input on the student's academic and career development goals
School counselors contribute to IEP transition planning by sharing knowledge of the student's academic performance, career interests, and postsecondary goals.
Question 7: A student tells a counselor, 'Everyone hates me and I have no reason to live.' The counselor's IMMEDIATE next step should be to:
- Reassure the student that classmates actually like them
- Conduct a suicide risk assessment (Correct answer)
- Call the parents and ask them to pick up their child
- Document the statement in the student's cumulative file
Correct answer: Conduct a suicide risk assessment
Any statement indicating a potential lack of will to live requires an immediate, structured suicide risk assessment to determine level of danger.
GACE School Counseling 3
A counselor is working with a student who refuses to speak during sessions.
Which counseling technique is MOST appropriate for engaging a resistant adolescent?