Assessment in School Counseling


Counseling entails providing assistance and encouragement to help in the provision of a solution to problems that people, groups, or communities face. The undertaking is centered on the client’s needs that a professional counselor should appreciate and understand in detail. If the intended result is the provision of guidance that ultimately leads to the counselee getting help, the counselor needs to ensure that all the undertakings follow the client’s demands, centered on a rational assessment and guided by the relevant code of ethics. Assessment is very vital in counseling because it is through a comprehensive assessment that a counselor can collect all the relevant data on a particular client. Once the data is collected, it is possible to define the problem at hand better thereby realigning all the efforts to meeting the demands that can solve the problem at hand.

This paper discusses a student that has passed her exams and has attained a good score that can even be admitted to a state university. The problem is that she does not have a clear idea of what she wants to pursue in college. To help the student in question diligently, it is vital to ensure that all the actions taken during the counseling session should be limited to the intention and guided by the empirical data on the student. It is the optimal goal of this paper to provide a platform under which Sophia can be guided into choosing the right career path based on her abilities.

Primary Question

A primary question forms the clear intention that a counseling undertaking wants to attain. It is the variable that guides the cause of action in the counseling session. In the context of the case scenario about Sophia, the primary question is as follows. What is Sophia’s level of self-believe (confidence) in terms of her career path and expectations scope in relation to her abilities?

Assessment Tool

If any counseling session is to be successful, then there must be a clear goal. This helps in ensuring that the right information is collected, the right approach is utilized but above all, the right assessment and assessment tool are used. The case in question demands the counselor to identify the self-perception Sophia has in terms of her ambitions and abilities that can help the counselor identify the right career path for her. In appreciation of the discussed task, the Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale will be helpful in determining the prominent interest in her career perspective and in addition, the self-believe Sophia has in terms of what she thinks is the best fit for her as a career.

Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale

This assessment tool is utilized in identifying an individual’s belief in the context of self-attainable goals, career information, problem-solving capability in relation to their strength and weakness. It is utilized in counseling to understand the counselee’s self-perception better. In order to help the client in counseling, the most variable is the counselee’s point of view. Once this information becomes clearer to the counselor, then it becomes possible to realign the actions to conform to the area of interest better. More to say, according to counseling code of ethics, it is the counselee’s perspective that should form the basis of any counseling undertaking. In the same spirit, Sophia’s case demands total understanding behind her lack of self-awareness in terms of her career path. There is the need to understand what she believes she can do or cannot do in terms of her career choice. It is also vital to get into the details of the reason behind her lack of definite decision of which career path to follow.

Measure of the Identified Problem

Utilizing Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale will help the counselor to come up with detailed information on what Sophia believes is the career path that she has confidence in. If it is unclear to her, the reasons behind this fact will be availed in terms of the feedback from her in terms of her level of exposure to career information. Utilizing this tool will also make it possible for the counselor to pinpoint Sophia’s problem-solving capability. This will be helpful in providing insights into the potential area of career interest. In addition, the tool provides information on the counselee’s self-aware points of strength and weaknesses. Over and above, Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale avails information pertaining possible career path from an individual’s perspective. 

This particular trait of this tool makes it relevant and appropriate enough to utilize it for the task in question. Allowing Sophia to expound in details what she believes her strength is, and what she believes she can handle well as her career will be vital in the provision of the way forward. Identifying her level of exposure to possible career venture will aid the counselor in making the necessary steps geared towards the provision of detailed career information. The tool brings forth vital information centered in the counselee’s level of confidence that makes counseling session be more counselee-centered, which is an essential trait of all successful counseling undertaking.

How the Assessment Is Scored, Interpreted, and Linked to the Practice of Counseling

Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale is centered towards identifying the level of counselee’s confidence in engaging in various activities relevant to various careers.


The score is usually in the level of confidence perceived by the counselee on a particular activity. It can be problem-solving, creativity, interest, to name but a few. The score is demonstrated in the form of (1) not confident, (2) fairly/moderately confident, and (3) highly confident. The aim is for the counselee to indicate their current level of confidence in relation to a particular potential career undertaking. The vital take to note is that the counselee is expected to indicate the level of confidence on a particular engagement based on his/her current perception or feeling and not based on future expectations.


The primary interpretation is centered in the level confidence score level indicated by the counselee. High level of confidence demonstrates the counselee’s ability to perform the necessary activity. It indicates the self-belief held by the counselee in terms of performing some particular task. On the other side, low level of confidence provides a clear indication of the counselee’s acceptance of lack of ability in performing some particular task. The varying confidence levels on a given career tasks gives median level of confidence that makes up the overall confidence of an individual in terms of engaging in a particular career path.

Link to the Practice of Counseling

At the heart of Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale is the urge of a counselor to understand the counselee’s self-awareness better. In the same spirit, counseling engagement is geared towards understanding the problem in the line of enacting actions that are going the help the counselee get the solution or guidance. The bottom line is the fact that for any counseling session to be deemed successful, the counselee must attain the solution he or she has been looking for. In the context of Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale, the confidence level data attained from the counselee is vital in detailing the overall self-belief that an individual has. This data is useful in identifying the possible barriers preventing an individual from certain types of careers or choosing a career path. In addition, via the data attained, the counselor can identify inhibiting variables making the counselee narrow down his or her perceived career path scope. It is also via Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale tool that a counselor can identify the prevailing strengths and weaknesses within a counselee, thereby helping him or her make the most suitable decision in the context of career or career path.

How can the Tool be Used with Clients as Part of an Ethical Assessment Process

Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale is a very flexible tool assuming different questions relevant to the case in question. Therefore, identifying the primary goal is essential to the success rate of this tool. Appreciating this trait about the tool demands the first step to be always the identification of the primary question. Once there is a clear primary question, the relevant variables making up the primary question are identified. A clear definition of these variables is important in coming up with the scope in order to maintain relevance but at the same time, in upholding comprehensibility. The next step in the collection of data in terms of confidence level is ascribed to different variables making the primary inference. Analysis of the data forms the next step, whereby the intention is to identify the pattern demonstrated from the varied levels of confidence associated with the counselee’s perception of a particular task.

The last step is making a detailed inference that forms the basis of counseling engagement where the counselor is guided by the needs of the counselee. Utilizing the data received is vital in providing data based course of action, thereby helping the counselee to define clearly his career path based on an improved self-understanding. The counselor becomes better placed in appreciating the strengths and weaknesses of the counselee and the reasons behind them. Ultimately, he or she is better placed to help the counselee to make the right decision in terms of her/his most suitable career or career path to follow.

Sophia’s Case Primary Question

What is Sophia’s level of self-belief (confidence) in terms of her career path and expectations scope in relation to her abilities?

Facts to Appreciate

The case is about Sophia, a student, who does not have self-chosen career path she wants to follow. In addition, she is the first person to attend college in her family. Her less-educated family members press her to pursue studies that represent their unfulfilled dreams. However, of great importance is the fact that Sophia herself is confused and she does not know what she wants to pursue. In addition, she cannot comprehend why she does not have a clear objective in terms of her dreams.

The Task

 It is the intention of a counsellor to help Sophia come up with a detailed and comprehensive career path that is based on her abilities and, in addition, the self-perceived confidence. This can only be met through an in-depth analysis of her confidence level of different possible courses based on her self-efficacy and self-appraisal as indicated in the primary question. In addition, there is the need to appreciate the fact that she is the first to attend college in her family. Therefore, there is the need to integrate the family connotation on her confidence level in undertaking various courses (career path).

Assessment Tools - (Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale)

Sophia’s confidence level should be the prominent variable being sort after to help understand better her current state in terms of career path. This will help the counselor to be in a more informed position on the best approach and techniques to be utilized in guiding Sophia into making the most suitable decision on what is best for her in terms of career path.

Process of Presenting Assessment Results

Her confidence level on the following variable should be analyzed. The analysis will show what she perceives as her strength and weaknesses, her confidence level on different courses potential to her score, and her family’s influence on her confidence level on any undertaking in the college. In addition, there is the need to inquire on her confidence level on understanding on what is best for her. Lastly, her confidence level of her self-awareness in terms of her interest should also be analyzed. There is the need to appreciate the fact that Sophia is the first person in her family to attend a college. As a result, she does not have the luxury of having adequate career information at her disposal. This reality is also cemented by the fact that she has very few friends with a high level of education. It is, therefore, important to ensure that she gets an in-depth analysis on the counseling interpretation of her different confidence levels on the different variable indicates.

Using this approach will help Sophia understand herself better in terms of solidifying or changing her self-perception on different issues that are weighed in the confidence score. It is also essential to expound on areas where family issues are supposed to be considered and moments that should not have a prominent influence. This should be done because one cannot sideline the possible excitement that her family could be experiencing. Having a clear conscious choice is also a vital outcome expected after the counseling session. However, it should be clear and important to maintain all the undertakings and area of influence centered to the indicated demands brought about by the confidence scores. It is only by confining the counseling action on Sophia’s demands that she can be comprehensive and objectively guided. Above all, the feedback given by Sophia should be through informed consent. This is line with the code of ethics of counseling whereby the counselee should be fully aware of her/his rights within the confinement of a counseling session. If the above approach is utilized, detailed information will be availed via Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale, leading to the counselor identifying the best approach to use in enlightening Sophia. It will be possible for the counselor to help her understand her possible opportunities both known and unknown to her better, helping her make the best decision, thereby guiding her towards a prosperous future.


The Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy Scale presents a tool that can bring the relevant information to Sophia’s case. As Sophia has passed her examinations well, the objective of the counseling is not on her capabilities but rather on her self-belief. Therefore, the confidence levels demonstrated by the scale will be helpful in directing her to the best possible career path. It is also evident that the success rate of any counseling depends not only on the appropriateness of tool used in assessment but also on the need to define the primary question precisely. Having a precise objective ensures that the necessary preliminary steps are taken, thereby coming with relevant actions. Therefore, there is a conspicuous necessity to guide all the actions and inactions in an assessment with the counselee’s demands. This assessment is essential in ensuring the counseling session is more counselee-centric. Sophia’s case, therefore, should be focused on her need, directed by the counselor’s competence and guided by the relevant code of ethics. 

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