April 17, 2007

American Counseling Association honors Elmore

by K.C. Jaehnig

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Patricia B. Elmore, interim dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, was twice honored during the American Counseling Association's annual meeting in Detroit last month.

The association, founded in 1952, provides leadership training, continuing education and advocacy services to 45,000 members, who practice in various settings around the nation.

Elmore received a glass plaque as winner of the association's Extended Research Award for high-quality research that has contributed significantly to the field for at least 10 years.

She also received two leather-bound books containing the six journal volumes of "Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development" she edited for the Association for Assessment in Counseling and Education, a division of the larger counseling association, between 2000 and 2006. Valerie Schwiebert, president of that group, announced during a ceremonial breakfast that its annual research award for the year's best article on measurement and evaluation research will now carry Elmore's name.

"This recognition of my work was unexpected and such a surprise," Elmore said.

Awards program notes for the extended research prize praise Elmore as an authority on measurement and evaluation.

"Her research on school counselor evaluation and test use standards, counselor training in assessment and measurement, research methodology, statistics teaching, measure and evaluation, a theoretical model for predicting statistical achievement, and evaluation of teaching effectiveness has been presented at national and international conferences with over 100 paper presentations between 1971 and the present," the program says.

"She has also been very giving of her time in promoting the research of others in the field. The sum body of Dr. Elmore's work has left a lasting impression on the areas of measurement and evaluation in counseling."

Elmore, a three-degree graduate of SIUC and a resident of Murphysboro, has taught at the University since 1966.