"Pushing-up" or "cooling-out"? Israeli counselors guidance on track placement

Using data from about 400 ninth-grade students from six junior high schools in Israel, we have investigated students' perceptions about messages conveyed by counselors while guiding them into high school tracks. In Israel, where curriculum differentiation in high school tracks is relatively rigid, the decision on track placement is critical, and guidance at the point of transition is an institutionalized role of the school counselor. Students reported on the nature of messages they received while meeting individually with the counselor. The findings suggest that while counselors seem to be somewhat hesitant about giving very definitive messages, they still differentiate their messages by academic status and gender: low-achievers and girls, especially high achievers, are being "cooled-out" to a greater degree than all high-achievers and boys. It was also found that the pattern of "cool-out" and "push-up" messages vary between schools.