This dissertation captures the intricacies of high school counseling by utilizing the social science research method, Portraiture (Lightfoot & Hoffman, 1997). This method allowed the author to document how two Counselors of Color at one inner city high school in Los Angeles, Quetzcoatal Academy (QA) interacted with and inspired Latina/o students to engage in the college choice process (Hossler & Gallagher, 1987). During a one-year period, the author collected data at QA through interviews of the counselors, Latina/o students, Latina mothers, teachers, and administrators. In addition, the author engaged in participatory observation and document review to answer the central research question: How do QA high school counselors academically prepare and effectively counsel their Latina/o high school students in the college choice process in order for students to be eligible for post-secondary education? Additionally, this journey into the world of high school counseling allowed the author to explore race and/or ethnicity as it relates to high school counseling.

Also, parental, student, teacher and administrative perspectives as they relate to effective high school counseling for Latina/o high school students were included to contextualize how these two Counselors of Color effectively counseled Latina/o students. This dissertation is a contribution to the counseling profession as it provides practitioners and other vested individuals with Lessons from the Field from each of the portraits presented. This information may be utilized by high school counselors to assess their current practice and counseling philosophy. Finally, this dissertation portrait introduces EC³: An Effective Counseling Framework and Definition for College Preparation & Academic Success for Latina/o High School Students. By drawing on the previous work of Ronald Edmonds (1979, 1981, 1986), the author expands this literature by introducing EC³ to discuss how the two counselors utilized high expectations, compassion, critical dialogue, and commitment to effectively meet the needs of their Latina/o high school students.