In tough economic times, school counselors   don't just wait for students to come to their offices in search of college brochures, health pamphlets or other help. These days, they are looking for at-risk kids to prevent personal or academic troubles before they arise. Nowadays, students and families need the guidance more than ever.  Counselors play a steadying role in schools as the economy weighs on families, college admission becomes even more competitive, immigration continues to reshape the population and state-testing pressures many students. They use computers to search through attendance data, grades and standardized test scores for kids who might need extra help.  Schlatter, director of guidance and counseling at Prince William County's Woodbridge Senior High School, has checked attendance records against grades and test results to start peer groups   for students who are failing classes but not skipping them. She said group counseling is another way to reach more students though it can be difficult. "Kids really do start helping and sharing with each other."  At Fairfax High School, counselors found through surveys that students who transferred   to the school after ninth grade enjoyed school significantly less than those who had been there all four years. The counseling staff set up a special program and group for new arrivals in response, said Marcy Miller, the school's director of student services. Counseling staff members also have started small study groups for students to prepare for state Standards of Learning exams, which Miller said have helped raise test scores. She said that some of the newest counselors have had some of the freshest ideas. The author uses the example of prefix = st1 /FairfaxHigh Schoolto show that   _  .
counseling work is obviously effective many students transfer there for help new arrivals will no longer skip classes counseling means little to new arrivals