College Guidance, Preparation, and Success

The College Board announced mid summer that they will be introducing an 8th grade PSAT test in 2010. While some educators believe the test will help better prepare students to think about their post secondary futures earlier in their education, others feel that students are over tested and that the introduction of the test is simply an economic ploy to make more money. What do you think? To read more about this story visit the LA Times.

In June of 2008, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Madison, Wisconsin announced $2.6 million support to bring the AVID program to local students in order to better prepare them for college. The program will monitor students’ academic progress, take them on college tours, and provide support throughout their secondary experience, making college access a real option for underprivileged adolescents. To learn more visit http://www.avidonline.org/

Orange County, Florida is cutting back on quality programs such as AVID and the Community Education Partners program due to budget cuts. For disadvantaged students that means limited opportunities for college preparation and reduction of resources designed to assist low-income students with attaining higher education. To read more visit the Orlando Sentinel.

For counselors experiencing a shortage of structured afterschool programs dedicated to college access, there are several websites like KnowHow2Go or the College Board that provide in-depth timelines and requirements to help prepare students for postsecondary education. ThroughCollege system activities also helps students consider deeper pre-college questions, such as what are their strengths, aspirations, career interests, and goals. The activities are designed to help students and mentors (which could be family members and community volunteers) engage in deeper conversations that can make college process more meaningful.

According to 2007 data reported in the New York Times, there are on average 311 public school students per each guidance counselor. Counselors spend about 23 percent of their work on college preparation primarily on helping to align curriculum with college standards, host college representatives, represent students to college officers, assist with applications and financial aid. The number one activity counselors did in regard to college counseling was meeting with individual students to discuss college options. Perhaps in high need schools with large populations, counselors could benefit from group college advising, recruitment of volunteer mentors to help students navigate the college search and application process, and streamline college recruitment strategies.

North Carolina introduces virtual public schools that help students graduate early. The majority of America’s public schools have access to the internet and utilize technology in some meaningful way. Virtual education is become the fastest growing sector of education. North Carolina is recognizing the potential online learning has for its students and has announced the statewide North Carolina Virtual Public School program that allows students to take online courses allowing them to earn college credits and graduate early from high school. The online courses also promote college preparation and easier transition to higher education. To learn more visit http://www.ncvps.org/

With ThroughCollege, BrainReactions conducted a study with the purpose to identify ways to innovate the way college guidance can happen for high school students. Currently the ratio of over 400 high school students for every one school counselor leaves much opportunity for innovation of college guidance: both incremental improvements to the way it is currently done and more innovative solutions which represent significant changes. With advancements in technology and knowledge, there should be opportunities to improve college guidance for students, and this exploratory study sought those ideas.

In the spring of 2008 a second focus group and brainstorm were conducted on the topic of innovating college guidance counseling for high school students. This brainstorm included 7 different idea generators who shared their experiences, their ideas, and their own individual analysis with a survey after the session. The lead researcher and an analyst made meaning of the ideas and individual analysis to identify best ideas for future practice and themes that were important based on the perspectives of the idea generator participants.

This study was conducted as a result of findings from the first study, namely that the opportunity for innovating college guidance involved  helping students to a) discover themselves and what they wanted to do and become, b) utilize the internet (especially Facebook, YouTube, etc.) and resources for college guidance activities, and c) to better engage in the process of college planning with stronger relationships.

The topic areas this second study focused on included more specific idea generating questions. Significant focus group and brainstorming questions posed were:

1. What was your own college guidance experience like?

2. What are the problems with existing college & career guidance for High School students?

3. What could a better and amazing college guidance system feature?

4. How can you help High School students figure out who they are: what their strengths, interests, values, etc. are so that they can make better college and life choices?

5. If there were a new system for college guidance, how could you use the especially the internet to increase awareness about it and get people to use it?

6. How would you increase the amount of high school and college students using a Facebook application and get educators to use this with students?

7. What are ideas for new activities that would help students with their self learning, and preparing for a peak college experience?

This report can be downloaded from the ThroughCollege Educator Resources page.

Author: Darin Eich, Ph.D.

Florida schools trim popular specialized programs: Florida programs to
benefit both strong learners and those with certain academic and
behavioral issues will be pared back or outright eliminated this fall
amid dramatic state budget cuts. Orange County’s AP program is being
significantly downsized, while other counties are cutting back on
AVID, which works to give learners in need of academic support a
better shot at going to college. Also in Orange County, the Community
Education Partners program designed to help struggling youth make up
credits and graduate with their classmates, already has been
eliminated. Read more at
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/news/southofdowntown/orl-shoestring1108aug11,0,7770391.story

If the budget crisis continues to cut out essential guidance and college prep programs, more affordable alternatives are needed.

If you are interested in the research on college guidance and the future implications of helping students achieve college, access this article in the 2008 Review of Higher Education Journal on the role of college counseling in shaping college opportunity. I was most surprised to find that at over half of the schools they studied, the number of students per counselor was greater than 400 to 1! Even 3 of the 5 high resource schools they studied had greater than 400 students for every one counselor. This is well above the 100:1 recommended ratio from the American School Counselor Association and a problem that needs to be addressed in innovative ways.

The abstract for this article is: “This study draws on data from descriptive case studies of 15 high schools, three in each of five states. The findings highlight constraints in the availability of college counseling, differences in the availability of college counseling across schools, and the influence of schools, districts, higher education institutions, and states on the availability and nature of college counseling. The study suggests that, in the context of limited fiscal and other resources, changes in federal and state financial aid policies, district policies pertaining to counseling, and relationships with higher education institutions will help ensure that all students receive sufficient college counseling.”

The citation is: Perna, L. W., Rowan-Kenyon, H., Thomas, S. L., Bell, A., Anderson, R., & Li, C. (2008). The role of college counseling in shaping college opportunity: Variations across high schools. Review of Higher Education. 31(2), 131-159.

I spent two weekends in June helping with a couple of leadership retreat type conferences for high school students. I was the closing speaker for both the HOBY (Hugh O’Brien Youth Program) conference in Madison, Wisconsin as well as WILS, the Wisconsin Leadership Seminar, which is held in Milwaukee. I made it through the Wisconsin flooding to be with amazing groups of high school students each weekend. I’ve been helping with conference such as these for a handful of years and they are always very powerful experiences for the students, if not the most powerful experience they have had in their life up to that point. They leave visibly changed. Here are some key elements that may make the experience so powerful for the students.

Firsts.
For many students it could be their first leadership learning experience. It could be their first retreat. It could be their first time in residence at a college. It could be their first formal experience to learn about themselves. Our first experiences are often times our most impacting.

Early Start.
It looks like leadership development can be provided to students younger and younger. The students at these conferences just finished their sophomore year of high school. It seems like the time is ripe for them to start discovering themselves and their leadership. After all, they will be applying to college soon and a conference or experience like this could help them with that process and thinking about their future. Perhaps students can even start younger with leadership retreats such as these.

New Peers.
The students arrive as the only student from their high school. They meet other students from similar situations…being their school’s ambassador. It can be powerful to leave your normal peer group to be amongst new peers, especially peers interested in and willing to engage in a leadership conference.

Experience Leadership.
It is experiential. Students do service projects, group projects, and other kinds of projects. They are learning about leadership and themselves through doing it with new people. Though there are a lot of panels where the students sit back and listen to people practicing leadership, the experiences they practice for themselves may be key for them. The students also are very willing to experience. They will be eager to do almost any new experience or activity you ask of them.

Small Groups.
Students are a part of a small group. Through this group they are able to see how new groups can form and lead together through actually experiencing it. For many of these students it is more engaging and easier to share with one another in this small group format.

Craziness.
Crazy might be a close relative of creativity or courage. Students are not only allowed but encouraged to get a little crazy. They use their creativity and energy in full force. The cheers resonate through the whole weekend of the conference. Students can try out new actions and display their talents. A major focus is on being yourself and coming out of your shell.

Key Questions.
At the stage of leadership development the students are at, I’m proposing that they should be encountering self discovery and the diversity of experiences that allow for that self discovery to occur. From reflection on the experiences they have had students can begin to look inward and answer some key questions. I believe that these are key questions for students to start thinking about:
What are my most meaningful experiences?
What are my strengths?
What are my interests?
What are my values?
What new experiences should I gain to learn more about myself?

I have heard over and over again from participants how much their experience with HOBY, WILS, or other first leadership retreats had meant to their life…even 10 years later. I wish I would have had the opportunity to participate in something like this as a high school student before preparing for college application. In conclusion, I believe that we can use many more of these weekend leadership retreats for high school students. The impact seems to be so high at the right time for the students. States, schools, and various programs could certainly offer similar experiences to impact students leadership development and get them on the right track for thinking about college and their future.

Author: Darin Eich, Ph.D.

A recent study by Helen Janc Malone examined the relationship between parental involvement and students’ plans to attend four-year college. The research question asked: What is the probability—controlling for parents’ income, level of education, and race/ethnicity—that a high school student whose parents are involved in his/her postsecondary preparation would plan to go to a four-year college? Using the Educational Longitudinal Study dataset (ELS:2002), a nationally representative sample of 9,121 students and parents from 752 schools across the country was analyzed. Applying a binary logistic regression analysis, the findings show the fitted odds that a student would plan to go to a four-year college (vs. not go) among students who planned to take the SAT/ACT were 4.42 times higher when parents were involved in a student’s academics and college preparation vs. when parents were not involved, on average, in the population. Further, the fitted odds a student would plan to go to a four-year college (vs. not go) among students who did not plan to take the SAT/ACT were 6.59 times higher when parents were involved in a student’s academics and college preparation vs. when the parents were not involved, on average, in the population. These findings support the current literature on the continued importance of parental involvement in their adolescents’ postsecondary preparation.

A research report on the role of parents in students’ college choice can be found on the ThroughCollege Educator Resources page.

Author: Helen Janc Malone