College Guidance, Preparation, and Success

A new report from the Data Quality Campaign notes the need for longitudinal research in order to track student progress in college prep programs. In particular, the report focuses on several core questions schools should focus on in regard to their prep courses. Available at http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/files/publications-dqc_college_prep_courses-101308.pdf

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.

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.

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

Phi Delta Kappa International, a 100 year old professional association for educators, has awarded Harvard University ThroughCollege Fellow Helen Janc Malone with an Innovation in Education Grant Award. The grant will assist in the ThroughCollege grounded theory research focusing on how low-income juniors and senior in urban public schools make meaning of their college information gathering experience? The study intends to shed light to the common themes and experiences youth might experience in their college application process that could open a dialogue about ways guidance counselors can modify their college guidance techniques to better assist students in the ever-changing and dynamic world of higher education. Results from this study will be made available on the ThroughCollege website resources section.

A recent Phi Delta Kappa Kappan magazine published an article entitled “From the Mouths of Middle-Schoolers: Important Changes for High School and College,” in which the author William J. Bushaw addresses an optimistic outlook that middleschoolers have when entering high school in terms of their college aspirations. According to the study findings, conducted by Harris Poll Online database, 92% of middleschoolers expect to go on to college but 68% of them feel that they do not have adequate information on what courses to take in high school to get ready for college. Additionally, majority of students polled feel that the cost of higher education might prevent them from accessing college even if they meet academic requirements.

Although 1.4 million students are taking AP exams according to the 2001 U.S. Department of Education data, majority of these students come from middle and upper socio-economic classes. This data closely relates to another DOE finding, which shows that only 28% of our poorest students attend four-year institutions versus 66% of our richest students. Further, according to the College Board 2005 report Trends in College Pricing, the net price for public four-year institutions is now around $10,000 and the net price tag for private four-year institutions is now hovering at $19,400. Yet, as College Board data show, Pell Grants and other financial aid sources have been on a steady decline since the late 1970s.

With these troubling findings, it is no wonder that low-income students find academic readiness, financial resources, and access to information as the core barriers to their college attainment. As school counselors, staff, and teachers, we have a responsibility to focus our attention on these core barriers by ensuring that all our incoming high school freshmen get access to college prep courses and information on how to look for colleges, aid with college application process, and hold informational sessions with both parents and students on financing higher education. Further, as higher education professionals, we have a responsibility to work with our high schools to ensure that our standards and expectations are aligned, thus, potentially reducing the ever so growing need for remedial education. Finally, we all need to press our policymakers to reform the higher education financial structure, because it has been proven to be inefficient and inadequate for the majority of students who need financial aid. As we look forward into the future of college access, we should be able to tell our 92% of middleschoolers with college aspirations that they can indeed reach their goal.

Author: Helen Janc Malone

ThroughCollege and BrainReactions conducted a study with the purpose to identify ways to innovate college guidance 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. This includes both incremental improvements to the way it is currently done and more innovative solutions which represent significant changes to how one experiences college guidance in schools. With advancements in technology and knowledge, there are new opportunities to improve college guidance for students, and this exploratory study sought those ideas.

Based on preliminary research, this study focused on the following topic areas:
1. Problems with college guidance for high school students.
2. What a remarkable college guidance system could feature.
3. How school counselors can increase the quantity and quality of college guidance.
4. What college guidance that doesn’t require a counselor could be like.
5. What non-profits or non-school organizations can do to help students with college guidance.
6. How the internet can be utilized for college guidance.

Study Methodology

In late 2007 a 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 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. Four of the participants are undergraduate students, two graduate students, and one recent alumnus. This session was conducted through BrainReactions, an organization that conducts professional brainstorm and innovation sessions with trained idea generators. The session generated approximately 500 ideas. There were six significant topic areas for the session. Results were synthesized with a summary of the themes and most important idea cluster areas for each topic and question.

With additional research it is hoped that the results of this study can provide ideas to enhance college guidance for high school students. You can find the complete report on the ThroughCollege Educator Resources page.

Author: Darin Eich, Ph.D.