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Developing a CollegeGoing Culture: What Is the Counselors Role

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Title: Developing a CollegeGoing Culture: What Is the Counselors Role


1
Developing a College-Going Culture What Is the
Counselors Role?
July 2009
Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, Ph.D.
2
Developing a College-Going CultureWhat Is the
Counselors Role?
July 2009
Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, Ph.D.
3
  • Session Outcomes
  • Ability to define a college-going culture
  • Ability to discuss and list important
  • elements of a college-going culture
  • Ability to discuss the school counselors
  • role in promoting elements of a college-
  • going culture
  • Ability to assess a schools college-going
  • culture.

4
What Was Your Educational Journey?
5
My Educational Journey was
  • Scenic route
  • Congested
  • Extended Vacation
  • Stop Go
  • Bumpy Road
  • Stop Signs
  • Guided Tour
  • Smooth Sailing
  • No Traffic
  • Uphill
  • Delayed Flight
  • Sinking ship
  • Hang gliding
  • Adventure Tour
  • Foggy
  • Foggy, but clearing
  • Detour
  • Searching
  • Rolling a Rock Uphill
  • Stepping Stones
  • Fly by Night

6
  • College-Going Culture
  • The environment, attitudes, and behaviors in
    schools and communities that support and
    encourage students and their families to obtain
    the information, tools, and perspective to ensure
    access to and success in post-secondary
    education.

7
  • McDonoughs Conceptualization of a College-Going
    Culture
  • Clear Expectations
  • College Partnerships
  • Family Involvement
  • Comprehensive Counseling Model
  • Testing Curriculum
  • Faculty Involvement
  • Information and Resources
  • Articulation

8
Clear Expectations
  • Explicit goals of college preparation must be
    defined
  • and communicated clearly, consistently, and in
    a
  • variety of ways by families and all school
    personnel.
  • School mission statement
  • Four year plans for all students
  • Frequent communication with students about their
  • college options
  • Ongoing opportunities to discuss college
    preparation,
  • define goals

9
College Partnerships
  • Have active links between K-12 schools and
    local
  • colleges and universities that can lead to
    field
  • trips,college fairs, and academic enrichment
  • programs
  • Students at all grade levels have visited local
    college
  • campuses
  • College dress days, door decoration contests,
    guest
  • speakers
  • Tutoring programs
  • Pen Pal program with college students

10
Family Involvement
  • Family members must have opportunities to gain
  • college knowledge and understand their role.
  • College Fairs for students and their families
  • Evening/weekend parent workshops to learn about
  • college preparation, financial planning
  • Parents supported in their belief that their
    children are
  • college material.

11
Comprehensive Counseling Model
  • All counselors serve as college counselors and
  • all student interactions with counselors are
  • college advising opportunities
  • All high school counselors attend state college
    conferences
  • Counselors at all grade levels have on-going
    collaboration
  • Counselors distribute college information to all
    students,
  • faculty, and staff

12
Testing and Curriculum
  • Students must be informed about necessary tests,
  • must be given the opportunity to prepare for
    these
  • tests, and testing fees must be taken into
    account
  • PSAT given on school day to all 10th graders with
    fees
  • waived
  • Master schedules changed to make more college
    prep
  • classes available
  • Students learn organizational skills

13
Faculty Involvement
  • Faculty must be active, informed partners with
  • counselors, students, and families and
  • professional development opportunities must
  • be available.
  • Classroom decorations and college corners
  • College Talk in class time
  • Mathematics teachers work with PSAT-takers
  • Teachers understand their roles in college prep
  • Teachers visit counseling office

14
Information and Resources
  • Students must have access to up-to-date,
  • comprehensive college information and schools
  • must build college knowledge infrastructure.
  • College-related periodicals
  • PSAT/SAT/ACT materials
  • Financial aid materials
  • College catalogs
  • College choice guides
  • CD ROMS on college planning
  • Workshops on test prep, financial planning, and
  • high school coursework planning

15
Articulation
  • Students should have a seamless experience from
  • kindergarten through high school graduation,
    with ongoing
  • communication among all schools in a feeder
    group, and
  • work at one school site should connect with
    activities at
  • other levels.
  • Students hear a consistent message at all grade
    levels
  • As early as kindergarten, students are seeing
    themselves as college
  • material
  • Middle schools connect with students as young as
    fifth grade
  • High school and middle school counselors are
    pooling resources and
  • making connections

16
Pathways to College Network College-Focused
Schools Do the Following
  • Expect all students are capable of being prepared
  • to enroll in and succeed in college
  • Provide a range of high quality, college prep
    tools
  • for students and families
  • Embrace social, cultural and varied learning
    styles
  • when developing the environment and activities
  • at the school

17
Pathways to College Network College Focused
Schools Do the Following
  • Involve leaders at all levels in establishing
  • policies, programs, and practices
  • Maintain sufficient financial and human
  • resources for this mission
  • Assess policy, programs, and practices
  • regularly to determine their effectiveness

18
What Can School Counselors Do?
19
In Terms of College Access, School Counselors
Must Change
  • What We Do
  • Effective Recommendation Letter Writing
  • Engaging and Informing Students, Parents, and
    Teachers
  • Scheduling Students in Rigorous Courses
  • Providing Academic Supports for Students
  • Providing Counseling/Advising That Is
    College-Focused
  • Examine Data
  • What We Think
  • All Students Can Achieve
  • College Is An Option For Students
  • I Can Help Students Go To College
  • What We Feel
  • I Am A Leader!
  • I Am Angry About the College-Going Disparities!
  • I Love My Job!

20
ASCA Model
21
The School Counselor and College-Going Culture
  • Leaders
  • Advocates
  • Critical Users and Analyzers of Data
  • Facilitators of Decision-Making Process
  • College Choice Advisers/Counselors
  • Challengers of Bias and Low Expectations
  • Providers of Student Support/Resources
  • Consultants for Parents/Teachers
  • Coordinators of Course Work/Scheduling

22
School Counseling and College Access
  • Counselors have an impact on the following
    components of the college preparation and
    advising task
  • Structuring information and organizing activities
    that foster and support students college
    aspirations and an understanding of college and
    its importance
  • Assisting parents in understanding their role in
    fostering and supporting college aspirations,
    setting college expectations and motivating
    students
  • Assisting students in academic preparation for
    college
  • Supporting and influencing students in decision
    making about college
  • Organizationally focusing the school on its
    college mission

23
Social Justice Framework for School Counselors (6
Cs)
  • Counseling and Intervention Planning
  • Consultation
  • Challenging Bias
  • Collecting and Utilizing Data
  • Connecting Schools, Families, and
  • Communities
  • Coordination of Student Support Services

Holcomb-McCoy, C. (2007). School Counseling to
Close the Achievement Gap. Thousand Oaks, CA
Corwin Press.
24
Examine and Utilize Data
  • Examine Data to Determine
  • Gaps in Achievement
  • Gaps in Graduation Attainment
  • Gaps in Drop-Out Rates
  • Gaps in Special Program Enrollment (e.g.,
    Gifted/Talented, Extracurricular, Testing Prep.)

25
The Highest Level of Math Reached in High School
is a Strong Predictor of BA Attainment
Clifford Adelman, U.S. Department of Education,
The Toolbox Revisited, 2006
26
Advanced Math Big Inequities by Race and
Ethnicity
Source National Center for Education Statistics.
(2007, June). High School Coursetaking Findings
from The Condition of Education 2007.
Washington, DC U.S. Department of Education. (p.
24, Table SA-8).
27
Advanced Math Even Bigger Inequities by Family
Wealth
Percent of 2004 Graduates Completing Math Beyond
Algebra II
28
Research has shown that a powerful predictor of
whether high school students will graduate and
earn a college degree is the rigor of the high
school curriculum they complete.
29
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31
A Rigorous High School Curriculum Greatly
Increases Bachelors Degree Completion for All
Students
Rigorous Curriculum is defined as the top 40
percent of high school curriculum and the
highest high school mathematics above Algebra 2
Note These numbers reflect outcomes for high
school graduates who enter four-year institutions
32
A Rigorous High School Curriculum Greatly
Increases Bachelors Degree Completion for All
Students
Clifford Adelman, U.S. Department of Education,
The Toolbox Revisited,
33
What Types of Data Should Counselors Examine In
Order To Determine Whether There Is Equity In
College Access/Preparation?
34
DATA, DATA, DATA
  • of Students Who Graduate in 4 years
  • of Students Who Drop Out
  • of Students in Honors Courses
  • of Students in AP Courses
  • of Students in Special Education
  • Grades by Teacher
  • of Students Who Visit College Center
  • of Students Who Apply To College
  • Who Attends/Applies to Community Colleges?
  • Who Attends/Applies to Regional/State Schools?
  • Who Attends/Applies to Out-of-State Schools?
  • How many AP/Honors Courses Are Available and
    When?
  • Do all students have the OPPORTUNITY to take more
    advanced courses?
  • PSAT scores? Used for support purposesnot as an
    indicator of SAT Success!!!!!!

35
Cross-Tabulation of Data In Honors Math
36
Barriers to Developing a College Going Culture
  • Counselor-Student Ratio
  • Tendency of counselors to do one-on-one work
  • that doesnt influence the culture of a
    school
  • Resistance from teachers (feeling like they have
  • too many external programs or some who do
  • not think the college message is worthwhile).

37
Dispelling the Myths About Preparing for College
  • Meeting my high school graduation requirements
  • will prepare me for college
  • Its better to take easier classes and get better
  • grades
  • My senior year in high school doesnt matter
  • I dont have to worry about my grades, or the
  • kind of classes I take, until my sophomore year.

38
Examples From College Preparation Checklist
  • Arrange college recruiting visits for the fall
  • Organize parent volunteer activities
  • Send parents calendar of college-planning
  • activities
  • Send parents test dates and registration
    deadlines
  • Prepare SAT/ACT/IB materials
  • Meet with English department to discuss the
  • college portfolio assignment
  • Gather seniors resumes and summer
  • information for recommendation writing

39
Complete the Counselors College Preparation
Checklist and Beliefs/Attitudes Questionnaire
40
Recommendation Letter Writing Tips
  • Schedule an informal meeting with the student to
  • learn more about him or her
  • Find out why a student is applying to a
    particular
  • school, so that it is easier to customize the
    letter to
  • both the student and the school.
  • Make every effort to write about a students
  • character using achievements, activities and
  • academics only as examples to highlight who he
    or
  • she is.
  • Talk to other teachers, counselors, or
    administrators
  • who know the student.

41
Recommendation Letter Writing Sample
42
  • Student I
  • Student Name Carlos H. Senior
  • I. Test Score Information
  • SAT (range 200-800 each section average is
    about 500 for each section)
  • Date 10/08 Critical Reading 480
    Math 410 Writing 410 Overall Score
    1300
  • Date 3/08 Critical Reading 420 Math
    410 Writing 380
  • Overall Score 1210
  • SAT Subject Test Date 3/08 Subject
    Spanish Score 460
  • II. Do your test scores and grades accurately
    reflect your academic potential? If not, explain
    why.
  • No. I dont do well on tests always do better in
    grades. I kinda freeze when I take tests. The
    language is hard to
  • understand and I run out of time.

43
  • VI. Where were you born? If not in the U.S., at
    what age did you move to the U.S.?
  • Born in Mexico and came to this country when an
    infant (6 months old).
  • VII. Do you speak more than one language? If
    so, list and indicate fluency.
  • Spanish and English fluently
  • VIII. With whom are you living? Mother
    Father _ Both parents X Other
  • IX. Will you be the first person in your
    immediate family to attend college?
  • Yes.
  • X. Please tell us about your family. List your
    siblings, providing name, age, current school,
    grade, degrees, and/or
  • occupation.
  • I have 4 half siblings in Mexico, none of them
    have been to college. My oldest sister in the
    U.S. works in Los Angeles as a

44
XIII. Is there any significant, unique, or
unusual experience, situation, or involvement
that you want to share? Since my brothers
birth, Ive become really sensitive about the
issues of people with special needs. I think
that people ignore people with special needs and
I hate that. My brother is just as loving as
every one else and he deserves a chance to be
happy. My family deals with not only being
discriminated against because we are
Latino/Hispanic but also the discrimination that
occurs to people with special needs. XIV.
List three adjectives that you feel best
describes you and explain why. Dedicated Im
dedicated to my family and community Friendly
I speak to everybody. I really like to talk and
enjoy my friends Tough Ive been through some
tough times and I made it through. There is
nothing that I cant get through XV. List the
colleges to which you are applying and
why. College Towson UniversityI like their
programs in special education close to
home College Frostburg State UniversityThey
have a special ed. program College University
of MarylandThey have a special ed program and I
like big schools. I like their soccer team too.

45
Counseling To Increase College Access
46
Video Discussion
  • What did the school counselor say that was
    empowering?
  • How did the school counselor acknowledge the
    students strengths? Fears?
  • What are the students concerns about rigorous
    course taking?
  • How would YOU have motivated this student to take
    the more advanced class?

47
Assessing College-Going Culture Questions to
Explore
  • What is our graduation rate? (Disaggregate by
    race, gender, SES)
  • What is our college application rate?
  • What is our college acceptance rate?
  • What are our school counselors top three
    priorities,
  • and how are days (and year/s) structured?
  • What percentage of our students take the SAT?
    ACT?
  • PSAT? PLAN?
  • How many AP or college level classes does our
    school offer?
  • What is our facultys attitude toward the notion
    that every
  • student at our school can succeed in college?

48
Questions to Explore
  • How often do our administrators, counselors, and
  • teachers consult college professors and
    administration
  • about curricular decisions regarding student
    preparation or
  • ask for data on the performance of graduates?
  • What do we do to promote college information
    sessions?
  • Do we emphasize college advocacy during our
    hiring and
  • evaluation practices?
  • Do all of our students have access to all
    teachers and classes?
  • Is one of our school improvement goals related to
    the
  • issue of college?

49
THANKS AND GOOD LUCK!! cholcom1_at_jhu.edu
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