February 13, 2008

Proactive College Counselors Can Play Key Role in High-School Students' Choices

The approach a high school takes to college counseling influences the likelihood of a student’s attending college, according to a new study conducted by an assistant professor of education at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Whether the student is black or white, rich or poor, the chances that he or she will attend college improve when the guidance counselor takes a proactive role in helping navigate the process of choosing and applying to colleges.

A report on the study, “School Strategies and the ‘College-Linking’ Process: Reconsidering the Effects of High Schools on College Enrollment,” by Lori Diane Hill, was based on data gathered from 188 high schools in 30 major metropolitan areas throughout the country. Ms. Hill separated the schools into one of three categories based on how intensely they advised students on the college-application process.

Although students across all socioeconomic levels benefit from strong counseling programs, some groups of students remained unaffected, no matter the quality of advising they received.

The chances of a driven student’s attending college were not diminished by a less-involved counseling office. And high schoolers whose academic performance precluded them from admission to the average four-year college were unlikely to reap any benefits from a more positive counseling approach. —Elizabeth F. Farrell

Comments

1. As a high school counselor I welcome this insight. Unfortunately too many high schools still divide their counselor offices alphabetically and not everyone can become the knowledgable person who can assist the students in being application aware. The ins and outs of scholarships and applications and essays are far more complex than most counselros ever think.

   — JBJones    Feb 13, 07:22 PM    #

2. With due respect to the authors, the substance of this study is self-evident. What needs to be said is that the majority of the students who are not at the ends of the spectrum are largely forgotten. They draw little attention and go on their merry way, influenced by chance, and making decisions on what they hear rather than what they know. A good, proactive counseling program will attend to this group, thus reducing or avoiding uninformed decisions, poor choices and potential failure in the first year of college. This does not take more resources, it simply means having a program that informs all students of the process, so they have a chance of taking control rather than be controlled by events.

   — Nala Saah    Feb 14, 11:32 AM    #

3. I think that it is the right position. And absolutle agree with the first comment.
   http://www.alpha-school.com

   — School teacher    Feb 19, 12:20 PM    #

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