Three important issues in college counseling for first generation and disadvantaged students surfaced in a convening this week hosted by the White House and Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. This summary is based on Eric Hoover’s article in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
1) Counselor training needs to be improved in terms of overall quality, diversity skills and availability for both pre-service preparation and ongoing professional development.
2) Technology can fill a void by providing direct support to students and also helping counselors stay on top of a continually changing field.
3) Better student results demands collaboration among all the stakeholders who have something to offer students: admissions officers, businesses, community-based organizations and faith communities.
When I was Commissioner of Higher Education in Connecticut, I visited inner city high schools to get a firsthand feel. Guidance offices are overwhelmed with day to day emergencies that leave them with little time to focus on students’ long term futures. Some city high schools are overrun with many well meaning outside programs that aren’t coordinated and may even be adding to students’ confusion. One urban Superintendent asked me to help create a new state certification track just for college counseling in order to increase the chances of getting the right skill set and keeping the counselors dedicated to that function.
This is a big challenge to our efforts to increase educational attainment for all Americans. The meeting at Harvard was a good step to bring more attention to this priority.
Michael Meotti advises foundations, think tanks, state governments, regional partnerships and higher education institutions how to connect student success and financial sustainability. He is the Principal of Ed Policy Group and formerly served as CT Commissioner of Higher Education and President of the United Way of Connecticut.
Check out Mike’s blog about higher education trends, student success, college readiness, education technology and other issues.
