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College Board Gets $680,000 Grant to Train College Counselors
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The James Irvine Foundation recently granted $680,000 to the College Board to support efforts to provide an adequate number of college counselors in California. The funds will be used to train new school counselors, who will help diverse student populations at public schools prepare for and pursue a college education.
Training counselors provides the best return on this very generous investment. As Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, explained, “We believe that training counselors to be effective in guiding students through the college-readiness and enrollment process will benefit all students, but most of all students from low-income backgrounds — especially first-generation students — who do not have ready access to the information and skills needed to enroll and succeed in college.”
A recent U.S. Department of Education study found that, among students whose parents never attended or graduated from college, only 54 percent enroll in college immediately following high school — only 36 percent for those whose parents did not complete high school. Underrepresented and recent immigrant students are much more likely to have parents in these categories and thus require extra assistance and information.
“With an average of more than 1,000 students per counselor, California has had the highest student-to-counselor ratio in the country,” said Kris Zavoli, senior director for state government relations and regional membership for the College Board’s Western Regional Office. “California state legislative bill AB 1802 authorizes the hiring of approximately 2,500 new counselors to lighten the overall caseload. One of the school counselors’ many tasks is college counseling. The next logical step is to design a training program for counselors to help them in this important work.” New public school counselors in California will be offered a series of three research-based, field-tested workshops, all of which will employ College Board resources and will be supplemented with a weeklong summer institute. A workshop for district directors of counseling will help them identify the greatest challenges facing counselors in their districts, set priorities for future professional development and ensure that school counseling is central to the education reform efforts in their districts.
To ensure systemic and long-term results, the grant funds will also be used to develop a train-the-trainer model. This model trains experienced counselors to give workshops on effective college counseling to other counselors in their districts so that the skills and knowledge needed are spread throughout the district. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.
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A Note from Western Region VP Al Mijares |
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VP Al Mijares
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Please join us Feb. 25-27 in lovely Newport Beach, Calif., for the Western Regional Forum. Our regional council has put together a strong program for educators. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to network with educators from throughout the region.
Schools across the country received their PSAT/NMSQT® results last month. The PSAT/NMSQT Score Report provided students and families with valuable information on core skills in mathematics, writing and critical reading. In addition, PSAT/NMSQT test-takers received access to My College QuickStart™, a personalized planning kit based on PSAT/NMSQT results that guides your child through skill assessment, SAT® preparation, a personality test, major and career exploration and more.
The Hawaii Department of Education continues to focus on improving academic achievement by supporting AP® through funding professional development for teachers throughout the state. In addition, this is the second year that Hawaii provided the PSAT/NMSQT for all 10th-graders in public schools throughout the state in an effort to connect students to college success and opportunity.
The Western Regional Office hosted a technical-assistance workshop for prospective districts Jan. 9-10, helping them to prepare proposals for the Smaller Learning Communities grant. We will also host a financial aid workshop in San Jose, Calif., Feb. 7 at the Doubletree Hotel.
We sponsored the keynote speaker for the California Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators conference in December. Youlonda Copeland-Morgan and Georgette DeVeres conducted a session on the CollegeKeys Compact™, introducing the Compact to the regions. The Compact was very well-received, as there was a lot of interest and excitement for the material. Youlonda was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the CASFAA.
The entire Higher Ed staff went to New York in December for SAT and AP training. Both programs had great updates, and we will share that exciting information with folks in the region later this year.
Washington and Colorado have expressed significant interest in a successful program created in Michigan to counteract that’s state Proposal 2, which effectively banned affirmative action. Known as Descriptor PLUS, the program divides areas of the state into separate clusters according to the average annual income and socioeconomic factors that make up these places. Washington now has I-200, and Colorado will likely have a ballot initiative similar to Proposition 2 in its upcoming election. We are delighted that one of our College Board programs is helping colleges continue to enroll a diverse class of students in light of the limitations put in place by those ballot initiatives.
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Western Regional Forum in Newport Beach, Calif. Feb. 25-27
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The College Board 2008 Western Regional Forum, to be held Feb. 25-27 at the Marriott Hotel in Newport Beach, Calif., will draw more than 700 educators from more than 300 schools and colleges throughout the 12 states of the Western Region.
This year’s forum will offer 36 sessions focused on the most challenging issues from a variety of perspectives and reflect the wide range of interests represented by the members of the Western Region. Day one will begin with eight preforum sessions, leading to the First-Time Attendees Reception and Plenary Session.
Day two will feature a College Fair and Colloquium, entitled Ensuring College Readiness for All Students. The Western Regional Assembly Luncheon will immediately follow with the presentation of the Distinguished Service Awards.
Attendees can look forward to discussing timely topics in sessions such as The Corporate Sector and Higher Education: Support or Encroachment, Roll Up Your Sleeves: Roundtable Discussion for Deans and Directors and Global Curriculum: A Mandate for Survival.
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(PDF)
