Many students with disabilities can graduate from high school and go on to college, yet an investigation by The Hechinger Report reveals that a disproportionate number of young people on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) suffer from low expectations when it comes to postsecondary planning.
“Interviews with more than 100 parents, students, advocates, and experts across the country painted a picture of a special education landscape where transition planning and services are largely neglected,” reporters Sarah Butrymowicz and Jackie Mader wrote in an article published late last year. “Students with disabilities who could pursue higher education or meaningful employment are instead living at home and working low-wage jobs.”
Others are unemployed or pushed into professions that don’t match their interests.
The transition from high school to college can be more than a little challenging. From a different kind of course load to navigating dorm life, that first year can be daunting.
In recent years, we’ve learned more about successful strategies for boosting college access and academic success.
But for many schools, communities, and colleges, bringing those interventions to students has proven challenging, researcher Ben Castleman said Tuesday during a NACAC Facebook Live broadcast.
A new guide— Nudges, Norms, and New Solutions — seeks to fill that gap. The resource is available free of charge and offers step-by-step advice to help educators increase college access, help students file for financial aid, and stay on track academically.
Looking to break down some of the barriers that prevent students from moving beyond high school?
We’ll be broadcasting via Facebook Live at noon on Tuesday, June 19 with Ben Castleman, a #NACACreads author and a co-creator of a new guide Nudges, Norms, and New Solutions. This guide is a free tool for educators as they develop strategies to assist students in the transition from high school to college.
Tune in at noon ET to talk about the guide, Castleman’s new nudge hotline, and how behavioral science can be used to combat summer melt and encourage student success.
Schools with high-achieving students are reporting higher than average rates of teen depression and anxiety, a growing body of research shows.
“What we’ve found is that kids in high-achieving, relatively affluent communities are reporting higher levels of substance abuse than inner-city kids and levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms are also commensurate — if not greater,” Suniya Luthar, a professor emerita at Columbia University’s Teachers College told NPR.
Adjusting to campus life can be tough for any student.
But for teens with Asperger’s syndrome and high-functioning individuals with autism, making the transition to college can be especially challenging.
The University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire is attempting to help such students succeed by preparing them for the stressors they will face as undergrads. The university, a NACAC member institution, holds a week-long residential summer camp to help high school juniors and seniors get ready for college. 2018 marks the 10th year it has offered the camp.
The majority of LGBTQ youth experience negative and even hostile school environments, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign.
The advocacy group surveyed roughly 12,000 students between the ages of 13 and 17 who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, and found that 70 percent had been bullied at school because of their sexual orientation.
Interested in using behavioral science to help more students get to and through college?
A new guide— Nudges, Norms, and New Solutions —is now available for educators as they develop strategies to assist college-bound students. A Nudge Hotline has also been established to help counselors and others customize the guide’s advice for the communities they serve.
Both the guide and the hotline are free and were developed through a collaboration between the Nudge4 Solutions Lab at the University of Virginia and ideas42, a nonprofit that applies behavioral science to today’s toughest social problems.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher initiative is a project partner. Topics covered in the guide include access to college, student finances, and college life and academics.
New data show that racial disparities persist in school discipline, despite efforts to reduce the imbalance.
Federal statistics from the 2015-16 school year demonstrate that black students, along with Hispanic males and American Indians, face greater rates of suspension, expulsion, and arrest than their white classmates.
Editor’s note: A version of this post was originally published on Admitted in December 2017. It’s being republished as part of NACAC’s Best of the Blog series.
Feeling stressed about the college application process? Take heart.
“There are plenty of great schools in this country, and what matters much more than how they are ranked is how you make use of their resources,” Michael S. Roth, president of Wesleyan University (CT), writes in a recent column published by The Washington Post.
He continues: “When I talk to seniors and recent graduates from schools of all kinds and in various parts of the country, I find that it matters little how difficult it was to get admitted to that school and that it matters a great deal how hard they worked while attending it.”
