Category Archives: Importance of School Counselors

Importance of School Counselors

Report: 1.7 Million Students in Schools with Police, No Counselors

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Editor’s note:  This post was originally published on Admitted in March 2019. It’s being republished as part of NACAC’s Best of the Blog series.

High student-to-counselor ratios are a persistent problem in the United States, but what about schools that have no counselor at all?

Using the most recent federal data, the ACLU compared the number of police in schools to the number of counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers on campus.

Their analysis found that 1.7 million students are in schools with a police presence but no counselors. Another 14 million students are in schools with police but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker.

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Importance of School Counselors, Opinion

Op-Ed: The Necessity of College Counseling Training

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I was in over my head. I was a new school counselor for a high school’s inaugural senior class. From my first day, I was inundated with questions from my seniors.

“This school is asking for my non-custodial parent info, but my mom and I haven’t spoken to my dad since we came to the US years ago — does this mean I can’t apply?”

“My favorite school won’t accept the fee waiver you told me about — why not?”

“My parents want me to start at the community college, but I really want to start at U of I — what should I do?”

And most often, something to the tune of, “My parents didn’t go to college — how do I do all this?!”

We made it through that first year, but not without a lot of questions and mistakes along the way. That crash course in college counseling was something I will never forget, but it didn’t have to be so difficult.

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Featured, Importance of School Counselors

Dear Future High School Counselor…

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Editor’s Note: National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association, is always celebrated the first full week in February. We asked NACAC member Edward “Eddie” Pickett III to reflect on what the week — and the profession — mean to him. He chose to pen a letter to the profession’s future leaders.

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Importance of School Counselors

The Counselor’s Holiday

Editor’s note: This essay was first published on Counselors’ Corner.

It’s not exactly a mix of students you can predict. Athletes have holiday practice, so are rarely represented; students from coastal colleges are typically overrepresented, and the valedictorian isn’t usually in sight. Yet, there they randomly gather, about a dozen of them, starting around 12:30, smart enough not to come for lunch, but eager to get caught in the milieu of lunch period changing into the next class period that feels like a hero’s welcome to them.

They are last year’s seniors, coming back to say hi at Thanksgiving.

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College Admission, Importance of School Counselors, NACAC News

New Maps Show Student-to-Counselor Ratios by District

National discussions about school counselors and college access often focus on state-level trends, but new data compiled by NACAC  illustrates how that approach can mask significant equity gaps within states.

A new series of maps, which draw on data from the 2015-16 academic year,  examines how student-to-counselor ratios differ by school district.

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Access, Importance of School Counselors

Congress Needs to Put College Counseling First

As a high school college counselor, I should be enjoying a relaxing summer, but my work is far from over. My summer days are dedicated to making calls to every graduating senior to ensure deadlines are being met, deposits are being paid, and orientations are being attended. And that doesn’t end after the student starts college.

Today, graduates of KIPP high schools complete college at a rate of 45 percent, that is four times the national average of 11 percent for students from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. We accomplish this through detailed check-ins with our college students and maintaining a lower student-to-counselor ratio (roughly 100-to-1 versus 482-to-1 nationwide).

Imagine if every student had access to this level of intensive college counseling, then our college completion rates would improve. Today only one out of 10 students from low-income families earn a bachelor’s degree. The KIPP Foundation is urging Congress to prioritize college counseling nationwide and make it a priority in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. We recommend creating a federal grant program intended to increase the number of college counselors in public schools, adopt proven evidence-based counseling practices, and track results.

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Access, Importance of School Counselors

Perspective: College Admission Leaves Low-Income Students Behind

Courtesy of Personal Statement

The college admission process is complex and the fight for equity and access within it is far from over.

Enoch Jemmott, now a senior at Queens College (NY), recently shared his experience as a low-income student navigating the college admission process in a The New York Times piece titled, “The Implicit Punishment of Daring to Go to College When Poor.”

“I came to realize that, in every step along the way, we had to do more because we had less,” Jemmott wrote.

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College Admission, College Readiness, Importance of School Counselors

Member View: Ditch the College Admission Stress

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The college search and application process can be a stressful time for families and students. But there are ways to manage this stress and anxiety.

Sherri Geller, co-director of college counseling at Gann Academy (MA), recently shared her stress management tips with JewishBoston.

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Access, Importance of School Counselors, Value of College

Op-Ed: Recent Scandal Makes It Harder for My Students to See Themselves as College Material

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Editor’s note: A version of this post originally ran on Chalkbeat.

As a college advisor at City-As-School High School, one of the largest and oldest schools designed to re-engage students who choose to transfer high schools, this month’s college admission scandal came as no surprise.

It’s not breaking news to me that the college admission process tends to favor those already privileged in society. I watch it play out every day, as my colleagues and I fight to get our students into college — and to convince our students that they deserve that opportunity.

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