High School Counselor Week
Weekly stories, facts, trends, and other information from around the country
December 7, 2023
National college completion rate stagnates at 62.2%, new data finds
Higher Ed Dive – November 30, 2023
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center also found declines across all types of four-year colleges.
Psst…Your Bias is Showing
NEA Today – December 4, 2023
Talking about race openly and honestly is essential to creating educational equity for all students and for school communities as a whole. But the approach to the conversation must be handled with care. ‘You can’t march into a room of educators and announce that you are going to talk to them about racism. People will bristle and back away immediately,’ says Caitlin Pankau, an Idaho high school teacher, and a facilitator for NEA’s Leaders for Just Schools (LJS) program. ‘You need to take the right steps first, and that’s what Leaders for Just Schools is all about.’ It focuses on the intersection of racial justice in education and public policy, understanding how to use the levers of local, state, and federal policy (specifically the Every Student Succeeds Act) to create equitable learning spaces for all students. Educators learn about critical definitions and topics in education justice, and examine structural inequities in education, with a focus on building partnerships with families and communities to break those structures.
Suspensions Don’t Work. So Why Are States Aiming to Bring Them Back?
EdSurge – December 4, 2023
Under the unique stress-test of the pandemic, a handful of legislatures are re-embracing suspensions. Restorative justice and other alternative programs are a complete shift in the way schools approach discipline, and require a lot of resources. Passing a law that greenlights suspensions is cheaper and easier for legislators.
December Break Checklist for Seniors (Share, Use, and Modify at Will)Post – December 6, 2023
Counselors’ Corner with Patrick O’Connor, Ph.D.
Early Decision 2 – still an option
Post – November 29, 2023
College Advice & Timely Tips with Lee Bierer
After Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, college counselors shift strategy
U.S. News & World Report – December 5, 2023
On this autumn night, Atnre Alleyne ( the energetic co-founder and CEO of TeenSHARP) and his team are fielding questions from the dozens of students they advise, on everything from early decision deadlines to which schools are most likely to give generous financial aid and scholarships. The changed admissions landscape has only increased the team’s determination to develop a new generation of leaders, students who will fight to have their voices represented on campuses and later on in the workplace. Uncertainty of what the decision means is taking a toll on students and school counselors nationally. Because of the uncertainty, school counselors need specific training on crafting essays and how or whether to talk about race, to make students understand that college is still for them. It’s a tall order: On average, public school counselors serve more than 400 students each, which offers little time for one-on-one advising. That reality is why nonprofit advising groups like TeenSHARP toil alongside the students…
Lacking counselors, schools turn to the booming business of online therapy
WLRN Miami/South Florida – December 5, 2023
At least 16 of the 20 largest U.S. public school districts are offering online therapy sessions to reach millions of students, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. In those districts alone, schools have signed provider contracts worth more than $70 million. The growth reflects a booming new business born from America’s youth mental health crisis, which has proven so lucrative that venture capitalists are funding a new crop of school teletherapy companies. Some experts raise concerns about the quality of care offered by fast-growing tech companies. As schools cope with shortages of in-person practitioners, however, educators say teletherapy works for many kids, and it’s meeting a massive need. For rural schools and lower-income students in particular, it has made therapy easier to access. Schools let students connect with online counselors during the school day or after hours from home. Mental health experts welcome the extra support but caution about potential pitfalls. For one, it’s getting harder to hire school counselors and psychologists, and competition with telehealth providers isn’t helping.
One Way Parents Are Confronting the Chronic Absenteeism Crisis: Finding Schools That Are More Successful In Engaging Their Child
The 74 – December 4, 2023
Most coverage of America’s persistent absenteeism crisis has failed to ask the more important question: Why don’t kids want to go to school?
Why Parents are Choosing to Leave Work When Their Children Become Teenagers
Parents – November 30, 2023
The demanding baby stage is well documented…but what about later, when balancing the emotional and transportation needs of your teen becomes just as challenging as managing feedings, diaper changes, playdates, and nap time? So-called ‘teen-ternity’ leave is becoming a thing. Parents are increasingly looking to take a step back from their careers to be around more for their kids during the trying teen stage.
What Is Deferred College Admission? Here’s What You Should Know
Forbes – November 29, 2023
If you’re not sure what to do when you receive a letter of deferment, read on. In this article, we’ll explain everything there is to know about deferred admission.
What Role Should AI Play in College Admissions?
Built In – December 1, 2023
Nearly 60 percent of higher education institutions will use AI in their admissions departments by 2024, according to a recent intelligent.com report. Sounds scary. Who wants a robot to determine the trajectory of their or their children’ lives? But here’s an important insight: Even before AI entered the picture, the college admissions process wasn’t quite the human-centered, carefully scrutinized process you might imagine.
The College Admission Testing Gamble
Forbes – December 6, 2023
Over the past decade, the number of colleges and universities with test-optional policies has increased exponentially. At more institutions than not (around 80% of 4-year colleges), students can decide whether they want their standardized test scores to be considered as part of their application. Some schools have simplified this uncertainty and removed the SAT/ACT completely from the equation . For those colleges and universities that still allow students the option to submit or not, how should applicants approach this decision?
10 Sites to Kick Off Your Scholarship Search
U.S. News & World Report – December 6, 2023
Often, some of the best scholarship sources are in your backyard. School counselors as well as local cultural affinity groups, churches, clubs, community foundations and athletic organizations often award scholarships. Targeting these first is a good way to stack scholarship money, experts say. But you should expand your search wider, and there are plenty of free websites and apps that can help. Here are 10 websites experts suggest using to start your scholarship search.
Key lawmakers unveil bipartisan proposal for short-term Pell
Higher Ed Dive – December 6, 2023
Pell Grants can now only be used for academic programs lasting at least 15 weeks. However, the new bill would establish Workforce Pell Grants that could be used for programs as short as eight weeks, starting for the 2025-26 academic year. Tuesday’s bill has the support of key legislators on both sides of the aisle.
What’s New on the 2024-2025 FAFSA
U.S. News & World Report – December 4, 2023
The online financial aid form received major updates, including fewer questions and changes to the need analysis formula.
Employers value a college degree but think students lack some skills, survey says
Higher Ed Dive – November 30, 2023
Polls in recent years reflect a declining public trust in the value of higher education. But AAC&U’s employer survey — the eighth it has commissioned since 2006 — shows a different picture among hiring managers and executives. The organization, which supports liberal arts education, surveyed 1,010 employers in May. It found that more than 80% of respondents agreed that securing a college degree is worthwhile, even with the associated costs. Students are lacking in some skills employers find important, though. Only about half of respondents indicated students were very prepared in areas related to critical thinking and complex problem-solving. About two-thirds of employers said they considered ‘knowledge gained from addressing real-problems’ to be very important. Employers also seem to appreciate open speech on campuses. More than 80% of respondents agreed exposure to wide-ranging views can help prepare students for work…
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Admissions Advice for Parents
University of Georgia Undergraduate Admissions – November 27, 2023
Parents – I have been where you are. I have survived the late night feedings, the endless soccer/swimming/dance/whatever else events, the lengthy ‘discussions’ about cleaning their rooms, and teaching them how to drive a car. Don’t even get me started on driving lessons. And I have also survived the college search process for both of my kids, and we still talk to each other! So here is my parent survival guide to the college admissions process.
The Committees and Decisions of College Admission… And College Football
Georgia Tech Admission Blog – December 4, 2023
This weekend Florida State beat Louisville in the ACC Championship and capped off an undefeated football season at 13-0. They demonstrated not just competency but excellence. And they did so in the face of real adversity and challenge. Ultimately, however, they were left out of the four team college football playoff, which will include two teams (Texas and Alabama), who each lost a game this year. If you want varying opinions on how this should/could have gone, feel free to go down an internet rabbit hole or delve into the vitriolic threads of social media. But if you want facts, here are a few, and how they also apply to college admission decision:
How dozens of U.S. adolescents are dying of drug overdoses each month, shown in 3 charts
PBS News Hour – December 2, 2023
Drug overdoses are killing young Americans in unprecedented numbers: The monthly total rose from 31 in July 2019 to 87 in May 2021, the period with the most recent data. As a scholar of substance use who focuses on patterns that vary between age groups, I’m struck by how adolescents’ overdose deaths differ from adults’ in terms of gender, race and ethnicity and the drugs causing these fatalities. These differences mean that the groups considered to be at high risk and the strategies needed to prevent overdoses in adolescents should not be the same as for adults. One example: fentanyl on its own is the key culprit in adolescent overdoses. For teens, it accounts for 84 percent of fatal overdoses and 56 percent of all overdoses. In 67 percent of adolescent overdose deaths, a bystander was present who could have intervened. Naloxone was administered in less than half of cases
We Know the Pandemic Had a Catastrophic Effect on Teens — But What About Their Sleep Habits?
Sleepopolis – November 30, 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic took its toll on every aspect of life all over the world, and teenagers didn’t escape the effects. Evidence shows this group experienced a hit to mental health and good sleep during the pandemic, and that these issues are yet to resolve. According to a comprehensive Sleepopolis survey, parents are more worried about their kids’ mental health than drug use, academic performance, relationships, and social media use combined. And 55% of parents reported their teenagers weren’t sleeping well. Mental health and sleep are closely linked, so it’s no surprise that these two bedfellows shared a downturn during the pandemic. What’s keeping them up? Here’s what 18-21-year-olds answered: