Mapping School Counselors & Navigating Admissions
August 9, 2019 – Here’s what we’re reading this week about the issues affecting high-achieving students. New reports compare K-12 district funding formulas and school counselor ratios. In higher ed, journalists describe how financial need creates barriers to college admissions and success.
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Elementary & Secondary Education:
- “Although state averages provide a general sense of how states are meeting students’ school counseling needs, they can mask substantial differences in student-to-counselor ratios within states,” states the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). Its new report provides a district-level analysis.
- The Education Commission of the States catalogs funding mechanisms from all 50 states. Categories such as “gifted and talented funding” and “at-risk funding for low-income students” allow for comparisons of how each state determines district allocations.
Higher Education:
- “Though Varsity Blues set us off on our investigation, what we found was less a story of fraud than one of everyday inequality,” states Dana Goldstein in The New York Times. “Although some unknown number of 504 disability cases are likely misdiagnoses of students whose parents are particularly aggressive or anxious about academic competition, the majority of these wealth-related disparities are due to unequal access to psychological services.”
- The Chronicle of Higher Education outlines additional disadvantages that students with financial need face in the college admissions process, including less access to “test prep, professional help with writing samples, high schools with strong curricula, campus visits, enriching summer activities, [and] sports teams.”
- Michigan’s Bridge Magazine talks to students with financial need at the state’s highly selective flagship university, in order to better understand their social and academic challenges. The median family income at the institution is $154,000.
Cooke Foundation Highlights:
- High-achieving high school seniors can now apply for the Cooke College Scholarship Program, and the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is accepting applications from community college students preparing to transfer to a four-year institution. Both programs provide up to $40,000 per year, as well as comprehensive educational advising and access to the thriving Cooke Scholar community.
Social Media Spotlight:
Photo header: Cooke Scholars receive college and career guidance at Scholars Weekend, as well as ongoing educational advising throughout the year.