SCHOOL COUNSELORS BRIDGING THE

GAP BETWEEN COLLEGES, CAREERS,

UNDERSERVED STUDENTS AND THEIR

FAMILIES

Counselors: Let’s Make an Early Impact!

Nicholas Highe, Doctoral Student, North Carolina State University,

Raleigh, NC

Jennifer Fisher, Masters Student, Counselor Education, North

Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

UNDERSERVED STUDENTS

Underserved students are defined as students who do not receive

equitable resources as other students in the academic pipeline. Typically,

these groups of students include low-income, underrepresented

racial/ethnic minorities, and first generation students as well as many

others

http://www.apass.uiuc.edu/APASS/definitions.htm

REALITY OF K-12

Underserved student potential outcomes

Desire to attend college

Enrollment rates

Graduation rates

UNDERSERVED FAMILY CHALLENGES TO

COLLEGE AND BEYOND

Parental education level

Nutrition

Poor sleeping habits

Lack of AC/Heat due to financial strains

Pressures of adult responsibilities

Lack of life experiences (i.e.: the zoo, beach, museums)

Lack of technology (i.e.: educational computers games)

Family strain

UNDERSERVED FAMILY CHALLENGES TO

COLLEGE AND BEYOND

Academic preparation

Support from schools

Information about the college admissions process

HOW DO WE FIX IT?

Task persistence

Create and promote a school-wide college-going culture

Close the admissions and financial aid information gap

Increase parental involvement

Increase access to rigorous coursework

Utilize community resources

Begin career prep early

ESTABLISHING A COLLEGE-GOING

CULTURE

Display student college acceptances in a well-visited area

Have teachers display their alma mater

College Colors Day

Reward students for college admission

CAREER PREP RESOURCES

Georgia Career Information Center

College Foundation of North Carolina

Career One Stop

America's Career Info Net

Reality Check

“To the extent that ethnic minority youth perceive that racial inequality

poses limits on their social and economic mobility, they are less likely to

believe that working hard in school will have long-term payoff”.

Source: (Taylor and Graham, 2007)

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Business, Law, Government, Medicine, Public Policy

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT

CHAPEL HILL

- Business, Law, Medicine, Education, Social Work, Global

Public Health

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

Engineers-Agricultural and Nuclear/Biological, Education,

Management School

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Business Administration, Education, Engineering/Applied

Science, Law, Medicine

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Public Health, Education, Engineers, Medicine, Nursing, Music and Dance

DUKE UNIVERSITY

Business, Law, Medicine, Public Policy, Nursing, Divinity School,

Environment

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Hotel administration, industrial and labor relations, veterinary medicine,

nanotechnology, supercomputing

EMORY UNIVERSITY

Public Health, Business, Law, Medicine, Nursing,

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

Engineering, Business, Law, Medicine

WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY

Business, Law Management, Accounting, Medicine

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Education, Engineering, Business

EDUCATION TODAY

“Today, the main source of modern success is education, and the

children of those who never entered college can dream of going to

college as a first step toward improving their life chances”

Source: (Cho et al., pg. 105, 2008)

REFERENCES

Roderick, M., Nagaoka, J., & Coca, V. 2009. College readiness for all: The challenge for urban high schools. The

Future of Children, 19(1), pg. 185-210.

Adam, M. (2005). Low-income, first generation students left behind. The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education,

15(24), pg. 17-19.

Cappella, E. and Weinstein, R. 2001. Turning Around Reading Achievement: Predictors of High School Students’

Academic Resilience. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93 (4), pg. 758-771.

Andersson, H. and Bergman, L. 2011. The Role of Task Persistence in Young Adolescence for Successful

Educational and Occupational Attainment in Middle Adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 47 (4) pg. 950–960.

Malecki, C.K. and Demaray, M. K. 2006. Social Support as a Buffer in the Relationship between Socioeconomic

Status and Academic Performance. School Psychology Quarterly, 21 (4), pg. 375-395.

Cho, S., Barry, L., Hudley, C., Kelly, M., and Lee, S., 2008. Roles of Gender, Race, and SES in the College

Choice Process Among First-Generation and Nonfirst-Generation Students. Journal of Diversity in

Higher Education, 1 (2), pg. 95–107.

Graham, S., and Taylor, A.Z., 2007. An Examination of the Relationship Between Achievement Values and

Perceptions of Barriers Among Low-SES African American and Latino Students. Journal of Educational

Psychology, 99 (1), pg. 52-64.