Inquirer: “Toward college without a map Lack of counselors leaves students adrift.”:
In Philadelphia, former school district CEO Paul Vallas tried to give students a fairer shake by covering the cost for them to take on-line and face-to-face SAT classes from private companies.
But the classroom SAT prep was halted in 2006 as a budget deficit opened, and the online course was dropped this year, also for lack of money.
Top city and school district officials said last week that, despite budget restraints, they would restore funding for SAT prep classes. They are also planning a call-in center for students to get help on college admissions.
…Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said last week she was stunned upon arriving in June to find how little time counselors spend on college and career guidance and is redirecting their priorities.
The dearth of services is painfully apparent to Philadelphia Futures and White-Williams Scholars, nonprofits that help promising district students get to college.
“Students in the comprehensive high schools must badger their overworked counselors for everything they need in the college admission process,” said Joan Mazzotti, executive director of Philadelphia Futures.
“They do not have the luxury of being badgered by their counselors.”
Overbrook High Principal Ethelyn Payne Young said the outcome was obvious.
“Some of them end up maybe not going anywhere [to college] or not going to where we know they really could go. . . . When you don’t have enough resources, enough manpower to touch every kid, you lose some. You lose many.
For guidance (and anyone else who wants to help kids with college admissions), I have a site for you. Not only does it help students find money, it offers advise, (there is even a private guidance counselor and college admission officer email) to get information. It is free to use and students can start getting organized early. Guidance counselors can monitor the progress of their students and students can connect with colleges early in the admission process.
The site is called http://www.morethangrades.com. Hey, what do you have to lose? (There are currently several $1000 scholarships up for grabs and in January, the show us “Why you are More Than a Grade” video scholarship will be posted.
And it is web sites like this that are just pure gold.
The problem however, isnt that there is enough manpower – I mean, will there ever be? The problem is the continued reluctance of the school district to embrace technology. Instead of wasting time whining about they don’t have enough manpower, how about the train these counselors on how to use tools like mentioned above and relay those tools to the students.