Area guidance counselors don't agree with national survey's 'poor' score
High school guidance counselors are disappointed in the results of a new national survey that gives counselors low marks when it comes to helping prepare students for college."It's very important to ask why this is so," said Michelle Kayat, a counselor at Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove. "When a school district and when a school supports a dedicated counselor to college admission, you will find better service to the students."
"On the day-to-day operation level, we easily see over 100 students a day, ranging from personal to social counseling, crises and college planning academic counseling," counselor Todd Hirsch said.
Pleasant Grove freshman Annie Nevis said her counselors are important to her.
"I need something to guide me through so I can go to college, something to be accountable for, something where I have a check-in because I don't have the greatest grades right now. I'm getting them up because of seeing her," Nevis said.
According to the survey, sixty percent of young adults who pursued college say the advice they got from high school counselors was poor or fair at best.
The survey does not directly address the relationship between counseling and college performance. But findings underscore concerns raised last year by a study of public higher education suggesting inadequate counseling in high school may play a role in whether a student graduates college in six years.
The report, based on a survey of 614 adults ages 22-30 who completed at least some college, found that students who said they were badly counseled were less likely to get financial aid and more likely to delay college.
"This is really a fault line in the transition from high school to college that needs a closer look," says Jean Johnson of Public Agenda, which released the report today. The system "is simply not giving most students the help and attention they deserve."
The image of the uninspiring counselor is a mainstay of popular culture - the report invokes a 1991 Simpsons episode showing Homer's poor high school counseling to make its point.
But many counselors say multiple duties, large student loads and insufficient training make it hard to provide college guidance. The average student-counselor ratio in 2009 was 265-to-1 and grew as high as 618-to-1 in large schools, says the National Association for College Admission Counseling. (A ratio of 100-to-1 is considered optimal.)
The findings are "absolutely troubling" but likely won't surprise counselors, says UCLA education professor Patricia McDonough, whose research focuses on college counselors. They are "extremely frustrated by the situation."
Steve Wagasky, College Funding Consultant
College Planning Professionals
http://collegeplanningprofessionals.com
stevewagasky@collegepp.com
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