College Readiness for All: A Longitudinal Cohort Study of the Impact of a Comprehensive School Counseling Program

• In Event: Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Current Trends in School Counseling

Abstract

This study investigated how participation in comprehensive school counseling programs affected disadvantaged students’ college readiness, pursuit, access, and persistence. Data from the 384 disadvantaged students who graduated from a high-poverty school included alumni survey and longitudinal archived data from 2009 to 2013. The findings showed that when professional school counselors, educational leaders, and key stakeholders worked collaboratively to deliver comprehensive counseling programs, underrepresented students received measurable benefits in their college readiness, pursuit, and access. Particularly, participation in comprehensive school counseling activities was significantly associated with higher student performance in SAT, higher rates of SAT taking, college application, FAFSA completion and post-secondary enrollment. As educators seek to improve at-risk students’ college readiness, these findings further solidify current urgencies to re-visit current school counseling programs.

Author

• Olcay Yavuz, Rutgers University