While it may seem radical or heavy handed, having all kids apply to college is actually a GOOD thing, in my view. I used to work at a school that had very low numbers of kids taking the SAT’s/ACT’s and attending college. We implemented a course called, Senior Seminar, in partnership with Reach for College and College Summit, which led to a significant (~80%) increase in college attendance rates. In our first year of implementing the course, we found that of kids who took the class, about 90% walked out of high school with a plan – be it college, community college, trade school or military – versus only about 45% of the remaining student body having a plan for after high-school.
With such great results, we rolled out the program to require ALL students to take my senior seminar class. This included PSAT’s, SAT’s, etc. (although I don’t remember the tests being mandatory, because some schools do not require college entrance exams).
Over time, I began requiring that all students complete a “mid-year project” that consisted of three post-secondary applications–at least one had to be college. My philosophy was that I wanted every student to know that they COULD get accepted and attend college if they wanted – I wanted college to seem within reach.
Our senior seminar was a success. In my third year of teaching the class, one student scored the highest SAT score in school history, and went on to win a prestigious POSSE scholarship to Bucknell University. The next year, another student beat his scores, also performing well on the SAT II’s, and got into Brown and Cornell Universities. Numerous students went to nursing school, culinary school, 2- and 4-year colleges, colleges for students with special needs, the military… some became fire cadets, policemen, and security guards (one of the fastest growing professions in the DC area).
But what struck me the most was that the kids who did NOT attend college directly after high school knew they weren’t finished. I would run into them years later to find them taking part-time courses at UDC or starting training programs.
My point is that we sent a clear message: Go somewhere. College is possible. If college is not for you, get the training you need to get a good job and take care of yourselves. Today, even my lowest performing students are employed, and they never flinch when I ask them if they finished school.
So, Kwame – I hear you. Keep in perspective that college is NOT the only good option for high school graduates, but we definitely want to send our students the “I can” message.
