What does a secondary school with collge-going culture look like ?

What is “College-Going Culture” in a Secondary School?

Professor Patricia McDonough at UCLA (mcdonough@gseis.ucla.edu) has visited many low-income high schools to discover the key elements of a school culture that creates better college preparation and enrollment.

In schools where most disadvantaged students go to college, certain common factors are obvious. These schools create a COLLEGE CULTURE that all students and their families experience. Where such a culture exists, all students are prepared for a full range of postsecondary options through structural, motivational, and experiential college preparatory opportunities. In these schools…

• School leadership is committed to building a college culture

• All school personnel provide a consistent message to students that supports their quest for a college preparatory K-12 experience

• All counselors are college counselors

• Counselors, teachers, and families are partners in preparing students for college

Schools with a “college culture” usually exhibit most or all of the following Nine Critical Principles of a College Culture:

College Talk: Clear, ongoing communication among students, teachers, administrators, and families about what it takes to get to college

Clear Expectations: Explicit, clear-defined goals, communicated in ways that make them part of the culture of the school

Information and Resources: Comprehensive, up-to-date college information and resources, easily accessible by all students, families, and school personnel

Comprehensive Counseling Model: View of counseling that makes all student interactions with counseling staff opportunities for college counseling

Testing and Curriculum: Information about and access to “gatekeeping” tests (PSAT, SAT., etc.) and courses (A-G, AP, etc.) for all students

Faculty Involvement: Informed, active participation from school faculty in the creation and maintenance of a college culture

Family involvement: Meaningful engagement on the part of family members in the process of building a college culture

College Partnerships: Active links in a variety of forms between the school and local colleges and universities

Articulation: Ongoing coordination between counselors and teachers among all schools in a feeder group

Schools that want to change their college-going rates can work to balance their delivery of all nine of these principles. Start with an honest inventory, then move to change.

Labels: College Readiness