College & Workforce Readiness

Efforts Expand to Increase College Access Through Improved School Counseling

By Caralee J. Adams — October 06, 2014 1 min read
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San Diego State University will host the latest in a series of events this year sponsored by the White House to promote improved college access and success for all students.

On November 17-18, education, nonprofit, and government leaders will convene at an invitation-only meeting to discuss increasing school counseling preparation, programs, and practices with the big-picture goal of getting more students on the path to college.

The White House’s College Opportunity Agenda kicked off in January with a summit promoting college affordability and access in January. First lady Michelle Obama then launched her Reach Higher Initiative, encouraging all students to pursue some kind of postsecondary training. The focus zeroed in on efforts to support school counselors with a small meeting in Washington in May, followed by a summit of thought leaders in July at Harvard University to discuss the key role of school counselors in expanded college access.

The conversation will continue next month on the West coast with the event organized by Trish Hatch, an associate professor and the director of the school counseling program at SDSU and Laura Owen, assistant professor at SDSU. The university has been at a leader in developing innovative approaches to ensure that school counselors understand equity issues in providing college and career advising. In Cambridge, Hatch shared a list of commitments that SDSU has made to further expand training efforts for school counselors.

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, Hatch and Brandy Johnson, the executive director of the Michigan College Access Network, will share their experience in training school counselors in college and career readiness in a free webinar sponsored by Education Week. I will moderate the event, Positioning School Counselors to be Game Changers in College Access, from 2-3 p.m. Eastern Time.

For details, visit the webinar’s registration page. Questions can be submitted in advance or during the event. To learn more about the issue, see “Counselors Work to Get More Students on the College Path.”

A version of this news article first appeared in the College Bound blog.