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From the March 7 edition of Education Daily (www.educationdaily.net): Counselors call for greater emphasis in NCLB By Sarah Sparks Staff Writer Calls for students to take more rigorous high school courses have been growing in both the Education Department and Congress, but policymakers mostly have overlooked the people who must actually implement those reforms: the school counselors. As part of the No Child Left Behind Act's reauthorization, "They're talking about a lot of stuff that school counselors are directly involved in: dropout prevention, assessment, college readiness," said David Hawkins, public policy director for the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Yet, "there really isn't much mention of counselors in NCLB." NACAC and the American School Counselor Association announced this week a push to get lawmakers to incorporate counselors more directly in school accountability plans and provide more recruiting and professional development support for counselors in high-need schools. As high school reform moves to the forefront of reauthorization, experts worry there simply aren't enough counselors to handle the expected workload. ASCA found the ratio of students to counselors nationwide was 488 to one according to the most recent 2004 data, nearly double the recommended ratio of 250-1. In California, it reached 966 to one before legislators voted last year to hire 3,000 new counselors. Counselors were scarcest in high-poverty, high-minority districts. "Counselors are really just trying to keep their heads above water," Hawkins said. "What they really need is more time with students early on," he said, noting students interested in science and math fields must begin planning their course loads in middle school. Priorities Among the groups' priorities:
March 7, 2007 David Hawkins Director of Public Policy National Association for College Admission Counseling 1631 Prince Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Ph. (703) 836-2222 x109 Fax (703) 836-8015 NACAC on the Web: www.nacacnet.org |
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