# data[].attributes.body
My professional perspective is working in higher education at a local community college, dealing with high school students. In my previous position, I was a recruiter. In that role I was able to go out to college fairs, and make college presentations to gain interest in our school. My new role I work with dual credit and P-Tech students, which is essentially Early College High School. I am very passionate about making students aware of of their college resources, and becoming proactive with college awareness. Therefore, I chose the topic around the legalaties that secondary schools must uphold with their students will college preparedness. I hope to work in a advanced academics or college/career coordinator role at a high school.

# data[].attributes.body
College Prep is an important topic for secondary education, because it allows students to develop good time-managment and skills to reduce stress in their future. College prep my come in the form of college visits, college fairs, dual credit or AP courses, or simply college and career planning with help from high school counselors. High schools with concentrated poverty are less likely than low-poverty schools to offer coursework that students need to get into four-year colleges  and succeed (US Government Accountability Office, 2017). The high schools owe their students the neccessary skills and traits to be successful post graduation regardless of their socio-economic background. Dallas County has created  Dallas County promise scholarship to help curve the number of high school students that don't pursue college due to financial situations, primarily in the low povery schools.

Emerging Issue
60x30tx
By 2030, the State of Texas would like to see 60% of the population with a degree or certificate (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2020). With this push in place, it is extremely important for secondary schools to uphold this vision. Secondary schools need to buid a solid foundation of courses in high schools that will allow them to be college ready. This is where the development of P-Tech and CTE (Career Technology and Education) foundations/pathways stem from with high school graduation requirements.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Unsupported Browser. Our website may not work properly in this browser. Learn More.

"There's a lot of scholarships where they give you money, but they usually don't cover all of your classes for the whole semester. When I heard for the first time that Dallas County Promise was here and in my high school, I thought, 'Will this really pay for my classes?'. They assured me that they would."
Herlin Bonilla, 2018 Graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School

"I want to be a nurse anesthetist. I don't want to be the person in the hospital. I want to give anesthesia to people getting surgery. That's exciting! I'll see something new every day."
Alexis King, 2019 Graduate of DeSoto High School

"The Promise has opened up many opportunities for me, especially the opportunity to stay around with my family and people I'm friends with. I'm also not having to pay as much money out of pocket for my education... My goal has always been to go to college and get a degree in Political Science so that one day I can get involved with politics and change things for the better for people who are trying to be successful."
Julio Ruiz, 2018 Graduate of Bryan Adams High School

"I never had a plan or way of paying for my tuition, I was thinking about waiting a year. When I heard about Dallas County Promise I was happy because I knew that there was hope for me to go to college. I'm already talking to my sister about Promise."
Festus Oyinwola, 2018 Graduate of Conrad High School

Are you a high school senior graduating in 2020?

Dallas County Promise can help you succeed in college and careers you're passionate about, and help you prepare to advance professionally in life. With tuition assistance, success coaching, and advising, our Promise is to support you in earning your credentials in the form of a career certification, associate or bachelor's degree.

Browse our website to learn more about what our partners offer, require, and need from you! You can also check our list of 57 Promise high schools in Dallas County to confirm that your school is participating.

Ready to take the first step? Take the Promise Pledge and begin exploring your tuition-free college opportunities as a Promise Scholar.

Scholarship Overview

2019-2020 Dallas County Promise Program Key Dates

Pledge
October 1, 2019: Promise Pledge opens for Dallas County students graduating from participating high schools. All eligible students should take the pledge to confirm interest in receiving tuition assistance, coaching, and other Promise benefits.

Apply

February 7, 2020:

* STEP ONE: Deadline to complete the Dallas County Promise Pledge and submit a parent signature if under 18 at the time of Pledge completion.

* STEP TWO: Admissions applications for *most Promise partner colleges and universities are due. Visit ApplyTexas.org to complete one application for the partner college(s) of your choice. Students interested in enrolling at DCCCD with dual-credit courses completed should only update their contact information at the DCCCD campus of their choice.

Submit

March 6, 2020: Deadline to submit the FAFSA/TASFA for *most Partner college and universities. Please contact the Financial Aid Office at your chosen college/university to confirm your FAFSA or TASFA application has been verified and all requirements have been met.

Enroll

July 31, 2020: Deadline to register for classes. Please contact the Admissions Office at your chosen college/university to confirm your registration dates and that all requirements have been met.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Unsupported Browser. Our website may not work properly in this browser. Learn More. "There's a lot of scholarships where they give you money, but they usually don't cover all of your classes for the whole semester. When I heard for the first time that Dallas County Promise was here and in my high school, I thought, 'Will this really pay for my classes?'.

# data[].attributes.headline
College Prep: High Schools Should have 100% College Acceptance Rate

# data[].attributes.subject
College Prep: High Schools Should have 100% College Acceptance Rate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Deepening Understanding of Core Content Princeton & University of Pennsylvania Decision Reaction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
College Admission Standards Changing to Emphasize Community Service

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
College Prep: College Acceptance for Every Student

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At Urban Prep Charter Academy, Englewood Campus -- an all-black, all-male Title I school -- 100 percent of graduates are accepted to a four-year college or university. Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men -- Englewood Campus GRADES 9-12 | CHICAGO, IL Explore more resources from this school: https://www.edutopia.org/school/urban-prep-charter-academy-young-men-englewood-campus

# data[].attributes.body
American Institutes for Research (AIR, 2018) is a professional research association in behavioral science industries such as education. They released a student that gives insight to why dual credit education matters for the State of Texas. Dual Credit courses allow students to have a smoother transition from high school to college, resulting in a higher likelihood of college completio with a degree.

# data[].attributes.body
This is an older article, however, it details the importance of starting college prep earlier, versus waiting until junior year of high school to plan (US News and World Report, 2013). By the time a student has reached their junior year of high school, it's already too late to make those valuable schedule decisions. The reason being that the first semester of senior year is when you start to apply to colleges to meet deadlines, and you would only have a viable three years of grading for college admission review.
Sheehy, K. (2013, September 9). U.S. News & World Report. Use All 4 Years of High School to Prep for College. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2013/09/09/use-all-4-years-of-high-school-to-prep-for-college.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Only a quarter of the 1.8 million graduates who took the ACT college entrance exam in 2013 met readiness benchmarks in all four core subjects - English, math, science and reading. That figure dropped from 31 percent in 2012, according to annual reports by ACT Inc.

Students who hit the mark on the test have a 75 percent chance of passing a first-year college course in that subject. Those who fall short are more likely to struggle in college and many will waste time and tuition dollars on remedial courses.

To put teens on a trajectory for success, college prep needs to start early, says Ruth Lohmeyer, a counselor at Lincoln Northeast High School in Nebraska.

"We start already in eighth grade," she says, noting that students start building their college plan when they select classes for ninth grade.

Lohmeyer runs down how students should use each year of high school to prepare for college.

Freshmen: Starting high school means mapping out a plan to get from freshman to senior year and eventually to a two- or four-year college.

Students should push themselves to take hard classes early on, instead of waiting until their junior or senior years, Lohmeyer says.

"It will be too late by that time," she says.

"You want to have that scholarship resume look the way you want it to, and you want to start right now, your ninth-grade year," Lohmeyer says.

Sophomores: With the first year of high school behind them, students should start thinking about colleges and careers that might be a good fit and start exploring those areas.

Career and college fairs are good places to start, but it's never too soon to set foot on a college campus.

"All of a sudden they can picture themselves there," she says. "It helps them want to make sure the transcript looks the way they want it to look when they graduate."

Teens also want to continue building up a scholarship resume. The more extracurricular, leadership and volunteer opportunities, the better, she notes.

Juniors: Old enough to legally both drive and work in most states, high school juniors should seek out internships, job shadows and summer jobs that align with the careers they're interested in, Lohmeyer says.

"Maybe someone's interested, for example, in the legal field - well, just apply to be a janitor at a law office," she says. "The more people you talk to who are doing what you think you want to do, the more confident you're going to be."

Seniors: Most students spend the start of senior year visiting campuses, narrowing their list and then applying to college.

When that is out of the way, teens are tempted to take the foot off the gas and coast through their final semester. They should resist the urge, Lohmeyer says.

Instead of filling their schedules with physical education courses, teens should use ACT and SAT scores from the previous year to identify areas to work on, she advises.

"When a student comes in and they say, 'Oh, I want to take two PE classes and I don't need math anymore,' I can look at their college readiness scores and say, 'You know what, according to this, you'll be taking some remedial classes,'" she says.

Lohmeyer says focusing on those subjects before graduation will set students up to succeed after.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Use All 4 Years of High School to Prep for College

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Only a quarter of the 1.8 million graduates who took the ACT college entrance exam in 2013 met readiness benchmarks in all four core subjects - English, math, science and reading. That figure dropped from 31 percent in 2012, according to annual reports by ACT Inc.

# data[].attributes.body
This article provides information why high school counselors are important for student success.

The Role of School Counseling in Academic Support - Counselors need to ensure they are providing their students with the resources to become good members of society.

School Counseling as a Resource for Parents - Parents may need guidance on how to connect with their high school student

School Counseling and Personal Issues - Counselors are there to provide emotional support as well as academic development

Moody, J. & Pannoni, A. (2020, January 2). U.S. News & World Report. How High School Counselors Can Help Students, Parents. Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2015/02/02/3-ways-high-school-counselors-can-help-students-parents.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"You can have a student walk into your office and they could be homeless," says Tawnya Pringle, a school counselor at Hoover High School in San Diego. Or she may need to counsel another student stressed about making straight A's and worried his or her parents will be upset if that doesn't happen.

So, what does a school counselor do? The short answer: School counselors aim to help students thrive academically, personally and socially, and assist them in exploring their options after high school.

"Our mission is supporting academic, career and social-emotional development with all students," says Jill Cook, assistant director for the American School Counselor Association, a Virginia-based nonprofit that supports and promotes the profession.

The long answer: School counselors do all of the above by engaging with students and parents across all grade levels. Some counselors work with students as young as the elementary school level, offering direct and indirect support.

Examples of direct student services include instruction, appraisal and advisement, professional assistance during times of transition or stress, or other situations that may negatively affect students. Indirect student services include consultation and collaboration with parents or school staffers on behalf of the student and referrals.

ASCA describes school counselors as "vital members of the education team." Outside of the classroom, they serve in a supporting role.

"I think good school counselors are really the heart of the school," Cook says. "They know the students, they know the families, they know the classrooms and the school staff."

The Role of School Counseling in Academic Support

On the high school level, students will work with counselors from freshman through senior year. Pringle says this often begins with group presentations from school counselors in ninth grade to make students aware of available services, which is followed by individual appointments.

"Some of them, obviously, in ninth grade, don't know what they want to do," Pringle says. "But that's where we start having those conversations and those individual counseling sessions. 'Let's take a look at what your abilities are, what are your skills, what are your passions?'"

As students progress through high school, counselors work with them on matters such as scheduling, transcripts and college applications. Counseling department services also extend to helping with the college search, discussing financial aid and writing letter s of recommendation.

Counselors also help students explore options such as attending community college, joining the workforce or enlisting in the military.

"Some parents think that the student must go to a four-year school, but we know that's not necessarily the right journey for all," Cook says.

Pringle notes that services for students who are struggling academically often go underused.

"I think sometimes students are embarrassed" to ask for help, she says, or some students may have been turned off by a bad experience with a counselor.

For students who are struggling, counselors can help connect them with resources or sit down with the student's teacher to identify problem areas. Beyond individual student needs, the school counseling department can also serve as a valuable resource for families.

School Counseling as a Resource for Parents

Counseling can offer families strategies on parenting and helpful advice on how to connect with their children, says Pringle.

"I've had a lot of parents come in over the years that just have said, 'I don't know what to do. How do I handle when my teenager is doing this, this and this at home?'" she says. Sometimes she'll recommend family therapy if there are serious issues at home.

Pringle recommends that parents arrange an appointment with their child's school counselor as a good first step in establishing the parent-counselor relationship.

"Trust us," Pringle says. "We also want the best for their child."

But parents shouldn't think of the profession as the guidance counselors of the past, says Cook. "The school counseling profession has shifted; it's definitely more proactive. It's not reactive, waiting for the students to show up in an office."

School Counseling and Personal Issues

Students can seek one-on-one help from their school counselor to discuss personal issues such as bullying, or seek crisis counseling, says Pringle. School counselors are there to help students with academic and career development as well as social and emotional issues.

"I'm seeing that there has been an increase in anxiety and stress and maybe trauma that the kids have been experiencing, whether it's been an outside world or within their family, and they're losing concentration on the academic end," Pringle says.

While school counselors work with students on issues related to stress and anxiety, they are not mental health professionals.

"School counselors are not therapists," Cook says. "They don't provide long-term therapy."

For issues beyond their expertise, school counselors make referrals. The referral may be to a mental health practitioner on site or a community agency, depending on a student's needs and a school's resources.

"Anything related to long-term sadness, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, high levels of anxiety for a long period of time - those are all things that get referred out," Pringle says.

Nationally, counseling departments tend to be stretched thin. ASCA recommends a ratio of 250 students for every one counselor. According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 442 students for every school counselor in the 2017-18 school year. That number represents the national average, with ratios varying by state.

States with larger student populations tend to have worse ratios than states with smaller student populations. For example, Vermont has 196 students for every counselor, compared to a 925-to-1 ratio in Arizona.

But that shouldn't deter families from seeking counselors' services, experts say.

"School counselors are in this profession because we want to connect and because we want to help, and help them and make a difference in their lives," says Pringle.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Ways High School Counselors Can Help Students, Parents

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"You can have a student walk into your office and they could be homeless," says Tawnya Pringle, a school counselor at Hoover High School in San Diego. Or she may need to counsel another student stressed about making straight A's and worried his or her parents will be upset if that doesn't happen.

# data[].attributes.body
US Constitution

Career guidance and academic counseling should be provided that could lead to workforce, or undergraduate college degree programs (20 USC §2302).

Link to law: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title20-chapter44&saved=%7CY29sbGVnZSBwcmVwIHJlcXVpcmVtZW50cw%3D%3D%7CdHJlZXNvcnQ%3D%7CdHJ1ZQ%3D%3D%7C0%7Ctrue%7Cprelim&edition=prelim

# data[].attributes.body
The Texas Education Code requires:

That an early college education program be established for students who are at risk of dropping out of school or who wish to accelerate completion of the high school program.

(29 Tex. Educ. Code §29.908).

Link to law: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.29.htm#29.908

# data[].attributes.body
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 mandates:

Requires—for the first time—that all students in America be taught to high academic standards that will prepare them to succeed in college and careers (US Department of Education, 2020).

Link to law: https://www.ed.gov/essa?src=policy

# data[].attributes.body
Karen Leddy vs. Northern Valley Regional High School District

Students want their official high school transcripts to recognize their courses as more college enriched, either with more points towards GPA or for them to be weighted more.

Link: https://1-next-westlaw-com.easydb.angelo.edu/Document/If9e658f0948a11e7a4449fe394270729/View/FullText.html?navigationPath=Search%2Fv1%2Fresults%2Fnavigation%2Fi0ad7401600000171b9b5ff9111c15ec6%3FNav%3DCASE%26fragmentIdentifier%3DIf9e658f0948a11e7a4449fe394270729%26parentRank%3D0%26startIndex%3D1%26contextData%3D%2528sc.Search%2529%26transitionType%3DSearchItem&listSource=Search&listPageSource=5b426a7f3c1035909c4a39ca8762d067&list=CASE&rank=6&sessionScopeId=4cb23046dff3beca875ba46b2e8fd0317178a555180e468f3f33e0e4aa711605&originationContext=Search%20Result&transitionType=SearchItem&contextData=%28sc.Search%29

# data[].attributes.body
Garland Independent School District (GISD) in Garland, TX provides opportunities for every student to earn at least 12 hours of college credit with their high school diploma (Garland independent school district, 2020). GISD also covers the costs of several exams such as AP/IB test, TSI tests, and PSAT/SAT exam fees.

Link to policy:
https://www.garlandisd.net/content/college-all

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Level I & II certificates are awards within the Dallas County Community College District's (DCCCD) Career and Technical Program offerings designed to meet the needs of industry and are available to dual credit students.

# data[].attributes.body
(American School Counselor Association, 2016)
A.4. Academic, Career and
Social/Emotional Plans
School counselors:
a. Collaborate with administration, teachers, staff and decision
makers to create a culture of postsecondary readiness
b. Provide and advocate for individual students’ preK–
postsecondary college and career awareness, exploration and
postsecondary planning and decision making, which supports
the students’ right to choose from the wide array of options
when students complete secondary education.
c. Identify gaps in college and career access and the implications
of such data for addressing both intentional and unintentional
biases related to college and career counseling.
d. Provide opportunities for all students to develop the mindsets
and behaviors necessary to learn work-related skills, resilience,
perseverance, an understanding of lifelong learning as a part of
long-term career success, a positive attitude toward learning and
a strong work ethic.

According to ASCA, school counselors have an ethical obligation to provide students with college prep resources.

# data[].attributes.body
The Career Readiness Handbook developed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and Texas Workforce Commission explains what it means to be college-ready and transition to career readiness.

# data[].attributes.headline
Slide #13 Recommendations/ Best Practices for Compliance

# data[].attributes.subject
Slide #13 Recommendations/ Best Practices for Compliance

# data[].attributes.body
The following are best practices that high schools should implement in order to provide all students with college prep resources:

Provide students with free or reduced cost college placement exams..

Adapt a high school curriculum that is rigorous enough to prepare students for college courses,

Provide all students with the opportunity to take dual credit courses during hig h school.

Mandatory tutoring should be incorporated during advisory periods

Homework should be given in core classes

Plan for projects that meet the unique needs of first-gen students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When this year's Rhodes Scholars were announced, the diversity of these 32 outstanding young Americans was hard to miss. Nearly half are immigrants or first-generation Americans. Harvard grad Jin Park is the first DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipient to earn this prestigious honor.

Like First Lady Michelle Obama and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, many of these accomplished young people also belong to a growing demographic known as first-gen-first in their families to attend college.

Higher education and nonprofit partners are focusing increased attention on how to serve the needs of these students. First-gen undergraduates account for a third of current U.S. college students, according to the Center for First-Generation Student Success, but complete bachelor's degrees at less than half the rate (23 percent versus 55 percent) of students who had at least one parent graduate from college.

Some high school educators aren't waiting for colleges to figure out how to smooth the way forward for first-gen students. With specific teaching strategies and assessment methods, family support, and culture-building activities, they're taking deliberate steps to help students thrive academically after high school.

Here are two schools on the frontlines of college prep, first-gen style, and the strategies each school uses to support its students.

Early College High School: Dream Big Dreams

English teacher Dara Laws Savage holds high expectations for her ninth graders. By the end of their freshman year, she wants students to be skilled researchers who can cite sources, engage in peer critique and revision, and make and defend compelling arguments. She knows they'll need that strong foundation for college classes, which start as soon as tenth grade for many students.

At Early College High School (ECHS) at Delaware State University, a public charter school on a university campus, "our job is to turn 14-year-olds into college students-in a year," explains Savage.

The early college model "is about the power of place," adds Evelyn Edney, ECHS director. First-gen students have no family stories of college life to learn from, but they gain their own insights from "sitting in a college class, on a college campus, learning college curriculum from a college professor."

Key strategies that prepare students for the college experience are:

Projects that engage. Savage designs projects that make academically rigorous learning engaging for teenagers. In a recent project called the Carter Awards, students crafted Academy Awards-style nominations to honor distinguished African Americans during Black History Month. In the process, they had to conduct original research, develop their own criteria for excellence, cite sources, and persuade audiences to vote for their nominees.

"They may not realize how much they're learning until it's happening," says Savage, who wraps up the Carter Awards with a red-carpet gala open to the larger community.

Assessments that inform. Students at ECHS receive regular assessments of their college readiness. Eight times a year, they're scored on factors such as work ethic, behavior, and attendance, along with academics. Scores are serious business, determining which students are ready to enroll in college classes for at least part of their high school experience.

Personalized support. For students who aren't yet college ready, Edney says, "We help them develop an action plan that says, 'Here's my goal. Where do I need to work to meet it?'" Regularly scheduled advisories allow time for personalized follow-up. And when students areready to tackle their first college classes, Edney adds, "We celebrate them."

Impact Academy: Closing the Opportunity Gap

At Impact Academy of Arts and Technology in Hayward, California, students are constantly learning about life after high school. They take field trips to visit different types of colleges, including community colleges and four-year institutions (both state and private). Family nights help to demystify the process of applying for financial aid. As students get closer to graduation, they talk about everything from how to access academic help to how to resolve conflicts with roommates.

Impact Academy is designed to meet the unique needs of first-gen students. Preparation for college and careers "factors into everything we do," says humanities teacher Erin Brandvold.

Among the strategies at work here:

Plenty of practice. When Brandvold plans assessments for humanities projects, she frequently assigns timed writings. That's no accident. She reminds students that they will encounter similar assessments on the SAT. In their junior year, students take as many as six practice SATs. By the time they sit for college entrance exams, there's no mystery about what's involved.

Project-based learning, a common instructional practice at Impact Academy, gives students opportunities to build specific skills such as collaboration and peer critique, while building deep content knowledge. "PBL helps students learn how to work with others, how to apply what they know to new contexts," says Brandvold.

Modeling how college works. Impact Academy teachers hold regular office hours, just like college professors. "We want students to get used to asking for the help they need," says Brandvold. That's a survival skill in college. "We want students to access their agency."

Celebrating effort. Taking on the challenges of a college-prep experience isn't easy, and Brandvold takes time to recognize students' efforts. She closes every class period with a compliment. "I tell them something I appreciated about them that day. That makes them more comfortable taking risks or investing that extra effort."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
College Prep for First-Generation Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When this year's Rhodes Scholars were announced, the diversity of these 32 outstanding young Americans was hard to miss. Nearly half are immigrants or first-generation Americans. Harvard grad Jin Park is the first DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipient to earn this prestigious honor.