District Administration - October 2009 - (Page 16)

Br iefings College Prep by don Parker-burgard A High-Tech Twist on the College Fair For overworked guidance counselors, students seeking detailed and relevant information about colleges, and parents looking for advice on issues such as financial aid and standardized tests, virtual college fairs can help. guidance counselors in particular could use a little help. despite the american School counselor association’s recommendation of a 250:1 student-to-counselor ratio, the national average for 2006-2007 was 475:1—and that was before the recession forced many districts to cut counselor positions or leave vacancies unfilled. with collegeweekLive and educationXpo, the two big players in the field, counselors have a one-stop shop to recommend to students and parents, and one that has strong appeal to today’s tech-savvy teens. Both fairs take place on specific dates and are set up initially to simulate a real college fair. The advantages of the virtual experience, however, are quickly apparent: • Shy students can initiate an online chat rather than approaching a stranger directly. • Students can have access to multiple representatives from the same school. These reps, who can include students as well as admissions personnel, can participate CollegeWeekLive and EducationXpo both simulate the actual college fair experience, but these virtual fairs offer far more than their traditional counterparts—and without the need to drive anywhere. from wherever they are. with college weekLive, students can even view a live video presentation from a college student’s dorm room and can type questions for that college student to answer. • Rather than traveling to a location that may or may not be close by, students can visit a virtual fair from their own homes. • Students don’t have to navigate through a large, busy hall. “Fairs are so crowded,” says angie wilcox, guidance counselor at Hudson High School, about 40 miles west of Boston. “it’s hard to talk to reps. with collegeweekLive there are no waits in line, no standing around.” • Presentations from experts in the field are available on topics such as paying for college and writing a college essay. college weekLive’s presentations are all offered live, during which time viewers can type questions that a moderator will sort through for the presenter to answer. Both collegeweekLive and educationXpo offer access to archived presentations as well. • Students can download PDFs of whatever publications colleges choose to make available. at the end of the fair, they aren’t inundated with paper. There is no cost to students, parents or guidance counselors for either fair. Symposium Addresses College and Career Readiness U.S. Secretary of edUcation arne duncan gave the keynote address at the third annual Superintendents’ Symposium organized by testing agency act and school improvement solutions company america’s choice, which had a theme of improving the college and career readiness of graduating high school seniors. national 2009 act scores released in august found just 23 percent of the record 1.5 million graduating seniors who took the test met all four 16 october 2009 college readiness benchmarks in english, math, reading and science, and just 70 percent took a core curriculum. at the august 20-21 symposium, duncan described the emphasis on college and career readiness as “a movement now sweeping the country,” and highlighted the reforming potential of the department of education’s $650 million investing in innovation fund, a competitive grant program with funds available to local education agencies that have used new programs to make measurable progress in raising student achievement. act and america’s choice also used the symposium to announce the launch of their new rigor & readiness initiative, a program of core syllabi and model units in 12 high school courses that also includes professional development resources, data management assistance, formative assessment and other tools for districts to ensure college and career readiness for graduates. —Kurt O.E. Dyrli district administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - October 2009

District Administration - October 2009
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Security
College Prep
Stimulus Monitor
Administrator Profile
Professional Opinion
Crisis Response
Tech Disruptions
Digital Classrooms Take Flight
Measuring Success in Harrisburg
Reaching Graduation with Credit Recovery
Almost There?
Back to School for Retired Baby Boomers
Problem Solution
New Products
Product Focus
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Understanding the Times

District Administration - October 2009