2009 Reports

Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do

Tierney, W. G.; Bailey, Thomas R.; Constantine, Jill; Finkelstein, Neil; Hurd, Nicole Farmer

This guide is designed to help schools and districts develop practices to increase access to higher education. Targeted at district administrators, teachers, and counselors, it describes how to implement five recommendations that can help students prepare for and transition to college and describes the research evidence on the effectiveness of each recommended practice.

The first two recommendations focus on preparing students academically for college by offering a college preparatory curriculum and assessing whether students are building the knowledge and skills needed for college.

The third recommendation describes how high schools can build and sustain college aspirations by surrounding students with adults and peers who support these aspirations. Recommendations four and five explain how high schools can assist students in completing the critical steps to college entry, including entrance exams and college and financial aid applications.