2012 National Survey of School Counselors: True North–Charting the Course to College and Career Readiness

In the next decade, more than half of all new American jobs will require some postsecondary education, yet the current college attainment rate for the nation is 39 percent. The challenges appear well before students begin college: one in four public high school students fails to graduate on time, and of those who graduate, one-third need remedial courses in college. Meanwhile, school districts, which are aiming to prepare all their students for college and careers, are facing higher standards with ever-constrained budgets. In times like these, school administrators must be strategic with all of their educational resources, so that students are prepared for the productive futures they deserve. School counselors are among these critical resources: these professionals are uniquely positioned in schools–and in students’ lives–to ensure that students get the support they need to stay on track to graduate from high school ready for college and careers. This report, “True North: Charting the Course to College and Career Readiness,” demonstrates that school counselors and their administrators share a vision for their schools and agree on a path to realize it. The 2012 National Survey of School Counselors, supported by a supplemental survey of school administrators, provided powerful evidence that school counselors and their administrators know true north–and they are poised to chart the course of their students’ college and career success. This report on school counseling in America, the 2012 National Survey of School Counselors, reveals that America’s school counselors are ready and willing to be leaders in the education system–and their school administrators agree.

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