Key takeaways
- How Clayton High School took action when they realized their 100% college enrollment rate still produced only about a 50% four-year completion rate
- How to prepare students for a "sink or swim" college environment with a “sink and we’ll catch you” high school experience
- Why teachers took on some of the roles traditionally assigned to counselors—and how their time was protected for this work
- How normalizing failure helped students overcome their fear of rejection, which was keeping well-qualified students from applying to the best colleges
- Why a single “college pathway” isn't as helpful as a “fit and match” advising approach that explicitly teaches students about reach/match/safety options and financial reality checks about affordability over four years—not just year 1 cost