RISE by 5 Spotlight: Zooming in on Targeted Transition Supports
Application Campaigns to Promote Postsecondary Success
As a network, we invest in key moments of transition that have a significant impact on students’ long-term outcomes.
RISE partner schools are committed to preparing students for what comes after high school. Through our shared mission, RISE works to ensure all students not only graduate from high school, but have a meaningful postsecondary plan and the skills and confidence to pursue college and career success. But it’s not that simple! The postsecondary application process can be daunting and overwhelming for students, families, and counselors with so many complex steps and application milestones.
On-Track Coaches to Support Freshman Success Jamie Meurer joined the RISE team five years ago as one of the first On-Track Coaches (OTC) at Hartford Public High School (HPHS). In taking on the OTC role after previously supporting youth on probation, Ms. Meurer reflected, “I really wanted to get into a position where I could move more toward prevention instead of intervention. There are so many missed opportunities and prevention is worth so much. I really wanted to get into a school and get ahead of the issues I had been seeing.”5 RISE high schools created the OTC role in response to student needs and research showing that far too many students experience challenges when they make the transition to high school. As Ms. Meurer’s OTC colleague at HPHS, Daemond Benjamin, describes, “I work with ninth graders because we know the transition from eighth grade to ninth grade is a hard transition.” | 7
RISE partner schools pursue evidence-based strategies to promote strong middle-to-high-school and postsecondary transitions. The On-Track Coach role and application campaigns offer two examples of how we invest in critical transitions during students’ freshman and senior years.
Despite the importance of freshman year, high schools across the country are generally not staffed to support the unique needs of freshmen. In Connecticut, the average studentto-counselor ratio is 349:1, and these large caseloads too often limit counseling support for freshmen.6 As youth development professionals, OTCs serve as champions and advocates for a targeted group of 60 Grade 9 students. This focused approach allows OTCs to provide deep and sustained support for students who may need additional guidance.
Lavender, a student at HPHS, reflects on the important role her OTC played, particularly during the pandemic. “It was a big help,” Lavender said. “Because if I couldn’t contact my teachers, I could contact Ms. Jamie or my counselor. So it was a really big help for me.” Through it all, Mr. Benjamin summarizes the commitment and determination of OTCs across the network: “I’m going to take the kids to the moon if I can.”
As full-time members of the high school staff, OTCs play an integral role supporting students who have had attendance, academic, social, and/or behavioral difficulties in middle school. Mr. Benjamin describes how, “Every day is different.” Ms. Meurer explains, “I feel like some days I’m a cheerleader, some days I feel like I’m a resource guide or a mentor. Each relationship with each of the kids on our caseload is very different; each of our kids needs something different from us.”
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Adapted from an interview with Daemond Benjamin and Jamie Meurer, Storycorps. 6 Student-to-School-Counselor Ratio 2020-2021, ASCA.
RISE partner high schools work together to ensure all students establish goals, and then schools organize application campaigns to support and track student progress relative to key access milestones. For example, students planning to enroll in a trade/technical program or two/four-year college, must submit an application and should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Explaining the experience from a student’s perspective, Roja, a senior at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, said, “The biggest factor that was intimidating was getting all these steps done because you just see a large list of things that you need to do.” McMahon’s College and Career Coordinator, Ari Meadows, describes, “This is a super important time in an individual’s life. The transition out of high school, students figuring out who they are and finding themselves.”
McMahon formed a team of counselors, administrators, and teachers to work together to understand students’ plans, track student data, and provide personalized support to help students achieve their plans. Specifically, McMahon studied their data and noticed a drop in FAFSA completion rates in 2020-21 as a result of the pandemic. McMahon formed a FAFSA Task Force where staff are assigned to a specific caseload of students, and then work with their students and families to overcome barriers to completing the FAFSA. In addition to the personalized support, McMahon is celebrating students who complete the FAFSA through laptop raffles and schoolwide events, promoting a college-going culture. FAFSA completion rates so far in 2021-22 are outpacing last year’s rates by five percentage points. Roja described the support she’s received as she prepares for the postsecondary transition: “Honestly, having the support to back me up in going forward with this process was the biggest thing that gave me the assurance that I could do really well in college.”
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This is a super important time in an individual’s life. The transition out of high school, students figuring out who they are and finding themselves. | 8
