College Tour Trip to Atlanta
Access issues can take many different forms. Some are relatively straightforward: a scholar who has never met a scientist (or perhaps a scientist who looks like him or her) may not understand that he or she has the potential to become a scientist. Others are harder to anticipate. One such issue that I found striking during my first year teaching at West was students' lack of preparation for application processes. I cannot remember being taught how to dress, speak, or act at an interview, but I definitely developed those skills as I was growing up. Most of my scholars are comparatively ill-prepared to interact with unfamiliar adults as they apply for competitive educational and work opportunities. This is especially significant in Washington, D.C., where most of the top public high schools admit students based on applications.
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For example, planning letters of recommendation carefully can have a tremendous impact on an application. Most students think that they simply need to ask a couple of teachers to write recommendations, but savvy applicants have explicit conversations with recommenders about what skills and abilities they should highlight. This helps recommendations offer multiple perspectives on a candidate rather than repeating a single one. I am always on the lookout for ways to teach my scholars how to have these conversations effectively so that they will become automatic before the college application process begins. I teach my students to ask politely for a recommendation (rather than assuming that every teacher will write them one), communicate deadlines clearly, suggest specific topics and details that they would like highlighted, and express gratitude throughout the process. Identifying specific topics for each recommender can be challenging—it is not always easy to talk about one's own strengths so candidly—so I practice that skill with each student during a one-on-one pre-recommendation conversation.
Email exchange with a parent about a letter of recommendation. Many parents do not realize that asking for a good letter of recommendation is a skill that can and should be taught to their students. Strong applicants usually tell potential recommenders what they would like highlighted in a letter. I have a one-on-one conversation with each student who gets a recommendation from me so that they can begin to learn how to navigate this process, and I alert parents about these conversations whenever I can.
When my administration decided to send a group of middle schoolers to tour colleges in Atlanta, I immediately recognized it as an opportunity to address access gaps related to application processes. I met with the dean of students and proposed a miniature application for the trip that would give scholars practice writing personal essays, asking for teacher recommendations, and even being interviewed by adults. This process was not intended to prevent anyone from attending the trip, but it did provide a chance for my students to build the sort of application skills that so many of their peers from wealthy families take for granted. Furthermore, it encouraged them to connect applications to exciting opportunities. Students were very eager to participate in the trip, and they worked very hard on their applications as a result. Many of their personal essays were thoughtful and touching, and I was delighted to be able to brainstorm about recommendation topics with many of my scholars several months before high school applications were due. I even worked with our guidance counselor to organize one-on-one interviews with volunteers from a local law firm so that students could practice speaking about themselves with unfamiliar adults. Overall, the application process was a big success; more than half of our middle schoolers prepared and submitted applications for the trip.
Samples of student applications. Students were asked to write about their interests in the college tours and their career aspirations. Their responses were extremely thoughtful and frequently made reference to experiencing new places and opportunities and cultivating the mindsets and skills needed to apply for and succeed in college. Students also collected simple recommendations from their teachers.The process of writing personal essays and gathering recommendations was a new one for most students, and it provided a number of valuable learning experiences for them.
Students practicing interview skills with volunteer interviewers from a local law firm. Most middle school students have had few opportunities to participate in one-on-one interviews with unfamiliar adults. In order to prepare students for their Atlanta trip and high school applications, we invited local lawyers to visit our school and simulate short interviews with our middle schoolers. The students received oral and written feedback about their interview performance and tips about strategies that they can use to improve it.
My students have been very excited about the Atlanta trip all year. In fact, several of them chose to focus on it for their first self-directed project in my algebra class. A group of scholars (all of whom applied successfully for the opportunity) created a budget for trip and proposed it to the principal and the dean of students. Although the school ultimately chose to work with a tour company, the students learned a great deal about how to estimate costs, build a budget, and craft a compelling proposal for an audience.
Significantly, the project also taught them how to work with spreadsheet programs like Excel and Google Sheets. As they were working with these tools, one of my scholars asked me when I had learned how to use Excel, and I honestly could not remember. In this way, I began to see proficiency with the program as an access issue like interviewing well and asking for good recommendations. I used Excel extensively in high school and college for both personal decision-making (e.g., budgets) and academic assignments (in classes on statistics, economics, physics, psychology, etc.). Furthermore, I found the programs indispensable as a student leader of extracurricular organizations. My students need to have basic fluency with spreadsheet software to prepare themselves for success in such environments, and the trip budgeting project convinced me to integrate spreadsheet tools into other classroom activities throughout the year so that all of my scholars can build familiarity with them.
Student-created trip budget (left) and proposal presentation (right). This project was entirely student-driven. I offered tips about how to create formulas in a spreadsheet program, but the budget itself was the result of student discussions, estimates, and evaluations of opportunity costs. The presentation was yet another opportunity to practice speaking with adults in a formal setting. My students took their pitch very seriously, even practicing it with other teachers before their official meeting with the principal and the dean.
The trip to Atlanta was originally planned for spring break in March, but it has since been moved to the final full week of the school year in June. Students remain very excited about it, and I am confident that it will be an amazing experience for them. Upon their return, they will formally share what they have learned with younger scholars through an assembly about college opportunities. The middle school team and administration are hopeful that this trip (or one like it) will become an annual tradition to which our scholars look forward as they progress through elementary school.
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Furthermore, it was clear from our scholars' approach to high school applications this year that they have already benefited from the practice process that I designed and supported this fall. Students spoke clearly with recommenders about what they needed from them and excelled in one-on-one interviews at selective high schools. Whereas many of our scholars had difficulty earning admission to competitive schools last year, most of our current eighth graders are bound for their first- or second-choice institutions.