CARA’s College Bridge program is designed to support graduating high school seniors as they matriculate into college. Each participating high school utilizes a ‘College Coach’ and an adult supervisor to provide outreach and tailored support to graduating students.
All school sites share a set of Core Components:
1. College Coaches – The College Coaches are at the heart of the Bridge program. Each school interviews and selects a Coach, in most cases an alumnus of the school, who is currently enrolled in college. The Coach is trained to: 1) offer school-based workshops and meet individually with seniors during the school year, 2) provide outreach and case management over the summer to graduated seniors and intended August grads in order to help them navigate any obstacles to college matriculation.
2. School-Based Supervisors – Supervisors are school-based guidance counselors, teachers or 12-month staff members. They attend four meetings over the course of the year that are designed to support them in overseeing the work of College Coaches and the College Bridge program. Supervisors support College Coaches for the duration of the College Bridge program, including through the summer.
3. Centralized CARA Trainings – All College Coaches attend CARA trainings throughout the year so that they will be prepared to support students in the college application and matriculation process. Coaches are trained in a range of college guidance topics including college choice and enrollment at CUNY, SUNY and private colleges, as well as in workshop facilitation, counseling skills, and case management protocol. Coaches receive additional support throughout the summer, including weekly case supervision meetings with a consistent group of 6-8 other coaches and a college counselor.
4. In-School Workshops – It is suggested that participating schools utilize their College Coach's experience in college by presenting to groups of seniors around topics such as paying for college, choosing majors, and college schedules. The College Bridge program supports Coaches in facilitating these workshops in schools, with the help of school-based staff and materials from the CARA College Inquiry Curriculum.
5. Participation in Evaluation – All Supervisors and Coaches keep and share interaction logs and relevant student-level data with CARA. College Bridge offers participants EnrollNYC, CARA's college access database that is designed to track students from application to enrollment.
Participating schools commit to the following:
● Recruit a college Coach;
● Be sure there is an adult supervisor who will oversee the coach's work throughout the year and over the summer; continue to fund supervisor work for five hours per week in July and August;
● Make time available for Coaches to meet with graduating seniors during the school year to conduct group workshops and meet individually with seniors;
● Ensure accurate and up-to-date contact information, for on-track and almost-on-track seniors;
● Track and report data during the program duration and participate in assessments as needed by the College Bridge program.
The College Bridge program commits to the following:
● Provide 70 hours of training and support to College Coaches and 4 support meetings for school-based supervisors;
● Provide program support to schools;
● Provide schools with the CARA EnrollNYC database for tracking student progress;
● Provide program evaluation data for each school at the end of the year;
● Provide College Inquiry workshops to use with senior in second semester;
● Coordinate summer support for Coaches and supervisors in the form of case management and training sessions;
● Collect and share resources and promising practices from other participating schools and recent research.
COLLEGE COACH JOB DESCRIPTION
College Coaches will be responsible for:
1. Facilitating workshops in high school;
2. Attending all CARA training sessions;
3. Meeting regularly with the college counselor to review all graduating seniors’ status in the college process and issues to be aware of;
4. Assisting students with the paperwork involved in enrolling in college, including placement tests, financial aid, orientation, class registration, etc.;
5. Taking students to campuses, whenever possible;
6. Tracking student progress using the Student Log or EnrollNYC, weekly or more often as needed;
7. Over the summer, communicating with graduating seniors on a regular basis by phone, Facebook and in person;
8. Completing and submitting weekly progress reports to adult staff;
9. Over the summer, meeting weekly with adult-staff member;
10. Attending weekly summer support meetings.
SUPERVISOR JOB DESCRIPTION
College Bridge supervisors are school-based guidance counselors, teachers or 12-month staff members. They attend trainings during the schoolyear that are designed to support them in overseeing the work of College Coaches and the College Bridge program. Supervisors support College Coaches throughout the duration of the College Bridge program.
Supervisors are responsible for:
1. Meeting weekly with their College Coach throughout the school year and in the summer;
2. Attending Supervisor meetings;
3. Collecting student-level data necessary for program implementation, including accurate contact information, and tracking it through a log;
4. Sharing student-level data on post-secondary plans with College Coach;
5. Accessing student forms needed for college enrollment during summer months (e.g. transcripts, immunization records, etc.);
6. Working to support the College Bridge program at least 5 hrs/week during the summer months;
7. Communicating with CARA as needed to support the program at the high school;
8. Consulting with College Coach and/or students and their families on complicated cases;
9. Completing evaluations of their College Coach;
10. Gathering end-of-summer outcome information and entering it into final log.