Counseling and Mentoring
From LiteracyTentWiki
Back to Strategies for Addressing Transitions in Adult Basic Education
Back to Assessment Information
I am the Transitions Liaison for the Del Mar College Department of GED Instruction. When I was hired for this position there were no guidelines. I was given the opportunity to design it in any fashion that I wished just as long as the job was successful and it got done. As a former GED graduate, I thought to myself what were the things that helped me move into post-secondary education. The first 2 things were motivation and support.
When students step into a different educational arena it can be very intimidating for them; scary. Fear can make students turn and run in a different direction. A direction that will often not include a college education. So I told myself that when I met with a student, I was going to do everything in my power to motivate, support, and encourage these students. I try to make my students feel comfortable and confident and I do that by informing them of my educational journey of GED student to college graduate. I don't sugar coat anything and let them know that it will be tough and challenging, but so very rewarding in the end.
Changing a student's "I can't" mind set to an "I can" allows them to start peeling away the layers of fears they have developed. I tell my students that there is no way they can move forward if they have one foot stuck in the past. Whatever it was that led them to this GED program doesn't matter anymore. They are here to get a GED, enter college, and/ or workforce and they must focus on the here and now.
Another thing that works for me is making sure all our students know who I am. I teach new student orientation, attend awards assemblies, do classroom visits, and eat lunch with them whenever my schedule permits. So by the time a student comes in for a transitioning appointment, they already know me and feel comfortable talking to me.
Knowledge is my best resource. I must be knowledgeable about everything the transitioner is going to have to deal with:
Knowing all the key people in every department on campus(s)
College Majors - does Del Mar College have associate and certificate programs in the students field of interest
Admissions requirements and placement tests such as the THEA and COMPASS
Tuition Costs
Financial Aid - What is it and how do I apply for it?
College Advising - Placement test scores and will the student have to enroll in remedial courses, degree plans and class schedules.
Registration
Availability is also key. I have an open door policy and make myself available to all our students day or night. For example: If a student is trying to register and doesn't know where to go or who to talk to, they can call me on their cell phones and I will walk them through the whole process over the phone. You have to let your students know that you care and you are there.
If you have any other questions, please send them my way.
Charlene Salazar
Charlene,
One of the things we are trying this year to increase motivation and persistence among our GED students is to provide mentors. We had our first training last night, and I shared with them your insights about motivation, support, and letting go of the past. In my experience, these are precisely what GED students need most! Thanks for sharing.
Wendy Quiñones
Hi Charlene,
Thanks very much for your description - it's clear that the counseling aspect of your program is a crucial component and a successful one. It sounds like you are an inspiration, as well as a dedicated worker. My hat is off to you!
Marie Cora
Assessment Discussion List Moderator
Regarding Charlene Salazar's role as Transitions Liaison, the students at your school are so lucky to have someone like you to help them! I am a former ABE/GED teacher and currently Assistant Professor of English at a community college, where I teach developmental level Reading and Writing. As a GED teacher, I saw my GED grads struggle with a variety of difficulties when they went to college, including understanding financial aid, paying for books, knowing how to navigate the schedule, knowing that they would still have to pay for a course if they stopped attending a course but did not officially drop, time management, etc., etc. The expectations in college are very different and most students didn't know how to navigate in this new environment. Now as an Assistant Professor where I teach students right out of high school, as well as GED graduates and adults returning to school, I can say that without a doubt, support is the most important factor that students need to succeed. Another thing that causes difficulty is the lack of alignment between various tests that students have to take, such as the Accuplacer (also see discussion thread entitled 'Accuplacer'). I think that transition programs can definitely help. Having worked in both ABE/GED, I am very interested in this discussion and look forward to reading everyone's comments.
Jac-Lynn Stark, Boston
Again, the SUN program here in Colorado (Success Unlimited/College Connection) is designed exactly to address the challenges that Jac-Lynn delineates. Is anyone on this discussion from the other Colorado sites (in addition to Ranee) or the New Jersey, North Carolina, or Kansas sites who can speak to how the GED transition to college program is working at your institution?
Stephanie Moran
Personally, I think every program with more than a few hundred students should be required to have a transitions liaison. And smaller programs should share one. The value added for students is immense. Also it allows teachers to do what they do best: TEACH!
Forrest Chisman
In a perfect world, Forrest. Money is the issue with so many smaller programs. Many are volunteer programs and have a hard time finding funding to pay for basic needs. Let alone a transition coordinator. AND with the current funding cuts that we all face what programs there are may be lost in part or completely. Adult literacy is just NOT on the top of the priority list in many states. A transition specialist would be great...but, sadly, not always possible.
Kathy Ellithorpe
Good morning everyone,
My name is Jennifer Duhamel. I work for the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas. I am part of the external evaluation team for the OVAE grant and have had the pleasure of visiting the 7 sites in Kansas twice so far. I thought I'd write to let you know some of the ways in which Kansas is helping students transition from adult education to post-secondary settings.
Kansas, like CO, NJ and NC, received funding from the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) to increase student transition. Seven pilot programs across the state link up adult learning centers and community colleges. Each of the 7 sites is unique but they have many components in common.
All offer more advanced academic content as well as learning strategies, time management and goal-setting. Many sites have developed transition classes, hired transition counselors or work closely with counselors from the community college. They provide students with information about post-secondary programs (degree and certificate) or help them to find it themselves.
A very important component, and mentioned many times in this discussion, is the support provided to the learners. Staff and instructors provide one-on-one guidance throughout the transition process. They walk students to take the college placement exam, to the financial aid office and to meet college instructors.
These committed staff members meet with students frequently to discuss goals and any obstacles to those goals. Some counselors and instructors even keep in touch with students by cell or text and are ready at all times-day or night-to help with homework, a college application or to give words of encouragement.
The formula to increase transition seems to include high academic standards, goal-setting, guidance and support.
Jennifer Duhamel
Center for Research on Learning, University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS
Greetings,
Though late in the discussion, I wanted to at least raise the issue of student and alumni leadership as having great potential to support transitions from GED to college. In NYC, we have seen this work on both the programmatic and systemic level.
At Bronx Community College, a campus based GED program, Future Now, identified the lack of positive social support networks as a key impediment hampering outcomes for their students. They also saw high levels of internalized oppression and low levels of resilience and life skills as obstacles to successful college transition.
In response, Future Now established a peer mentoring component to improve GED graduation rates, as well as transition to, and retention in, college.
Club IMPACT (Improving My Progress at College Today) is a learner-led club founded by Future Now graduates who have successfully transitioned to college. IMPACT members lead college orientation sessions for all incoming Future Now students and are responsible for intensive mentoring services. Club members routinely reach out to their peers and provide mutual support.
This model has worked exceptionally well in the two years since Club Impact was established. Future Now GED persistence and graduation rates have dramatically increased, transition to college has tripled and one semester college retention rates have nearly quadrupled at 81%.
At the systemic level, we have recently established a Transition to College Internship (T2C) as part of an innovative collaboration between the Mayor's Office of Adult Education and City University of New York (CUNY). Now in its second semester, the internship brings together alumni from GED programs located throughout the CUNY system.
Interns work closely with campus-based literacy programs as mentors and motivators to improve persistence, graduation rates and transitions to college. The aim of this collaboration is to support the growth of peer leadership and sustainable learner-led networks amongst adult education students and alumni while improving program outcomes including transitions.
Though too early to evaluate the impact of the T2C Internship, response from students and programs has been very positive. The Internship has also served as an incubator for a recently founded learner-led group, the Adult Education Alumni Alliance, which already has had an impact on a larger scale by helping to shape policy, curriculum and program structure.
Our experience is that GED alumni welcome the opportunity to partner with programs in authentic leadership roles, are eager to 'giveback' and are uniquely positioned to support, mentor and motivate other learners to see the GED as a stepping stone not a stop sign.
Katy Taylor
Director of Program Support
Mayor's Office of Adult Education
New York City
Dear Listers:
Mentoring is really helpful but not always easy to arrange. One "model" (I'm into models), group mentoring, is written up in the promising practice section of our website. It describes, in detail, four monthly mentor meetings and was written by Gylean Trabucchi, Mentor Coordinator for Project RIRAL ABE-to-College program in Pawtucket, RI.
I hope you enjoy reading about the practice. Gylean can answer any questions and, I'm sure, listers have many other good ideas on developing and sustaining mentoring relationships for adults in transition. Have people experimented with phone or online mentoring?
Cynthia Zafft, Senior Advisor
National College Transition Network
Hi Cynthia,
We are just starting a program for our GED students at the Community Learning Center. Thanks for the resource.
Wendy Quiñones
