The Benefits of Personal Guidance For Your 9th or 10th Grade Student
Isn’t 9th grade too early? This is the question that people often ask me.
There can be tremendous benefits to having personal guidance for your student as early as the 9th grade. School systems have increasingly put more emphasis on 9th grade, some even touting it as the most important year in high school. The first year of high school has been shown in research to be a critical predictor of students' future likelihood of completing high school. Washington State and research from the University of Chicago Consortium agree that the successful transition to 9th grade is critical to graduation.
But what about students who are clearly already on track to graduate high school?
Working with 9th and 10th grade students can have profound impact on four key areas: academic course tracking, extracurricular preparation, self-awareness, and self-confidence.
Academic Course Tracking
Tracking refers to the general practice of assigning students “to different levels of the same course, or to a course with a different curriculum that is either more or less rigorous” (Lucas, 1999; Oakes, 2005). Of course, tracking happens to many students early on in elementary school, often through teacher recommendations that studies show can have bias toward minority students. Some students are quietly placed in the advanced group, while others are left behind. Many parents believe that once their high-achieving son or daughter has proven themselves throughout middle school they no longer need to worry about tracking derailing their child’s academic outcomes. Unfortunately, this can be far from the truth. In the book Detracking for Excellence and Equity by Carol Corbett Burris and Delia T. Garrity, the authors explain that “the propensity for middle-track students to move to lower tracks rather than higher tracks during their high school years” is more common than we would want to believe. The decisions that students (or in some cases schools) make about the courses students take in the 9th and 10th grade can be crucial to academic outcomes because “the decision to deny students access to high-track courses, such as AP or IB courses, will affect their candidacy to competitive colleges.”
This occurs the most in math and science courses.
Women and minority students are routinely underrepresented in higher-level math and science courses (or STEM) courses and even less represented in STEM majors in college, many of which are direct-entry, competitive, or limited-enrollment majors at colleges and universities. To get into these top STEM majors and college programs, schools are oftentimes explicit about the level of math and science you need to have already completed before your senior year. To get into those courses your junior year sometimes requires a reverse engineering of your schedule as early as 8th or 9th grade. If you are in Algebra 1 in 9th grade, it is unlikely you will take AP Calculus in high school. Even if you are in geometry in the 9th grade, without proper planning and supplemental coursework it can be difficult to complete AP Calculus by the 11th grade. Of course, not everyone wants to, or needs to take AP Calculus to graduate, but oftentimes students do not discover that they want to be an engineer or they want to get into these top STEM programs until they “begin” to think about college during the 11th grade. By that time, the course schedule is all but set and the ability to influence the tracking is small.
Countless schools have preferences on whether they want to see students take AP Statistics or AP Calculus, when they want to see physics, and what level of computer science they expect, depending on the major and program. Some teachers and counselors don’t understand a student’s particular ambitions when making early course selections, and often will be more cautious with minority and female students, not wanting them to risk over-exerting themselves academically. To bring it back to Burris’ research, she found that “many high-achieving minority students did not study accelerated math…and many majority students with far lower achievement test scores did so successfully.”
Summer and Extracurricular Planning
In the same vein as academic course tracking, some students find themselves somehow underprepared for the experience they need to get into some top summer programs or direct-entry/direct-admit college and universities programs through no fault of their own. Make no mistake, I am not advocated that everyone need to or should even want to do expensive summer programs. Many such programs are “pay to play” programs that are high-cost luxuries that sell themselves as the way to get a competitive edge in the college admissions process. These summer programs do provide benefits by way of helping students explore academic areas of interest deeper, rule out certain majors or career choices, and in some cases experience dorm and college living, but they are not necessary to be successful in the college application process.
I believe there is definite value to letting “kids be kids.” In today’s society there is an extreme amount of pressure for students to have every minute of their day scheduled which can lead to early burn-out. Balanced summer programs (that are also fun!) are the most effective way for your child to succeed in their long-term goals. There are some instances, however, where internships or research opportunities are available to students after the 9th or 10th grade that can have an impact on a student’s future endeavors. By way of example, the Rochester Early Medical Scholars (REMS) program at the University of Rochester is an eight-year BA/BS + MD program for outstanding undergraduates who are committed to pursuing a medical career. On the program application page it details that a good fit applicant may already “have medical experience (e.g., shadowing physicians, volunteering at a hospital, working for an ambulance corps/EMT program, participating in premedical summer programs, conducting research).” Knowing and planning for certain internships and shadowing or volunteer experiences ahead of time in the 10th grade can help bolster chances to such programs.
Outside of summer programming, early work to discover extra-curricular activities that align with the student’s interest allow for students to explore the arts, sports, and clubs in a way that still allows time for them to become leaders in those activities by the time they reach the 11th or 12th grade. For students interested in being recruited, the work actually begins second semester sophomore year and juniors who are competitive in their sport but wait until fall or spring of junior year may find themselves behind the curve.
Self- Awareness
I work with my students on discovering their learning and productivity preferences, environmental study preferences, time-management skills, emotional intelligences, as well as other multiple intelligences well before the 11th grade. We also spend time on career and major development, exploring students’ natural skills, strengths, and interests. This kind of introspection and work on self-awareness and self-analysis can can help create a supportive environment for students to discover their interests, skills, and strengths in a way that will better prepare them for their 11-12th grade years while helping them become happier teenagers who can better align their activities and clubs with their interests.
“Before students start considering college options, they need to identify how they think, learn, study, and interact with others. Self-awareness is the backbone of finding the right colleges.” - Dr. Steven R. Antonoff, PhD
Numerous studies indicate that students whose learning mode and environment are suited to their personal preferences and learning styles are able to achieve more and have a more satisfying educational experience.
I don’t emphasis certain colleges or tiers of schools in the 9th and 10th grade, rather, I build the foundation for students to go into the 11th grade more assure of themselves and clear about what environments are best suited to them. This allows for more efficiency in the 11th grade when we truly dive into the college search process because students are better able to identify the ingredients they need in an academic environment to thrive. Students feel less overwhelm and anxiety about the process as a whole because they have taken the time to get to know themselves. Further, the bonds we have built over the past 1-2 years allow them to have greater trust in the college process and be truthful with what they are looking for.
Self-Confidence
Overall, students who start working with me earlier in their high school careers are able to have greater self-confidence in themselves within the college application process as well as in other areas of their life. I work with my students on helping them find their voice and advocate for themselves, trusting that they are able to make good decisions about their goals and aspirations. There is less stress in the process overall because information has been disseminated gradually over 3-4 years instead of all at once during the junior year. Junior year comes with its own increase of academic rigor, testing, and new responsibilities in extra-curricular activities. Starting educational consulting early can allow this area to be one of smooth transition, supporting, instead of complicating, their overall goals.
I feel so fortunate to have connected with Sydney as I was starting my journey through high school. I can tell that she takes an interest in my growth not only as a student, but as a person. I look forward to my calls with Sydney where we discuss a wide range of topics, including my four year high school plan, AP classes, possible career paths, summer courses and more. I always leave the calls with an action list and am very grateful to have her in my corner. I feel like nothing will fall through the cracks with Sydney and for that I am so thankful.
9th Grader, Potomac, Maryland