SEE College Prep

Vital Stats

Garrett N

South San Francisco, CA

  • people helped1000
  • People Doing It 26

The Problem

Going to college is the most definitive step a person can take toward creating a successful future; over a lifetime, a four-year college graduate earns $1.5 million more than if she had only a high school diploma (U.S. Census). Yet at the top 146 colleges, students in the highest economic quartile outnumber those in the lowest quartile 25:1 (Century Foundation). In fact, low-income students who earn A’s enroll at the same rate as wealthier students who earn D’s (The College Board). Shawn Abbott, Stanford’s former Director of Admission, underscored that “testing is the biggest barrier to low-income students seeking admission to a place like Stanford.” The exclusion of socio-economically disadvantaged students from the nation’s top colleges is especially disheartening since these schools offer the most generous financial aid and invest significantly in resources that help first-generation students succeed. While more first-generation students are taking the SAT than ever before (USA Today), low-income students remain locked out of the test preparation industry. This results in a nearly 300-point disparity between low-income students and their wealthiest peers (College Board), and places them at a disadvantage for accessing four-year colleges. The college opportunity gap is exacerbated by inadequate college counseling, which leaves students without an understanding of the college admissions process and the importance of the SAT. For instance, before our program, most SEE students did not know that they could use a calculator during the SAT or that test scores are a required component of any application to a four-year college. In California, budget cuts have forced some of the state’s most under-resourced schools to eliminate college counselors entirely, resulting in an average student to counselor ratio of 814:1 (NACAC), and devastating outcomes for these students’ future aspirations. SEE addresses such systemic challenges during the summer, when achievement gaps typically widen. By providing our students with the inspiration, mentorship, and know-how to succeed on the SAT and in the college admissions process, SEE empowers students to attend the colleges they deserve while building a college-going culture in their communities.

Plan of Action

SEE’s 80-hour program takes place over seven weeks in the summer, when achievement gaps typically widen. Our students benefit from small classes, personalized mentoring, and small group sessions that help solidify their understanding of concepts. The program includes four proctored SAT examinations. Ultimately, students develop an understanding of over 1,000 real SAT questions and the knowledge they need to perform to their full potential on the test. Our teachers and mentors attend a one-week training, which includes a review of SAT material and college admissions, sessions led by educational and social change experts, mock classroom and tutoring sessions with feedback, and a lesson-by-lesson walkthrough of our curriculum. They receive an 80-page lesson booklet, while our students receive a 250-page handbook with real SAT questions and worksheets that complement classroom sessions. Through the strength of our materials and our intensive staff training efforts, SEE’s program is easily replicated across sites and can be scaled to reach as many students as funding allows. Using previously administered SAT examinations in an authentic testing environment, we see an average improvement of 202 points between students’ diagnostic and final scores. Ninety percent of our students go on to four-year colleges, and nearly all qualify for financial aid, making their college dreams an economically feasible reality. More significantly, SEE is building a college-going culture in communities where previously few students have matriculated. Students tell us that our programs—which solidify math, reading, and writing skills—have a positive impact on everyday academic performance in high school and college. Perhaps most importantly, two-thirds of our students tell us their SEE mentor was the best mentor they ever had. In 2010, SEE ran seventeen programs that served approximately 600 low-income high school students throughout California, partnering with Upward Bound sites, schools, and local community organizations. Due to the logistical complexity and technical assistance needed to manage numerous small sites, we have reshaped our partnership strategy to rely on larger entities, namely charter management organizations (CMOs). This approach allows us to consolidate our program locations and staff, while reaching far more students at each site. CMOs also offer access to a large pool of highly qualified teachers, many of who are seeking summer employment and who already have impressive track records with our student demographic. SEE recently built its first CMO partnership with the Alliance For College Ready Public Schools in Los Angeles. This summer, almost every senior in the Alliance organization will participate in our program. SEE is in the process of building additional partnerships with other CMOs to reach a service goal of 2,000 students in 2011.
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Education Inequalities

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