Background: My two older children attended our local HS (primarily for IB and IT magnet programs within the school). Their school is anywhere from 80-90% URM depending on your definition of minority, over half on reduced/free lunch. AP tests are passed by only a handful of students. And I mean handful (two dozen or so), and mostly the IB kids (my oldest) and pre-engineering types, like my son. The average SAT is upper 800 combined, ACT upper teens. There college readiness index is 18/100. At our school this year, a brand spanking new GC this year didn’t know to send mid-term reports for the handful that are even applying to schools that require them (and students that requested them to be sent). One of the principals, when contacted, didn’t know anything about that process. That’s GC 101. I mean, if you can’t get a GC to do even that, how the heck do you expect them to know more to help disadvantaged students?
There are college fairs, but IMO, it’s like giving 1000 or more kids a 50 meter pool and telling them all to jump in when they don’t know how to swim. No lifeguard on duty. The college fair is held at a convention center for 4 entire districts NO guidance on how to navigate. Just drop 'em off and expect the kids to fight through the scrum for meaningful info. The districts get a bunch of sign in sheets and the kids get some swag.
It is hard to wrap your mind around how little encouragement and guidance some kids get, but believe me when I say that is eye opening and also heart breaking. My husband and I finally just threw in the towel after getting #2 through. We sent #3 to private catholic school. The difference in climate is like night and day.