Razor C.O.A.C.H. Taking Applications for Mentoring Assistance

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This year’s counselor education graduate students are pictured with Josh Raney, upper left and Kristin Higgins, lower left.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – High school students who want help planning for college or career-training programs can apply now to a program based at the University of Arkansas.

The College of Education and Health Professions employs 15 graduate students in counselor education to work in the Razor C.O.A.C.H. program. These coaches guide high school students and their families in finding opportunities after high school graduation. Razor C.O.A.C.H. stands for “Creating Opportunities for Arkansans’ Career Hopes.” The program is in its third year.

Applications to participate in the program are now being sent home with students at 15 Northwest Arkansas high schools.

A preliminary evaluation of the second year of the program shows it was successful in getting many of the high school students involved to plan for college or career-training programs. A recent survey found that students who received the career coaching last year were more likely to respond positively to questions regarding confidence about their academic work and their plans for the future, and to report fewer perceived barriers related to college and career goals.

Sixty-seven percent of students in the program agreed or strongly agreed they had support in applying to college, understanding admission requirements and paying for college compared to 27 percent of students not participating in the program. The survey reveals that the program had a significant impact on participating students’ knowledge, beliefs and actions in planning for their future, including college preparedness.

A 2013 evaluation of the program found that students who received the coaching took college-entrance exams at a slightly higher rate and scored higher than students who did not receive the coaching. Senior students in the Razor C.O.A.C.H. program scored 1.5 points higher on the ACT than students not in the program. Some schools, such as those in the Rogers School District, saw students scoring as much as 3 points higher than students not in the program. Information on ACT scores of students in the second year of the program is not yet available.

Program evaluators are also gathering data on grade-point averages, absenteeism, college application rates, graduation rates and application rates for financial aid.

The coaches worked with 520 students in 15 Northwest Arkansas high schools last year. This includes students from previous years of the program in addition to a new group of students. Once in the program, participating students work with a coach through their graduation. This year, the program expects to serve about 215 students from the previous two years, in addition to another 300 to 350 new students.

A three-year, $1.5 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation awarded in 2011 supports the program, which is organized and funded through a partnership between the Walton Family Foundation, the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions, the Northwest Arkansas Council and the Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative.

Josh Raney, director of the Razor C.O.A.C.H. program, said that data will be collected from all three years of the program to see whether students who received the coaching improved on various measures compared to students who did not receive the coaching. Preliminary data from the second year has shown significant increases in Razor C.O.A.C.H. students in terms of non-cognitive outcomes. Data related to academic and post-secondary outcomes are currently being collected and analyzed with a full report expected to come this fall.

According to demographic data, the program served 107 seniors, 195 juniors and 30 sophomores in last year’s new group of students. The majority of the students applying to the program are first-generation college students, and 68 percent of the parents of the students don’t have a college degree. More than half are also minority students with 55 percent identified as Hispanic or other ethnicities.

This year’s participating schools and the U of A graduate students working as coaches:

• Bentonville – Dewey Dykes
• Decatur – Amanda Miller
• Elkins – Ashley Streber
• Fayetteville – Jen Hartman
• Gentry – Amanda Miller
• Greenland – Kylie Roblyer
• Har-Ber High in Springdale – Carolyn Kelch and Justin McDowell
• Heritage High in Rogers – Kiersten Prochnow
• Lincoln – Kailee Stonebarger
• Pea Ridge – Sarah Withem and Justin McDowell
• Prairie Grove – Tish Parker
• Rogers – Becky Vanderhagen and Danielle Raubuck
• Siloam Springs – Jena Anderson
• Springdale – Erika Perez
• West Fork – Kylie Roblyer

The career coaches not only work with the students but also participate in program initiatives such as Reach Out NWA. The event takes place the first week of school with teachers and administrators of high schools in Benton and Washington counties visiting homes of students who were enrolled the previous year but did not return to class this fall. The coaches also help coordinate various events such as campus visits and financial aid workshops for students and parents to attend.

A number of career coaches have had the opportunity to present information about the Razor C.O.A.C.H. program at state and national conferences. Coaches Jena Anderson, Heather Spickard and Kiersten Prochnow traveled with Raney to Los Angeles last April to present at a CollegeBoard Conference to an audience of secondary and post-secondary administrators. Carolyn Starnes and Kylie Roblyer presented to Arkansas high school counselors and administrators at the Arkansas School Counselor Association conference in June.

These conferences provide an opportunity to disseminate information about the program’s efforts in Northwest Arkansas as well as learn what others are doing in their communities to support college and career readiness. In doing so, the program has learned ways to develop and improve services and made numerous contacts opening the door to various resources that have helped support the program.

Kristin Higgins, associate professor of counselor education, is principal investigator on the project, and Raney directs the daily operations. Gary Ritter, director of the Office for Education Policy in the College of Education and Health Professions, is leading the evaluation of the project along with Sarah Moore and other members of the OEP staff.