your partner

for Building a

College-going

Culture in

HigH SCHoolS

at College Summit, we believe

that one day all students

will experience high school

not as a destination but as a

“launchpad” to college and

career success.

across the country,

College Summit partner

schools experience between

12 to 20 percent increases in

college enrollment rates over

their own baselines.

Seven out of 10 freshmen

who attend a College Summit

partner high school make it to

sophomore year of college.

our students, predominantly

from low-income,

backgrounds, are on par with

national average persistence

rates among all income levels.

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The most effective high schools today serve as launchpads for postsecondary success rather than finish lines for formal education.

Preparing students for postsecondary pursuits is critical to ensuring not only their future college and career success, but also the

future success of the United States as a global leader. It takes dedicated effort to shift the priorities of high schools from graduation to

postsecondary preparation. College Summit is proud to have worked side-by-side with school leaders, educators and students nationwide

for more than 18 years to foster high schools where going to college is the expectation, not the exception.

We know the most engaging schools connect student learning to the real world. When students understand that their academic work

today creates career opportunities tomorrow, they are more likely to stay in high school and go on to reach their college and career goals.

College Summit’s approach is unique in the field of college access because we focus on creating dynamic learning experiences

that motivate, support, and engage all students in postsecondary planning.

College Summit combines curricula for grades 9-12 with tools, training, and support to equip educators with the resources and skills they

need to launch students toward postsecondary success. We also leverage the most influential students to encourage college-going among

their peers. Our partnership leads to measurable gains in the college enrollment rates (CER) of our partner schools.

On the following pages, you will have a chance to preview the benefits of a College Summit partnership: the curriculum, the online portal,

the training support, Peer Leader training, and the data and reporting tools that will allow your school leaders to track progress and drive

results. We look forward to working together in launching your students to postsecondary success.

The College Summit Team

Dear Partner,

“this College Summit

experience was the

most amazing and

emotional part of my life.

i’m now starting to see

life in a new light.”

12th grader, academy for Scholarship and entrepreneurship

new york City department of education, ny

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Navigator Curriculum: For Students in Grade 12With an emphasis on goal-setting, planning, taking action, and reflecting, the Navigator curriculum supports all students as they make a successful transition to life after high school.

Student edition

The College Summit Navigator Student Edition provides students with an engaging opportunity during the school day in which to explore, apply to, and prepare for a variety of postsecondary options.

The Navigator reflects the needs and experiences of teachers and adolescents. Students create a Senior Portfolio that includes all of the planning milestones and products necessary to apply to and succeed in postsecondary learning opportunities, such as personal-ized college lists, a resume, financial aid planning, etc.

As students create these products, they practice valuable transfer-able skills which will help them persist and achieve in postsecondary life, including goal-setting, action planning, research, and reflection.

The College Summit Navigator Student Edition features:

• Senior Year Planning Calendars designed to keep students on track during the deadline-driven senior year. Vital dates and deadlines are provided, and students revisit these calendars throughout the year to organize and plan their work

• 33 weeks of activities, each built around a tangible outcome to help students plan for and transition to life after high school

• A variety of planning resources and templates to help students create postsecondary plans

• A glossary of common postsecondary planning terms and concepts

educator edition

The College Summit Navigator Educator Edition incorporates the latest in pedagogical and educational research. The Navigator aligns easily with national and state standards for counseling, language arts and career and technical education.

Educators benefit from features like:

• A clearly articulated scope and sequence consisting of seven flexible, thematic units covering the entire senior year

• 33 start-to-finish lesson plans with suggestions for modification and extension

• Measurable learning objectives based around authentic student performance

• Built-in assessments and suggestions for scaffolding and differentiation

• Lesson plans that provide step-by-step instructions for using College Summit’s online college and career planning tool, cSnav, in conjunction with the subject of the lesson

• Peer Leader Perspectives that highlight strategies for tapping into the power of College Summit Peer Leaders

• A collection of classroom support resources to help educators extend learning beyond the page of the textbook, making the curriculum relevant to all students

“Because of College Summit, i have come to the realization

that i am College Material!”

9th grader, north Miami Beach Senior High School Miami-dade County public Schools, fl

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Launch Curriculum: For Students in Grades 9-11Each year of Launch consists of more than 30 easy-to-use, ready-to-implement, and developmentally-appropriate lesson plans that incorporate internet-based CSNav activities for each grade. These lessons allow educators to quickly and easily create dynamic classroom experiences for all students centered around rich discussion, relevant activity, and meaningful assessment.

Students achieve mastery of researched-based core understand-ings, equipping them to progress through high school on the college-ready path.

• Self-advocacy encourages students to become empowered to speak about write about personal experiences, and to be confident in asking for support when necessary.

• Academic excellence promotes students’ awareness of academic strengths and areas of growth as learners. This academic self-awareness can result in more students taking rigorous courses, and increases students’ understanding of college entrance requirements.

• college-career connection enhances understanding of the correlation between success in a given field and completion of the appropriate educational pathway.

• college 101 builds college-going vocabulary, familiarizes students with college life, and prepares them for the academic rigors of college through exposure to college-level curricula and work.

• Financial awareness equips students to understand the costs associated with attending college, and encourages the creation of a savings plan. Personal and real-world finances are explored, as are the connections between one’s level of education and salary potential.

each theme-focuSed grade challengeS StudentS to:

Clean Slate - 9th grade

• Make a smooth transition to high school

• Make positive choices today that will set them up for success tomorrow

Speak Up! - 10th grade

• Explain who they are, where they come from, and where they want to go

• Express themselves in writing, speaking, and other forms of communication

• Use strategies to overcome a variety of academic, professional, and personal barriers

Take Action! - 11th grade

• Articulate their next steps after high school graduation

• Maximize their 11th grade experience

• Take action to set themselves up for a successful senior year

Each student receives a Launch student workbook that includes supporting worksheets, supplemental graphic organizers, activity pages, and space for reflection.

Launch educator books contain detailed lesson plans, assessment tools, recommendations for differentiation, ideas for lesson exten-sions, and suggestions for supplementary resources.

“College Summit allows our students to discover and work

towards a life beyond high school by giving them structured

tools to accomplish their college-going dreams.”

Krystal greene, College Summit advisoringlewood High School, inglewood unified School district, los angeles, Ca

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CSNav: Our Online Postsecondary Planning Portal CSNav is College Summit’s comprehensive online college-planning portal for students and educators. It is fully integrated with both our Navigator and Launch curricula, and includes lesson plans called CSNav Connections for use in the computer lab.

Student center

The CSNav Student Center has a variety of tools that allow students to prepare for high school, college, and career.

• high School Planning: Students create a plan of study that helps them stay on track to graduate high school and go to college.

• college Planning: Students search a database of over 6,000 colleges, get help preparing for standardized tests, explore majors, and apply to college.

• Financial Aid Planning: Students learn about financial aid, search for scholarships, and create a financial plan.

• career Planning: Students create an interest inventory, explore careers, create resumes, and even practice interviewing for a job.

ProfeSSional center

Through the CSNav Professional Center, educators manage student progress in real-time via easy, online access to classroom and student data. They can comment on student work and directly communicate with students about their progress. CSNav automatically creates reports for teachers and principals on how many students in each grade have completed critical milestones, as well as which individual students are on track or behind.

What makes CSNav so valuable?

• The curriculum includes “CSNav Connections,” lesson plans that help educators incorporate this valuable tool into their classrooms.

• The Professional Center provides access to over 150 supplementary lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, and other useful materials that can be downloaded.

• CSNav can be used in the classroom, at home, in the library, or from any computer with an internet connection.

“College Summit is one way to achieve the school-

wide goal of creating a college-going culture. it also

provides measures for growth, training, professional

development, and support. College Summit helps

students learn the importance of developing a plan.”

nathaniel r. laney, Jr., principalforestville Military academy, prince george’s County, Md

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educatorS’ academy

The Educators’ Academy, typically held during the summer before the school year, is a local training for teachers and counselors who will teach the College Summit curriculum or coordinate the program at their school. The Educators’ Academy equips educators with the “know how” to guide students through the postsecondary plan-ning and enrollment process. Educators also learn strategies for building a robust college-going culture in their school communities.

After participating in the Educators’ Academy, teachers and counselors are:

• clear about their College Summit roles and responsibilities

• Ready to deliver the College Summit curriculum through a dynamic classroom

• Excited about engaging influential students in creative ways

• Skilled in using College Summit’s technology tools effectively

• eager to promote college-going culture in their school

onSite coaching

College Summit is unique in providing job-embedded professional development that supports educators in forging a sustainable college-going culture. College Summit’s School Partnership Managers work in close collaboration with partner educators to support program implementation, develop new approaches, and foster the use of data to drive action for programmatic and instructional innovation.

Professional DevelopmentCollege Summit’s professional development for teachers and counselors helps raise expectations for students. Our training and support fosters learning communities that maintain ongoing professional growth and continuous program innovation.

“College Summit and our peer

leaders provide yet another

avenue available that will ensure

that the door of opportunity

does not close on any student.”

dr. reginald Sirlsprincipal, Morningside High School

inglewood unified School district, Ca

“When the peer leaders come back and share their stories and experience, it sets

a fire under the rest of the students. College Summit also allows them to create a

realistic goal of going to college and provides them with the steps to do it.”

Winsome falby, director of dC paCtHigh road upper School and High road academy

district of Columbia

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Influential Youth: Students, Peer Leaders, and AlumniWho is most influential to a 17-year-old? AnoThER 17-YEAR-oLd!

the college Summit WorkShoP:

college aPPlication Boot camP

Peer Leaders are rising seniors identified and selected by their schools to attend a College Summit Workshop held on local college campuses during the summer. There, the students are immersed in a dynamic training that allows them to enter their senior year with a leg up on their postsecondary plans. During four days, they receive intensive writing support from trained community volunteers, culminating in a solid draft of a personal statement that can be used in college and scholarship applications. They also meet one-on-one with a college coach to create a list of postsecondary institutions that are a good match. They learn more about financial aid, the importance of self-advocacy, and receive innovative leadership training to build college-going culture back at school through peer networks.

Peer leaderS in the claSSroom

Peer Leaders are important stakeholders in building excitement among their peers for college and other paths beyond high school. With the support of educators and the school community, Peer Leaders can play a critical role in helping to convey the importance of postsecond-ary planning to their classmates.

College Summit-trained Peer Leaders also play an important role in helping create dynamic classroom experiences. Using the Peer Leader Perspectives in the Navigator and Launch curricula, educators can collaborate with Peer Leaders to plan and deliver engaging lessons around postsecondary planning and college-going. Peer Leaders can help run classroom activities, work with small groups of students on a specific aspect of the college application process, or target individual students for extra support.

Here are some of the innovative school-based activities Peer Leaders have led:

• Personal statement writing workshops

• College campus tours

• FAFSA and financial aid workshops

• College application drives

• College Summit clubs

• “I’m Going to College” pep rallies

• Scholarship searches

• College “buddy”/mentoring activities

college Summit alumni: giving Back

One of College Summit’s greatest assets is the ever-growing network of more than 100,000 alumni who have participated in summer Workshops or school classes in prior years. Alumni who benefitted from the College Summit program and are now enrolled in college, are uniquely qualified to promote the college experience to high school students in the communities where they reside. Because of their outsized influence, alumni are integral to the College Summit program, making up more than two-thirds of our summer Workshop staff, and contributing an additional 2,500 service hours in our schools and regions toward promoting college-going. We are proud to support our alumni with professional development classes and networking opportunities that not only involve them further in the program but also provide learning for career growth.

“if a program doesn’t speak to the heart, it doesn’t

speak to the reality of my students.”

tajah gross, principalachievement academy, Harbor City High

Baltimore City public Schools, Md

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To ensure that all students receive the positive message that they have choices and options for their future, clear and consistent communications are critical.

Each year, College Summit provides school partners with banners, posters, pennants, and other unique visual materials that signal postsecondary purpose in every corner of the school. Our annual promotions typically include:

• A back-to-school campaign to promote college-going and awareness for all students

• A mid-year campaign compelling seniors to complete the FAFSA on time

• A spring promotion tied toward recruiting and motivating the next year’s class of senior Peer Leaders

We are always delighted and amazed by the creative displays our partners and their Peer Leaders produce to celebrate and signal college-going schoolwide.

Signaling: Promotions that Excite and Energize StudentsCollege Summit helps high schools give their schools the look and feel of college-going culture to promote college and other postsecondary options for all.

in a 2010 survey conducted by deloitte, fully 92 percent of high school educators

said that having data on students’ academic performance in college was critical for

evaluating the effectiveness of high school curriculum and instruction.

“Key findings: deloitte 2010 education survey.” deloitte, 2010.

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SCHOOL 1

SCHOOL 2

SCHOOL 3

SCHOOL 4

Sample District Milestone Report

SCHOOL 1

SCHOOL 2

SCHOOL 3

SCHOOL 4

SCHOOL 5

SCHOOL 6

Sample District Milestone Report

Similar reports are prepared individually for schools, with comparisons across classrooms instead of schools.

Data and ReportingInformation on student performance can help educators focus their energy, strengthen instruction, and spot innovation. For this reason, we provide detailed reports to school partners on school and student progress. By providing schools with real-time data on their students’ journey to college, College Summit fosters dynamic conversations that lead to strengthened postsecondary outcomes.

Student mileStone rePortS

Featuring detailed school and district data, student milestone reports allow superintendents to view performance across schools, and principals and counselors can drill all the way down to specific classrooms. Working in conjunction with our online portal CSNav, reports contain information on student progress toward specific college-planning milestones such as the creation of a college list, applications sent, standardized tests taken, FAFSA completion, etc.

college enrollment rate rePortS (annual)

College Summit verifies the college enrollment and persistence of all high school graduates at the student-record level at partner schools against college registrar data maintained by the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). All student data is processed, stored, and analyzed using the College Summit Data Warehouse, an internal, secure database built and supported by our national partner, Deloitte. College Summit seeks to make this data actionable by sharing it with school leaders so that they can make adjustments in resources, curricula, and scheduling in order to increase students’ postsecondary opportunities.

“putting postsecondary feedback data in the hands

of our educators helps us increase expectations for

what adults and students can accomplish and for

what high schools can deliver.”

John deasy, Superintendentlos angeles unified School district, Ca

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About College SummitOne day, American high schools will have shifted their purpose from graduation to preparing all students for college and career success.

College Summit is a national nonprofit that partners with high schools to collaborate with principals, teachers, and the most influential seniors to put every student on the path to higher education. Our comprehensive system – summer workshops, curricula, influential student peer leaders, trained educators, and actionable data – ensures all students graduate with a realistic postsecondary plan in place.

In a low-income community center in Washington, DC, College Summit began when Founder and CEO J.B. Schramm guided a few promising students through the college admissions process. Twenty years later, College Summit has grown to annually serve 50,000 students in 180 partner high schools in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

States with College Summit partner schools

2012-13 expansion sites (Detroit and Chicago)

IL

MI

NY

WVVA

SC

FL

MOCOCA

IN

PR

OH

PA

WI

NCTN

KY

MSAL GA

LA

AR

TX

OK

KS

MT

NM

WY

WA

OR

NV

AK

NH

MDDC

DE

NJ

MA

RICT

VT

ME

IA

MN

NE

ND

SDID

UT

AZ

HI

“at deloitte, we take seriously our

responsibility to the community, and believe

the business world has a powerful role to play,

whether it is volunteerism, pro-bono services,

or cash donations, in responding to the

challenges in our education system.”

Barry SalzbergCeo, deloitte llp and Board Chair, College Summit

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deloitte Leads data Innovation: Deloitte’s multi-year, multi-million dollar relationship with College Summit ensures high schools can understand and act on college-going outcomes. Through funds and pro bono services, Deloitte has enhanced the ability of College Summit and its partner schools to utilize data to drive performance, and raised the profile of effective postsecondary data use in schools nationwide.

darden Supports Students: The Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation champions the expansion of College Summit’s Launch program for grades 9-11 and supports our work to develop and celebrate student leadership.

MetLife Foundation Fosters College-Savvy Educators:The MetLife Foundation provides essential support for training teachers, counselors, and principals in delivering the College Summit curricula and developing college-going culture in their schools.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Fuels Expansion: With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, College Summit has expanded across the country and created a curriculum for grades 9-11 to complement our senior-year program.

Citi Foundation Supports Policy: The Citi Foundation partnership strengthens College Summit’s work educating students about financial aid options and advocating for policies that support a focus on higher education preparation in high schools.

Our PartnersEvery day, College Summit works to focus high schools on their students’ college and career goals. Our students and schools are proving that the barriers to postsecondary success can be surmounted. With the support of leading foundations, businesses, and investors, College Summit is raising the trajectory of students’ lives.

college Summit - national1763 Columbia Road, NWSecond FloorWashington, DC 20009p 202.319.1763f 202.319.1233

College Summit - Colorado1201 E. Colfax AvenueSuite 301Denver, CO 80218p 303.832.7174f 303.832.9032

College Summit - Florida6101 Blue Lagoon DriveSuite 430Miami, Florida 33132p 305.416.4140f 305.416.4147

College Summit - Indiana407 North Fulton StreetSuite 104Indianapolis, IN 46202p 317.972.4383f 317.972.4394

college Summit - national capital region415 Michigan Avenue, NESuite 350Washington, DC 20017p 202.269.0638f 202.269.0555

College Summit - new York40 Exchange PlaceSuite 1202New York, NY 10005p 646.783.6150f 646.783.6169

college Summit - connecticut201 Orange StreetSecond Floor New Haven, CT 06510p 860.655.6358

College Summit - northern California703 Market StreetSuite 205San Francisco, CA 94103p 415.227.9905f 415.227.4595

College Summit - Southern California 5601 West Slauson AvenueSuite 265Culver City, CA 90230p 310.216.9389f 310.216.2897

college Summit - South carolinaStaley Hall, Room 225300 College StreetOrangeburg, SC 29115p 803.516.4877f 803.533.3797

College Summit - St. Louis801 N. 11th StreetSt. Louis, MO 63101p 314.345.4463f 314.345.2669

college Summit - West virginia100L Faculty CircleDunbar, WV 25064p 304.204.4061f 304.204.4069

Contact Us

College Summit | 1763 Columbia Road, NW | Second Floor | Washington, DC 20009 | collegesummit.org