Bits and Bytes of Guidance
With hundreds of students to advise, counselors are turning to technology to help them make better decisions.
A lanky teenager with braided hair and baggy jeans leans forward in a chair in Bob Turba's office. Quinton Smith, 17, on a rare visit to his guidance counselor, needs a quick study on getting into college. Gazing back at him with blue eyes set in a sun-weathered face, Turba, 55, the head counselor at the public Stanton College Preparatory Academy here, is doing his own quick study: What colleges would fit this young man? Which could he realistically get into? And will he have the financial resources to pay for college?
To shine a light on those questions, Turba clicks in to a computer database that has boiled down Smith's school record to its essence for both to see. At a glance, it shows the teenager's test scores, weighted and unweighted grade point averages, and class rank. It also shows his schedule, sports and activities the teenager has participated in, and what major he has indicated he wants to pursue in college and where.
"You've got good numbers, good...
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