The Key to Bridging the Ambition-Access Gap: Trusted Adults

Over 50% of high school students with college aspirations aren’t enrolled in advanced courses.

This is a big problem. After all, these courses provide the rigor, study skills, and confidence that set students up for success at the next level. They also allow students to knock out college credits, save money on college fees, and increase their chances of admission to their dream schools.

So what drives this gap? It’s not student ambition — as evidenced by 89% of students in our surveys saying they aspire to attend college — and it’s also not their potential or capabilities.

We have pinpointed three key barriers to access over 2 million student surveys:

1. Adult encouragement
2. Lack of information
3. Lack of belonging

These factors affect students across all demographics, but especially those from historically-underrepresented and low-income backgrounds.

The key to breaking down barriers: Trusted Adults

Luckily, all three barriers can be broken down by educators, who have the power to encourage students to pursue advanced academic pathways and support them as they take on the challenge.

Many students might not know the options available to them, or may feel hesitant about their ability to take on rigorous curriculum.

Robert Gates was one of those students. But luckily, an adult in his building spotted his potential — and pushed him to reach it. Read his story below.

How a Trusted Adult unlocked Robert’s potential

In September, Robert will step foot onto Millikin University’s campus in Illinois – confident, prepared and focused on earning a degree in athletic training. But the student his professors and peers will meet is a world apart from one that entered Glenbard South High School four years ago. 

Before transferring from Chicago Public Schools, Robert struggled academically. Frequent moves made it hard to stay grounded.  

“In middle school, I was always the new kid,” he recalled. “And my mom and dad worked all the time, so I was very independent in that way.” 

However, Assistant Principal Sean Byrne recognized Robert’s potential, and encouraged him to take an AP English class.  

“I had several meetings with him where I had to explain to him why taking AP English was going to be a really valuable part of his trajectory as a student – to help him be a better writer, be a better speaker, and be a better thinker in whatever career field he wanted to go into,” said Byrne, now principal of Glenbard South.

Robert was hesitant. “I was scared,” he said.  “I thought it was going to be, like, the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

And it was hard – at first. But when final exam results came back, Robert had passed with a four out of five. His confidence at an all-time high, he enrolled in another AP course, and then another, and even signed up for dual credit courses through the local college.  

His favorite advanced course? Dual credit speech, which helped him conquer his stage fright and develop his speaking skills – while earning college credit.  

“Being able to get that college experience before actually stepping on a college campus is an amazing way to not only build my overall skill, but also prepare me for college and knock a few classes out along the way,” he said. 

Robert’s journey from struggling student to college-bound scholar started with someone seeing his potential – and pushing him to see it too. 

“I needed to use some of my political capital a little bit to say, ‘hey, I believe in you,’ and he needed to trust that I really was going to be there to support him even when things got tough,” Byrne said. 

Every high school has many students like Robert, who have what it takes to not only take advanced courses, but excel in them – if only given the opportunity.  

 “I think Robert has more confidence in himself that he didn’t realize was inside of him – and I can’t wait to see how he takes that into university,” Byrne said. 

“He’s an amazing success story – all because he took that class.” 

Read more strategies for educators to bridge the gap between ambition and access for students like Robert in our new eBook.

Brennan LaBrie helps amplify the work, mission, and impact of the EOS team and our partners across the education landscape. With a background in local journalism, he seeks to share the stories of individuals and organizations driving impact in their community and beyond.