Ask The Experts: How Can Parents Help Students See College As Attainable?

Q: Your Say Yes to Education program helps students see college as an attainable goal. How can parents do the same?

A: “Families need to be talking with their children now about what they want to be when they grow up,” says Eric Gordon, CEO of Cleveland Metropolitan School District. “And that means what they’re doing in middle school matters, what they’re doing in primary school matters  — helping them dream with their children about what their children are going to be when they graduate high school. Families also, then, need to be interacting with their schools, and understanding, what are the milestones that the children need to be successful at in order to be on the pathway. [It’s] engaging with their children and engaging with their children’s school all along the way, all with a clear conversation about what that child dreams of being when he or she graduates high school.”