The primary objective of an education consultant is to improve the condition of its clients in matters relating to education. A Venn Diagram depicts the types of clients that can be feasibly targeted by an education consultant. The Venn Diagram provides details about three types of clients, including private K-12 School System, College Applicants, and public K-12 School System (Litvinov et al., 2018). Stakeholders in the education systems, particularly students, parents, and school administrators, are faced with multiple challenges. The current U.S education system faces challenges, including lack of parental involvement, lack of equity in education, and inadequate information about college application.
Currently, the public education system in the United States faces many challenges, such as inadequate access to education funding, gun violence, which is a threat to school safety, student’s discipline, lack of up-to-date technology in learning institutions (Aydin et al., 2017). Parents and the community, which are among the vital stakeholders in the education sector, are in support of the adoption of new technology. However, the inadequate supply of funding makes it difficult to achieve schools’ goal of adopting technologies to improve the quality of education in learning institutions. On the other hand, private K-12 education systems are also faced with multiple challenges, particularly policy changes and emerging new technologies (Aydin et al., 2017). Changes in educational policies result in the need for curriculum and instruction adjustments. The use of standardized testing, despite its good intentions, has its unintended consequences. Irrespective of how sophisticated the design of these standards is, its effectiveness depends on how well students have achieved them; Therefore, these standards can only assess a small portion of the curriculum. The private and public K-12 education systems are also faced with another challenge in the form of emerging new technologies. Today’s students are technophiles who are addicted to smartphones and social networks. Furthermore, technological advancement in the educational sector has resulted in a change of perception about the role of technology in education. Resultantly, there has been an increase in pressure from the government as well as the shift to a learner-centered approach to instruction delivery (Aydin et al., 2017).
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Also, students who apply for college admission do not always have all the necessary information for a successful application. Education consulting can help in college and career planning. The requirement for admission across various universities changes from time to time. The everchanging higher education scenes necessitate the need for an individual with the adequate college knowledge and professional network to help students successfully apply to their dream universities ( Antonoff, 2012 ). The body of information about colleges, which requires full-time dedication and effort to be understood comprehensively, forms a centerpiece for a profession as an education consultant.
Working as an educational consultant for the three types of clients, as outlined in the Venn Diagram, requires an individual to be endowed with various professional and soft skills. An educational consultant has the responsibility of changing the situation of its client in the educational setting. To effectively execute the responsibility of an educational consultant, one must possess a substantial level of prowess in matters pertaining to the education sector. For an individual to serve as an adviser in public or private K-12 education system, one must have knowledge of the principle and practice of curriculum planning and instructional methods, theoretical and technical knowledge in organization and implementation of education programs, knowledge of grant funding and budgeting processes, and knowledge in law and regulations that are relevant to the field of education (Aydin et al., 2017). Additional abilities in analytics, public relations, communication, and research and documentation, among others, are vital when working as an educational consultant. Furthermore, working as a mentor and counselor for college applicants also requires specific skills. A career and college admission consultant should have basic counseling skills, including effective communication and good relationship management ( Antonoff, 2012 ). In addition, adequate knowledge about knowledge and information that are relevant to college applications can also be beneficial. In some instances, prospective college applicants are just anxious about the application process. An educational consultant should have the ability to counsel such a client. Networking with admission personnel should help college admission consultants with their task of serving their college applicant clients.
The circle that intersects the three types of clients depicts skills that are commonly required to serve the public and private K-12 school systems, as well as college applicants. These skills include technological skills, communication, relationship, and research and documentation skills. Technological skills are applicable to all clients. The adoption of new emerging technology in public and private schools necessitates the need for knowledge and skills about digital systems and devices. Also, the need for the acquisition of resources from online sources and the need for the completion of the online application process necessitates the need to have computer skills (Aydin et al., 2017). A consultant should also have effective communication and relationship skills. Communication and relationship skills are vital for the management of relationships with various stakeholders in the education sectors. One should also have effective communication and relationship management skills to successfully have a healthy relationship with college applicants. Finally, both the K-12 education system and student counseling require significant research and documentation ( Antonoff, 2012; Aydin et al., 2017 ). Therefore, skills in research and documentation should help in the simplification of tasks. Research and documentation of educational laws and policies, grant and funding requirements, and college application requirements are vital to competent educational consulting.
References
Antonoff, S. R. (2012). Educational Consulting: A Focus for the Profession. Journal of College Admission , 214 , 64-68.
Litvinov, A., Alvarez, B., Long, C., & Walker, T. (2018). 10 Challenges Facing Public Education Today. Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2018/08/03/10-challenges-facing-public-education-today/
Aydin, H., Ozfidan, B., & Carothers, D. (2017). Meeting the challenges of curriculum and instruction in school settings in the United States. Journal of Social Studies Education Research , 8 (3), 76-92.
