Educational consultant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An educational consultant is a professional person who helps students and their families plan the student's education in a sound and appropriate manner.

Educational consultants may be generalists, but most tend to specialize with particular kinds of students, or students with particular kinds of needs. For example some consultants work exclusively with College placement or planning, some with students seeking a private education at the secondary level, and yet others with students who are learning disabled or have behavioral/emotional difficulties. Consultants for graduate school provide advising services for college students seeking admission to graduate school.

At the core of an educational consultant's practice is research on educational trends, changes in admissions policies, developments on campuses. Services provided to clients may include evaluation of student aptitudes and personal characters, recommendation on the selection of schools, advice on standardized test preparation, review of applications and student essays, coaching on school interviews, and counseling on the final decision on the school to enroll.

[edit] Overview

There are probably between 1500 and 3,000 educational consultants in practice in the United States today.^{[citation needed]} A small number of additional educational consultants are based in Canada, Europe, Asia, Bermuda, and the Caribbean. 600 of these consultants are listed with the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), which was chartered in 1976.^[1]

Consultants commit to a standard of continuing education and work to stay abreast of all changes in the marketplace, with particular awareness of new educational programs and their effect on the product they offer students and families.

As independent professionals, educational consultants are not bound to any institution and can provide objective, unbiased recommendations and advice based on their professional judgment of a student's needs and abilities.

Educational consultants are also strong networkers, each works to establish relationships with other professionals that may offer services different from their own, and be more effective for the families involved.

While consultants work to provide the best possible match for a child, there is no guarantee that professionals will be able to place a child in any school. However, families rely on consultants to find schools that represent a good match for the child's needs.

As important as the relationship with the child, consultants also strive to establish effective relationships with schools, only in that manner can schools and consultants become effective partners in the process.

[edit] Ethics

Educational consultants generally work on a fee for service basis, paid by the families they serve. In the United States, educational consultants are not bound by any particular statutory rules for practitioners. Those who belong to the IECA are pledged not to accept remuneration from any institution when school or college admissions are involved, to insure that clients receive objective, as well as impartial, counsel. Many unaffiliated consultants keep this standard, as well.

The fees charged by consultants are substantial, ranging anywhere from US$3000 to US$6000 and above. As a matter of responsibility, educational consultants often make the acquisition of consultant fees an upfront part of their literature.