Bringing College within Reach: Inspiring and Innovating in the High School Career Center

Kelly Rush, March 2012 EDLD 655, University of Oregon

The Goal:

Improve and innovate programs offered by the career center at XYZ High School to reach a larger

and more diverse group of students, increase college enrollment, and help create a stronger

college going culture.

Introduction: The School Setting Research

The setting for my improvement plan is the career center (CC) in XYZ High School. XYZ High School has a student population of roughly 1,500 students and a graduation rate of 72.6% for the 2010-2011 school year. 25% of the student population are minority students and 41.6% of students qualify for the Free or Reduced Lunch program (Oregon Dept. of Education).

The career center is staffed by one part time employee (EE). There is a fluctuating number of volunteers throughout the year that serve as mentors through the ASPIRE program. ASPIRE is a mentor program run through the Oregon Student Access Commission that helps students access education after high school. ASPIRE is only available at a handful of high schools and middle schools in the immediate area. The career center employee works 20 hours per week via funding from the school and 10 hours per week via funding from an ASPIRE grant, which must be applied for each year.

Current programming in the career center involves bringing in speakers from area colleges as well as the military. A scholarship “book” is kept that students can access at any time and is updated frequently. There are also informational materials available for most schools in the state and some of the more popular out of state schools. Infrequently guest speakers representing a particular profession are brought in , typically at the request of a student. XYZ High School also pays for every junior in the school to take the ACT so they have at least one college entrance test score to put on post-secondary school applications.

The setting for my improvement plan is the career center (CC) in XYZ High School. XYZ High School has a student population of roughly 1,500 students and a graduation rate of 72.6% for the 2010-2011 school year. 25% of the student population are minority students and 41.6% of students qualify for the Free or Reduced Lunch program (Oregon Dept. of Education).

The career center is staffed by one part time employee (EE). There is a fluctuating number of volunteers throughout the year that serve as mentors through the ASPIRE program. ASPIRE is a mentor program run through the Oregon Student Access Commission that helps students access education after high school. ASPIRE is only available at a handful of high schools and middle schools in the immediate area. The career center employee works 20 hours per week via funding from the school and 10 hours per week via funding from an ASPIRE grant, which must be applied for each year.

Current programming in the career center involves bringing in speakers from area colleges as well as the military. A scholarship “book” is kept that students can access at any time and is updated frequently. There are also informational materials available for most schools in the state and some of the more popular out of state schools. Infrequently guest speakers representing a particular profession are brought in , typically at the request of a student. XYZ High School also pays for every junior in the school to take the ACT so they have at least one college entrance test score to put on post-secondary school applications.

THE PLAN: Options 1 & 2 (& possibly 3)

Options to Achieve Goal

1. Collect and digitize student use information to better inform the CC employee of what type of programming to create• Current data would also be

digitized• Students surveys would be the

primary data collection method

2. Physically reorganize the career center to make information more readily accessible, especially when there is no staff member available

3. Increase staffing

4. Work with English teachers to incorporate college knowledge (ex. essay writing for scholarships) into their curriculum

1. Collect and digitize student use information to better inform the CC employee of what type of programming to create• Current data would also be

digitized• Students surveys would be the

primary data collection method

2. Physically reorganize the career center to make information more readily accessible, especially when there is no staff member available

3. Increase staffing

4. Work with English teachers to incorporate college knowledge (ex. essay writing for scholarships) into their curriculum

2. Begin to collect student use data via student surveys• Surveys will include

questions about the physical layout of career center, programming questions, likes, and dislikes

4. Create new, more frequent programming based on student interest/data• 4 year, 2 year, and

vocational school visits

• Career speakers• Parent nights• Financial aid nights

3. Physically reorganize

career center after data has

been collected and

analyzed

1. Digitize current information

• Students involved with ASPIRE

• ASPIRE mentor matchups

• Junior interview data

1. Digitize Existing Data

1 Month

2. Collect & Digitize New Student Data

3 Months

3. Change Physical Layout of Career

Center

1 Month4. Create New

Programming

On-going

On-going

5. Continue Collecting & Digitizing Student Data

Plan Timeline1. “The Consortium on Chicago School Research found that

attending a high school with a strong college-going culture was the most consistent predictor of whether students took the steps required for college enrollment, underscoring the importance of receiving timely information and assistance with the college application process. This impact was particularly strong for Latino students, many of whom may be first-generation college students” (Hooker & Brand, 2010, p. 77-78).

2. “Vargas (2004) found that underrepresented students do not naturally acquire college knowledge, since most students come from families with limited or no college experience. Consequently, these students rely on the school to provide information about college.“(Bell, Rowan-Kenyon & Perna, 2009, p. 666).

3. “Students from underrepresented groups often lack the social capital to understand the world of postsecondary education, as they are less likely to have role models who have attended higher education and may have less collective college knowledge in their communities “(Hooker & Brand, 2009, p. 8).

4. “Youth need early exposure to the world of college in order to develop a college-going identity and understand how the structures, opportunities, and demands of higher education differ from high school. It is also critical for young people to be able to turn to adults who can answer their questions about college, guide them through the admission process, and help them find ways to finance their education” (Brand & Hooker, 2009, p. 29).

Outcome Projections:1. Increased visibility and use of the career center•A good portion of the student body at XYZ High School is not even aware that the school has a career center. Based on the research cited above, students, especially low income, minority, and first generation, need someone to turn to for answers about college. •Increasing the career center’s visibility by offering a more varied and frequent line up of programs for all students, not just juniors and seniors, will show students early on who they can turn to for answers to those extremely important college knowledge questions.•When students know there is an adult designated to help them with all questions related to the college going process they are more likely to use that resource (Bell et al., 2009).

2. Assist in the creation of a college going culture•Research shows that a school with a strong college going culture is one of the most reliable predictors of college enrollment and everything that comes with that including applying for financial aid and scholarships (Hooker & Brand, 2010).•The same research also says that receiving the necessary information to complete these steps in a timely manner is also critical (Hooker & Brand, 2010).

3. Increase in students applying and enrolling in 2 year, 4 year, and vocational schools•The creation of a strong college going culture will assist with the effort to have students apply and enroll in some type of post-secondary education•“Research shows that the more information and guidance a student has, the more likely the student is to enroll in college” (Bell et al., 2009, p. 663-664).

Resource AllocationAdding additional FTE or increasing the current employee’s FTE is not essential to achieving the goals of this improvement plan. However, it would allow for more students to utilize the career center and would

allow the time necessary to develop more programming. Currently, the one employee has very little time to seek out and develop new

programs, organize materials, or do much outside of helping students who come into the center. Having a full-time employee would also be in line with the staffing levels at most of the other area high schools. XYZ

High School is one of the only area schools that does not have a full-time employee working in the career center. If XYZ High School loses the grant

money from the ASPIRE program administration will face the choice of increasing the FTE of the current employee or only having an employee in the career center half of the day, decreasing access to students even

further than it already is. Below are several scenarios that represent options for a staffing increase.

Citations: Bell, A. D., Rowan-Kenyon, H. T., Perna, L. W., (2009). College knowledge of 9th and 11th grade students: Variation by school and state context. The Journal of Higher Education, 80, 664-685.Hooker, S., & Brand, B. (2010). College knowledge: A critical component of college and career readiness. New Directions for Youth Development,127, 75-85.Hooker, S. , Brand, B. (2009). Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond. n.p.: American Youth Policy Forum. 1836 Jefferson Place NW, Washington, DC

20036. Tel: 202-775-9731; Fax: 202-775-9733; e-mail: aypf@aypf.org; Web site: http://www.aypf.org.Oregon Department of Education (2012). October 1 Enrollment by Ethnicity. Retrieved from http://www.ode.state.or.us/sfda/reports/r0067Select.asp.Oregon Department of Education (2012). School Report Card. Retrieved from http://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx.Oregon Department of Education (2012). Students Eligible for Free or Reduced Lunch. Retrieved from http://www.ode.state.or.us/sfda/reports/r0061Select.asp.

Annual Salary