Goal 1: Increasing Early College Participation
To increase the college going rate, counselors collaborated with University of Hawaii system colleges to provide students the opportunity to take dual credit courses (earn high school and college credit simultaneously) and early college courses to earn college credit. Counselors also implemented lessons, helping students understand that post-secondary education and lifelong learning are necessary for long-term career success.
The high school expectations lesson helped students identify their post high school plans and created an awareness for college/career planning. 149 students of 211 total students reported that they wanted to go to college (class of 2019 and 2018). The lesson on choosing high school courses, encouraged students to choose courses related to their post high school plans. Students planning to go to college were encouraged to take college preparatory courses (AP or Dual Credit) with the hopes that they would continue to go to college after high school. 13% of the class of 2018 students signed up for college preparatory courses which is approximately 23 students of 175 total students.
We met our goal for school year 2015-2016. We had 61 students who took a dual credit course, which exceeded our goal of 100% (24 students in 2014-2015). Our result was 254% increase of dual credit enrollment for school year 2015-2016. We will continue to create an awareness of college courses through whole class lessons and small group lessons. By looking at students’ GPA and Academics we will continue to strive in increasing the number of students that take college courses by 100% for the years to follow.
Goal 2: Promoting Positive Attendance
We found that students’ academics and potential to graduate was affected by their tardiness. To prevent tardies our school's tardy committee came up with a tardy lock out procedure (2014-2015). According to eSIS, data base for HI state DOE, in 2014-2015 there were 12,585 tardies in semester 1 and 15,916 tardies in semester 2. To decrease the number of tardies by 5% in the high school, counselors implemented lessons related to high school expectations and planning for success. Counselors also facilitated team meetings, collaborating with teachers to address excessive tardies and/or absences on a weekly basis.
In the Planning for Success lessons, students learned about the importance of graduating high school and understanding that post-secondary education and lifelong learning are necessary for long-term career success. Counselors looked at Academics, Attendance, Behavior, College and Career. Students made personal connections; relating these concepts to their post high school successes.
We met our tardy goal for this school year. From Semester 1 to Semester 2, the amount of tardies decreased by 6%. There were 2,079 tardies in the first Semester and 1,958 tardies in Semester 2; according to the school’s lockout data.
We will continue to work with our students during whole class lessons so all students continue to receive the necessary tools to be successful in high school and beyond. We will continue to help students make personal connections related to their attendance and post high school plans. Students shall receive the necessary tools to understand that high school is important for their future success.
Goal 3: Promoting Positive Behavior
The counselors reviewed the school data for suspension. We had 60 total suspensions for school year 2014-15. We felt that since we had the same group of students for 6 years, our counseling department has an advantage to prepare our students socially, emotionally and academically. We focused on preparing our younger generation for intermediate completion and high school transition. Through classroom guidance lessons, intermediate students learned the importance of education. Students learned about Academics, Attendance, Behavior, College and/or Career. The counselors implemented lessons related to high school expectations. Students learned that they are responsible for their actions, which will impact their life successes.
Data on suspension shows that the suspension rate has decreased for 7th and 8th grade suspensions. In 2014-2015 we had 60 suspensions at the end of that school year. In 2015-2016 there were 37 suspensions at the end of the school year. There was a 49% decrease in suspensions from school year 2014-2015 to 2015-2016. The counselors will continue to work with the intermediate students in the classroom setting. We will strive to help all students understand that intermediate school is just as important as high school because it is a step towards graduating high school. We will continue to work with students on their behavior because we believe that behavior can affect academics and students’ potential to graduate.