The three core curriculum Focus presentations highlighted within this report concentrate on the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors at Downers Grove South High School. Although we have several additional presentations at all grade levels, these three represent exemplary lessons taught in our Focus core curriculum.

Our featured Freshmen Focus presentation reflected positive results on our post-survey, indicating that the majority (over 85%) of freshmen know who their school counselor is and how to access them for academic and personal/social support as well as college/career planning. In our last RAMP application, we noted a slight increase in the percentage of freshman failures from 2011-12 to 2012-13. In response to that, we added three new lunch resource Focus presentations which we implemented in the 2015-16 school year. In 2015-16, 13.5% of freshmen earned at least one F during the school year. This is a .5% decrease since 2012-13. Although this is not a huge improvement, we are happy to see the number go down slightly, and will continue to review our programming in order to provide interventions that help students who are near failing classes each semester. This should also help to have a positive impact on the number of students who reach at least 5 credits by the end of their freshmen year so that they do not get reclassified in their second year of high school.
The data collected from the post-survey in the Sophomore Focus presentation indicated a positive impact on students’ ability to access and utilize their counselor, as well as Naviance, to identify career options. The majority (over 82%) of sophomores in the post-survey indicated that they understood how to access their counselor for help with college/career planning; how to use Naviance to search for careers; how to choose a career path that matches their strengths; and how their personal strengths, blind spots, and learning styles relate to their potential career interests. The most encouraging data indicated that 92% of sophomores have at least one career they want to explore for their future. This is overwhelmingly positive, indicating that this core curriculum presentation is vital to helping students understand potential careers, allowing them to set short-term goals of how to perform in high school as well as long-term goals regarding what they should do after high school in order to achieve their chosen career path.
Our featured Junior Focus presentation indicated positive results on the post-survey, with the majority (over 82%) of juniors knowing how to access their counselor for college/career planning, use Naviance to search for colleges that match their interests, and select a post-secondary plan that helps them reach their career goals. Our Junior Focus presentation seems to have a positive outcome on student post-secondary planning during their senior year. Even though the senior class of 2016 was the exact same size as the class of 2013, 621 more student transcripts were sent to colleges in the Fall of 2015 than were sent in the Fall of 2012. This indicates that students are able to engage in post-secondary planning at higher rates much earlier in their senior year as we continue to provide this presentation to the junior class. We continue to see the majority (80% and above) of DGS graduates matriculating to 2- or 4-year colleges, indicating that we are providing quality core curriculum presentations that help students to set and meet their post-secondary goals.
The GPA data that was collected for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors indicate that DGS students consistently perform at a B-/C+ average throughout their high school years. With a large student body consisting of approximately 2,800 students who are ethnically, culturally, racially, and socio-economically diverse, we consider this overall average GPA to be a positive reflection of our core curriculum as well as building-wide curriculum and interventions. We continuously review the interventions available in our building during department and support team meetings in order to best serve our students.

Grade Level: 9

Lesson Topic: GPA, Grades & Transcripts

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M1, M3, M4, M5, M6, BLS1, BLS3, BLS4, BLS5, BLS6, BLS7, BLS8, BLS10, BSMS1, BSMS3, BSMS5, BSMS6, BSMS10 BSS1, BSS2, BSS3, BSS6, BSS7

Start/End: 10/12-16, 2015

Process Data (Number of students affected): All freshmen students (approximately 725)

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): FRESHMAN GOOGLE SURVEY DATA
On each survey item below, students could select “I am confident in this knowledge”, “I am well on my way in learning this”, “I am just beginning to understand this”, or “I don’t understand this at all”. We analyzed the percentage difference from pre to post survey for the responses “I am confident in this knowledge” and “I am well on my way in learning this”.

Survey items and percentage difference:
I know who my school counselor is. Responses reflect a 13% increase in knowledge.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need academic support. Responses reflect a 17% increase in knowledge.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need personal/social support. Responses reflect a 16% increase in knowledge.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need help with college/career planning. Responses reflect a 22% increase in knowledge.

I know how to use Naviance to search for colleges that match my interests. Responses reflect a 30% increase in knowledge.

I know how to use Naviance to search for careers that match my strengths. Responses reflect a 24% increase in knowledge.

I know how to choose a career path that matches my strengths. Responses reflect a 19% increase in knowledge.

I know how to select a post-secondary plan that helps me reach my career goals. Responses reflect a 29% increase in knowledge.

I know how my personal strengths, blind-spots and learning styles relate to possible career choices. Responses reflect a 17% increase in knowledge.

I can use Naviance to explore careers that relate to my personality type and interests. Responses reflect a 50% increase in knowledge.

I have at least one career path in mind that I want to explore for my future. Responses reflect a 5% increase in knowledge.

I have a plan for what I will do after high school (college, technical school, internship, military, career, etc.). Responses reflect a 15% increase in knowledge.

Certain items from the Freshman Google Survey were analyzed as they pertain specifically to the lunch resource presentations. For each item below, we analyzed the percentage of freshmen selecting “I am confident in this knowledge” and “I am well on my way in learning this” on the post-survey to assess if the majority of students grasp the material.

I know who my school counselor is. 98% indicated a positive response.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need academic support. 95% indicated a positive response.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need personal/social support. 91% indicated a positive response.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need help with college/career planning. 85% indicated a positive response.

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): In reviewing freshmen failure data, there was a .5% decrease in the number of failures since our last RAMP application. In 2012-13, 14% of freshmen earned at least one F. In 2015-16, 13.5% of freshmen earned at least one F. The average unweighted freshman GPA in 2012-13, was 2.81, and weighted was 2.86. In 2015-16, the average unweighted GPA was 2.9 and weighted was 3.0. Of the 19 students in our reclassified freshman group who entered their second year of high school still classified as freshmen, only 12 remain reclassified students entering the 2016-17 school year. That is a reduction of 36.8% which just surpasses our goal of a 1/3 reduction.

Implications: At the time of our last RAMP application in 2012-13, we had noticed an increase in the percentage of freshman failures. This led us to also notice the large number of freshmen who were not earning 5 credits, and could not move up to sophomore status in their second year of high school. In response to the data from 2012-13, we increased the number of times we delivered core curriculum to our freshmen, and designed lessons specific to helping the freshmen succeed. We are pleased to see that the number of freshman failures decreased slightly, but we realize that we have more work to do in this area. We need to continue analyzing the reasons that students fail classes, and offer interventions to help them succeed academically. We are also pleased to see that our freshmen continue to perform well on their overall average GPA, and in fact have improved slightly since 2012-13. This, as well as positive reports on the post-survey, indicate that counselors make a positive impact on freshmen through their freshman Focus presentations. Knowing how and why to access counselors, the importance of grades, calculating GPA, and understanding how these are related to post-secondary goals are vital aspects of success in high school. We feel that the Focus program is a well-established part of our school culture, and is well-received by the students.

Attachments

Grade Level: 10

Lesson Topic: Career Planning

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M2, M4, M5, M6, BLS1, BLS2, BLS4, BLS5, BLS7, BLS9, BSMS10

Start/End: 10/27/ 2015

Process Data (Number of students affected): All Sophomore students (approximately 650)

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): SOPHOMORE GOOGLE SURVEY DATA
On each survey item below, students could select “I am confident in this knowledge”, “I am well on my way in learning this”, “I am just beginning to understand this”, or “I don’t understand this at all”. We analyzed the percentage difference from pre to post survey for the responses “I am confident in this knowledge” and “I am well on my way in learning this”.

Survey items and percentage difference:
I know who my school counselor is. Responses reflect a 0% increase in knowledge.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need academic support. Responses reflect a 3% increase in knowledge.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need personal/social support. Responses reflect a 4% increase in knowledge.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need help with college/career planning. Responses reflect a 12% increase in knowledge.

I know how to use Naviance to search for colleges that match my interests. Responses reflect a 59% increase in knowledge.


I know how to use Naviance to search for careers that match my strengths. Responses reflect a 70% increase in knowledge.

I know how to choose a career path that matches my strengths. Responses reflect a 38% increase in knowledge.

I know how to select a post-secondary plan that helps me reach my career goals. Responses reflect a 24% increase in knowledge.

I know how my personal strengths, blind-spots and learning styles relate to possible career choices. Responses reflect a 32% increase in knowledge.

I can use Naviance to explore careers that relate to my personality type and interests. Responses reflect a 63% increase in knowledge.

I have at least one career path in mind that I want to explore for my future. Responses reflect a 12% increase in knowledge.

I have a plan for what I will do after high school (college, technical school, internship, military, career, etc.). Responses reflect a 11% increase in knowledge.

Certain items from the Sophomore Google Survey were analyzed as they pertain specifically to the Career Planning presentation. For each item below, we analyzed the percentage of sophomores selecting “I am confident in this knowledge” and “I am well on my way in learning this” on the post-survey to assess if the majority of students grasp the material.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need help with college/career planning. 82% indicated a positive response.

I know how to use Naviance to search for careers that match my strengths. 84% indicated a positive response.

I know how to choose a career path that matches my strengths. 83% indicated a positive response.

I know how my personal strengths, blind-spots and learning styles relate to possible career choices. 84% indicated a positive response.

I can use Naviance to explore careers that relate to my personality type and interests. 82% indicated a positive response.

I have at least one career path in mind that I want to explore for my future. 92% indicated a positive response.

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): The average unweighted sophomore GPA in 2012-13 was 2.78, and weighted was 2.88. In 2015-16, the average unweighted GPA was 3.0 and weighted was 3.03.

Implications: The results of our data collection are strongly in favor of this presentation. The vast majority of students (92%) were able to identify a career interest, and most reported knowing how to utilize their resources, understanding their strengths, and understanding how success in high school is related to success in careers. This allows students to set attainable goals for themselves, both short and long term. There also appears to be a positive effect on sophomores’ average weighted GPA, with the class average improving to a B- since 2012-13. This upward trend is consistent from freshman year as well. The more we refine this presentation, the better results we see from one class to another.

Attachments

Grade Level: 11

Lesson Topic: Post-Secondary Planning

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M2, M4, M5, M6, BLS1, BLS3, BLS4, BLS5, BLS6, BLS7, BLS8, BLS9, BLS10, BSMS1, BSMS3, BSMS5, BSMS10, BSS1, BSS3

Start/End: 3/2/2015

Process Data (Number of students affected): All junior students (approximately 625)

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): JUNIOR GOOGLE SURVEY DATA
On each survey item below, students could select “I am confident in this knowledge”, “I am well on my way in learning this”, “I am just beginning to understand this”, or “I don’t understand this at all”. We analyzed the percentage difference from pre to post survey for the responses “I am confident in this knowledge” and “I am well on my way in learning this”.

Survey items and percentage difference:
I know who my school counselor is. Responses reflect a 2% increase in knowledge.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need academic support. Responses reflect a 7% increase in knowledge.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need personal/social support. Responses reflect a 5% increase in knowledge.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need help with college/career planning. Responses reflect a 3% increase in knowledge.

I know how to use Naviance to search for colleges that match my interests. Responses reflect a 13% increase in knowledge.

I know how to use Naviance to search for careers that match my strengths. Responses reflect a 17% increase in knowledge.

I know how to choose a career path that matches my strengths. Responses reflect a 2% increase in knowledge.

I know how to select a post-secondary plan that helps me reach my career goals. Responses reflect a 27% increase in knowledge.

I know how my personal strengths, blind-spots and learning styles relate to possible career choices. Responses reflect a 15% increase in knowledge.

I can use Naviance to explore careers that relate to my personality type and interests. Responses reflect a 11% increase in knowledge.

I have at least one career path in mind that I want to explore for my future. Responses reflect a 0% increase in knowledge.

I have a plan for what I will do after high school (college, technical school, internship, military, career, etc.). Responses reflect a 0% increase in knowledge.

Certain items from the Junior Google Survey were analyzed as they pertain specifically to the Post-Secondary Planning presentation. For each item below, we analyzed the percentage of juniors selecting “I am confident in this knowledge” and “I am well on my way in learning this” on the post-survey to assess if the majority of students grasp the material.

I know how to access my school counselor when I need help with college/career planning. 87%
indicated a positive response.

I know how to
use Naviance to search for colleges that match my interests. 84% indicated a positive response.

I know how to select a post-secondary plan that helps me reach my career goals. 82% indicated a positive response.

I have a plan for what I will do after high school (college, technical school, internship, military, career, etc.). 91% indicated a positive response.

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): As a follow-up to our last RAMP application, we looked at how many transcripts were sent out by the class of 2013 prior to December 2012 and compared that to how many were sent out by the class of 2016 prior to December 2015. The class of 2013 sent out 2,037 transcripts, and the class of 2016 sent out 2,658. We have seen a huge increase in the number of students applying to colleges early in the school year, even though the class size was exactly the same (670 both years). We also looked at matriculation data in our last RAMP application compared to this year. In 2013, 81% of seniors reported matriculating to a 2- or 4-year college/university. That percentage went up slightly to 82% for the class of 2016. The average unweighted junior GPA in 2012-13 was 2.80, and weighted was 2.90. In 2015-16, the average unweighted GPA was 2.81 and weighted was 2.95.

Implications: The increase in transcripts sent before December between the class of 2013 and 2016 indicates that juniors are gaining the necessary knowledge from this presentation to engage earlier in the post-secondary planning process when they are seniors. They know how to access their college planning resources and, consequently, they are engaging in post-secondary planning earlier than in the past. The earlier students complete college applications, the more likely they are to matriculate to higher education. We continue to see the vast majority of graduating seniors accessing post-secondary education, and we are pleased with this result. We are also pleased to see that the vast majority of our seniors (91%) have a plan after they graduate (college, technical school, internship, military, career, etc.). We continue to look at the students who graduate with no plan, particularly those who qualify for free/reduced lunch and/or fee waivers. We need to work on ways to reach this group and provide them with information and resources so they may graduate from high school with plans for their future. The juniors continue to maintain a high C average GPA, indicating that our presentations have a positive effect on students’ grades as well as matriculation to higher learning. The more we refine this presentation, the better results we see from one class to another.

Attachments