REVISED SECTION

Undocumented students needed to become more knowledgeable and informed in order to make decisions about college. Therefore I decided to create small groups for these students. My school has a 28% Hispanic/Latino population. Due to the political talk that was happening I had students that were very afraid about their future. I am not privileged to know my student citizenship status; if they do not come to me personally I will not know if they are a citizen or non-citizen. I had a group of students come to me concerned about college, they were hearing tons off rumors about what may happen to them and was unsure about what steps to take as far as pursuing college. One student said they were more students. So, I asked if she would talk to them about us having a group so we can talk about the options that students had. This student brought three other students that wanted help; this is how the group formed.

Undocumented, immigrant, dreamers and DACA are words that have all been used interchangeably to describe students who have to pay out of state tuition in North Carolina. Students that fall into these categories at my school were finding it difficult to continue to earn a Bachelor’s degree even though they were graduating from high school with up to 60 college credits. I used the term undocumented in my group signifying that students did not have the documentation to earn in-state tuition in North Carolina.

The topics of the group give the students the ability to research and learn about their options. When selecting the goals I wanted to target the following ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors: for the students is to help them gain some self-confidence, belief in their academic abilities and understand that post-secondary education is necessary for long-term career success. The results report will help me to adjust my time to deliver the lessons more effectively. Group members did not attend as much on the end because they were getting busy doing other things. One student was in a club that was requiring more time and another student had to increase work hours to help at home. I would use more time for students to work on completing activities together in the group. I believe that I received quality feedback for the students, but if I asked more questions I believe that I would have more input to incorporate more sessions and activities for the students to complete. I will continue to use all of the current lessons, but I would add more sessions so students will have to do complete all research and list while we are in the group. During the 2016-17 school year I only created one group.

Group Name: Preparing Undocumented Students for College and Careers

Goal: By May 2017, the number of undocumented student attending college will increase by 10%

Target Group: Seniors

Data Used to Identify Students: Student conference

School Counselor(s): Karen Rankins-Hinton

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M 2, 4, 5

Outline of Group Sessions Delivered: Session 1- Determining Residency in North Carolina for college Session 2- Applications and Scholarships Session 3- Business Sponsorship Session 4- Create Scholarship resource manual Session 5- Create Scholarship resource manual Session 6- Create Scholarship resource manual

Process Data (Number of students affected): Pre and Post Survey

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Pre- 25% (1 student) felt that their parents are able to help them pay for college Post- none of the students felt that their parents are able to help them pay for college Pre-25% (1 student) knew that they would have to pay out-of- state tuition in North Carolina Post-100% (4 students) knew that they would have to pay out-of- state tuition in North Carolina Pre- None of the students understood the financial aid process None of the students knew about the business sponsor exception Post- 100% (4 students) understand the financial aid process Pre- None of the students knew what types of scholarships they could receive to help with college cost Post- 100% (4students) know types of scholarships they can receive to help with college cost (they have a list of scholarships they will be applying to) Survey comments: “Wish I would have known this my freshman year”. “This was so helpful” “I came to this school so I could get some college credits me and my parents did not know that I would be able to earn my actual degree”

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): 100% of the students were accepted into college 100% of the students received a scholarship for college 75% of students attending a college/university after graduation 50% attended a Private/Independent College/university in North Carolina 25% attended a public university in North Carolina

Implications: I am very pleased with the outcome of this group. I do not know which of my students’ undocumented/DACA. Students felt comfortable enough to tell me and when I started to work with the 1st student they spread the word and we ended up developing a group to assist students. We were able to share websites and download apps that had scholarship opportunities for students we also brainstormed and thought of local organizations that offer scholarships students could apply to. Every group member created a list of scholarships and deadlines and created a plan on when they would apply to the scholarships. Students discovered that Private/Independent institutions were able to award Merit (test scores and GPA) based/ institutional aid to undocumented students and we were going to create a resource guide for future students. The Group members were very excited and participated in sessions 1-4 they started to have other obligations that caused some of them to miss the final sessions, we did not get the opportunity to complete the resource manual. One student in the group received a scholarship but it did not cover enough of the cost of the tuition. This student plans to work and save more money and plans to enroll in college in a year. I believe if the group was developed earlier the student may have received more scholarships. The way the group was created worked well, the time of the meetings was great It worked for students’ college schedule and I was one of my less busy days. I would like to start it early in the senior year so we will have more opportunities for scholarships. I have attended various workshops and webinars on assisting undocumented students I felt I was very knowledgeable on the matter. I learned that laws are constantly changing and to assist my students have to continue to attend professional development on this matter. I was able to learn a lot more about this matter working with this group. I plan on implementing more information for my undocumented/DACA students at financial aid night and added a folder of scholarships in EDMODO for all students to access, I plan to continue to work independently and in groups with students. I also plan on continuing and completing the manual

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