REVISED
The Student Services Department carefully develops and implements Core Curriculum lessons that support chosen mindsets and behaviors while aligning with the mission and vision of the department, school and county. The three lessons selected are components of our program which prepare students for their future.

The senior lesson was geared towards achieving our program goal of a 100% graduation rate. In order to plan for the future, it is imperative to guide students with the tools necessary to create long and short term goals.The lesson provided students with information on post secondary options and how to navigate through the college search and application process. Perception data indicated that 63% of students felt they had enough information on how to apply to college at the conclusion of the lesson as compared to 25% prior. Additionally, there was a 29% increase in the knowledge of graduation requirements upon completion. The outcome data revealed that 98% of seniors successfully graduated. While we didn’t meet our program goal, we were able to increase our percentage from prior years and were pleased with the results. Senior year attendance showed a 165% increase in full days missed from first to fourth quarter. We discussed adding additional elements to the lesson to include more details on attendance and the relationship between poor attendance and achievement. For students who did not graduate, we will determine the reasons and attempt to implement more interventions.

The sophomore lesson goal focused on information on potential career interests and career exploration. Prior to the lesson, 49% of students did not know their career interest profile type. At the conclusion, 81% were aware of what their profile type was and how their skills and interests translate to career options. Perception data also indicated that 60% of students were aware of the skills and coursework required for their potential career at the conclusion as compared to 45% prior. In addition to understanding their individualized career interest results, counselors facilitated discussion centering around grades, high school success, and the path to achieve their career trajectory. Outcome data revealed there was a GPA increase of .15 points for this group of students at the end of their sophomore year as compared to their freshman year. While the sophomore lesson proved to be helpful, we noticed many students grew tired of answering the questions from the profiler. There was a total of 180 questions and we suspect some students may have just clicked anything towards the end to get through the survey. In the future, we would consider exploring a more concise profiler.

Our Freshman Focus 4 part series intended to help students smoothy transition to high school. Each lesson had different topic focuses; time management, study skills, self advocacy and understanding the correlation between academic achievement and postsecondary success. We felt the Freshman Focus lessons were beneficial in getting students acclimated to high school. Pre-test perception data results demonstrated that time management was an area of concern. After the implementation of the lessons, post survey perception data showed a 15% increase in obtaining new strategies for time management. Another lesson focused on transcript interpretation. We felt that an introduction of transcripts and how to understand them would be a beneficial part of understanding how grades tie into academic success and college choices. We demonstrated a GPA calculation and discussed how college admissions would evaluate them. Post test perception data showed almost a 30% increase in knowledge of what a transcript looks like. In addition to facilitating academic success for our students, we also want to ensure their emotional health is addressed and supported, therefore we were very pleased with the post data showing that over 90% of students know where to go when they need help. One area that we need to improve on is student understanding the importance of how attendance affects academic success. When we analyzed 2015-16 data, 55% of students understood the correlation between attendance and success. We added a component of attendance in our lessons, however, perception data revealed there was a 3% decrease in this concept. The outcome of our addition was not as successful as we hoped. We will revise our lessons and add a more engaging and informative activity. We will continue to implement the Freshman Focus program in the future and will utilize outcome and perception data for effectiveness.

After looking at delivery method of our lessons, we agreed that more engaging activities should be incorporated. This will create more thought provoking discussion and keep students interested.

Grade Level: 12

Lesson Topic: Senior Conferences, Post Secondary Options, Graduation Requirements

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M4; B-LS 7; B-LS 9

Start/End: 9/5/17-9/11/17

Process Data (Number of students affected): REVISED 398 12th grade students 50 minute session

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): REVISED
Students were given a pre and post survey inquiring about their knowledge and awareness of the college application process and post-secondary options.

There was a 150% increase in knowledge of how to apply to college. There was a 60% increase in knowledge of how to make an informed decision about post-secondary plans.

There was a 49% increase in students knowing how to use Family Connection for their college search.

There was a 19% increase in overall confidence level based on the 9 topics relating to the college application process.

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): By the end of August 2018, 98% of seniors successfully graduated. There was a 2% increase in overall GPA average from 3.007 at the end of the 2017 school year to 3.062 at the end of the 2018 school year. Full day absences increased from 243 first quarter to 643 fourth quarter representing a 165% increase.

Implications: REVISED Meeting with our students during their senior year about post secondary options and the college application process helped emphasize the importance of continued academic success. By presenting this information, it instilled the need for consideration of post secondary plans. As a result of students being more aware of the need for post secondary planning, they were able to acquire skills necessary to make informed decisions about their future. In turn, this provides them with the ability to adapt to changing situations and responsibilities (Mindsets and Behaviors). In the future, we will continue this lesson and implement additional individualized lessons to those students who are at risk of not graduating. Attendance continued to be an ongoing issue with some students throughout their senior year. In the future, we would like to address this concern with our seniors during senior conferences. Additionally, we discussed holding separate lessons with students who struggle with coming to school regularly. We will also incorporate better pre/post tests questions to center more around specific Mindsets and Behaviors in order to check for understanding.

Attachments

Grade Level: 10

Lesson Topic: Sophomore Conferences, Career Interests

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M4, B-LS7, B-LS9

Start/End: 10/17-10/23

Process Data (Number of students affected): REVISED 438 10th grade students 45 min session

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): REVISED
Students were given a pre/post survey regarding career options.

There was a 52% increase in knowledge of their career interest profile type.

There was a 12% increase in knowledge of how to acquire skills necessary to reach a potential career goal.

At the conclusion of the lesson, 57.5% of students were aware of what they needed to do after high school to reach their potential career goal as compared to 51.5% prior.

There was a 40% increase in students understanding how to get more information about careers they are interested in.

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): There was an increase in overall grade point average of 10th graders from 2.80 during their freshman year to 2.946 in their sophomore year

Implications: REVISED By having students complete a career interest profiler, they became aware of potential career options that were specific to their interests. This is the impetus to identify long and short term academic, career, and social emotional goals (Mindsets and Behaviors). Discussing career options with 10th grade students is a precursor to further discussion about the impact of grades and future success. By completing the profiler, it gets students thinking about selection and how academic choices influence college and career paths. Through this lesson, students are provided with the opportunity to identify their strengths and connect them to future career paths. They are able to utilize their abilities to the fullest to achieve high quality results (Mindsets and Behaviors). In the future, we will continue this lesson, however, time was a concern and we discussed adding an additional lesson in order to have more meaningful conversations with students on the connection of their results to post secondary planning. Topics such as; college majors, employability factors and potential earnings could be elaborated on. Additionally, discussing the idea of growth mindset so students can still attain a particular goal even if it seems unreachable. We will also revise our pre/post test questions to reflect on certain Mindsets and Behaviors.

Attachments

Grade Level: 9

Lesson Topic: Freshman Focus

Lesson was Presented in Which Class/Subject:

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M5; B-LS7; B-SMS5

Start/End: 9/17-4/18

Process Data (Number of students affected): REVISED 415 ninth grade students One hour session 4 separate lesson

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): REVISED
Students were given a pre/post survey at the beginning of session 1 and at the end of session 4.

There was a 36% increase of student perception of how to manage their time.

50% of students knew what a transcript looked like at the conclusion of the lessons as compared to 21% prior to the lessons being delivered.

There was a 15% increase of students understanding of how to set goals for themselves.

92% of students knew where to get help at the conclusion of the lessons as compared to 84% prior.

There was a 54% increase in students understanding what a verified credit was.

83% of students felt attendance affected academic success after the lesson as compared to 85% prior to the lessons.

82% of students felt they had a good study environment prior to the lesson versus 81% at the conclusion.

There was a 20.6% increase in awareness on how to get information about school activities.

There was a 29% increase of students being involved in a school activity at the conclusion of the year.

There was no change in students feeling confident about making friends.

77% felt they knew what they needed to do to meet graduation requirements versus 75% prior to the lessons.

There was a 4% decrease in students feeling like their teachers care about them.

There was no change in student perception of their counseling caring about them.

There was a 23% increase in students use of social media.

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): There was an increase in overall grade point average of 9th graders from 2.817 at the end of the first quarter to 2.953 at the conclusion of their freshman year. There was a 28% decrease in full day absences from the first quarter to the 4th quarter.

Implications: REVISED By interpreting transcripts and counseling students through their freshman year, students take ownership of their future in order meet their long term academic and career goals via course selection. (Mindsets and Behaviors) Demonstration of transcript interpretation and GPA calculation gave the students more accountability in regards to grades as indicators for success, which correlates with an increase in the overall GPA at the conclusion of the school year. We will continue these lessons in the future. By meeting with our freshmen multiple times throughout the school year, we are able to establish positive relationships which can assist students in having a positive attitude toward work and learning (Mindset and Behavior). While we discuss potential barriers and skills to overcome them, having smaller group or one on one check ins with students between these lessons could preemptively prevent potential failures or struggles. This would also promote additional support and dialogue to enhance our student/counselor relationships. There was a 3% decrease in students understanding how attendance affects academic success. In the future we need to create a more specific, engaging lesson centered around this. There was a decrease in student perception of teachers caring about them at the conclusion of the year. In the future, we need to hone in on this topic and determine if grades are a factor in this perception or if it is a relationship concern.

Attachments