Promoting a College-Going Culture in the School
This microcredential focuses on a counselor's ability to promote a college-going culture to prepare students for postsecondary education and careers by collaborating with administrators, teachers, parents, and community, and providing early and ongoing exposure to information necessary for students to make informed decisions regarding postsecondary education.
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Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 1: Collaboration, Leadership, and Advocacy
1.1 - Collaborates to promote a positive school climate. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 2: Collaborative Classroom Instruction and Instructional Skills
2.1 - Plans curriculum based on the Systemic Assessment results, Student Outcomes Standards, and School Improvement plan. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 3: Plan for College and Career Readiness Process
3.1 - Facilitates a process of career exploration that may include planning, monitoring and managing individual education and career plans. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 3: Plan for College and Career Readiness Process
3.2 - Assists in development of each student’s academic achievement and career planning/exploration by providing Career and Technical Education (CTE) Pathways resources and training to assist students in postsecondary and workforce options. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 3: Plan for College and Career Readiness Process
3.3 - Assists students and parents in understanding and utilizing assessment data and supports student to create a plan to meet goals, course planning, and student needs, as outlined in district or state guidelines. -
Utah Effective Professional School Counselor Standards > Standard 5: Data Driven Accountability and Program Evaluation
5.3 - Analyzes school and school counseling program data to provide equity in student supports throughout the school.
To earn this 0.5 USBE credit microcredential you will submit two types of evidence from the list below to demonstrate competency with promoting a college-going culture in your school. You will also complete two written reflections about your practice.
Follow the requirements in the "Earning Criteria" section of this microcredential. This is the rubric the reviewer will use to evaluate your submission.
College means 1, 2, 4 or more years of postsecondary education or training. College includes technical college or university training after high school.
College readiness involves being prepared to enroll in and successfully complete entry-level, credit-bearing, academic programs at one- two- and four-year post-secondary schools as well as being equipped with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to transition successfully. This entails having mastered rigorous content knowledge, demonstrated ability to apply knowledge through higher-order skills, and having the ability to navigate the pathways that will gain access to post-secondary opportunities.
College-Going Culture:College-going culture (CGC) refers to the environment, attitudes, and practices in schools and communities that encourage students and families to obtain the information, tools, and perspective to enhance access to and success in post-secondary education.
Career Literacy:Career literacy is the basic knowledge and skills that students need to navigate the future work environment. The process of planning for college and career readiness and developing career literacy can be accomplished by gathering information on student interests, identifying strengths, and helping students overcome barriers.
Career Readiness:Career readiness involves three major skill areas: core academic skills and the ability to apply those skills to concrete situations in order to function in the workplace and in routine daily activities; employability skills (such as critical thinking and responsibility) that are essential in any career area; and technical, job-specific skills related to a specific career pathway. These skills have been emphasized across numerous pieces of research and allow students to enter true career pathways that offer family-sustaining wages and opportunities for advancement.
Cultural Responsiveness:Cultural responsiveness refers to the capacity to respond to the issues of diverse communities. Cultural responsiveness is not an event whereby one can attend a single training and become competent.
Educational Equity:Educational equity means acknowledging that all students are capable of learning and distributing resources to provide equal opportunities based upon the needs of each individual student. Equitable resources include funding, programs, policies, initiatives and supports that recognize each student’s unique background and school context to guarantee that all students have access to high-quality education. (USBE R277-328-2(4))
Equity Literacy:Equity literacy means demonstrated competencies in the skills and dispositions to create and sustain equitable and just learning environments for families and students.
Financial Aid:Financial aid is any college funding that doesn’t come from family or personal savings or earnings. It can take the form of grants, scholarships, work-study jobs, and federal or private loans. Financial aid can be used to cover most higher education expenses, including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and transportation.
Elementary Background Scenario
Elementary School Counselor Ms. Barker meets with her administration and faculty to discuss different ways in which to create exposure in the elementary school to the idea of 1, 2, 4 or more years of postsecondary education. As a faculty, each teacher will put up a banner or flag in their classroom of the college that they attended. Each teacher will have a couple of sentences posted about their college just inside of their door.
Ms. Barker is going to have a hall of college/cosmetology/technical school flags, where all flags are hanging outside of her office in order to create talking points for students and parents.
As a faculty the school will plan a fun assembly where a couple of college mascots will come and present about social skills and being a good friend. The mascots will also do some cheers and tricks to get students excited about postsecondary options.
Secondary Background Scenario
High School Counselor Ms. Smith plans Utah College Application Week (UCAW) with her school counseling team and administration. She emails instructions and information to parents and students so that they will be ready and prepared to apply for universities, apprenticeships, and technical colleges during their senior year language arts classes.
Ms. Smith and all of the school counselors keep track of how many applications were completed by ensuring that students fill out the UCAW exit survey at the end of the class period. After students apply, they sign a college flag that the school counseling team displays in the main entrance to promote a college-going culture.
Category: Preparation and Planning
Submit either the lesson plan or the data as described below as evidence of your preparation and planning with promoting a college-going culture in the school.
Using the Lesson Plan and Results Report provided in the resources for this microcredential, submit a lesson plan that demonstrates the use of developmentally appropriate tools for assessing abilities, interests, values, personality, and other factors that contribute to college literacy. As part of your lesson plan, discuss how these aptitudes and interests can assist students in making post-secondary plans and decisions.
Submit one of the following data points along with a short summary describing how that data point informs your instruction to help with future lesson plans that will promote a college-going culture in your school:
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Pre- and Post-tests on post-secondary lesson plans regarding options for students after high school.
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Exit Survey completed after individual CCR.
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Data on the number of students who apply for college during Utah College Application Week (UCAW).
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A survey assessing whether elementary students know what year their graduating class is and what junior high and high school they will be attending.
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Aptitude tests completed through YouScience and discussed with students during their individual CCR to talk about post-secondary options.
Be sure to follow your district or charter guidelines for student privacy.
Category: Implementation
Submit either the video, data analysis, or observation results as described below as evidence of your implementation with promoting a college-going culture in your school.
Submit a ten-minute video teaching a group lesson on college and career readiness. Your video can be an edited series of clips that includes the information necessary for students to make informed decisions regarding post-secondary education. This video may include application processes, GPA/ACT requirements, apprenticeships, Technical College requirements, and where to find scholarship information.
Be sure to follow your district or charter guidelines for student privacy.
Organize and analyze data from Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) when the school report is sent out from Utah College Application Week (UCAW). Write and submit a plan with goals or a data project on what the school counseling team can do to improve the number of UCAW and FAFSA completers.
Be sure to follow your district or charter guidelines for student privacy.
Submit an observation report for a group lesson on college and career readiness. The report can be written by an administrator or other colleague and should include a review of what worked and what might need to change to bring about better outcomes. Include a short summary about what you would like to change in your lesson plan to ensure better outcomes in the future.
Review Criteria
Criterion 1: Preparation and Planning
The counselor submitted either of the following:
• A lesson plan that demonstrates the use of developmentally appropriate tools for assessing abilities, interests, values, personality, and other factors that contribute to college literacy,
• Or student data along with a short summary describing how that data point informs instruction to help with future lesson plans that will promote a college-going culture in the school.
Criterion 2: Implementation
The counselor submitted one of the following:
• A ten-minute video of a CCR group lesson that includes the information necessary for students to make informed decisions regarding post-secondary education.
• A plan with goals or a data project on what the school counseling team can do to improve the number of UCAW and FAFSA completers in the school based on data collected during Utah College Application Week.
• Or an observation report from a CCR group lesson along with a short summary about what the counselor would like to change in the lesson plan to ensure better outcomes in the future.
Explain how you collaborate with all stakeholders to promote a college-going atmosphere across the school, community, and organizational landscape.
Explain how you provide early and ongoing exposure to information necessary for students to make informed decisions regarding postsecondary education.
Review Criteria
Reflection Response 1 shows how the counselor effectively and consistently collaborates with all stakeholders to promote a college-going atmosphere across the school, community, and organizational landscape.
Reflection Response 2 shows how the counselor effectively and consistently provides early and ongoing exposure to information necessary for students to make informed decisions regarding postsecondary education.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FvQtfOJfzIrTh8V77yGN4qj3Jkbqk6BB/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109470781895288394264&rtpof=true&sd=true
A list of Effective School Counselor Standards connected with this microcredential.
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Website
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Career-Development
This is the website for the American School Counselor Association (ASCA).
Lesson Plan and Results Report
https://www.schools.utah.gov/prevention/_counseling/SchoolCounselingLessonPlanResults.xlsx
Use this Lesson Plan and Results Report for submitting the lesson plan as described in the evidence section under Preparation and Planning.
Nicole Anderson
Allison Ayoub Egge
Justin Brooks
Jade Christiansen
Nachae Clark
Jamie Greenburg
Andrew Gull
Taylor Jones
Paige Murdock
Erin Nelson
Lindsey Robinson
Ashlee Sheppard
Stephanie Tueller
Jill Tullis
250 East 500 South
Salt Lake City, UT 84111-3204
Phone: 801.538.7807