Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Secondary Counselors and Youth Services Specialists October 13, 2008 Dr. Marie Keith Director, College and Career Readiness The Power of Engagement!

College Night 2008 Entrance Entrance Entrance 3C 154 Entrance 4D 125 Total 6,467 Parent/Student Evaluations 480

 Preparing to Dream Purpose, Grant Outcomes, Preparing the Grant / Assessment, and Conclusions / Statement of Identified Need  CFISD Vision  College-going Culture  Cy-Fair ISD Grant Objectives / Outcomes  Methods  College and Career Specialist  Scope and Sequence  Grant Implementation / Key Tasks  Evaluation  Advisory Committee  Sustainability

Purpose The National College Access Network (NCAN) and Houston A+ Challenge, supported by the Houston Endowment, proposed an ambitious initiative to engage several Greater Houston area school districts (5) in examining programs and data in order to transform their efforts and operations to an emphasis on creating a comprehensive college preparation environment in their districts.

Getting There – And Beyond “Two major hurdles to enhancing college culture – a lack of systematic support for college going and isolated college services – are prevalent in many under-performing schools and can create a college culture based on mediocrity instead of one oriented toward higher standards.” Citation: Zoe Corwin and William Tierney, USC Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, January 2007.

Focus of Preparing to Dream with Houston Area School Districts  Engage in the process of helping students develop and realize their postsecondary aspirations  Use coordinated strategies that are more successful and sustainable rather than those implemented in isolation.  Coordinate efforts of higher education, non-profit institutions, businesses, and foundations to align resources

 Help students and families transition smoothly from high school to college  Target first-in-family and/or low income students Purpose of Initiative High School Graduation Postsecondary education and/or career training

 Completion of college preparatory curricula  Readiness to take and completion of accelerated learning courses (AP and /or dual credit)  Improved college entrance exam and or placement scores  More financial aid forms completed by deadline dates  Improvement in the number of students enrolling in postsecondary education, particularly community colleges Preparing to Dream Project Outcomes Raise your hand if you believe as many first generation and/or low–income students are as involved in postsecondary preparation as middle class white students?

Develop an effective school district model that promotes student access and success in higher education, especially for low-income and/or first generation students Preparing to Dream – the BIG Idea

 College Preparation Programming and Services Inventory (March 2008)  Review of Best Practices (April 2008)  Preparing to Dream Student/Parent Survey at Cypress Lakes HS Event (April 2008) Preparing to Write the Grant Assessment by Advisory Committee

Conclusions (based on Work of Advisory Committee) 1.CFISD has numerous college and career readiness initiatives in place; however, these initiatives are implemented inconsistently across campuses and lack systematic structure; 2.Data elements necessary for evaluation are not currently collected to measure the effectiveness of initiatives; and 3.Various resources are under-utilized.

Statement of Identified Needs Although the District provides many college readiness activities each year, no infra-structure exists to help students transition successfully from high school to postsecondary education.

CFISD Vision Help all sudents plan for life beyond graduation by developing a college-going culture, especially for first-in-family and low-income students (based on CFISD District Action Plan).

CFISD Overarching Goal Through grant implementation (years one through three) develop an infrastructure (model) that will lead to district-wide implementation in year four ( )

College-Going Culture  Aspiration  Planning (awareness and achievement)  Financial Aid/Affordability  Persistence (actualization) Research “Capturing the Potential of Student for for Under-Served Populations: An Analysis of Efforts to Overcome Social and Financial Barriers” (Communication Works, November 2002) “A6 Framework” (Schmit, Swedlow, and Landis – February 2008)

CFISD Grant Objectives 1.Create an infra-structure utilizing a scope and sequence (grades 6-12) 2.Establish a College and Career Center at Cy-Lakes HS 3.Create data collection methods and measures to evaluate participation 4.Evaluate District policies and procedures 5.Establish a collaborative partnership with Lone Star College – Cy-Fair

CFISD Project Outcomes Direct Incomes  Interact with staff (teachers, counselors, and specialist)  Participate in college and career readiness activities, and  Enroll in a college or career/technical training program Indirect Outcomes  Readiness to take and increased enrollment in advanced courses  Improved performance on the Texas Assessment of knowledge and Skills and college entrance exams  Better grades  Greater family involvement  Stronger relationships with postsecondary institutions, including Lone Star College – Cy-Fair To increase the proportion of first generation and/or low-income students at Cypress Lakes HS that

Methods The Director for College and Career Readiness is charge with implementing all parts of the grant, working closely with other departments. The College and Career Specialist will be located at Cypress Lakes HS C&C Center and also serve Watkins and Thornton MS.

Important Note The college and career specialist will work with – not replace – counselors – nor assume counselor’s responsibilities – while providing college and career readiness support. Primary Responsibilities include coordinating the Center’s activities and implementing the scope and sequence.

Scope and Sequence  The S&S will realign the District’s current activities, address existing gaps, and cultivate a college-going culture.  The purpose of the S&S is to assist students in developing the awareness and skills they need to transition successfully from high school to a postsecondary institution. Embedded in the scope and sequence is  College and Career Center  Evaluation measures  Review of policies and procedures  Involvement of higher education

Grant Implementation  While the scope and sequence is being development during year one, the Director and Specialist will work with identified schools on “key tasks” that promote “college talk” with low- income and/or first generation students and their parents (McDonough, 2008).  Implement grant in years two and three, which will allow for refinement and evaluation.  Successful outcomes will lead to district-wide implementation in year four ( )

Evaluation Evaluation methods will  provide for continuous improvement and measure effectiveness of the District’s College and Career Readiness initiative,  Use qualitative and quantitative measures, and  Analyze data, including demographic factors, student achievement results, and AEIS components, and survey results.

DATA FOCUS – Dr. Rayyan Amine  Results – Cy-Lakes Freshman Orientation Survey  District Student Survey – grades 6-11(draft)  Data Collection – in process  Information collected from College Night tickets and parent/student evaluations  College and Career Center use  College and Career Center activities (such as workshops)

Advisory Committee / Support Staff  School Administration  Guidance and Counseling  Secondary Curriculum  Campus Improvement and Research  Technology and Information Services  Campus Administrators (Cy-Lakes, Thornton, Watkins)  Parents and Students Community Partners  Business Partners  Lone Star College  Houston A+ Challenge / NCAN Task: to review the draft of the scope and sequence at the end of the year one and monitor grant implementation quarterly each year.