Cultivating College and Career Readiness: Climate, Culture, and Resources (Session IIB) District Learning Day Union University (Germantown Campus) August 6, 2015

Early Awareness: CCR in the Elementary Setting

Do Now Take five minutes and answer the following question then discuss with a shoulder partner: What does college and career readiness look like in your elementary school?

Norms Be present and engaged. Be respectful of differences in perspective while challenging each other productively and respectively. Monitor “air time.” Make the most of the time we have. Stay focused on students.

Objectives The participants will: Know what college and career readiness looks like in an elementary school Understand the elementary counselor’s role in college and career readiness Be able to go back and present this information to our school faculty.

A “college-ready” student is defined as an academically prepared student who is ready for postsecondary education without the need for remedial coursework. A “career-ready” student is defined as someone who possesses both the necessary knowledge and technical skills needed for employment in their desired career field. What is college and career readiness?

According to ACT In states where all eleventh graders take the ACT college readiness assessment (TN is one): only 45% of low-income students in 2012 met the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks in English 30% in reading, 21% in mathematics, and 13% in science For many students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, learning gaps appear in early childhood

Getting students off to a good start in preschool and the elementary grades is vitally important for several reasons: Learning takes time Learning is cumulative Student interests often develop at an early age Empirical evidence shows the difficulty of catching students up in middle and high school.

According to The College Board: Elementary school counselors create early awareness, knowledge and skills that lay the foundation for the academic rigor and social development necessary for college and career readiness. (Components 1–6). Every person in every school community can help students — in elementary, middle and high school — develop the skills and aspirations that are critical to preparing for college and career. As a school counselor, your leadership is central to this work.

Why Focus on College and Career Readiness? Four of every 10 new college students, including half of those at two-year institutions, take remedial courses, and many employers comment on the inadequate preparation of high school graduates

Why does this information matter to elementary school teachers? According to Jason Perez on the Hot Chalk Education Network, in order to create an environment where students and families are college and career ready, there needs to be a foundational definition of what this means and looks like for students.

Why does this information matter to elementary school teachers continued…. As educators, we provide the first influence for helping students and parents recognize the importance of emphasizing college and career readiness at an early age. Classroom teachers are not counselors and may have difficulty figuring out where they need to begin.

What Does College and Career Readiness Look Like? According to Janice McClure in her article, What Does College and Career Readiness Look Like? on the Pearson website, establishing strong routines and rituals in the classroom and collaborating in PLCs helps to embody the Common Core State Standards for college and career readiness.

Common Core Standards for College and Career Readiness Demonstrate independence; Build strong content knowledge; Respond to varying demands of audience, task, purpose and discipline; Comprehend as well as critique; Value evidence; Use technology strategically and capably; Understand other perspectives and cultures See more at: career-success/what-does-college-and-career-readiness-look- like#sthash.3skmgMin.dpuf

Helping Teachers to Prepare Their Students Arizona Department of Education has created a college and career readiness checklist for each grade level K-12 to help their counselors and teachers.

**APPLICATION NOTE** By discussing the Arizona College and Career Readiness Checklist in this professional development does not mean that you must apply this; however, it can be used along with your other materials in your counseling activities and collaboration with grade-level teachers to make sure that the standards are met for each grade-level.

Checklist Link 12collegeandcareerchecklist.pdf

Reflection: Application What was easiest for you? What was most difficult? What else do you need to learn/do prior to applying to your classroom?

Revisit Objectives The participants will: Know what college and career readiness looks like in an elementary school Understand the elementary counselor’s role in college and career readiness Be able to go back and present this information to our school faculty.

Next steps and activities for follow up Please be sure to leave your address. I will post the presentation with the links to all research and the checklist. Also, I will follow-up with participants that plan to implement this program in their schools.

Reflection: One minute paper on post-it Jot down your “Take-Aways” Consider what you need to know and be able to do to successfully implement what you have learned in this session. – What is still unclear? – What professional development or additional resources do you need?

Closing “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” — John Cotton Dana

District Contacts Shelby County Schools: Cassandra Bowen: PSC - Germantown Elementary Counseling Managers: Dr. Rhonda Hill: Dr. Sherenda Moss:

References erm/89 erm/89 s/pdf/advocacy/nosca/11b- 4383_ES_Counselor_Guide_WEB_ pdf s/pdf/advocacy/nosca/11b- 4383_ES_Counselor_Guide_WEB_ pdf df/ImportanceofEarlyLearning.pdf df/ImportanceofEarlyLearning.pdf

References continued… aq/college-career.pdf aq/college-career.pdf career-success/what-does-college-and-career- readiness-look-like career-success/what-does-college-and-career- readiness-look-like ege-and-career-readiness-in-elementary-school/ ege-and-career-readiness-in-elementary-school/ 12collegeandcareerchecklist.pdf 12collegeandcareerchecklist.pdf