1. College and Career Readiness in the 21st Century
KATO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL
Parent Presentation
This PowerPoint is intended to be used with a parent/family audience to assist in their understanding of why kids need to be college and career ready. The three reasons that will be presented are:
Changing Economy
Job Opportunities
Changing Demographics
The order of this presentation is different than the staff development presentation as it is intended to focus on the individual child so that the parent sees the value for their son/daughter.
In Section 1, slides 4-5 address the changing economy, slides 6-7 address the job opportunities of the future and the recent experiences of the recession and recovery, and slides 8-9 address the two part change in demographics. The parent version of this presentation contains far less information than the staff one. The intent is simply to convey the big ideas.
Section 2, slides is to convey that kids do have high aspirations but their actions do not always reinforce their aspirations.
Section 3, slides is to communicate to parents that in addition to what they do at home to encourage their student to strive and work hard to reach their full potential, that the school is doing the same with the Ramp-Up program. Be sure to highlight the communication tools that will be used with parents to partner with them on helping their child reach their potential.
Section 4, slides is to show parents that this is something that is taking place across the state and that your students may be similar to others across the state.
Section 5, slides are intended to specifically engage families with things they can do and the resources to do them.

2. When I say the word college it includes:
As we are talking about “COLLEGE” readiness, it is imperative that when we use the word college you understand that it means any sort of postsecondary credential, certificate or degree. It is not just a 4-year liberal arts education, it includes technical schools, community colleges, and 4-year institutions.

3. Why do kids need to be college and career ready?
Changing Economy
Job Opportunities
Changing Demographics
Today we are begin by answering this question – Why do kids need to be college and career ready?
Beyond just aspirations for our students to access postsecondary education, the changing economy that we live in and the job outlook for the future requires that we work to prepare students for education beyond our school system.

4. The Connection Between Education and Earnings
How many of you have heard the phrase, “What you learn is what you earn?” This last chart on the economy illustrates that this makes a difference not just to the population, but to individuals as well.
This chart illustrates the connection between education earnings and unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2013 Population Survey. You can see the correlational relationship between educational attainment and rising earnings and lower unemployment rates.
Source:

5. Middle-Class Workforce Educational Levels Rising
This chart, from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, in the report Career and Technical Education Five Ways That Pay , September 2012, illustrates that the education level of those in the middle class (earning between $35,000 and $70,000) has shifted in the last 37 years or generation. In 1970, 74% of the middle class had a high school diploma or less. In 2007, 39% of the middle class had a high school diploma or less.
In other words, increasingly for most people it takes a college credential or degree to earn a middle class income.
While there are definitely exceptions to this, and there will be individual cases when students leave high school and go to work in a job that does pay well above a minimum wage, the data here suggests that the likelihood of that happening is decreasing.
Source: Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, Career and Technical Education Five Ways That Pay , September Author’s analysis of March current population survey (CPS) data, various years. The CPS is a monthly survey of households by the US Census Bureau for the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. For this comparison, the middle class represents workers with an annual income between &35,000 and $70,000

6. By 2020 two thirds of all jobs will require some sort of postsecondary education – that is not a 4-year liberal arts education, but some amount of postsecondary education. That trend is expected to continue.
For state specific information, see
70% of jobs in Minnesota will require postsecondary education. That’s 7 percentage points higher than the national average.
In Minnesota about 60% of the population currently holds a two or four year degree, or technical certificate.
To summarize reason one as to why we need to prepare all students to be college and career ready,
We have a changing economy where nearly 2/3 jobs in the United states will require some postsecondary education by 2020.
Those with a high school education or less are a rapidly shrinking population of wage earners.
Source: Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements Through 2020, June 2013

7. Education, Jobs and The Great Recession
This chart comes from a study done at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Center on Education and the Workforce. They did a study of how workers fared during the recession and the recovery according to level of education. The gray line at 0 is the separation between jobs lost, below the line and jobs gained, above the line.
The green line represents those with a bachelor's degree or better.
The Red line represents those an associate’s degree or some college education
The Blue line represents people with a high school diploma or less.
While the data contained within the chart is interesting, the take away from this one is that workers with only a high school diploma fared worst in the recession and have not seen improvement in the recovery.
Note: Employment includes all workers age 18 and older.
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) data,

8. Demographic Change, Part 1
This brings us to the third reason of College Readiness for ALL – there are two significant demographic changes taking place.
First is the change in age of our citizens. We are about to realize the retirement of an extremely educated workforce. The number of citizens 65 and older will eclipse that of our K-12 age students around 2020.
Source: U.S. Census Counts and State Demographer Projection

9. Demographic Change, Pt. 2
(Non-Minnesota schools will want to substitute any relevant significant demographic changes in their state.) In addition to the generational change, there is also a significant change in our population’s make-up with a rapidly increasing students of color population while our white population is shrinking in every county of Minnesota. This is happening in every county in Minnesota and across the nation. And while the increasing diversity in our population has great benefits, we also know that our largest achievement gaps lie in the often underserved populations of our students of color.
Source: State Demographer, Minnesota Department of Administration, 2015

10. High aspirations aren’t the problem
This chart illustrates that student aspirations regarding college are indeed growing. However, the actual completion rates of 25 years olds with a four-year bachelor’s degree, as represented by the black bars, has basically flat lined.
We look at the space between the black bar and the white line as our opportunity gap – the aspiration is there, but it is not being realized. We have an opportunity to close that gap.
Source: Education Week

11. Our School’s Strategy for Motivation and Direction:
This is why our school applied for and was accepted to join over 100 schools working with University of Minnesota’s college and career readiness program, Ramp-Up to Readiness™.
Ramp-Up to Readiness™ is a school-wide advisory program designed and developed at the University of Minnesota and action-researched in 18 schools across the state of MN to increase the number and diversity of students who graduate from high school with the knowledge, skills, and habits necessary for success in a high-quality college program.

12. The Structure of Ramp-Up
Each of these 5 areas of readiness are so vitally important and they are grounded in the belief that all student can and should be prepared for postsecondary education – again, maybe not all kids are going to go to four-year colleges – but some type of postsecondary credential or degree is the goal for all. And if all five of these areas are not explicitly addressed, the chances of success in postsecondary education will be threatened.
The Ramp-Up program addresses each of the five areas of readiness through the use of advisory activities, five distinct workshops and uses a progress monitoring and postsecondary planning or individualized learning plan document to support the student’s growth.
The five areas of readiness are:
Academic Readiness: The ability to succeed in first-year, credit bearing courses at a technical college, a community college or a four-year college or university
Admissions Readiness: The ability to meet admissions requirements at a range of postsecondary institutions
Career Readiness: The ability to identify careers that match personal, financial, and other goals and an understanding of the skills, credentials, and experiences required to succeed in those careers
Financial Readiness: The ability to cover the cost of the first term of study at a postsecondary institution through savings, loans, and financial aid
Personal and Social Readiness: The ability to set educational goals, make and monitor progress toward them, and create relationships with peers and adults that support academic success

13. The Ramp-Up Process
The Ramp-Up program addresses each of the five goal areas through the use of Advisory Activities and five distinct Workshops. It uses a progress monitoring tool where the students check in on their progress toward goals and postsecondary planning, and an individualized learning plan document where students examine their career aspirations and the postsecondary education that will help them get there, tying that directly to the courses they take and the activities they are a part of while still in our school.

14. Program Delivery 30-minute Advisory Sessions Ramp-Up Workshops
Weekly throughout the school year (30 weeks in total) focusing on progress monitoring and planning
Facilitated by school staff with smaller groups of students
Ramp-Up Workshops
One each year
Each lasts one class period
Allows for use of web-based tools, panels and in-depth exploration
Kids get information and interact with college readiness activities in two ways in the Ramp- Up program.
30-minute Advisories – Insert when and how this will be facilitated in your school
Ramp-Up Workshops - Insert when and how this will be facilitated in your school

15. Sample: 9th Grade Topics
Seeking Help in High School
Setting SMART Goals
Requirements for Graduation vs. Postsecondary Admittance
Understanding College Level Coursework
Identifying Internal Strengths
Understanding Decision Making
Planning Your Future
21st Century Skills
This slide is an example and may be altered depending on what parents are in the audience.

16. Tools -Readiness Rubric
Progress monitoring tool
Completed at least three times a year
Discussed with advisor and shared with family
Helps students assess their college readiness in different areas
Grades
Academic belief
Self-management
Effort and Persistence
Test scores
The Readiness Rubric is the document kids use to track their progress by checking in three times a year with their advisor.

17. The Readiness Rubric is a single place where information about a student’s progress toward college readiness can be captured and then easily shared with families.
Acknowledge that we are famous in schools for sending all sorts of information to families at differing times throughout the year (state testing results, grades, attendance, behavior referrals) with little explanation or opportunity for two-way communication. The Readiness Rubric incorporates a student’s own self-reflection on key habits of success that are research based in parent friendly terms, not “educationaleze.”

18. Readiness Rubric Reflection
Reflect on the rubric
Create SMART Goals
Explain that students are then setting SMART goals based on their check-ins.

19. Tools - Postsecondary Plan
Career, postsecondary, and academic planning tool
Make informed decisions about possible careers paths
Find the best postsecondary options for those careers
Make academic plans to reach postsecondary aspirations
Create postsecondary financial plans
Record key Social Emotional Assets
The main point to make about the Postsecondary Plan is that it connects career, postsecondary and academic planning over the course of a student's time in Ramp-Up.

20. Postsecondary Plan
The Postsecondary Plan connects career, postsecondary and academic planning over the course of a student's time in Ramp-Up.
You will need to decide how and when it will be used specifically in your setting.

21. Current Ramp-Up Network of Schools
This is a visual way to share with parents that this is something that is taking place all over Minnesota, that over 2000 schools are currently participating in Ramp-Up across 8 states.

22. What is the same among many of these schools?

23. Not all students embrace academic rigor…

24. Many students don’t know how to access college

25. Some students lack motivation…

26. And persistence is a challenge for many…
This is a great place to remind parents that kids are not void of these things all together. As educators we see displays persistence in and out of the classroom. For example in sports, a caring adult (coach) and a feeling of belonging (team) often foster persistence. To be successful in life, however, persistence needs to occur in all aspects of education, not just the areas that students like.

27. What can families do? Talk with your student
Ask them about what they are learning about at school about “college”
Inquire about their life goals, career aspirations, and postsecondary plans
Provide challenge and support
Encourage them to take rigorous courses
Visit a college campus with them
Use resources
Ramp-Up One Page Parent Guide
U of M Parent Guide to College and Career Readiness
The Parent Guide to College and Career Readiness is an optional resource that can be purchased from the College Readiness Consortium. If you are not using it, you can delete that item.

28. Have these resources ready to share with parents and perhaps have links to them on your school website. You may save the actual documents and put them up on your website.

29. For more information, please visit www.rampuptoreadiness.org