Steele

Canyon
High School
Results from:
Future Plans
Start Today
Counseling Lesson
Monica Duncan and
Angie Colon

What Did We Do?

Who: All 9th Grade Students enrolled in Cougar
Excel (Approximately 300 Students)
What: (1) A Counseling Intern Generated A-G
and College/Career Planning PowerPoint (2)
Completed a GPA Calculation Activity
When: November 19, 2015
Where: In the Library at SCHS

Lesson Highlights
(1) Students Took a Pre-test
(2) PowerPoint

Overview of A-G Requirements

Overview of Post-Secondary Education
Options
Overview of GPA Calculation

(3) Students Calculated GPA Used at

UC/CSU Campuses

National Standards
Academic Development Standard A: Students
will acquire the attitudes, knowledge and
skills that contribute to effective learning in
school and across the lifespan.
Academic Development Standard C: Students
will understand the relationship of academics
to the world of work and to life at home and
in the community.

National Standards
Career Development Standard A: Students
will acquire the skills to investigate the
world of work in relation to knowledge of
self and to make informed career decisions.
Personal/Social Development Standard A:
Students will acquire the knowledge,
attitudes and interpersonal skills to help
them understand and respect self and
others.

Student Competencies
A:A1.5 Identify attitudes and behaviors that lead
to successful learning.
A:C1.6 Understand how school success and
academic achievement enhance future career and
vocational opportunities.
C:A1.7 Understand the importance of
planning.
PS:A1.2 Identify values, attitudes and
beliefs.

Why Now?
A look at the benefits of the lesson and what the
research says

Why did we teach this lesson?

Ninth grade need assessment
results showed that students
requested information about
preparations for post-secondary
education pathways.
Most current and accurate data
shows SCHS graduates have
only a 62% A-G eligible rate.

Research shows that...

Advanced course-taking is consistently associated with
higher achievement... to some degree, advanced coursetaking improves scores on basic achievement tests (Leow,
Marcus, Zannuto & Boruch, 2004).
Exposure to high stakes information early and often during
the transition period can fundamentally alter the schooling
experience of students and increase the number of students
who are academically prepared to matriculate to college
(Cooper & Liou, 2007).

Perception Data
We assessed the students before and after
the lesson to measure what they believe,
what they know and what they can do!

Shifts in Attitudes!
I believe I know what to do in order to be "college
ready" by the time I graduate from SCHS.
47% increase
in students
who strongly
agree or agree

Shift in Attitudes!
I believe taking rigorous courses is important to be successful
in high school.
32% increase
in students
who strongly
agree or agree

Increase in Knowledge
A-G Requirements are:
Correct Answer B: College prep courses that meet UC/CSU
admission requirements.

25%
increase in
students
answering
correctly

Increase in Knowledge
Out of the options below, which one describes what it means to be
college-ready?
10% increase in
students
answering
correctly

Correct Answer C: A student is academically prepared

when graduating high school for post-secondary education.

New Skill Attained

100% of students
correctly calculated a
GPA using UC/CSU
Guidelines.

Impact of Future Plans Start Today Lesson

Which will influen
ce
achievement-rela
ted
data by having
students increase
their A-G course
selection pattern
s

ffect
a
o
t
We aim ehavior so
tb
studen will be
ts
studen d to plan for
te
motiva re
tu
their fu

pact
m
i
l
l
i
w
h
Whic
ata by
d
t
n
e
m
e
achiev
g A-G
n
i
s
a
e
r
c
in
and
n
o
i
t
e
l
p
com
verage
a
t
n
i
o
p
grade

I pr
e
futu dict th
suc re will e
ces
sfu be
l!

Vision Data
What we are aiming for...

Vision Data

What We Are Aiming For

Vision Data

What We Are Aiming For

Summary
Students now believe that course rigor is
important for high school success.
Students now know the school
graduation requirements and the A-G
requirements.
Students now know that their school GPA
is different from the UC/CSU GPA.
Students are now able to calculate a
UC/CSU GPA.

Limitations
Some students researched one question

during the pre-test.

Some student absences varied the pre-post

assessments.
Only reached half the 9th grade class, the

other half will receive the lesson next term.

Had a technical issue in 2nd block and the

PowerPoint presentation was down.

Next Steps
Present the lesson to the other half of the
ninth grade class and collect the data.
Present the data to administration to
encourage collaborative efforts for
improving college eligibility data.
Monitor A-G course enrollment data for
ninth graders until graduation in 2019.

Thank you to the SCHS counseling

staff, administration and the Cougar
Excel staff for their collaboration
and support.