Comprehensive

Post-Secondary Counseling
Program: Middle School
Motivated to Act

“When students have this motivational

framework in place, it serves to generate a gap
between the current and the desired state of
being for students. This discrepancy creates an
action potential (emphasis mine)—the probability
that students will act to close that gap.” (Conley
& French, 2013, p. 1033)
Agenda

● Research
● Developmental and Multicultural Considerations
● Theoretical Framework
● Year-long Initiatives
● Season-specific Interventions
● Implications for School Counselors
Literature Review

● The Importance of Culture and Climate (Kelley, 2014)

● The Motivation of the College Visit (Glessner,

Rockinson-Szapkiw, & Lopez, 2017; Schaefer, 2014)

● The Value of “Hard” and “Soft” Skills (Radcliffe and

Bos, 2013; Conley, 2008)
Developmental Considerations

Middle School is a time of transition ❖ Biological changes are connected with

cognitive, social, and emotional changes
and change and it is important to
❖ Emotional regulation and rational
thinking develop at different rates
consider the developmental changes
❖ Identity is explored and students
that occur within adolescents’ bodies consider themselves and how they fit
with others
and minds....
❖ Cognitive processes can consider more
sophisticated topics and reasoning
Multicultural Considerations

● Exceptional Children ● Trauma-Informed and

○ Push-in for classroom
guidance
○ Participation in groups
● English Language Learners
○ Push-in for classroom
guidance
○ Participation in groups
Trauma-Sensitive
○ Sensory breaks
○ Trigger sensitive
○ Routines
○ Open and safe environment
 Theoretical Framework
Perna’s Integrated College Access Conceptual The Four Dimensions of College Readiness
Model (Perna, 2006) (Conley, 2010)
Contextual ● Exploration Experiences
Student habitus
Skills & ● Year-long Initiatives
● Classroom guidance
School & Community
Awareness
Context
Higher Education Academic ● Quarter Reflections
Context ● Collaboration with teachers
Behaviors

Social, Economic, & ● Career and academic

Policy Context
Key Content
connections
Knowledge ● Parental Engagement

Key Cognitive ● District Core Values

● Targeted groups
Strategies
District Mission Statement

This school district has a comprehensive educational approach that

emphasizes building a strong foundation of self-advocacy and self-efficacy
in elementary school, developing interpersonal and intrapersonal skills and
awareness in middle school, and fostering long-term goal setting and
life-long success in high school. All students will graduate from this district
with the skills they need to be productive members of society.
 Mission

Mission: At the middle school level we will promote awareness of

post-secondary opportunities by immersing students in a caring,
accepting and knowledge-rich environment where they are provided with
opportunities and experiences to develop self-advocacy skills and acquire
the language necessary to access post-secondary options, ultimately
building paths for their futures and becoming empowered to make
informed choices.

Core Values: * self-advocacy * self-efficacy * goal-setting *

* interpersonal and intrapersonal skills and awareness *
Theoretical +
Practical
Framework
Year-long Initiatives

School-Wide Planned Interventions: Purpose:

Weekly: Year-long school-wide interventions are

Friday College Attire designed to continuously reinforce and
promote a college-going culture.
Monthly:
Homeroom/Advisory Postsecondary These particular interventions encourage
Section students to engage with faculty in
conversations pertaining to postsecondary
Quarterly:
experiences and opportunities, gain exposure
GPA Reflection
to postsecondary knowledge and access, as
well as set short-term and long-term goals.
 College & Career Exploration Experiences

Sixth Grade Seventh Grade Eighth Grade

Career Exploration

Career Days Cluster-Based Career

Experience

(Visitors/Virtual Reality Experience Exploration and High

Engagement with School Scheduling
Professions)
Visit Site
College

Public College or Private College or

Community College
University University
Fall

Planned Interventions: Purpose:

Fall interventions are designed to promote
6th Grade: a college-going culture within the first six weeks
Transition to Middle School of the fall semester through grade-level
classroom guidance lessons.
7th Grade:
Digital Citizenship These particular interventions intend to
familiarize students with the school counselor
8th Grade: as a resource in postsecondary planning,
Transition to High School support academic, personal-social, and career
development during times of transition, and
conceptualize a digital footprint as it pertains to
21st century learning.
Spring
Purpose:
Planned Interventions:
Interventions during the spring semester will be extremely important to
6th grade:
keep students continually engaged and learning about post-secondary

Transition to Middle School opportunities. The spring semester will consist of a check-in group for

7th grade: 6th grade, classroom guidance lessons on college terminology in 7th

grade, and a community service week for 8th grade. Students will know
College Terminology
to utilize the school counselor as a resource for postsecondary
8th grade:
planning. Teachers and administrators will be helpful in supporting the
Community Service Week
community service week for 8th grade.
Summer

Planned Interventions: Purpose:

Interventions over the summer are
5th Grade: designed to promote family involvement
Introduction to Middle School and to encourage students to remain
active while school is not in session.
6th Grade:
College Tours and Camps These particular interventions focus
on easing transitions, promoting
7th Grade:
college-going culture, and introducing key
Individual Parent Meetings
terms and concepts to students.
8th Grade:
Introduction to High School
Implications for School Counselors

School counselors in our district will be expected to:

● Use this plan as a guideline to promote a college-going culture within their schools

● Collect and evaluate needs assessments within their school to be sure they are catering
to the various needs of their students

● Collaborate with administration, families, stakeholders, and fellow school counselors in

order to effectively carry out the district plan

● Collect data in order to insure effectiveness of interventions and to improve future

plans

● Follow the ASCA national Model to the best of their ability

Motivated to Act

“When students have this motivational

framework in place, it serves to generate a gap
between the current and the desired state of
being for students. This discrepancy creates an
action potential (emphasis mine)—the probability
that students will act to close that gap.” (Conley
& French, 2013, p. 1033)
Questions?