e10. state requirements and couseling practices related to ilps for middle- and high-school students...

E10. State Requirements and Counseling Practices Related to ILPs for Middle- and High-School Students

Melissa Clinedinst, National Association for College Admission Counseling, VA

Kim Oppelt, Hobsons, VA

Jennifer Landy, Wayzata High School, MN

Background

2009 2011

Study Questions• What are state-level policies related to ILPs?

• How are ILPs operationalized and implemented in high schools?

• Who is tasked with designing, implementing, and evaluating ILPs, and what is the extent of their involvement in each phase?

• To what extent do ILP requirements contribute to high school students’ college/career readiness and successful transitions?

• Can any best practices be identified?

Methodology: State ILP Policy Scan• Update and extension of information published by

Hobsons in 2009 and 2011

• Procedure– Review of state department of education websites– Follow-up emails to education department representatives– ILP database U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability

Employment Policy

• Information Collected– State mandate? Delivery mechanism– Type of plan or activity Assessment findings– Agencies involved Frequency of ILP

review

Alaska Iowa Oregon

Arizona Kentucky Rhode Island

Colorado Louisiana South Carolina

Connecticut Maryland South Dakota

Delaware Michigan Tennessee

District of Columbia Minnesota Vermont

Georgia Missouri Virginia

Hawaii Nevada Washington

Idaho New Jersey West Virginia

Indiana New Mexico Wisconsin

States with Mandated Individual Learning Plans

Academic Plan

Academic, career, and personal goals identified

Career explorarion

Updated annually

Strengths and needs assessments

Resume builder

Personal reflection

Service learning

Action plan

Personality and learning style assessments

Learning support referal

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

49

45

45

41

21

18

17

16

15

10

10

Number of States

ILP

Elem

ent

Key Elements of State Individual Learning Plans

Source: Scan of state policies conducted by 2015 report authors.

Note: N=51 (50 states and the District of Columbia)

Methodology: High School Survey

• Survey of high school counseling offices administered in February/March 2015

• Stratified random sample of 10,000 U.S. high schools– oversampling of schools in states with ILP mandates

• 1,626 responses received; 915 reported using ILPs

Characteristics of Schools that Use ILPs

Distribution of Counselor Caseloads for Survey Respondent Schools Using an ILP

41.3%

50.9%

7.7%

250 students251 - 500 studentsMore than 500 students

Source: High School ILP Survey, 2015.

Percentage of Schools Using an ILP, by School Enrollment Size

50-249 250-499 500-749 750-999 More than 1,0000%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%62%

59%54% 52%

55%

School Enrollment Size

Perc

enta

ge o

f Sch

ools

Usi

ng a

n IL

P

Sources: High School ILP Survey; U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core Data (CCD), 2012-13.

Note: N = 1,573

Percentage of Schools Using an ILP, by School Type


Note: N = 1,374

Traditional public school Charter school0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

54%

73%

Percentage of Schools Using an ILP, by Student Eligibility for Free or Reduced Price Lunch


Note: N = 1,562

0-24% 25%-49% 50%-74% 75% or more0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

54%58% 59% 59%

Percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch

Perc

enta

ge o

f Sch

ool U

sing

an

ILP

Percentage of Schools Using an ILP, by School Funding Level


Note: N = 1,517

Less than $8,000 $8,000-$11,000 $11,001-$14,000 More than $14,0000.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

55.8%

69.5%

39.5%44.7%

Percentage of Schools Using an ILP

Scho

ol F

undi

ng L

evel

per

Stu

dent

ILP State Mandate Status Compared to ILP UseILP Use Based on Survey Response

Use ILPs Do Not Use ILPs

State-Mandated ILP Policy

Yes 67 29

No 44 53

Sources: Scan of state ILP policies; High School ILP Survey, 2015.

• 29 percent of survey respondents located in states identified as having ILP mandates during the state policy scan report on the ILP survey that they, in fact, do not use ILPs.

• Many survey respondents from states without ILP mandates (44 percent) reported using ILPs in their schools.

ILP Features

Timespan for School Use of ILPs

Source: High School ILP Survey.

Note: N = 905

1-2 years 3-5 years 6-10 years More than 10 years

Not sure0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

14%

19%

23%

31%

13%

Number of Years Using ILP

Perc

enta

ge o

f Sch

ools

Grade Level When ILPs Are Initiated


Note: N = 904

Before 6th grade

6th grade 7th grade 8th grade 9th grade 10th-12th grade

Not sure0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

5%

13% 12%

38%

27%

2%4%

Grade When ILP is Initiated

Perc

enta

ge o

f Sch

ools

Most Common ILP ElementsPercentage of Schools

Progress towards high school graduation (e.g., high school courses taken) 88Completion of high school course plan of study 81Career interest identified 77Participation in dual enrollment (college) courses 65Self-assessment of interests, strengths, aptitudes, etc. 48Completion of pre-college entrance examinations (ACT’s PLAN, EXPLORE, etc.) 44Student resume completed 43Completion of college entrance examinations (ACT, SAT) 41Extracurricular non-athletics 37Volunteerism 34Extracurricular athletics 30Awards 29Work experience (e.g. apprenticeship, internship, job shadowing) 29FAFSA completion 23College application submission 20Postsecondary financial plan 20Participation in personal financial literacy courses/workshops/activities 18Other financial aid application completion (e.g., scholarships and grants) 16


ILP Implementation

Types of ILP Training Provided for Survey Respondents Using ILPs

No Training

Implementing ILPs

Communicating with students about their ILPs

Designing/developing ILPs

Communicating with families about ILPs

Best practices in using ILPs

Communicating with teachers about ILPs

Evaluating ILP implementation

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

44%

33%

28%

24%

22%

19%

13%

7%


Stakeholders Involved in Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of ILPs

Design/Development Implementation Evaluation0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

62%

79%

50%

32%39%

21%

Counselor State

Perc

enta

ge o

f Sch

ools

Rep

ortin

g In

volv

emen

t of E

ach

Stak

ehol

der


Level of ILP Involvement of School-Based Personnel Percentage of Survey

Respondents ILP design/development Highly involved 19 Somewhat involved 37 Not involved 41 ILP implementation Highly involved 35 Somewhat involved 42 Not involved 21 ILP evaluation Highly involved 14 Somewhat involved 31 Not involved 53


Note: Numbers do not add to 100 due to missing responses.

Frequency of Meetings between School Personnel and Students, by Grade Level

Before 9th grade

9th grade

10th grade

11th grade

12th grade

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

17%

38%

38%

43%

46%

39%

49%

48%

43%

36%

Once or Several Times Each Term Once Each Academic Year

ILP Tracking and Evaluation

Percentage of Survey Respondents Reporting State-Mandated ILP Tracking

36%

32%

31%

10%

Yes

No

Not Sure

Missing


37%

30%

24%

8%

1%

Paper & Computer/Online

Computer/Online

Paper

Not tracked

Missing

Tools Used by Survey Respondents for ILP Tracking


Survey Respondents’ Experience-Based Views of ILPs’ Contribution to Student Outcomes

15%

46%

12%

24%

3%

Greatly improvesSomewhat improvesDoes not improveNot sureNo response


Effective ILP Practices Reported by Survey Respondents

• Focus on career and college guidance

• Consistent and continual review of ILP by students, staff, and parents

• Individual student meetings, oftentimes with parents

• Graduation course plan and requirements

• Develop ILPs early

Survey Respondents’ Suggestions for Improving ILP Effectiveness

• More time with students/smaller student-to-counselor ratio

• More access to technology

• More student, parents, and/or staff buy-in

• More staff, resources, training, and funding

• More use in the classroom and by teachers

• Broader range of ILP elements/more student-driven ILP

• Better guidance from school, state, and/or district

• More data, tracking and evaluation

ILPs in Action:Wayzata High School, MN

Wayzata High School

• Suburban community located 10 miles west of Minneapolis

• 3,300+ Students (Will be 4,000 by 2020)

• 9-12 Comprehensive High School

• Block Scheduling

• Class of 2014– 76% Four-Year College– 9% Two Year College– Average ACT 26

Counseling

• 9 Counselors (Caseload about 400)– Academic– Personal/Social– Post High School Planning

• Individual Appointments• Group Guidance: Counselors meet with

their students in groups of 25-30.

P20 Education Partnership• The P-20 Education Partnership, through the MN Department of Education, is requesting

that an Ed Mn designee and a licensed staff member participate on a work group for developing recommendations for the Partnership to forward to the legislature in 2015.

• The criteria for workgroup members are:– Are involved in college and career readiness programs and planning– Experiences with goal setting for students in middle level and high schools– Interested in developing career pathway options for students

• Workgroup 2: Identify changes to revise a P-20 education system premised on students’ individual career and college readiness plans and goals.

• The link for the P-20 Education Partnership: http://www.mnp20.org/

http://www.mnp20.org/

http://www.mnp20.org/

Planning for Students Successful Transition to Postsecondary Education and Employment: Personal Learning Plans

Legislation requires all students starting in 9th grade to have a Personal Learning Plan around 8 key elements. This plan includes academic scheduling, career exploration, career and employment related skills, community partnerships, college access, all forms of postsecondary training, and experiential learning opportunities.

• Element 1: Provide a comprehensive plan to prepare for and complete a career and college-ready curriculum by meeting state and local academic standards and developing career and employment-related skills such as team work, collaboration, creativity, communication, critical thinking and good work habits

• Element 2: Emphasize academic rigor and high expectations

• Element 3: Help students identify interests, aptitudes, aspirations, and personal learning styles that may affect their career and college ready goals and postsecondary education and employment choices

Planning for Students Successful Transition to Postsecondary Education and Employment: Personal Learning Plans

Continued

• Element 4: Set appropriate career and college-ready goals with timelines that identify effective means for achieving those goals

• Element 5: Help students access postsecondary education and career options

• Element 7: Help identify and access appropriate counseling and other supports and assistance that enable students to complete required coursework, prepare for postsecondary education and careers, and obtain information about postsecondary education costs and eligibility for financial aid and scholarships

Group Guidance(www.wayzata.k12.mn.us/whs/groupguidance)

Group guidance is grade-level specific and includes issues such as an introduction to counseling/guidance services at Wayzata High School, understanding transcripts, grading and credits, testing, academic planning, post-high school planning, and the college application process.

– 9th Graders: September and February– 10th Graders: October and February– 11th Graders: September, January and April– 12th Graders: September and May

8th Grade

• 8th Grade Parent Nights at High School• PEACE Day – Tours of the High School• Registration Sessions at the Middle Schools• Curriculum Night with Info Sessions on Various Classes

9th Grade• 9th Grade Parent Night & 9th Grade Student Orientation—Week before school • Student Activities Fair (during the school day)• Fall Group Guidance –Log into Naviance and complete the 9th grade survey.

– What have you enjoyed so far at Wayzata HS?– What has been difficult in your transition to Wayzata HS?– What do you feel is important for your counselor to know about you?

• Freshman Interview—During first semester– Tell me a little bit about yourself (interests, hobbies, future plans, middle school experience, etc)– Tell me a little about your family- who do you live with? How is life at home?– Looking at 8th to 9th grade, in what ways did you grow or change?– What do you feel are your academic strengths? (a subject in school, time management,

organization, study habits, homework completion, test taking)– What areas do you struggle with the most in school?– Do you plan on/ have you already joined any extracurricular clubs, sports, activities? If so, which

ones?– What do you plan to do after high school? (2 year college, 4 year college, tech/vocational school,

military, work, don’t know). What have you done or what are you planning to do in order to prepare for your selected college/career path?

– What are some potential careers/majors that you are interested in?

9th Grade Continued• Winter Group Guidance—Introduction of Course Planner• Curriculum Night (February)• Conferences—February/March

– Use open computer lab to work with 9th grade students and parents on how to use Course Planner.

• Aspire by ACT (March)• 9th Grade Respect Retreat (March)• 9th Grade English?

10th Grade• Group Guidance – Fall and Winter• Update Course Planner• PSAT (optional)• Do What You Are (Naviance in Fall)• Pathways Tour (HTC)• College Planning Night• Curriculum Night• Practice ACT for All Students (March)• Individual Meetings

11th Grade• Group guidance – Fall, Winter, Spring• 200+ College Rep Visits During Year• PSAT (optional)• ACT – Given to all Juniors in March (Practice test/classes)• Post High School Planning/Parent Night & Selective College

Night• Pathways Tour (Hennepin Technical College)• Individual Post High School Planning• College fair (March)

12th Grade

• Fall Group Guidance – Application Process• Post High School Planning Night for Parents• Individual Post High School Planning• 200+ College Rep Visits During Year• Financial Aid Night (January)• Cake day (May 1)• Spring Group Guidance—Tips for Success After High School

Naviance