Academic Readiness and Career Life
Content
Journal of Career Development, Vol. 28, No. 4, Summer 2002 ( 2002)
Academic Readiness and Career/Life Planning: A Collaborative Partnership Focused on Student Learning
Susan J. Lindahl Patricia N. Long Renee Arnett Johnson County Community College
The umbrella program called Keeping Options Open, initiated by Johnson County Community College (JCCC), is a collaborative partnership between JCCC and Johnson County high schools to meet the educational and career needs of learners. Assessment of academics and interests are key components when assisting students to make the best decisions regarding their high school and postsecondary educational plans. A pilot program was designed to deliver a series of 3-year tiered career development/academic readiness workshops for students and parents beginning in the sophomore year and building through the junior and senior years. The goal was to enhance career development for high school students by linking it with academic readiness.
KEY WORDS: academic readiness; career/life planning; college–high school partnerships.
The umbrella program called Keeping Options Open, initiated by Johnson County Community College (JCCC), is a collaborative partnership between JCCC and Johnson County high schools to meet educational and career needs of learners. Development of Career/Life
The authors acknowledge the contributions of Pat Barnett, Marilyn Bier and Marilyn Jones for program development, Mary Jean Billingsley for program support, and Gloria Campbell and Dana Carr for program initiation. Address correspondence to Susan J. Lindahl, Student Center, Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS 66210; e-mail: slindahl@ jccc.net. 247
0894-8453/02/0600-0247/0 2002 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
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Planning and Academic Readiness (CLP/AR) as the initial program component began in 1998 through workshops conducted with a pilot group of area high schools representing five school districts. The goal was to enhance career development for high school students by linking it with academic readiness. It also provided JCCC and area high schools with an opportunity to reframe the way career/life planning information is available to high school students and their parents. The Keeping Options Open program fits within the framework of the JCCC Student Services Model, LIFELINES (Figure 1), which represents a learning continuum for life/education/career planning and assessment throughout one’s life span. The model focuses on the growth and development of each individual via a line or continuum of options throughout the stages of life. Students become active partici-
Figure 1 JCCC LIFELINES
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pants in the learning process immediately with planning and assessments that are foundational to this model. The research illustrates a paucity of similar programming in high school settings linking career development with academic readiness and a student development model. The focus of Keeping Options Open is not only enrollment, but also student development—specifically, assisting students with decisionmaking through identification of options. Educators, students, and parents were identified as stakeholders and numerous avenues of communication were opened as the program began its journey. Partnership between the Dean of Student Services and the Dean of Instruction resulted in an umbrella program called Keeping Options Open, a vehicle for the implementation of CLP/AR. This program represents a vital link for high school students to JCCC LIFELINES, which promotes access at the point(s) developmentally appropriate for individuals. This may include a summer enrichment program at the elementary school level, a transitional career workshop at midlife, or a computer course after retirement. Initial efforts during the inception of the Keeping Options Open program involved communication among JCCC partners to determine how the CLP/AR component interfaced with existing programs (Figure 2): College Now (a concurrent enrollment program for selected college credit classes offered at their high school), Quick Step (an option for high school juniors and seniors to enroll in credit courses at JCCC with approval from their principal), Technical College Preparation (a program for career preparation and workforce development; advanced standing college credit may be awarded) and Career and Technical Academy (a program to allow eligible students to concurrently enroll in college credit classes within selected career and technical programs). The CLP/AR workshops introduce students to the options and guide them through a series of exercises to define and explore personal career options on a finite level. The main objective of the pilot CLP/AR workshops is to provide students with a forum to identify and examine educational, experiential, and employment options. A survey of 9th and 10th grade students indicated that they did not correlate the significance of courses such as English and mathematics with job success (Lee, 1993). The CLP/ AR workshops were designed to integrate interest and academic readiness assessments taken at their respective schools and those taken within the workshop setting and to develop links between academic readiness and career options. In addition, students learn, by active
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Figure 2 Keeping Options Open Program
participation in workshop activities, the career/life planning process of self-discovery, and are offered guidance to begin exploring their options, analyzing and integrating information, and setting and implementing goals.
Program Development Focus groups and meetings with potential program partners identified five area high schools as the target population. The goal of the pilot program was the delivery of a series of 3-year tiered career development/academic readiness workshops for students and parents be-
Susan J. Lindahl, Patricia N. Long, and Renee Arnett
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ginning in the sophomore year and building through the junior and senior years. Counselors from the five pilot schools and college partners met as a “core group” steering committee and worked collaboratively by meeting at least six times during the year to develop the curriculum for the workshops. An additional five schools were added the second year for a total of ten, and refinement of specific objectives and the curriculum continued. The NOICC (National Occupational Information Coordinating Commission) Guidelines and Competencies for career development on the NOICC Web site (http://www.noicc.gov/files/nncdg.html) were used to develop outcomes for the 3-year tiered program and to create the curriculum for the sophomore and junior workshops. Using the LIFELINES focus on student learning, a workbook of information and activities and a coinciding PowerPoint presentation were developed for the interactive workshops. Partners on campus were identified and recruited to assist in the delivery of information on financial aid, college selection, values clarification, and area business information for the junior workshops. Educational, experiential learning and employment options were also included. The goals for the CLP/AR workshops are challenging as well as developmentally appropriate. Program outcomes identified for student participants from their sophomore through senior years include: 1. Identify personal interests, skills, abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and influences on career choices. 2. Demonstrate an understanding of the career/life planning process. 3. Demonstrate the ability to locate, use, and understand career resource information. 4. Describe possible career choices based on the results of formal and informal assessments. 5. Develop a career/life plan, denoting both short and long term goals, and identify potential barriers and resources.
Workshop Delivery Sophomore-Year Workshops Workshops were held at each of the five pilot high schools the first year and expanded to an additional five high schools the second year. Master-degreed college counselors and the respective high school
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counselor(s) served as co-facilitators. A PowerPoint presentation offering an interpretation of the results for academic and interest assessments taken by the students ran on a continuous loop for 30 minutes before the workshop via equipment obtained through a Southwestern Bell Technology Grant. JCCC’s Testing and Assessment Services developed supplemental print materials (Appendix 1) for parents and students to review at home. The sophomore-year workshops provide students (1) an introduction to the career/life planning process emphasizing self-discovery as the initial element, (2) an opportunity to identify their individual interests and skills, (3) an interpretation and correlation of ACT PLAN assessment results and its relationship to academic readiness and interests as defined by the Holland Code and the World-of-Work Map (Appendix 1), and (4) the chance to identify potential careers for further investigation. Additionally, the workshops introduce students to the planning process as it relates to individual options on the career continuum, e.g., 2- or 4-year education, internships, job shadowing, and employment opportunities. Junior-Year Workshops Designing and implementing a program for high school juniors from the five pilot schools resulted in Saturday morning on-campus workshops for parents and students. The workshop format and curriculum were designed by the partnership between college and high school counselors. Participating students and their parents attended three breakout sessions of their choice following an opening session. The breakout sessions to select from were: • Job Skills for the 21st Century — A Panel Discussion The analogy of a chair was used to illustrate the important job skills needed for the world of work in the 21st century. Panelists representing area business leaders, college alumni and students discussed job trends, the vast array of career options available and recommendations on ways to acquire marketable skill sets for the 21st century workplace. • Career Scavenger Hunt on the Internet In a computer lab, students were guided to career information sites and were given the challenge to “hunt down” answers to questions about career paths of interest.
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• Going . . . Going . . . Gone! In a fun and interactive “Values Auction” students were asked about the price they were willing to pay for their ideal career. Opportunities were provided for participants to bid on individual values of importance and to discuss how personal values relate to the career selection. • Selecting the College that is Right for YOU Questions posed to participants included: How do you decide which college is right for you? What factors should you consider? How can you help the process be an enjoyable one? During an interactive discussion, tips are offered to students and their parents to assist with college selection, an exciting yet stressful life event. • Play “The Million Dollar Financial Aid Game” Participants learn that everyone can be a winner and can master the financial aid maze. Practical advice is provided to bring more money into one’s educational future by learning about application procedures, eligibility, processing deadlines and various types of financial assistance available. • Career Connections in Career Services An overview is presented of the many connections available to students through service learning, internships and job development activities. Career Services staff and college students present information, share experiences, and answer questions.
Assessment and Outcomes Assessment of academics and interests are key components when assisting students to make the best decisions regarding their high school and postsecondary educational plans. Before JCCC’s involvement, the ACT PLAN assessment (ACT’s 10th grade assessment) had been slated by area school districts to be given to sophomores in four of the five pilot school districts. ASSET and the ACT Interest Inventory (http://www.act.org/path/student/career/inventor.html) were given at the pilot school not administering the ACT PLAN to its students. High school personnel administered the assessments to sophomores in the fall and provided interpretation of the ACT PLAN and ASSET in collaboration with college testing personnel for interpretation within the decision-making process. The ACT PLAN provides predictive scores for the ACT assessment,
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required by many colleges and universities for admission and placement in college-level coursework. (http://www.act.org). It includes a survey of interests, plans, and needs, as well as an academic assessment in English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning. This assessment is a part of ACT’s Educational Planning and Assessment System (EPAS), which provides 10th graders with comprehensive information for educational and career planning (Kapes, Mastie, & Whitfield, 1994). The Standards for Transition (http://www.act.org/ standard/index.html) developed by ACT for PLAN were also used to provide high school students, counselors, and teachers valuable information about current skill levels. The Standards clearly communicate educational expectations for students as they move through key transition points in their educational experiences—from high school to college and to further training. The ASSET instrument includes two parallel forms of each of the Basic Skills (writing, numerical, reading, and study skills) and Advanced Mathematics levels (elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, college algebra and geometry). The ASSET Technical Manual (ACT, 1994) provided program developers with the content, procedural, and psychometric documentation on these measures. The ACT PLAN, ASSET, and ACT (http://www.act.org/aapl) assessments were used (via triangular concordance of subtests) to assess educational development and academic readiness. Current skill level provided valuable information for more informed choices in educational planning before enrollment in courses for the following year. ACT’s EPAS (http://www.act.org/epas/index.html) periodically conducts extensive studies to reaffirm that the EPAS test specifications closely align with school curricula. According to excerpts from ACT’s 1998–1999 National Curriculum Study entitled Content Validity Evidence in Support of ACT’s Educational Achievement Tests (ACT, 1999), it was concluded that no changes in the constructs or the test specifications for the EPAS tests of educational development were warranted. Additionally, ACT reaffirmed its commitment for continual content validity research to ensure that the tests maintain their content validity. Stanines on each student’s PLAN Assessment Report for the components in Holland’s RIASEC theory (Holland, 1994, 1997) provided career information for the hexagonal model: realistic (R), investigative (I), artistic (A), social (S), enterprising (E), or conventional (C). Student choices were explored and compared to a checklist activity for congruency during the workshop setting. The ACT Interest Inventory
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was used to assess current interests as related to the World-of-Work Map and the Holland Codes stanines. In addition, other assessments and checklists were included in the workshop for comparisons and clarification. My Vocational Situation (MVS) was also used as a pre-test/post-test measure for the pilot group to assess Vocational Identity (VI) and Need for Occupational Information (OI) as well as perceived barriers (Holland, Diager & Power, 1980). Pre-test results provided a baseline for a local normative sample for sophomores (Table 1) and were compared to normative data for the MVS established by Holland, Diager and Power (1980). This baseline data supports the goals and curriculum design of the CLP/AR workshops. The plethora of career development research validates that the possession of vocational identity enables good career decision making in spite of inevitable barriers. Holland, Johnston and Asama (1993) concluded that high scorers on the Identity Scale are individuals who are competent, conscientious, hopeful and have a clear sense of identity.
Table 1 Sophomore MVS Report, 1998–99 KOO-CLP/AR: Five Initial High Schools Vocational Identity Items 1–18 Averages Score Range 10.59 (1–18) Occupational Information Item 19 1.23 (0–4) Barriers Item 20 3.22 (0–4)
Note: Totals from 5 high schools = 1,657 sophomore students; number of students completing MVS = 1,182; percentage of students completing MVS = 71%. The average VI score of 10.59 on an 18.0 scale supports workshop information for clarification of goals, interests, personality, and talents. The average OI score of 1.23 on a 4.0 scale supports workshop information about careers and where to get training/education for a chosen career. The barrier score does not indicate significant perceived environmental or personal barriers. This area had an average score of 3.22 on a 4.0 scale. Normative data for the MVS as established by Holland, Diager and Power (1980, p 7) for high school students includes standard deviations as listed below: VI OI B High School Males 4.67 1.17 1.21 High School Females 4.59 1.10 1.13
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Career-related research supports the goal of identification of perceived career-related barriers (external locus) as an important step in finding career paths that are congruent with their stated interests (Albert & Luzzo, 1999). Further, the identification of career-related barriers as controllable (internal locus) allows the student to consider a wider range of options for individual career goals. Because of the potential peer pressure within a workshop setting, the MVS is a highly useful counselor tool for working with individual students. Family influence, academic and personal support resources, and educational background may be potential barriers, which may be addressed within a workshop setting and/or individual counseling at the high school. “Even persons with well-developed and differentiated interests in a particular career path will be unlikely to pursue that path if they perceive (accurately or inaccurately) substantial barriers to entering or advancing in that career” (Brown & Lent, 1996, pp. 355–356). Upon completion of all workshops an outcomes meeting of the core group was held to evaluate the first pilot year, and a similar meeting was planned following the second year. Ten sophomore workshops and the pilot workshops for juniors have been completed. Participants at the workshops were also asked to complete evaluation forms (one for students and one for parents). A database for compilation of the evaluations was developed. Overall, the responses were positive. An initial review of the two years of program results and conversations with parents and high school staff indicated a need for expansion to the senior year, and this was reinforced by the responses received. Qualitative and quantitative data strongly support the expansion of the program for the 3-year tiered concept. Expanded Partnerships Because of the community exposure, many requests have been made for presentations about the CLP/AR workshops. Increased partnerships and an awareness of the need for supplemental career information at the high-school level have resulted from the delivery of the following presentations and/or workshop sessions: • Great Plains Association of College Admission Counselors: Partnering Between Johnson County Community College and Johnson County High Schools • Keeping Options Open—Technical College Preparation Summer Workshop: Weaving Career Development Into the Fabric of Your Curriculum
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• Kansas Counseling Association: Joint Presentation with High School Counselors • State Assessment Conference in Hawaii: Partnerships for Student Success Staff development opportunities such as the College Now Master Educators Workshop provide program enrichment, benefiting high school staff as well as their students. Additionally, a Career/Life Planning and Academic Readiness web page was developed and linked to the Keeping Options Open web page which may be accessed via www. jccc.net.
Concluding Comments and Future Recommendations An unexpected side benefit in providing the workshops to assist sophomores and juniors has been the interest parents have shown in career development opportunities for themselves. This has been exemplified by parents verbalizing, “It’s my turn now!” Opening the door to examining options is indeed the focus of this program. As Albert and Luzzo (1999) state, “It is plausible, for instance, that as clients increase their sense of control over and responsibility for career decisions, barriers once considered insurmountable may begin to be viewed as minor challenges or perhaps may no longer be considered barriers at all” (p. 436). Additional partnerships and opportunities for students of all ages, as defined with LIFELINES, will be implemented. An additional serendipitous effect has been the increased communication in the career development and academic readiness efforts among counselors in the five school districts. An opportunity for counselors to host other districts and share their career efforts and the important link to academic choices is a definite benefit as students explore the diversity in the world of work. Program outcomes will be examined in cooperation with the JCCC Department of Institutional Research for program efficacy. The final year of the three-year pilot will provide preliminary data for program review. The next step is the development and implementation of a pilot workshop for high school seniors that will focus on the development of a personal career profile and goal setting for career/life planning. The first community workshop for high school sophomores outside this partnership was piloted in spring 2000, interfacing CLP/AR with JCCC Community Services within the LIFELINES model. Future
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community interfaces will include development of partnerships with businesses for experiential learning options for students. These and future types of programming will expand the JCCC Student Services partnership to include area proprietary high schools, middle schools, community businesses, and the college’s Community Services and academic branch. Collaborating with area high schools to provide students with the knowledge to make informed decisions about career/life/educational options via academic readiness and career/life planning workshops has met community needs. This partnership is one of the discerning factors between JCCC being a community college and being the community’s college.
Appendix 1. Keeping Options Open—Career/Life Planning The PLAN Assessment Q. What is the PLAN assessment? A. PLAN is a standardized test developed by American College Testing (ACT), . . . administered to sophomores between October and December. . . . an academic assessment of students’ skills and knowledge at the 10th grade level of instruction in the subject areas of English, reading, mathematics, and science reasoning. Q. Can you explain the scores on the report? A. There are a couple of general statements about standardized testing which will be helpful to start with. 1. Scores are estimates and must be considered in that context because many factors can affect how a student may score on a particular test. 2. Scores are normed, which makes it possible to compare performances of various groups. 3. No single test can measure everything a student may know or can do. KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS AREAS —in the upper left section of the report form You’ll see scale scores for the areas of English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning. Also listed is a Composite (or average) of the
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four. The raw score, that is, the number of correct answers, has been converted to this scale score which, as mentioned previously, makes it possible to compare performances of various groups. Given the range of possible scores of 1 to 32, a student can determine which of these areas seem to be strengths and which may be weaknesses. English and mathematics have subscores for specific skills. The score range here is 1 to 16. This provides a closer look at what may be strengths or weaknesses, or may be an indication of areas of instruction still needed. NATIONAL PERCENTILE RANK —in the upper middle and upper right area of the report Here you’ll see some comparisons of your performance with that of other 10th graders who took the test. The dashes or stars on either side of your percentile ranking indicate that your scores are estimates. • “Where is my score ranked in comparison with all other 10th graders who tested?” This is indicated with your percentile range in the section labeled, “ALL 10TH GRADERS.” • “Where is my score ranked in comparison with other 10th graders who said they plan to go to college?” You will see that number for comparison in the column on the far right. YOUR ESTIMATED ACT ASSESSMENT COMPOSITE SCORE RANGE —in the left, middle section It is important to understand that this is provided as an estimated score range of what the student may be able to achieve when taking the ACT assessment, following academic instruction in the remainder of the 10th and the 11th grade year. The estimate is provided with the assumptions that the student . . . a) completed the PLAN assessment in the 10th grade year, and b) maintains the current level of achievement relative to other students. STANDARDS FOR TRANSITION American College Testing (ACT) has a publication entitled, “Standards for Transition,” which was developed to help students, parents, and educators understand in a common, practical way what the PLAN and ACT scores mean. The standards are statements describing the
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skills and abilities which most students are likely to know and be able to do when scores fall within the specified score ranges. As a student progresses through the grades of academic instruction, s/he will constantly be expanding and improving the level of skills that have been developed previously. The transitioning from one level to the next can be more clearly understood with the information from the Standards for Transition. The Using Your PLAN Results booklet has an abbreviated version of these standards on pages 6 and 7. If you have Web access, you can go to http://www.act.org/standard/ index.html for more information on these standards or you may write to request a copy from the address below. If you are interested in learning more about the organization or its services, you can visit ACT’S home page at http://www.act.org or you may write or call: ACT Educational Services P.O. Box 168 Iowa City, IA 52243-0168 (319) 337-1040 Q. Can you explain the other sections of the score report form? A. There are four other sections on this report which are briefly described below. YOUR EDUCATIONAL PLANS —located in the center of the form This section indicates how many years the student plans to study the seven subjects during high school, and what the educational or training plans are for the post-secondary years. It will be very important for the student to study subjects during the remaining two years of high school which will best prepare him/her to be successful with postsecondary plans. The student’s career interests, academic readiness, and many other factors will impact these decisions. Perhaps it is not just by coincidence that this section is at the center of the report form! AMOUNT OF HELP YOU SAID YOU NEEDED —located in the center, right side Responses in this section summarize a short survey of the need for help with the ten items listed here regarding skills and decisionmaking.
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YOUR ITEM RESPONSES —located in the lower left section of the report This section will give the student direct feedback of each question of the test: the correct answer is given for each question; the student’s response to a question is given if it was NOT correct. The content area of each mathematics and English question is also indicated. CAREER AREA YOU PREFERRED —located in the lower right corner of the report There are two areas to look at in this section. First, in the white box within the shaded area, the student’s preferred career area is given with the corresponding World-of-Work map region. You can turn to the back of the report form to refer to this map and to get a thumbnail sketch of what the map is about. Each region on the map contains one or more “Job Families,” or groups of similar jobs. The Using Your PLAN Results booklet lists what types of occupations may be found within those Job Families. This booklet, which the student received with the score report, can be a helpful resource as the student begins to explore and research career options. The information in the shaded area of this last section refers to the student’s interests as indicated by the survey completed with the PLAN assessment. The letters of the Interest Stanines refer to the six people-types described in the Holland Code. The six types are: R-realistic; I-investigative; A-artistic; S-social; E-enterprising; and C-conventional. These are covered in the sophomore workshops and in materials included in the student’s Keeping Options Open notebook. If you have questions, your high school counselor or a career counselor can be helpful in further interpretation of this section. If you have any questions or would like further information regarding any aspect of testing or assessments, please feel free to contact Pat Barnett, High School Assessment Coordinator, Keeping Options Open, JCCC at (913) 469-8500 x3549, pbarnett @jccc.net or Susan Lindahl, Director of Testing/Assessment, JCCC, at (913) 469-8500 x3156, [email protected]. References
ACT, Inc. (1994). ASSET technical manual. Iowa City, IA: American College Testing, Inc. ACT, Inc. (1999). Excerpts from content validity evidence in support of ACT’s educa-
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tional achievement tests. (2000, December 19). [On-line]. Available: http:www.act.org/ news/releases/2000/04-12-00.html Albert K., & Luzzo D.A. (1999). The role of perceived barriers in career development: a social cognitive perspective. Journal of Counseling & Development, 77 (4), 431–436. Brown, S.D., & Lent, R.W. (1996). A social cognitive framework for career choice counseling. The Career Development Quarterly, 44 (4), 354–366. Holland, J.L. (1994). The self-directed search professional manual—1994 edition. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Holland, J.L. (1997). Making vocational choices: a theory of vocational personalities and work environments (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Holland, J.L., Diager, D.C., & Power, P.G. (1980). My vocational situation. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Holland, J.L., Johnston, J.A., & Asama, N.F. (1993). The vocational identity scale: a diagnostic and treatment tool. Journal of Career Assessment, 1 (1), 1–12. Kapes, J., Mastie, M. & Whitfield, E. (1994). A counselor’s guide to career assessment instruments (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: National Career Development Association. Lee, L. D. (1993). Program to increase selected 9th and 10th grader’s career decisionmaking skills. (Doctoral dissertation, Nova University, 1993). (Microfiche No. ED375340).
Academic Readiness and Career/Life Planning: A Collaborative Partnership Focused on Student Learning
Susan J. Lindahl Patricia N. Long Renee Arnett Johnson County Community College
The umbrella program called Keeping Options Open, initiated by Johnson County Community College (JCCC), is a collaborative partnership between JCCC and Johnson County high schools to meet the educational and career needs of learners. Assessment of academics and interests are key components when assisting students to make the best decisions regarding their high school and postsecondary educational plans. A pilot program was designed to deliver a series of 3-year tiered career development/academic readiness workshops for students and parents beginning in the sophomore year and building through the junior and senior years. The goal was to enhance career development for high school students by linking it with academic readiness.
KEY WORDS: academic readiness; career/life planning; college–high school partnerships.
The umbrella program called Keeping Options Open, initiated by Johnson County Community College (JCCC), is a collaborative partnership between JCCC and Johnson County high schools to meet educational and career needs of learners. Development of Career/Life
The authors acknowledge the contributions of Pat Barnett, Marilyn Bier and Marilyn Jones for program development, Mary Jean Billingsley for program support, and Gloria Campbell and Dana Carr for program initiation. Address correspondence to Susan J. Lindahl, Student Center, Johnson County Community College, 12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS 66210; e-mail: slindahl@ jccc.net. 247
0894-8453/02/0600-0247/0 2002 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
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Journal of Career Development
Planning and Academic Readiness (CLP/AR) as the initial program component began in 1998 through workshops conducted with a pilot group of area high schools representing five school districts. The goal was to enhance career development for high school students by linking it with academic readiness. It also provided JCCC and area high schools with an opportunity to reframe the way career/life planning information is available to high school students and their parents. The Keeping Options Open program fits within the framework of the JCCC Student Services Model, LIFELINES (Figure 1), which represents a learning continuum for life/education/career planning and assessment throughout one’s life span. The model focuses on the growth and development of each individual via a line or continuum of options throughout the stages of life. Students become active partici-
Figure 1 JCCC LIFELINES
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pants in the learning process immediately with planning and assessments that are foundational to this model. The research illustrates a paucity of similar programming in high school settings linking career development with academic readiness and a student development model. The focus of Keeping Options Open is not only enrollment, but also student development—specifically, assisting students with decisionmaking through identification of options. Educators, students, and parents were identified as stakeholders and numerous avenues of communication were opened as the program began its journey. Partnership between the Dean of Student Services and the Dean of Instruction resulted in an umbrella program called Keeping Options Open, a vehicle for the implementation of CLP/AR. This program represents a vital link for high school students to JCCC LIFELINES, which promotes access at the point(s) developmentally appropriate for individuals. This may include a summer enrichment program at the elementary school level, a transitional career workshop at midlife, or a computer course after retirement. Initial efforts during the inception of the Keeping Options Open program involved communication among JCCC partners to determine how the CLP/AR component interfaced with existing programs (Figure 2): College Now (a concurrent enrollment program for selected college credit classes offered at their high school), Quick Step (an option for high school juniors and seniors to enroll in credit courses at JCCC with approval from their principal), Technical College Preparation (a program for career preparation and workforce development; advanced standing college credit may be awarded) and Career and Technical Academy (a program to allow eligible students to concurrently enroll in college credit classes within selected career and technical programs). The CLP/AR workshops introduce students to the options and guide them through a series of exercises to define and explore personal career options on a finite level. The main objective of the pilot CLP/AR workshops is to provide students with a forum to identify and examine educational, experiential, and employment options. A survey of 9th and 10th grade students indicated that they did not correlate the significance of courses such as English and mathematics with job success (Lee, 1993). The CLP/ AR workshops were designed to integrate interest and academic readiness assessments taken at their respective schools and those taken within the workshop setting and to develop links between academic readiness and career options. In addition, students learn, by active
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Figure 2 Keeping Options Open Program
participation in workshop activities, the career/life planning process of self-discovery, and are offered guidance to begin exploring their options, analyzing and integrating information, and setting and implementing goals.
Program Development Focus groups and meetings with potential program partners identified five area high schools as the target population. The goal of the pilot program was the delivery of a series of 3-year tiered career development/academic readiness workshops for students and parents be-
Susan J. Lindahl, Patricia N. Long, and Renee Arnett
251
ginning in the sophomore year and building through the junior and senior years. Counselors from the five pilot schools and college partners met as a “core group” steering committee and worked collaboratively by meeting at least six times during the year to develop the curriculum for the workshops. An additional five schools were added the second year for a total of ten, and refinement of specific objectives and the curriculum continued. The NOICC (National Occupational Information Coordinating Commission) Guidelines and Competencies for career development on the NOICC Web site (http://www.noicc.gov/files/nncdg.html) were used to develop outcomes for the 3-year tiered program and to create the curriculum for the sophomore and junior workshops. Using the LIFELINES focus on student learning, a workbook of information and activities and a coinciding PowerPoint presentation were developed for the interactive workshops. Partners on campus were identified and recruited to assist in the delivery of information on financial aid, college selection, values clarification, and area business information for the junior workshops. Educational, experiential learning and employment options were also included. The goals for the CLP/AR workshops are challenging as well as developmentally appropriate. Program outcomes identified for student participants from their sophomore through senior years include: 1. Identify personal interests, skills, abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and influences on career choices. 2. Demonstrate an understanding of the career/life planning process. 3. Demonstrate the ability to locate, use, and understand career resource information. 4. Describe possible career choices based on the results of formal and informal assessments. 5. Develop a career/life plan, denoting both short and long term goals, and identify potential barriers and resources.
Workshop Delivery Sophomore-Year Workshops Workshops were held at each of the five pilot high schools the first year and expanded to an additional five high schools the second year. Master-degreed college counselors and the respective high school
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counselor(s) served as co-facilitators. A PowerPoint presentation offering an interpretation of the results for academic and interest assessments taken by the students ran on a continuous loop for 30 minutes before the workshop via equipment obtained through a Southwestern Bell Technology Grant. JCCC’s Testing and Assessment Services developed supplemental print materials (Appendix 1) for parents and students to review at home. The sophomore-year workshops provide students (1) an introduction to the career/life planning process emphasizing self-discovery as the initial element, (2) an opportunity to identify their individual interests and skills, (3) an interpretation and correlation of ACT PLAN assessment results and its relationship to academic readiness and interests as defined by the Holland Code and the World-of-Work Map (Appendix 1), and (4) the chance to identify potential careers for further investigation. Additionally, the workshops introduce students to the planning process as it relates to individual options on the career continuum, e.g., 2- or 4-year education, internships, job shadowing, and employment opportunities. Junior-Year Workshops Designing and implementing a program for high school juniors from the five pilot schools resulted in Saturday morning on-campus workshops for parents and students. The workshop format and curriculum were designed by the partnership between college and high school counselors. Participating students and their parents attended three breakout sessions of their choice following an opening session. The breakout sessions to select from were: • Job Skills for the 21st Century — A Panel Discussion The analogy of a chair was used to illustrate the important job skills needed for the world of work in the 21st century. Panelists representing area business leaders, college alumni and students discussed job trends, the vast array of career options available and recommendations on ways to acquire marketable skill sets for the 21st century workplace. • Career Scavenger Hunt on the Internet In a computer lab, students were guided to career information sites and were given the challenge to “hunt down” answers to questions about career paths of interest.
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• Going . . . Going . . . Gone! In a fun and interactive “Values Auction” students were asked about the price they were willing to pay for their ideal career. Opportunities were provided for participants to bid on individual values of importance and to discuss how personal values relate to the career selection. • Selecting the College that is Right for YOU Questions posed to participants included: How do you decide which college is right for you? What factors should you consider? How can you help the process be an enjoyable one? During an interactive discussion, tips are offered to students and their parents to assist with college selection, an exciting yet stressful life event. • Play “The Million Dollar Financial Aid Game” Participants learn that everyone can be a winner and can master the financial aid maze. Practical advice is provided to bring more money into one’s educational future by learning about application procedures, eligibility, processing deadlines and various types of financial assistance available. • Career Connections in Career Services An overview is presented of the many connections available to students through service learning, internships and job development activities. Career Services staff and college students present information, share experiences, and answer questions.
Assessment and Outcomes Assessment of academics and interests are key components when assisting students to make the best decisions regarding their high school and postsecondary educational plans. Before JCCC’s involvement, the ACT PLAN assessment (ACT’s 10th grade assessment) had been slated by area school districts to be given to sophomores in four of the five pilot school districts. ASSET and the ACT Interest Inventory (http://www.act.org/path/student/career/inventor.html) were given at the pilot school not administering the ACT PLAN to its students. High school personnel administered the assessments to sophomores in the fall and provided interpretation of the ACT PLAN and ASSET in collaboration with college testing personnel for interpretation within the decision-making process. The ACT PLAN provides predictive scores for the ACT assessment,
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required by many colleges and universities for admission and placement in college-level coursework. (http://www.act.org). It includes a survey of interests, plans, and needs, as well as an academic assessment in English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning. This assessment is a part of ACT’s Educational Planning and Assessment System (EPAS), which provides 10th graders with comprehensive information for educational and career planning (Kapes, Mastie, & Whitfield, 1994). The Standards for Transition (http://www.act.org/ standard/index.html) developed by ACT for PLAN were also used to provide high school students, counselors, and teachers valuable information about current skill levels. The Standards clearly communicate educational expectations for students as they move through key transition points in their educational experiences—from high school to college and to further training. The ASSET instrument includes two parallel forms of each of the Basic Skills (writing, numerical, reading, and study skills) and Advanced Mathematics levels (elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, college algebra and geometry). The ASSET Technical Manual (ACT, 1994) provided program developers with the content, procedural, and psychometric documentation on these measures. The ACT PLAN, ASSET, and ACT (http://www.act.org/aapl) assessments were used (via triangular concordance of subtests) to assess educational development and academic readiness. Current skill level provided valuable information for more informed choices in educational planning before enrollment in courses for the following year. ACT’s EPAS (http://www.act.org/epas/index.html) periodically conducts extensive studies to reaffirm that the EPAS test specifications closely align with school curricula. According to excerpts from ACT’s 1998–1999 National Curriculum Study entitled Content Validity Evidence in Support of ACT’s Educational Achievement Tests (ACT, 1999), it was concluded that no changes in the constructs or the test specifications for the EPAS tests of educational development were warranted. Additionally, ACT reaffirmed its commitment for continual content validity research to ensure that the tests maintain their content validity. Stanines on each student’s PLAN Assessment Report for the components in Holland’s RIASEC theory (Holland, 1994, 1997) provided career information for the hexagonal model: realistic (R), investigative (I), artistic (A), social (S), enterprising (E), or conventional (C). Student choices were explored and compared to a checklist activity for congruency during the workshop setting. The ACT Interest Inventory
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was used to assess current interests as related to the World-of-Work Map and the Holland Codes stanines. In addition, other assessments and checklists were included in the workshop for comparisons and clarification. My Vocational Situation (MVS) was also used as a pre-test/post-test measure for the pilot group to assess Vocational Identity (VI) and Need for Occupational Information (OI) as well as perceived barriers (Holland, Diager & Power, 1980). Pre-test results provided a baseline for a local normative sample for sophomores (Table 1) and were compared to normative data for the MVS established by Holland, Diager and Power (1980). This baseline data supports the goals and curriculum design of the CLP/AR workshops. The plethora of career development research validates that the possession of vocational identity enables good career decision making in spite of inevitable barriers. Holland, Johnston and Asama (1993) concluded that high scorers on the Identity Scale are individuals who are competent, conscientious, hopeful and have a clear sense of identity.
Table 1 Sophomore MVS Report, 1998–99 KOO-CLP/AR: Five Initial High Schools Vocational Identity Items 1–18 Averages Score Range 10.59 (1–18) Occupational Information Item 19 1.23 (0–4) Barriers Item 20 3.22 (0–4)
Note: Totals from 5 high schools = 1,657 sophomore students; number of students completing MVS = 1,182; percentage of students completing MVS = 71%. The average VI score of 10.59 on an 18.0 scale supports workshop information for clarification of goals, interests, personality, and talents. The average OI score of 1.23 on a 4.0 scale supports workshop information about careers and where to get training/education for a chosen career. The barrier score does not indicate significant perceived environmental or personal barriers. This area had an average score of 3.22 on a 4.0 scale. Normative data for the MVS as established by Holland, Diager and Power (1980, p 7) for high school students includes standard deviations as listed below: VI OI B High School Males 4.67 1.17 1.21 High School Females 4.59 1.10 1.13
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Career-related research supports the goal of identification of perceived career-related barriers (external locus) as an important step in finding career paths that are congruent with their stated interests (Albert & Luzzo, 1999). Further, the identification of career-related barriers as controllable (internal locus) allows the student to consider a wider range of options for individual career goals. Because of the potential peer pressure within a workshop setting, the MVS is a highly useful counselor tool for working with individual students. Family influence, academic and personal support resources, and educational background may be potential barriers, which may be addressed within a workshop setting and/or individual counseling at the high school. “Even persons with well-developed and differentiated interests in a particular career path will be unlikely to pursue that path if they perceive (accurately or inaccurately) substantial barriers to entering or advancing in that career” (Brown & Lent, 1996, pp. 355–356). Upon completion of all workshops an outcomes meeting of the core group was held to evaluate the first pilot year, and a similar meeting was planned following the second year. Ten sophomore workshops and the pilot workshops for juniors have been completed. Participants at the workshops were also asked to complete evaluation forms (one for students and one for parents). A database for compilation of the evaluations was developed. Overall, the responses were positive. An initial review of the two years of program results and conversations with parents and high school staff indicated a need for expansion to the senior year, and this was reinforced by the responses received. Qualitative and quantitative data strongly support the expansion of the program for the 3-year tiered concept. Expanded Partnerships Because of the community exposure, many requests have been made for presentations about the CLP/AR workshops. Increased partnerships and an awareness of the need for supplemental career information at the high-school level have resulted from the delivery of the following presentations and/or workshop sessions: • Great Plains Association of College Admission Counselors: Partnering Between Johnson County Community College and Johnson County High Schools • Keeping Options Open—Technical College Preparation Summer Workshop: Weaving Career Development Into the Fabric of Your Curriculum
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• Kansas Counseling Association: Joint Presentation with High School Counselors • State Assessment Conference in Hawaii: Partnerships for Student Success Staff development opportunities such as the College Now Master Educators Workshop provide program enrichment, benefiting high school staff as well as their students. Additionally, a Career/Life Planning and Academic Readiness web page was developed and linked to the Keeping Options Open web page which may be accessed via www. jccc.net.
Concluding Comments and Future Recommendations An unexpected side benefit in providing the workshops to assist sophomores and juniors has been the interest parents have shown in career development opportunities for themselves. This has been exemplified by parents verbalizing, “It’s my turn now!” Opening the door to examining options is indeed the focus of this program. As Albert and Luzzo (1999) state, “It is plausible, for instance, that as clients increase their sense of control over and responsibility for career decisions, barriers once considered insurmountable may begin to be viewed as minor challenges or perhaps may no longer be considered barriers at all” (p. 436). Additional partnerships and opportunities for students of all ages, as defined with LIFELINES, will be implemented. An additional serendipitous effect has been the increased communication in the career development and academic readiness efforts among counselors in the five school districts. An opportunity for counselors to host other districts and share their career efforts and the important link to academic choices is a definite benefit as students explore the diversity in the world of work. Program outcomes will be examined in cooperation with the JCCC Department of Institutional Research for program efficacy. The final year of the three-year pilot will provide preliminary data for program review. The next step is the development and implementation of a pilot workshop for high school seniors that will focus on the development of a personal career profile and goal setting for career/life planning. The first community workshop for high school sophomores outside this partnership was piloted in spring 2000, interfacing CLP/AR with JCCC Community Services within the LIFELINES model. Future
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community interfaces will include development of partnerships with businesses for experiential learning options for students. These and future types of programming will expand the JCCC Student Services partnership to include area proprietary high schools, middle schools, community businesses, and the college’s Community Services and academic branch. Collaborating with area high schools to provide students with the knowledge to make informed decisions about career/life/educational options via academic readiness and career/life planning workshops has met community needs. This partnership is one of the discerning factors between JCCC being a community college and being the community’s college.
Appendix 1. Keeping Options Open—Career/Life Planning The PLAN Assessment Q. What is the PLAN assessment? A. PLAN is a standardized test developed by American College Testing (ACT), . . . administered to sophomores between October and December. . . . an academic assessment of students’ skills and knowledge at the 10th grade level of instruction in the subject areas of English, reading, mathematics, and science reasoning. Q. Can you explain the scores on the report? A. There are a couple of general statements about standardized testing which will be helpful to start with. 1. Scores are estimates and must be considered in that context because many factors can affect how a student may score on a particular test. 2. Scores are normed, which makes it possible to compare performances of various groups. 3. No single test can measure everything a student may know or can do. KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS AREAS —in the upper left section of the report form You’ll see scale scores for the areas of English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning. Also listed is a Composite (or average) of the
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four. The raw score, that is, the number of correct answers, has been converted to this scale score which, as mentioned previously, makes it possible to compare performances of various groups. Given the range of possible scores of 1 to 32, a student can determine which of these areas seem to be strengths and which may be weaknesses. English and mathematics have subscores for specific skills. The score range here is 1 to 16. This provides a closer look at what may be strengths or weaknesses, or may be an indication of areas of instruction still needed. NATIONAL PERCENTILE RANK —in the upper middle and upper right area of the report Here you’ll see some comparisons of your performance with that of other 10th graders who took the test. The dashes or stars on either side of your percentile ranking indicate that your scores are estimates. • “Where is my score ranked in comparison with all other 10th graders who tested?” This is indicated with your percentile range in the section labeled, “ALL 10TH GRADERS.” • “Where is my score ranked in comparison with other 10th graders who said they plan to go to college?” You will see that number for comparison in the column on the far right. YOUR ESTIMATED ACT ASSESSMENT COMPOSITE SCORE RANGE —in the left, middle section It is important to understand that this is provided as an estimated score range of what the student may be able to achieve when taking the ACT assessment, following academic instruction in the remainder of the 10th and the 11th grade year. The estimate is provided with the assumptions that the student . . . a) completed the PLAN assessment in the 10th grade year, and b) maintains the current level of achievement relative to other students. STANDARDS FOR TRANSITION American College Testing (ACT) has a publication entitled, “Standards for Transition,” which was developed to help students, parents, and educators understand in a common, practical way what the PLAN and ACT scores mean. The standards are statements describing the
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skills and abilities which most students are likely to know and be able to do when scores fall within the specified score ranges. As a student progresses through the grades of academic instruction, s/he will constantly be expanding and improving the level of skills that have been developed previously. The transitioning from one level to the next can be more clearly understood with the information from the Standards for Transition. The Using Your PLAN Results booklet has an abbreviated version of these standards on pages 6 and 7. If you have Web access, you can go to http://www.act.org/standard/ index.html for more information on these standards or you may write to request a copy from the address below. If you are interested in learning more about the organization or its services, you can visit ACT’S home page at http://www.act.org or you may write or call: ACT Educational Services P.O. Box 168 Iowa City, IA 52243-0168 (319) 337-1040 Q. Can you explain the other sections of the score report form? A. There are four other sections on this report which are briefly described below. YOUR EDUCATIONAL PLANS —located in the center of the form This section indicates how many years the student plans to study the seven subjects during high school, and what the educational or training plans are for the post-secondary years. It will be very important for the student to study subjects during the remaining two years of high school which will best prepare him/her to be successful with postsecondary plans. The student’s career interests, academic readiness, and many other factors will impact these decisions. Perhaps it is not just by coincidence that this section is at the center of the report form! AMOUNT OF HELP YOU SAID YOU NEEDED —located in the center, right side Responses in this section summarize a short survey of the need for help with the ten items listed here regarding skills and decisionmaking.
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YOUR ITEM RESPONSES —located in the lower left section of the report This section will give the student direct feedback of each question of the test: the correct answer is given for each question; the student’s response to a question is given if it was NOT correct. The content area of each mathematics and English question is also indicated. CAREER AREA YOU PREFERRED —located in the lower right corner of the report There are two areas to look at in this section. First, in the white box within the shaded area, the student’s preferred career area is given with the corresponding World-of-Work map region. You can turn to the back of the report form to refer to this map and to get a thumbnail sketch of what the map is about. Each region on the map contains one or more “Job Families,” or groups of similar jobs. The Using Your PLAN Results booklet lists what types of occupations may be found within those Job Families. This booklet, which the student received with the score report, can be a helpful resource as the student begins to explore and research career options. The information in the shaded area of this last section refers to the student’s interests as indicated by the survey completed with the PLAN assessment. The letters of the Interest Stanines refer to the six people-types described in the Holland Code. The six types are: R-realistic; I-investigative; A-artistic; S-social; E-enterprising; and C-conventional. These are covered in the sophomore workshops and in materials included in the student’s Keeping Options Open notebook. If you have questions, your high school counselor or a career counselor can be helpful in further interpretation of this section. If you have any questions or would like further information regarding any aspect of testing or assessments, please feel free to contact Pat Barnett, High School Assessment Coordinator, Keeping Options Open, JCCC at (913) 469-8500 x3549, pbarnett @jccc.net or Susan Lindahl, Director of Testing/Assessment, JCCC, at (913) 469-8500 x3156, [email protected]. References
ACT, Inc. (1994). ASSET technical manual. Iowa City, IA: American College Testing, Inc. ACT, Inc. (1999). Excerpts from content validity evidence in support of ACT’s educa-
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tional achievement tests. (2000, December 19). [On-line]. Available: http:www.act.org/ news/releases/2000/04-12-00.html Albert K., & Luzzo D.A. (1999). The role of perceived barriers in career development: a social cognitive perspective. Journal of Counseling & Development, 77 (4), 431–436. Brown, S.D., & Lent, R.W. (1996). A social cognitive framework for career choice counseling. The Career Development Quarterly, 44 (4), 354–366. Holland, J.L. (1994). The self-directed search professional manual—1994 edition. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. Holland, J.L. (1997). Making vocational choices: a theory of vocational personalities and work environments (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Holland, J.L., Diager, D.C., & Power, P.G. (1980). My vocational situation. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Holland, J.L., Johnston, J.A., & Asama, N.F. (1993). The vocational identity scale: a diagnostic and treatment tool. Journal of Career Assessment, 1 (1), 1–12. Kapes, J., Mastie, M. & Whitfield, E. (1994). A counselor’s guide to career assessment instruments (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: National Career Development Association. Lee, L. D. (1993). Program to increase selected 9th and 10th grader’s career decisionmaking skills. (Doctoral dissertation, Nova University, 1993). (Microfiche No. ED375340).
