
3 minute read
Working Toward Postsecondary Goals
In core partner schools, RISE summer college and career readiness academies support students as they begin their senior year and prepare for the transition to college, career, and beyond. Through these programs, counselors provide students with one-on-one support in completing milestones, such as the Common App, letters of recommendation, personal essays, and financial planning so that students have a head start on the postsecondary planning process and can continue this momentum into their senior year.
At Middletown H.S., attendance in this program has grown steadily and has shifted to focus on first-generation students who may benefit from differentiated support. RISE has coached educators on strategies including setting an enrollment goal of 20% of each senior class attending and ensuring that at least five specific postsecondary planning milestones have been achieved by each student upon completion of the program.
Bobbi-Jo Wathen, College and Career Counselor at Middletown H.S., embraced these goals when designing their Summer Bootcamp. Instead of just five milestones, she challenged her counselors and students to work together to achieve eight. She also employed four English teachers to help students workshop their essays and added mini-sessions focusing on specific aspects of the Common App.
In describing her Summer Bootcamp experience, Hannah, a rising Middletown H.S. senior, said, “The thing I was the happiest we did was going through all the Common App questions. At first, it was overwhelming and then they slowed it down, and then I saw that it was not too hard, just a lot of information.” Nick, a fellow senior, said that his Middletown Summer Bootcamp counselors helped him greatly. “They gave me advice on what to do, and also how to do it,” he said. “They walked us through the steps and made sure we knew they were there to help us.”
Using Data to Prepare
RISE partners work to begin the postsecondary planning process long before senior year. That way, students are motivated by their long-term goals and can spread out the overwhelming demands that are too often concentrated during senior year.
For example, RISE partners now begin collecting students’ postsecondary plans in Grade 11. Starting in December of junior year, RISE administers student surveys, and data are added to the Hub. This information is used to guide Grade 11 data team meetings, during which counselors review student plans and develop spring programming, and summer academy coordinators target students who indicated their interest in enrolling in the program. Students also begin meeting with counselors to discuss their postsecondary plans and related requirements.
Immediate access to data allows staff to be proactive in supporting students’ postsecondary goals and milestone completion. Strong survey completion is key in facilitating postsecondary supports across RISE high schools. RISE schools have increased the junior survey response rate from 68% in 2022 to 79% in 2023. RISE partner East Hartford H.S. (EHHS) achieved an impressive 98% junior survey completion rate this past year.
According to EHHS Principal Matt Ryan, “Analyzing student voice results through RISE surveys is essential in improving the structures and systems of our post-secondary efforts to meet all student and family needs.”
During the summer of 2023, all nine RISE core high schools hosted summer academies. To prepare, all summer academy coordinators came together at RISE this spring for cross-network learning and support. Using junior survey data and strategy boards, school teams reflected on postsecondary strategies and year-to-date postsecondary tracker data from the Hub, and set goals for how to support this year’s summer academies for rising Seniors.