Freshman Transition Initiative The 10-Step Plan

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Freshman Transition InitiativeThe 10-Step Plan

• The George Washington University
• rdedmond_at_gwu.edu
• www.freshmantransition.org

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How do we help ALL students recognize the value
of education?
The key to impacting students
How do we help ALL students view their
futures?
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Studies show

• The first year of high school (8th or 9th grade)
  is critical. Students make choices that impact
  the rest of their lives.
• It is our responsibility to help them make
  informed choices.

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Studies show

• 8th - 9th graders
• Become more self aware/self conscious
• Thinking becomes more critical, complex
• Look for acceptance more from peers, less from
  adults
• Need independence, yet still rely on adults for
  support
• Take more foolish risks to align with peers and
  avoid embarrassment

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Freshmen report feeling

• Excited Afraid
• Confused Sad
• Proud Curious
• Brave Lonely
• Helpless Overwhelmed
• Worried
• Jarman-Dunn, N. M. Kiggins. Building the Bridge
  of Success. 2005 ASCA Conference presentation

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Reasons Students Drop Out Early
Males Females 55 49 Didnt like
school 52 17 Couldnt get along
with teachers 31 14 Felt they didnt
belong 18 22 Couldnt get along
with peers 19 33 Suspended too
often 38 25 Couldnt keep up
with work 46 33 Failing grades
NELS. TwoYears Later Cognitive
Gains and School Transition
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What can we do?
Freshman Transition course for ALL students that
culminates in a 10-year plan
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Benefits of a Freshman Transition course

• Creates buy-in to the educational process
• Offers relevant themes for academic skill
  development
• Helps students become identity achieved and
  builds self-esteem
• Supports counseling and guidance goals by helping
  students develop education and career plans

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Step 1 Gather your resources

• Course Standards for Freshman Transition
  Classeswww.freshmantransition.org
• The George Washington UniversitysFreshman
  Transition Initiative

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Standards-driven Freshman Transition courses

• Reduce dropout rates (high school and
  college)
• Increase matriculation into post-secondary
  programs
• Increase recruitment and retention into
  technical programs
• Provide skills to successfully navigate
  life and work transitions

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Step 2 Create a vision

• Why is a 10-year plan important for all
  freshmen?The George Washington
  UniversitysFreshman Transition Initiative

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Huge Gaps Exist Between Student Aspirations and
Reality
Beyond 4- or 5-year plans

• High school dropout rates remain high.
• College graduation rates remain low.

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We are seeing an epidemic of work-life
unreadiness, kids in their early twenties who
cant figure out who they are or what they need
to be doing with their lives...

• Dr. Mel Levine on the Today Show, January 25,
  2005
• Author, Ready or Not, Here Life Comes

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A 10-year Plan provides the vision that helps
students

• Stay in high school, graduate, then
• Enter and COMPLETE post-secondary education
  and/or training, then
• Make timely and successful transitions into an
  economically self-sufficient adulthood

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Step 3 Form a Planning Team

• Generate community buy-in
• Identify a curriculum that meets the Course
  Standards for Freshman Transition Classes
• Recruit experienced teachers
• Promote the School-wide Initiative
• Set up a system to share student 10-year plans
  with all teachers

The George Washington UniversitysFreshman
Transition Initiative
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The Course Standards for Freshman Transition
Classes can be used to develop

• Freshman Orientation classes
• Smaller Learning Communities
• Critical first course for Tech Prep or Career
  Academies
• Career Orientation courses
• Life Skills mandates
• Dropout Prevention interventions

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Step 4 Generatecommunity buy-in for

• a Freshman Transition course the 10-year plan
• The George Washington UniversitysFreshman
  Transition Initiative

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COMMUNITY that takes RESPONSIBILITY and
KNOWS individual workers will be more and more
responsible for managing his/her own career,
risks, and economic security
(p.264) everyone must tend to his/her own
economic destiny (p. 21) leadership,
relationships, and creativity (p. 14) create
value (p. 239) Thomas Freidman, The World is
Flat A Brief History of the 21st Century
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COLLEGE PREP?

• 50 of students who enter college never finish,
  BUT.
• Studies show entering college freshmen who have a
  career plan/goal are more likely to graduate.

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Important for ALL students

• Studies show that students who can project
  themselves into the future and understand the
  consequences of their actions today are far less
  likely to drop out of school (high school or
  college), become a teen parent, or abuse drugs.

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Step 5 Identify curriculum

• Aligned/Validated with the
• Course Standards for Freshman Transition Classes
• Career Choices by Academic Innovations
• meets 95 of the Standards

Validated supplements Validated supplements
Real Game ACRNA acrnet.org
Career Solutions careersolutionsgroup.com
COIN COIN Educational Products
Parents Planner sydneysherrod_at_hotmail.com
Career Cruising careercruising.com
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Choose a curriculum that helps students

1. Recognize the value of education and the lifelong
   rewards of achieving in school
2. Become identity achieved, which builds
   self-esteem, confidence, and character
3. Create an educational plan for the next 10
   yearsalong with the skills to change

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Choose a curriculum that

• Is personalized
• Gets students actively involved and motivated
• Demonstrates the importance of education
• Encourages critical thinking and problem solving
• Integrates academics and career exploration
• Reinforces reading, writing, and computation
  skills

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Interests, Passions, Callings Choose curriculum
that motivates students to Explore
Experiment Create/Innovate Find their
passion Uncover their recurring themes Having
a cause fuels momentum during the startup
yearswhen combined with self-discipline and
well-honed work habits (Levine, 87)
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Motivational Cycle

• When a student sees personal benefit in the task
  such as developing their 10-year plan for their
  ideal future

Motivation Increases
Student Experiences Success
Comprehension Increases
Self-esteem Increases
Skill Level Increases
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Step 6 Teacher recruitment

• WANTEDExperienced, enthusiastic innovators for
  a project-based, contextual classroom.

The George Washington UniversitysFreshman
Transition Initiative
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Recruit a Lead Teacher who

• Is the team leader and supports the course
  instructors for the Freshman Transition course
• Has release time to develop and support the
  School-wide Initiative
• Provides professional development to all staff so
  they utilize the 10-year plans
• Pledges at least four years to the project to
  provide the consistency needed for institutional
  change

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Step 7 Professional Development

• Developing new classroom strategies, skills,
  and techniques for the active-learning
  classroom The George Washington
  UniversitysFreshman Transition Initiative

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The more the high schools personalize their work
with students, the more effective they will
be. Theodore Sizer, author Horaces
Compromise The Dilemma of the
American High School
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Advantages of integrated, thematic-driven
curriculum

• Learners
• See connections and relationships between
  disciplinesmore like the real world
• Are more motivated and engaged by
  thematic/relevant topics
• Learn to synthesize information rather than
  memorize facts
• Gain an increased perception of the real world
  that makes the transition to work faster and
  easier

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Used in interdisciplinary teams

• Integrates academics with career exploration
• Offers a thematic approach for an
  interdisciplinary team setting
• Saves many hours of team planning time
• Gives classroom teachers the vehicle for
  becoming part of the guidance team
• Provides counselors with in-depth data so the
  counseling process is more effective
• KEY Common prep period at least 1x/week

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Step 8 Make your Freshman Transition Initiative
a school-wide effort

• Update the 10-year plans
• no less than once each year
• Each academic department commits to an active
  role in the update process.
• The George Washington UniversitysFreshman
  Transition Initiative

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For Example At ABC High School, the following
departments will facilitate the annual update of
their students 10-year plan.

• 10th grade social studies department after
  students study globalization
• 11th grade English, after reading a novel or work
  of nonfiction aligned with the students career
  aspirations
• 12th grade senior projectprepping for college or
  workplace interviews

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Step 9 Share all students 10-year plans each
year with their instructors

• Use your students future goals and dreams to
  keep them on-task academically. Students who
  complete a Freshman Transition course understand
  the consequences of their efforts.
• The George Washington UniversitysFreshman
  Transition Initiative

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Using each students 10-year plan as a motivator,
classroom teachers can provide effective
one-on-one guidance in an advisory role.
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THEME AND CULTURE OF COLLABORATION BY A TEAM
OF CARING, INNOVATIVE PEOPLE WORKING AROUND EACH
CHILD TO Ensure relevance and rigor for ALL
students
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Step 10 Recognize and Celebrate

• As our dropout rates plummet and our academic
  scores rise, we want to remember to take time to
  celebrate the hard work and dedication of all
  involved.The George Washington
  UniversitysFreshman Transition Initiative

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Visitwww.freshmantransition.org for a copy of
the Course Standards for Freshman Transition
Classes and a variety of other resources.A
presentation by The George Washington
UniversitysFreshman Transition Initiative
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For more information, contact

• Rebecca Dedmond, Ph.D.
• The George Washington University
• rdedmond_at_gwu.edu