Career Navigation 101 Q&A

Q: What was wrong with the way youngsters received career guidance in the past?
A: Guidance on how to choose what classes they took, and how to plan and prepare for their lives after high school graduation was minimal. Each middle and high school counselor was expected to help hundreds of students choose classes, while spending just a few minutes with each of them. And in addition to advising students about career choices, college entrance requirements, scholarships, and class schedules, school counselors were also expected to provide services to students grappling with problems such as family disintegration, homelessness, abuse or neglect, mental illness, or substance abuse. As a result, students who planned to attend four-year colleges or were more assertive generally got the most help from school counselors. Those who had no plan got the least

Q: What was the result?
A: Not surprisingly, with little input from a parent or a teacher/counselor, youngsters tended to drift and think high school was an elaborate ritual without much real meaning.

Q: What is Navigation 101?
A: Navigation 101 is a new concept in teaching students the skills they need to make the system work for them, how to navigate; how to chart their own course through public school, postsecondary training and education, and a changing economy.

Q: How does Navigation 101 work?
A: Navigation 101 classes meet twice a month throughout the school year, and each high school teacher leads a class of about 20 students. (To accommodate the Navigation 101 schedule, the high school day is restructured twice a month as if there were a school assembly.)

Q: Do teachers stay with their students throughout the student’s four year high school career?
A: Yes. Students regard this teacher as their personal advisor for the purposes of course selection, advice about postsecondary planning and goals, and connections to internships, job shadows, and other career-related experiences. This personal, long-term relationship is critical to the success of this program.

Q: What is the curriculum for Navigation 101?
A: The Navigation 101 coursework includes

• discussion and analysis of students’ test results
• various assessments of personal interests and aptitudes
• goal-setting skill development
• planning for each year’s high school course selection and personal goals
• independent living skills lessons, such as how to budget and how to balance a checkbook
• information about how the postsecondary education and training system works and how to access it
• development of a student portfolio and planning for annual, student-led planning conferences with their parents or guardians and their Navigation teacher.

In addition, students learn how to write a resume, how to use the full array of resources available to job seekers, and how to enroll in programs that allow them to earn both high school and post-secondary credits for free, before high school graduation.

Q: What is this portfolio the youngster has to prepare?
A: Each student begins a portfolio in either middle school or his or her freshman year.  In it, are WASL and other test results, documentation of career exploration activities, exemplary coursework, documentation of the 30 hours of community service required for graduation in the Franklin Pierce School District, student planning for both high school and post-graduation life, and student transcripts. The portfolio is built over the four years of high school, and is used as the basis for the student’s  presentation to a community panel prior to graduation.

Q: So the portfolio is only shown at graduation?
A: No. Each spring, students, their Navigation teacher, and their parents or guardians meet for a conference to discuss the student’s progress and plans. Students plan and lead these conferences, showing their work and discussing what worked for them and what didn’t, what skills they gained, and what classes were difficult for them. Then, the student lays out what they plan to do in the coming year – what courses they want to take, what activities they intend to engage in, and how this will help them prepare for their post-graduation future. At the close of the conference, student, parents, and teacher all sign the plan that spells out what classes the student will take in the coming academic year.

Q: What results do you have for Navigation 101?
A: The program is still too new to have comprehensive data. However, students and their parents have become much more savvy consumers of education. Students have become more knowledgeable about what they need to know and be able to do to achieve their dreams, so that they take much fuller advantage of the opportunities high school affords. For instance, they know that if they intend to go to college – including community or technical colleges – they will have to pay tuition to take the same math classes they can take in high school for free.

 

Parents, who in the past were sidelined from school involvement once students reached middle school and/or high school, are now back in the picture. And there have been institutional changes. Previously, when certain classes were full, students had to take something else. To make Navigation 101 work, students had to choose the classes they wanted first – and then to create a class schedule to accommodate their needs. Ninety-five percent of students now get the classes they request, when they request them. 

Moreover, school counselors have experienced a significant change in their job descriptions, They are still resident experts on postsecondary education and training options and sources of financial aid for students, but they are also managers monitoring system performance, collecting and analyzing data, identify emerging problems, and bringing together the teams needed to find solutions. They also help design the Navigation curriculum, and help train teachers to deliver it.