Integrated Learning Conference:
The School-to-Career Connection
Break Out Session
Friday, November 6, 2015
8:45-9:45 a.m.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
AIU 3
Presented by:
Rhonda Bielawski
Shannon Connor
Diane Feliciani
Bryan Kiggins
Erica Zinsser
kahoot.it
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North Allegheny School District is an
attractive community (pop. 45,000+) located
twelve miles north of Pittsburgh consisting of
48 square miles.
Much of the District is suburban-residential.
North Allegheny is the largest suburban
school district in Allegheny County. The
District is also one of the largest employers in
the North Hills of Pittsburgh, employing over
1,000 people.
The North Allegheny facilities consist of:
 7 Elementary Schools (K-5)
• 3,484 students
• 8 counselors
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3 Middle Schools (CMS, IMS, MMS 6-8)
• 1,971 students
• 6 counselors
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2 High Schools (NAI 9-10, NASH 11-12)
• 2,712 students
• 10 counselors
Cumulative Quality Point Average for the Class of 2016
First tenth (top 10%)… …………………………………….4.3437
First fifth (top 20%)…………………………………………4.1395
Second fifth (top 40%) ....................................... 3.8183
Third fifth (top 60%) .......................................... 3.4458
Fourth fifth (top 80%) ........................................ 3.0241
North Allegheny offers 23 AP courses and 51 Honors Level
courses for students.
90% of the class of 2015 planned to attend a 2 or 4 year college.
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Define council purpose (start with the end in
mind)
Develop core team
Create membership list
Decide structure of council (use of domains)
Solicit administrative support
Determine logistics
Generate agenda
Send out invitations with RSVP
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Budget
Administrative Support
Stakeholder Availability
Stakeholder Interest/Support
Counseling Department Numbers
Time
Meetings:
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Two Meetings per Year (2 hours - breakfast or lunch while networking)
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Locations
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Fall Meeting - October/November each year
Spring Meeting - April/May each year
On site
Local colleges, career center, businesses
Stakeholders (25-55 stakeholders typically attend)
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24 Counselors
12-15 Teachers
3-6 Administrators
10-20 Parents
5-8 Former and Current Students
5-8 College Representatives
5-8 Business Owners
1-2 Board Members
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Breakfast/Lunch Networking Time
Department Updates
Future Initiatives
Presentations on Topics of Interest by Core Team
Group Work
Reports/Findings from Group Work
Goal Setting
Guest Speakers
Wrap Up
Follow Up with Notes
What We Have Learned:
 Stakeholders were unaware of the role of the school counselor
 Stakeholders are interested and supportive
 Career counseling is important to our stakeholders
 Counseling department needs to stay current with trends and
evolve
 Goal setting and planning drive our program
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Base goals around purpose
Use stakeholder feedback/input to guide the
development of goals
Ensure they are SMART goals (specific,
measureable, achievable, results focused,
time bound)
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t reach goal
Revise as you go
Focus on successes!
Goals Derived From Council:
 Career Domain - Job Shadowing Opportunities
▪ Stakeholders showed great interest
▪ Legal obstacles
▪ Using outside resources
 Academic Domain - Finding Sparks and Connecting Those with
Career Clusters
▪ Elementary career lessons focus on finding sparks and career clusters
▪ Integrate Career Cluster document with scheduling process
▪ Change focus from specific careers to personal interests and abilities
 Personal/Social Domain - Mental Health Initiatives
▪ In-serviced Pupil Services Team (psychologists, counselors, nurses, social
workers, student assistance coordinators) about mental health trends
▪ Mental health experts presented to the council
▪ Informational brochure about mental health disorders created and
distributed to staff at senior high school
Sample Timeline of Goal:
The 2014-2015 goal was to increase the percentage of 11th grade students
who have completed a job shadow experience from 16% to 25%.
▪ Introduced the importance of job shadowing for students (Fall 2013)
▪ Developed a goal mandating job shadowing for all juniors. Stakeholders
were passionate about this goal (Fall 2013-Spring 2014)
▪ Surveyed all juniors for baseline data (Spring 2014)
▪ Investigated possibilities of a mandatory job shadow experience for all
juniors in the district (Summer 2014)
▪ Road blocks to implementation (Summer 2014)
▪ Despite roadblocks, stakeholders still showed an interest (Fall 2014)
▪ Modified goal to increase number of junior shadow study opportunities
(Fall 2014)
▪ Surveyed all juniors to gather data to determine if we reached our goal
(Spring 2015)
▪ Local IU Career Education and Academic Events Coordinator presented to
Advisory Council (Spring 2015)
▪ Exploring integration of job shadowing during School Counseling
Curriculum Review (Fall 2015)
Making our K-12 Counseling Team
Stronger:
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Examined program and established K-12 consistency with a
cohesive developmental program
Helped to establish K-12 department goals focusing on
Personal/Social, Academic and Career domains
Assisted our counseling program to become more data driven to
justify department needs and wants to our stakeholders
Networked with board members, parents and community
members to highlight counseling program and educate them
about our department and student needs
Became more transparent and accountable to our stakeholders
Advisory Council Future:
 Discover impact on School Counseling Curriculum
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Review process
Continue having 2 meetings a year
Revise and evaluate goals through input from our
stakeholders in line with ASCA and trends
Build stronger ties with businesses and colleges
Solicit ongoing support from department,
administration, faculty