Freshman Transition
Initiative
The 10-Step Plan
The George Washington University
rdedmond@gwu.edu
www.freshmantransition.org
The key to impacting students:
How do we help ALL
students recognize the
value of education?
How do we help ALL
students view their futures?
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.
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
Freshmen report feeling
Excited
Confused
Proud
Brave
Helpless
Worried
Afraid
Sad
Curious
Lonely
Overwhelmed
Jarman-Dunn, N. & M. Kiggins. Building the Bridge of Success. 2005 ASCA
Conference presentation
Reasons Students Drop Out Early
Males Females
55%
49%
Didn’t like school
52%
17%
Couldn’t get along with teachers
31%
14%
Felt they didn’t belong
18%
22%
Couldn’t get along with peers
19%
33%
Suspended too often
38%
25%
Couldn’t keep up with work
46%
33%
Failing grades
NELS. TwoYears Later: Cognitive Gains and School Transition
What can we do?
Freshman Transition course
for ALL students that
culminates in a 10-year plan
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
Step 1: Gather your resources
Course Standards for
Freshman Transition
Classes
www.freshmantransition.org
The George Washington University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
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
Step 2: Create a vision
Why is a 10-year plan
important for all
freshmen?
The George Washington University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
Beyond 4- or 5-year plans
Huge Gaps Exist
Between Student Aspirations
and Reality
High school dropout rates
remain high.
College graduation rates
remain low.
“We are seeing an epidemic of
work-life unreadiness, kids in
their early twenties who can’t
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
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
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 University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
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
Step 4: Generate
community buy-in for
a Freshman Transition
course & the 10-year plan
The George Washington University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
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
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.
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.
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
Real Game
ACRNA acrnet.org
Career Solutions careersolutionsgroup.com
COIN
COIN Educational Products
Parent’s Planner sydneysherrod@hotmail.com
Career Cruising careercruising.com
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 years—along with the skills
to change
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
Interests, Passions, Callings
Choose curriculum that motivates students to
Explore
Create/Innovate
“Uncover
Experiment
Find their passion
their recurring themes…”
“Having a cause fuels momentum during the
startup years…when combined with selfdiscipline and well-honed work habits…”
(Levine, 87)
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
Step 6: Teacher recruitment
WANTED
Experienced,
enthusiastic innovators
for a project-based,
contextual classroom.
The George Washington University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
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
Step 7: Professional
Development
Developing new classroom
strategies, skills, and techniques
for the active-learning classroom
The George Washington University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
“The more the high schools
personalize their work with
students, the more effective
they will be.”
Theodore Sizer, author
Horace’s Compromise:
The Dilemma of the
American High School
Advantages of integrated,
thematic-driven curriculum…
Learners:
• See connections and relationships between
disciplines–more 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
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
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 University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
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
student’s career aspirations
• 12th grade senior project–prepping for
college or workplace interviews
Step 9: Share all student’s
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 University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
Using each student’s 10-year
plan as a motivator,
classroom teachers can
provide effective one-on-one
guidance in an advisory role.
THEME AND CULTURE OF
COLLABORATION BY A TEAM OF
CARING, INNOVATIVE PEOPLE
WORKING AROUND EACH
CHILD
TO
Ensure relevance and rigor for
ALL students
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 University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
Visit
www.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 University’s
Freshman Transition Initiative
For more information, contact
Rebecca Dedmond, Ph.D.
The George Washington
University
rdedmond@gwu.edu