Chapter 12 High School Counseling: Preparing Youth for College, Careers, and Other Alternatives

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Chapter 12 High School CounselingPreparing
Youth for College, Careers, and Other
Alternatives
Career Counseling Foundations,
Perspectives, and Applications edited by
David Capuzzi and Mark Stauffer

• Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy
• Anita Young

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High School Students

• Hurley and Thorp (2002) found
• Students unaware of career development
• Lack of guidance by adults
• Decisions based on emotion rather than opportunity

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High School Statistics

• High school completion and college enrollment
  rates vary substantially by both race/ethnicity
  and income.
• Over 80 of all jobs require at least some
  education after high school, but only about 70
  of students graduate from high school.
• 30 need reading and math remediation.

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Students Unprepared?

• Only 28 of students at 2-year colleges earn a
  degree within three years.
• 56 of students at 4-year institutions earn a
  bachelors degree within six years (Hurley
  Thorp, 2002).
• Students, both graduates and dropouts, are
  deficient in career-planning skills as they enter
  the labor market or transition to post-secondary
  education.

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Economic Context

• Little job stability
• Average of 10.5 jobs between ages 18 to 40
• Work is independently contracted, temporary,
  on-call, and part-time.
• Jobs not requiring higher education are fewer and
  less likely to offer economic security.

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Economic Context (cont.)

• Job transitions may be an intentional choice by
  college graduates to explore career options,
  whereas for young people without college degrees,
  job transitions may be necessary for maintaining
  employment and may indicate economic
  vulnerability.

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Career Development of High School Students

• Super's vocational development theory
• Holland's vocational theory
• Lent, Brown, and Hacketts social cognitive
  career theory
• Astins sociopsychological causal model of career
  choice

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Super

• Exploration period (ages 14-24), individuals
  explore different possible career choices and
  become aware of their interests and abilities.
  Individuals develop their vocational goals based
  on interests and abilities, and prepare to
  acquire necessary skills as well as experiences
  for employment.

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Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) (Lent,
Brown, Hackett, 1994)

• Self-efficacy
• Outcome expectations
• Goals
• Contextual supports and barriers.
• Environmental factors

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Career Development Factors

• Perceived social support
• Racism and barriers for minority students
• Awareness of sex types and prestige levels
• Career self-efficacy and self-confidence related
  to gender

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Career Development Factors (cont.)

• Work values
• Exploration of work values
• Perceived rewards of work
• Transition period to adulthood
• Intrinsic vs. extrinsic work values

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Career Development Factors (cont.)

• Work Role Salience
• Work-role salience represents the relative
  importance of work and career in an individuals
  life.
• Work role facilitates career exploration.

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Career Development Factors (cont.)

• School to Work Transition
• The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994
  funds activities in three arenas school-based
  learning, work-based learning, and connecting
  activities.
• Integrate academic and vocational learning
• Integrate school-based and work-based learning
• Integrate secondary and postsecondary education

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Career Development Factors (cont.)

• Career Maturity
• An individuals readiness to make well-informed,
  age-appropriate career decisions, and to shape
  ones career carefully in the face of existing
  societal opportunities and constraints.
• (Salami, 2008)

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Career Development Factors (cont.)

• Career Maturity (Salami, 2008)
• Obtain and convert information to self-knowledge
• Decision-making skills
• Convert career information to world-of-work
  knowledge
• Integrate knowledge of self and world-of-work
• Implementing obtained knowledge

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Access to Career Services

• Race to the Top and Blueprint for Reform
• Enhance and reward principal and teacher
  effectiveness
• Build data systems that inform parents and
  educators about student achievement and guide
  instruction
• Develop college- and career-ready standards and
  assessments aligned to those standards
• Implement effective interventions and support

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Access to Career Services (cont.)

• Gates Foundation Public Agenda report
• Can I Get a Little Advice Here
• Poor ratings for college prep
• Lack of connection reported just another face
  in the crowd
• ASCAwhat can go wrong with bad student to
  counselor ratios

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Career and College Counseling in High School

• American School Model Counselor Association
  (ASCA) Model (2005)
• Three domains
• Academic
• Personal/social
• Career counseling

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Career and College Counseling in High School
(cont.)

• ASCA modelAcademic domain
• Learning across the life span
• College and other postsecondary preparedness
• Relating academics to life at home and in the
  community

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Career and College Counseling in High School
(cont.)

• ASCA modelCareer domain
• Self-awareness
• Making informed decisions
• Achieving career goals

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Career and College Counseling in High School
(cont.)

• Herr and Cramer (1996) five-stage model
• Stage 1 Develop a program rationale and
  philosophy.
• Stage 2 State program goals and behavioral
  objectives.
• Stage 3 Select program processes.
• Stage 4 Develop an evaluation design.
• Stage 5 Identify program milestones. (p.310)

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Career and College Counseling in High School
(cont.)

• Ninth GradeFreshman Transition School
  Counseling Program

• orient and prevent isolation
• goal-setting strategies
• transcript interpretation
• time management skills
• graduation requirements
• individual learning styles

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Career and College Counseling in High School
(cont.)

• Tenth Grade
• Steps to prepare for college
• Decision-making and goal-setting should be clear
• Eleventh and Twelfth Grade
• Empowerment
• Informed decision-making

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Counseling for College

• Getting started
• Naviance
• Prioritizing college choice/interest
• Safety, comfort, and reach schools
• Gather information
• College admissions testing
• Financial aid and scholarship

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School to Work

1. Apprenticeship
2. Job Shadow
3. School to Work Transition Programs

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References

• American School Counselor Association. (2005).
  ASCA National Standards for Students. Alexandria,
  VA Author.
• Herr, E.L. Cramer, S. H. (1996) Career guidance
  and counseling through the lifespan (5thEd.). New
  York Harper Collins.
• Hurley, D., Thorp, J. (2002). Decisions
  without direction Career guidance and decision
  making among American youth. Washington DC
  National Association of Manufacturers.
• Lent, R.W., Brown, S.D., and Hackett, G. (1994),
  Toward a unifying social cognitive theory
  of career and academic interest, choice and
  performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior,
  45, 79-122.
• Salami, S. O. (2008). Gender, identity status,
  and career maturity of adolescents. Journal of
  Social Sciences, 16, 35-49.