Identifying Needs Before Next Semester: 5 Questions Administrators Can Ask Counselors and CTE Educators

Counselors and CTE educators know first hand how college and career readiness (CCR) efforts are going and what assistance they might need to ensure students, families, and colleagues have what they need to drive student success. Because counselors often work across grade levels, regularly move throughout the school building, and partner with a variety of different educators, their perspective is incredibly valuable as they can more readily identify trends across many facets of school dynamics. And CTE educators are often part of many different students’ future planning, giving them insights into what students need to feel and be successful. 

Having open channels of communication with counselors and CTE educators can help to inform resource allocation, district policies, professional development, and other forms of district-level support. Whether sending out a survey, hosting a focus group, or more informally talking with counselors at district meetings or events, asking these questions can help district leaders to better understand the current state of CCR to inform their planning for the months ahead.

1.  Are seniors with postsecondary aspirations applying for financial aid? 

Because financial aid is so directly linked with college matriculation, understanding if students and families are successfully navigating this process is a key indicator of CCR success. If counselors note any issues or concerns with students and families struggling to engage with FAFSA, encountering barriers to completion, or requiring high levels of personalized assistance, districts might add layers of support with family information or help sessions. 

2. What plans are in place to support students who are at risk of not graduating?   

At this point in the school year, there is still time to intervene with struggling students. Counselors and educators must work to identify any students who might not graduate and develop personalized action plans to help them cross the finish line. Fortifying a student’s support system, reviewing and revising their course plan, enrolling them in tutoring or study groups, or serving as an advocate for them in conversations with educators can be pivotal to their path toward graduation. At the district level, establishing an expectation of and process for identifying these students and discussing plans can help to proactively avert late-in-the-year crises. And, understanding needs across schools can help to identify trends across the district, highlighting opportunities for growth.

3. What trends–positive or negative–are impacting student growth, and how does this year compare to previous years?

Attendance rates, disciplinary issues, tardiness, and school climate can all have significant impacts on students’ day-to-day experiences and long-term achievement. Checking in with counselors and CTE educators about patterns can help to shed light on where districts need to allocate resources, promote awareness, or engage the broader community. The impacts of attendance and climate are far-reaching. Getting to the root cause of any issues and working to resolve them is highly consequential to students’ health and ability to achieve along with many district metrics of success.   

4. What are the mental health needs across the building?

Mental health is at the foundation of all student success, and counselors and educators know that the impact of teaching and learning is far greater for students who are well. Counselors have expertise in understanding mental health along with established channels to understand the mental health needs throughout the school.  From working with struggling students, supporting the needs of individual families, and serving as confidants for colleagues, counselors often have a sense of the overall levels of stress within a school. Districts can respond to the needs reported from counselors and educators in various ways. For students, districts might share additional mental health resources, including partnerships with external mental health providers, or work to increase school-level personnel to create more opportunities for student check-ins and connections. For staff, districts might offer professional development opportunities targeting the mental health of educators or work to add in flexibility to work days or otherwise increase time educators have outside of student contact hours.   

5. What are your biggest successes from the first semester? 

Educators do not often share or widely celebrate their own successes. Creating a space for them to talk about what is going well not only fosters excitement, pride, and energy for the work they are doing, it can create a powerful platform for sharing ideas throughout the district. District leaders can highlight shared ideas to drive professional development and inform best practice. And, because ideas were generated within the district, they will more immediately align to district curricula and procedures, allowing counselors and CTE educators to more readily apply the new learning within the school year.