Increasing College Access Online

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Increasing College Access Online

• NCHELP Spring Convention
• 06/06/06

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(No Transcript)
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Whats My Line?
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Whats My Line?
Casting Director
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Whats My Line?
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Whats My Line?
Fashion Buyer
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Whats My Line?
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Whats My Line?
Artist
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Whats My Line?
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Whats My Line?
Photographer
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Whats My Line?
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Whats My Line?
Aircraft Inspector
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Whats My Line?
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Whats My Line?
Refuse Collector
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Whats My Line?
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Whats My Line?
Wedding Consultant
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Whats My Line?
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Whats My Line?
Guide Dog Trainer
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Whats My Line?
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Whats My Line?
Driving Instructor
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Student Needs

• Awareness
• Information
• Motivation

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Online College Access

• Bridges reaches students through comprehensive
  education and career exploration and planning
  tools
• Not just a student consumer service
• Implemented by schools, school districts, and
  state departments of education
• Over 25 years mainframe, micro, CD, Internet
• Founded by counselors and educators
• Deep belief in students having a plan
  postsecondary education AND career plans
• School-based presence in many states leveraged
  into outreach offering by student loan
  organizations

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Bridges Outreach Solution

• Comprehensive and integrated portal for a state
  or integrate into an existing web site
• Exploration, planning, and preparation tools
• Customized for the state
• Information including career pathways
• Academic standards
• Mandated outcomes
• Serves all middle school students, high school
  students, college students, workforce clients,
  and general public
• Also serves needs of professionals and
  administrators
• Supports goals of programs and initiatives like
  NCLB, High School Reform, GEAR UP

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Bridges Product Suite
Middle School
High School
Postsecondary Adults
Portfolio
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Choices Explorer

• Unique product designed for motivation through
  exploration
• Awareness of career and college options
• Magazine-style content requested by students
• Interactive and up-to-date
• Career and college program profiles
• Real-world interviews and activities provide
  relevance
• Student-authored blogs
• High school course planning using pathways
• Work, Learn, Life, Your Portfolio
• Exploration first leads to better plans later
• Professional Tools lesson plans, tracking tools
• Parent Guide available

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Choices Planner

• Latest evolution of popular Choices product
• Databases of careers, programs/majors, colleges,
  scholarships
• Connections between content to facilitate
  planning
• Spanish version
• Focus on building career plans and preparing for
  postsecondary transition
• Build on results of earlier exploration
• Global navigation consistent with Choices
  Explorer Work, Learn, Your Portfolio
• Implemented by classroomteachers can be
  connected tostate standards

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Choices Planner Assessments

• Assessments
• Interests
• Work Values
• Basic Skills
• Aptitudes
• Workplace Skills
• Transferable Skills
• All connected to occupational content no So
  what?
• Results can be combined with other dimensions in
  Career Finder
• Also available
• Personality Types
• Learning Styles

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Choices Planner Databases

• Comprehensive career and college profiles
• Includes detailed state occupational projections
  and wage data
• Many different ways to browse databases
• Careers ? programs ? colleges
• Compare two colleges or careers side-by-side
• Career Finder suggests careers based on users
  assessment results and desires
• School Finder suggests colleges based on
  students needs, interests and plans
  localcolleges listed first
• Scholarship Finder suggests qualifying
  scholarships

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Choices Planner Planning

• Use clusters and pathways to create and work high
  school course plan (course offerings customized
  by each school)
• State and local graduation requirements,
  academies
• Career Plan Builder unites explored and saved
  elements into a career plan
• Reality check verifies aspects of career plan
  components
• Multiple plans can be created and worked through
  action plans
• All plans stored in Your Portfolio
• Portfolios can be reviewed by professional staff
• Guideways to drive outcomes

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Choices Planner Portfolio

• Organize information, build and share plans
• Your Portfolio includes
• Assessment results
• Resume Builder
• Interviewing practice
• Networks and experiences
• Saved items from Choices
• Links to student evidence
• Personal journal
• Feedback from reviews by educators
• Can be customized to include data required for
  graduation requirements (e.g., culminating
  projects)

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testGEAR Test Preparation

• Self-directed courses using a personalized
  curriculum
• Content remediation and test-taking skills
• Full-length practice tests
• College entrance
• ACT
• SAT, PSAT
• High school exit
• ELA
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies
• Can be customized for state exams and assessments

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Professional Tools

• Local reporting of outcomes and usage
• Tracking student progress post feedback in
  portfolios
• Aggregate reporting for districts and state of
  outcomes and usage
• Management tools for identifying and managing
  portfolios
• Customization tools for school implementations
• Lesson plans and activities organized by subject
  area

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Professional Development Support

• Product training workshops and webinars
• Consulting services for district career planning
  program audit, design, and implementation
• Toll-free support line for professionals
• E-mail newsletters for professionals, students,
  and parents
• Online implementation resources

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Typical Implementation

• Use Choices Explorer to create portfolio in
  middle school start exploration motivates
  students to create a high school plan based on
  exploration of pathways, career options, and
  education options
• Continue exploration in early high school then
  transition to postsecondary planning with Choices
  Planner in appropriate year
• Provide access to testGEAR in advance of exit and
  entrance tests
• Products are designed to support independent and
  classroom usage
• Common portfolio is used to transfer
  information
• Portfolio can also be transferred to college or
  workforce development center
• Many different implementation models for schools

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Benefits of a Bridges Solution

• Early awareness
• Quality content and tools not just a portal
  with links
• Integrated and comprehensive
• Qualifies for inside implementation in schools
• Stickiness
• If you build it they wont necessarily come.

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Underserved Students

• Products are used effectively with low-income,
  rural, minority, and first-generation students
• Classroom implementation jump-starts students
  then they can continue with self-service
• Used in programs like GEAR UP and TRIO
• Motivation with Choices Explorer careers of
  interest to students (e.g., Cryptographer,
  Forensics)
• Choices Explorer and STEPS curriculum with
  at-risk students in inner-city schools
• STEPS teaches transition planning skills
• testGEAR levels the playing field for college
  test prep
• Spanish Choices Planner
• All postsecondary options are available
  students can compare options
• Support for pathways and academies

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Future

• Adding more process around college planning
• Add tools for first-generation students
• Need to follow the same process
• Have no mentors at home
• Enhance process to explain value of mentor, how
  to find one, when they can be helpful
• Implement as side trips along the process

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Summary

• Online tools are effective outreach solutions
• Serve needs of students, parents, and educators
• Awareness of options
• Tools to build plans