Meaningful Diploma Strategy: Meaningful Advising

Meaningful and high-quality advising should be an expectation for every student, not enrichment for some. Every student should leave high school with clear career goals and the knowledge and resources needed to pursue them. Meaningful advising not only prepares high school students and young adults for postsecondary education and quality jobs, but also equips them with the skills and agency needed to navigate their careers successfully in today's economy. However, national survey data suggest students feel that schools should improve in the areas of career or job skills. Fewer than half of the students who responded say they received the most fundamental information they need order to understand if they are meeting the basic standards for success in high school, let alone to make decisions about their futures.

Meaningful and high-quality advising helps address these concerns. Students who receive high-quality advising gain a multitude of benefitsⁱ, including:  

• Higher GPA
• Increased participation in early postsecondary opportunities like dual credit and advanced coursework
• Increased credential attainment
• Increased retention and persistence
• Stronger ability to develop a college-going and occupational identity
• Higher feelings of self-efficacy and motivation
• Greater understanding and ability to leverage social networks

At a minimum, meaningful advising should encompass the following attributes:

• Career Exploration  
• Financial Literacy
• Navigational Guidance  
• Academic Planning
• Social Emotional Development
• Alignment with Individual Learning Plans

National research shows that about 65% of districts spend less than 5% of their budgets on programming related to college, career, and life readiness. Furthermore, postsecondary advising is only a fraction of the total college, career, and life readiness money spentⁱⁱ. Progress implementing quality meaningful advising systems is limited in part due to constrained district spending, but there are other factors. School counselors and educators have traditionally offered varying levels of career counseling and navigation support. However, much of their time is now spent on linking students to social services and addressing their social and emotional needs. Additionally, teachers have noticed a decrease in the number of students they advise on college and career paths since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemicⁱⁱⁱ.

Increasing successful post-high school transitions such as college-going, college-persistence, and entry into the workforce cannot happen without a high-quality, meaningful advising system – for all students. This may require targeted support for underserved populations, including students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, and those with disabilities.

Bellwether, a national nonprofit that works with education leaders and organizations to accelerate their impact on student outcomes, identifies five (5) key characteristics and six (6) conditions for success for meaningful, postsecondary advising^iv. This research stems from more than 60 discussions with local school districts, college access organizations (CAOs), and funders that provide key input on conditions that must be in place to expand meaningful advising services.

Five Characteristics

• Equitable: Advising supports are tiered and differentiated such that all students receive supports that meet their specific needs.  
• High-quality: Well-trained advisers provide information and assistance to students using resources, curricula, tools, and delivery models that have been demonstrated to be effective.  
• Measurable: Advising meaningfully contributes to and accelerates student progress toward measurable postsecondary outcomes.  
• Aligned to college and career: Supports enable the exploration of multiple pathways to achieving postsecondary success, including a range of college and career options.  
• Financially sustainable: The ongoing costs of delivering supports are primarily covered by public revenue and are not dependent on philanthropy.

Six Conditions for Success

• Case for Change: There is broad support for postsecondary success as a unifying purpose of the core work of K-12. Funders, the business community, community organizations, and district champions catalyze a coalition of stakeholders to advocate for increased emphasis on meaningful, postsecondary advising.  
• Vision & Milestones: There is a shared district vision for postsecondary outcomes and a strategy to achieve the key milestones that students must reach to successfully navigate postsecondary pathways.  
• Coordination & Continuous Improvement: Partnerships, staffing models, and roles are defined to optimize the provision of services, reducing duplication, and ensuring coordination.  
• Data & Platforms: Data is used to understand student needs – prioritizing milestones and which student needs to address – and to track student outcomes.  
• Supports – Content, Coverage & Delivery: There is an intentional and strategic use of internal and external supports and resources to maximize coverage.  
• Resources: Adequate and sustainable financial resources are identified and secured.

Source: Bellwether Education Partners: Postsecondary Advising: Characteristics and Conditions for Expanding Access^v

Advising should be student-centric, learning focused, and foster collaboration and communication. Schools must position and resource advising as an intentional, holistic approach and make it a priority to ensure students are well-positioned for post-high school success.  

Programs and Practices Within This Strategy

• 9^th grade advisories or seminars
• Support professional learning for teachers
• Effective implementation of Individual Learning Plans
• Establish durable skills learning benchmarks
• Structured education and career mentoring and navigation
• Teacher externships

See it in Action

• Colorado: Career Development Incentive Program  
• Career Exploration Tool: Kentucky Center for Statistics (KY STATS) Career Explorer
• Kentucky Advising Academy College and Career Advising Toolkit