NOSCA: The National Office for School Counselor Advocacy - Texas ...

True North: Charting the Course to 

College and Career Readiness 

Texas School Counselor 

Association 

February 11, 2013 

Presented by: 

Patricia J. Martin, Assistant VP 

National Office for School 

Counselor Advocacy (NOSCA) 

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NOSCA: National Office for School Counselor Advocacy

What is College and Career 

Readiness? 

• Background 

• Stage Setting 

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Everybody Is Talking About it . . . 

• President of US 

• Secretary of Education 

• Presidents of Colleges and Technical Schools 

• State and Local Politicians 

• School Boards 

• Principals 

• Parents 

• Students 

• Organizations: College Board, ACT, Achieve, 

CSSO’s, SREB, ACTE . . . 

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Defining College and Career Readiness 

Ready to succeed academically – without 

remediation 

• in credit bearing first year college course 

• at 2/4 year college and/or trade or 

technical school 

• in post secondary education and 

economically viable career path 

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ISSUES OF URGENCY AND IMPORTANCE 

Regarding College and Career Readiness 

• Academic Preparation 

• Assessments 

• Workforce Issues 

• Success/Survival in 21 st Century Economy 

• Equity in Participation and Earnings 

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The Growing Demand for 

Higher Order Skills 

Source: Council on Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index 


US Population Projections to 2050 

Source: Internet Stats Today, http://internetstatstoday.com 


•Who Is Dropping Out? 

NOSCA: National Office for School Counselor Advocacy 

National Office for School Counselor Advocacy (NOSCA)

Who is Going to College? 

Source: Education Pays 2010, The College Board 



Source: Lumina Foundation for Education, 

A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education, 2010 


Who is Not Going Anywhere? 

Persons age 18 to 24 not attending school, not working, and no degree beyond high school, 2009 

Source: http://datacenter.kidscount.org 

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Educational Attainment, Earnings, 

Unemployment 

http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm 



Unemployment Rate by Race/Ethnicity 

16% 

11.3% 

8% 

7.8% 

Source: http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/demographics/ 


Unemployment Rate by Education Level 

14% 

9.7% 

8.4% 

4.2% 

Source: http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/demographics/ 


•What is NOSCA? 

•What Does it Have to do 

With College and Career 

Readiness? 

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NOSCA: The National Office for 

School Counselor Advocacy 

• Part of the College Board’s Advocacy & Policy Center 

• Leaders in National Efforts to Solidify School 

Counseling in Education Reform Efforts 

• Developers of Largest Depository of College and 

Career Readiness Counseling Materials in the nation 

• Located in the College Board Washington Office 

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NOSCA’s Vision 

• Every student exits high school with the 

educational preparation and social capital 

necessary for college and career success and full 

participation in a democratic society and global 

community. 

NOSCA’s Mission 

• Endorse and institutionalize school counseling 

practice that advocates for equitable educational 

access and rigorous academic preparation 

necessary for college and career readiness for all 

students. 

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• NOSCA advocates for school counselors in 

order to affirm the importance and value of their 

role in advancing school reform and student 

achievement. 

• NOSCA’s three priority areas in 2010-11 are: 

• Equity in College and Career Readiness 

• Leadership in Systemic Education Reform 

• Transformation of School Counseling Practice 



NOSCA is home of. . . 

A national advocacy campaign to galvanize 

and mobilize school counselors to “own the turf” 

of college and career readiness counseling and take 

the lead in establishing a college-going culture in 

their schools, districts, and communities. 





College and Career Readiness Counseling 

A Systemic K-12 Approach 

A Systemic K-12 Approach – Elementary, Middle & High 

Elementary School – To create early awareness, knowledge and skills 

that lay the foundation for academic rigor and social development 

necessary for college and career readiness. 

Middle School – To create opportunities to explore and deepen college 

and career knowledge and skills necessary for academic planning and 

goal setting. 

High School – To create college and career pathways that promote full 

implementation of personal goals that ensure the widest range of 

future life options. 


NOSCA’s Eight Components of College and Career Readiness Counseling 

A Systemic K-12 Approach 


A Series of School Counselor Guides 

A Systemic K-12 Approach – Elementary, Middle & High 

http://nosca.collegeboard.org/eight-components/high-school-guide 


http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/nosca/11b_4416 

_8_Components_WEB_111107.pdf 


U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan 

Own the Turf A Message From Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan - YouTube. flv 


The College Board 

National Survey of School Counselors 

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Rationale for Our Annual Survey 

• The absence of a school counseling presence in 

education reform efforts. 

• The lack of understanding of the value and need of school 

counselors to improve college and career readiness. 

• The national, state & local impetus for increasing student 

achievement and college and career readiness. 

• The need to nationally capture and transmit the voice of 

school counselors to a wide range of influential 

organizations, policy-makers, education leaders and 

practitioners. 

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Overview: National Survey of School 

Counselors 

2011 Survey 

(The First Survey) 

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Literature Review 

Technical Report 

Narrative Report 

2011 Survey Reports 

http://nosca.collegeboard.org/research-policies/2011-annual-survey 30 


2011 National Survey of School Counselors 

Counseling at a Crossroads 

• Explored school counselors’ opinions and perspectives about roles, 

responsibilities, professional relationships, practices and priorities for the 

future. 

• Focused on college and career readiness, leadership, 

and equity. 

• Online survey of 5,308 counselors 

– 1,327 middle school counselors 

– 3,981 high school counselors 

• Literature & Landscape Review of more 

than 300 sources 

• One of largest and broadest surveys of 

school counselors 

http://nosca.collegeboard.org/research-policies/2011-annual-survey 

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Big Topics 

Highlighted in the 2011 Survey 

Impact Training, Practice and Policies 

• Mission of Schools and School Counselors 

• Pre-Service Training and Subsequent PD Attained 

• College and Career Readiness Counseling 

• Leadership Role of School Counselors 

• Equity in Practice 

• Accountability Measures 

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National Survey of School Counselors 

2012 Survey 

(The Second Survey) 

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Technical Report 

Narrative Report 

http://nosca.collegeboard.org/research-policies/annual-survey 

2012 Survey Reports 

34 


2012 National Survey of School Counselors 

Add New Voices 

• The 2012 focus groups and survey 

include the perspectives of school 

administrators. 

Build on, Explore, and Expand on 2011 Key 

Findings 

• Training 

• Equality and Equity 

• Accountability and Effectiveness 

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Methodology 

• Online survey of 2,890 school counselors 

– 2,084 high school counselors 

– 806 middle school counselors 

• Survey fielded May 1 – June 18, 2012 

• Nationally representative 

• Online survey of school administrators, including principals, vice 

principals, and assistant principals 

• Survey fielded May 17 – June 5, 2012 

• Nationally representative 

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2012 Key Findings 

1. Efficacy 

2. Training 

3. Accountability 

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1. Efficacy 

2. Training 


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1. Efficacy 

2. Training 


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Training Key Findings 

2011: Counselors are highly educated, yet 28% 

believe their training did not prepare them 

well for their job. 

2012: There is a significant correlation between 

counselors’ in-service/pre-service training 

and student outcomes, though the 

direction of causality is unclear. 

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1. Efficacy 

2. Training 


48 


Accountability Key Findings 

2011: The majority of counselors support certain 

accountability measures and incentives for 

counselors to meet the 12th-grade college 

and career-ready goal. 

2012: Counselors and administrators agree on some 

measures of accountability; current 

accountability systems are inconsistently 

implemented. 

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Conclusion 

2011 2012 

Crossroads 

True North 

52 


Paths Forward – Recommendations (2012) 

1. Act Now Through Existing Training and Tools for College and 

Career Readiness 

2. Include Counselors as Integral Partners in Education Policy 

3. Include Counselors in Common Core State Standards 

Implementation 

4. Provide Counselors, Teachers and Administrators Pre-service /Inservice 

Training that aligns Counselors’ Work to Students’ College 

and Career Readiness 

5. Align Counselor “Accountability Measures” with Student, School 

and Districts Goals 

6. Accelerate FAFSA Completion for Students 

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NOSCA’s “Own the Turf Campaign” 

11,500+ 

Participants 

A national advocacy campaign to galvanize 

and mobilize school counselors to “own the turf” 

of college and career readiness counseling and take 

the lead in establishing a college-going culture in 

their schools, districts, communities and/or states. 

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Important Conference Date 

• March 29, 2013 

Regular Registration Closes 

Conference Website 

destinationequity.collegeboard.org 

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Visit the Site 

Today for 

State-of-the-Art 

• tools 

• webinars 

• publications 

• toolkits 

• information 

Professional Site 

for School 

Counselors 

http://nosca.collegeboard.org/ 

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NOSCA Publications 

Source: nosca.collegebord.org 


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Patricia Martin 

The National Office for 

School Counselor Advocacy 

(NOSCA) 

202-741-4714 

pmartin@collegeboard.org

NOSCA: The National Office for School Counselor Advocacy - Texas ...

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