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Increasing FAFSA Completion Rates and Postsecondary Plans with Iowa’s College and Career Transition Counselor Initiative

Thursday, August 24th, 2023

Iowa’s College and Career Transition Counselors (CCTCs) are filling a need within school counseling and admission programs for learner-centered, one-on-one support for postsecondary planning and career exploration for Iowa’s learners. Providing learners with the skills to navigate their own career journey helps to ensure that each learner can have success in the career of their choice. The Iowa CCTC program is an example of how local-level innovation can lead to state-wide scale with positive impact on learner outcomes and success. This blog will present an overview of the structure and funding of the CCTC Initiative with considerations and recommendations for state leaders to take first steps towards implementation in their own state.

In 2015, David Ford, Future Ready Coordinator, Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency (MBAEA) and Director of the Area Education Agency Postsecondary Readiness and Equity Partnership (AEA PREP), was recruited to the Eastern Region of Iowa because of his research on secondary to postsecondary transitions. At the time, the region had the lowest postsecondary enrollments in the state and historically poor postsecondary outcomes. In partnership with Eastern Iowa Community College, Louisa-Muscatine and Columbus Community Schools and with support from the Future Ready division of MBAEA, the College and Career Transition Counselor (CCTC) position was created in 2017. Over the course of a few years, significant improvements were shown in Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion rates and college intention as well as overall positive postsecondary outcomes for the learners who were part of a CCTC’s roster.

Source: Partnerships that Work: College and Career Transition Counselors a Case Study from Eastern Iowa

Thanks to the success of the Eastern Iowa program, David was asked to present to college presidents statewide and when the demand for CCTCs across additional community colleges and high schools grew, David partnered with the Iowa Department of Education, Bureau of Career Technical Education to scale the CCTC program. Using the Eastern Iowa program as a model, the Department of Education launched its statewide CCTC Initiative in the 2021-2022 school year.

The time and effort required to establish a CCTC program is well worth it; Iowa has seen continued improvement in FAFSA completion rates and postsecondary intention. For the class of 2022, the overall FAFSA completion rate for the high schools served by a CCTC was 59.3%, up from 41.5% for the class of 2021. David Ford states that the CCTC Initiative is “one of the few strategies that I’ve come across that is directly improving outcomes for first-generation students.”

Read on to learn more about how the Iowa CCTC Initiative is structured and funded as well as for considerations and recommendations for implementing a similar program.

The Eastern Iowa Model

While districts and community colleges have flexibility in how they structure their CCTC position(s), the majority of the current programs in Iowa follow the Eastern Iowa Model. Within this model, a community college forms a partnership with two high schools within their local area to share a CCTC. The CCTC is an employee of the community college, however, they work within the high schools as well as on the community college campus. It is important to note that the number of schools sharing a CCTC can vary based on the needs of each specific partnership. A community college may form multiple partnerships with local area high schools, employing multiple CCTCs, to best meet learner needs. For the 2023-2024 school year over 50 CCTCs will serve learners in over 100 high schools employed across all 15 community college regions in Iowa.

The Role of the CCTC

The CCTCs serve as a liaison between the secondary and postsecondary partners while providing direct support to the learners on their roster; they complement the school counseling department and can go deeper into postsecondary options and opportunities than school counselors are able to. Danielle Sampson, a former school counselor and CCTC, now Community Engagement Specialist with Iowa College Aid, part of the Iowa Department of Education and a CCTC initiative partner, explains that “the CCTC does things that school counselors don’t have the time to do.” Additionally, while school counselors are tasked with serving the entire student body, the CCTC can target learners who need more support in developing and pursuing a postsecondary plan.

The CCTC’s roster (caseload) is capped at 300 learners and is often generated by targeting first-generation college students, learners who are economically challenged and English learners (ELs). Danielle believes that most families have a need for additional support, however, as admission processes and post-secondary options have changed drastically in the last 20 years. Learners generally begin working with a CCTC in their junior year (11th grade) and continue working with the CCTC through their first postsecondary year.

A typical week for a CCTC could involve a wide variety of activities including career exploration field trips, coordinating career expo events, college campus visits, apprenticeship tours, working with military recruiters, a parent FAFSA night, individual student meetings, teaching a “How College Works” class, paperwork for concurrent enrollment, connecting with Iowa Intermediary Network or work-based learning coordinators, helping learners with test preparation, small group meetings, and meetings with families which could include helping them to complete FAFSA or other paperwork.

State Role in Striving for Consistency in Scale

In order to create consistency and alignment with the general role and responsibilities of CCTCs across the state, the Iowa Department of Education brought on Erica Wood-Schmitz, a former school counselor who has first-hand experience working alongside a CCTC, to oversee the CCTC program as Education Program Consultant: Academic and Career Planning.

To further increase consistency and alignment across the state, the CCTC Steering Committee, which Erica oversees, was formed and is comprised of community college supervisors, representatives from the Iowa Department of Education, school counselors, representatives from local districts, Iowa College Aid and AEA PREP.

The CCTC Steering Committee created a standard job description of the CCTC including clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Additionally, the CCTC Steering Committee created competency statements that would guide the training of the CCTCs. Realizing the need for a greater voice from the CCTCs themselves, a CCTC Leadership Team, comprised of CCTCs from the field, was formed to help create the training plan and to inform the competencies, roles and responsibilities.

Qualifications and Training

At the inception of the state-level CCTC Initiative, a CCTC was required to have a master’s degree with a license or endorsement in school counseling. This is still the preferred education requirement, however, in order to better meet demand, those with a related master’s or a bachelor’s degree are now eligible. If a partnership will require the CCTC to teach a college success course, they must have a master’s degree.

To best train and meet the individual learning needs of the CCTCs, the CCTC Initiative uses a cohort model. Currently, there are three cohorts:

Cohort 1 – CCTCs that were part of the original Eastern Iowa program and new CCTCs for the 2021-2022 school year
Cohort 2 – new CCTCs for the 2022-2023 school year
Cohort 3 – new CCTCs for the 2023-2024 school year

CCTCs create their own Individual Learning Plan (ILP) relative to their districts’ needs and receive support from the CCTC Leadership Team and Erica. They attend a two-day training held in August for cultural competency development, data and goal setting. Iowa College Aid plays a large role in providing training and resources for the CCTCs.

Funding

To incentivize and help districts and community colleges create a CCTC program, the Iowa Department of Education has used its Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act Reserve Funds (Perkins Reserve Funds) to create a three-year tiered grant for which CCTC partnership schools can apply. The districts split the cost of the shared CCTC with the community college, estimated to be $65,000-75,000 annually with benefits. The tiered grant is structured as follows:

Year 1 initial Iowa Department of Education grant funding: Perkins incentive support (up to $40,000 per position*). *Funding amounts are subject to change.
Year 2 Iowa Department of Education grant funding: Perkins support ($7,500).
Year 3 Iowa Department of Education grant funding: Perkins support ($2,500).

School districts may also be able to access operational sharing dollars and federal grants to help fund the CCTC program. To continue to scale the initiative the 15 community colleges across Iowa received federal grant funding to add 15 new CCTCs for the 2023-2024 school year bringing the state total over 50.

Source: College and Career Transition Counselor Program Toolkit

Challenges

There are some challenges that the CCTCs have faced that create additional barriers to serving the learners on their roster.

Clear communication among faculty and between the institutions sharing a CCTC. Within the districts, CCTCs can receive push-back from school counselors who do not understand the CCTC’s role. In order to overcome this hurdle, clear information on the role of the CCTC and how they complement, and not compete, with the counseling department is needed.
Different interpretations of the role of the CCTC between institutions. Districts may see the CCTC as another school counselor while community colleges may see them as an addition to their admissions team. The CCTC is not intended to be a recruiter for the community college and while enrollment may increase as a result of their work with learners, college is not the only path after high school graduation. To this end, it is important for CCTCs to broaden their understanding of what college is. Danielle Sampson explained it well, “college is anything a student does to build a skill set after high school – apprenticeship, military, trade school or a two or four-year college.”
Difficulty navigating the competing schedules between buildings and this is where communication between the partnering institutions is key. The CCTC is truly a shared position and the administration across institutions must be willing to work together to help set the CCTC up for success. “The partnership and the relationship between the community college and high schools that share the counselor are paramount to the success of the program,” shared David Ford. “If the relationship isn’t there, it will really hinder if not destroy the program.”

Considerations and Recommendations

For states that may be interested in trying to create their own CCTC initiative, Iowa State CTE Director Dennis Harden emphasized the importance of building relationships between local districts and community colleges. Dennis shared that it is Iowa’s strong dual and concurrent enrollment programs that laid the foundation for these relationships and the early success of the CCTC Initiative.

Dennis along with Erica Woods-Schmitz, David Ford and Danielle Sampson have the following recommendations for those considering starting a CCTC program:

Intentionally create opportunities and incentives for relationship building between districts and colleges.
Target districts driven by data to serve as pilot programs. The districts must understand their data and using additional data beyond FAFSA completion will allow for better overall tracking of program results.
Create an oversight or governing body to ensure consistency in training, roles and responsibilities (i.e. steering committee, leadership team).
Have a clear understanding of how districts and colleges can braid funding, including Perkins Reserve Funds to fund the program long term.
Partner with intermediaries (like Iowa College Aid and AEA PREP); these partnerships are integral to success as they can help facilitate the program and train CCTCs.
Encourage colleges to find the right match between the CCTC and the high school(s) they will be serving.
Encourage CCTC programs to evaluate the highest times of need for a CCTC and consider a 10-month period that may not fit exactly within the standard school year. This may allow the CCTC to be available over the summer when learners transitioning out of high school and into their postsecondary path have a need for guidance.

For more information on Iowa’s College and Career Transition Counselor Initiative, please visit the following resources:

Jodi Langelotti, Communications Associate

By Layla Alagic in Public Policy
Tags: Career Exploration, Carl D. Perkins Act Funding, CCTC, community college, FAFSA, First-Generation Students, Iowa, Learner Outcomes, Postsecondary Planning

Reshoring is Only Possible with High-Quality Career Technical Education

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023

Many have heard of the term offshoring, moving production to another country to save on costs, but are you familiar with reshoring? Reshoring involves moving the production of goods back to the country where the business is located. There are several reasons for a company to make this decision, including new legislative or regulatory requirements; increasing costs due to changes in the country where the production was outsourced; or logistical reasons related to cost and time. While the reasons for reshoring may be varied, a strong Career Technical Education (CTE) system that prepares future workers is necessary to make reshoring possible for companies based in the United States.

There has been an increasing push within the manufacturing industry to reshore more production back to the U.S. due to recent legislation at the federal and state levels. While there have been policies regarding federal purchasing that require domestic production, such as the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), the Buy American Act and recently the Build America Buy America Act, there are now new policies being enacted focused on supporting private sector domestic sourcing. The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS and Science ACT) is intended to increase more domestic production of semiconductors, but also to support the growth of new and emerging technologies such as quantum computing, AI, clean energy and nanotechnology. To facilitate this growth, the CHIPS Act authorizes $174 billion over the next five years for STEM programs, workforce development and research and development (R&D).

National and state policy are not the only reasons for manufacturers choosing to reshore, there are also cost and supply chain reasons. As the economies of nations around the world evolve, the savings from previously lower cost of production compared to domestic production is diminishing and almost negligible in some cases. Logistical issues have also prompted the drive to bring production back to the U.S. During the coronavirus pandemic, the fragility of the supply chain and transportation infrastructures was exposed.

Supporting reshoring efforts requires access to a robust and highly skilled workforce and talent pool. This is where a high-quality CTE system that is accessible to all learners plays a critical role. Domestic manufacturing has many career pathways available to learners including those outside of what is traditionally considered as being a part of the sector. Business management, logistics, supply chain management, and many more in-demand careers are available within the umbrella of manufacturing. Learners need to have access to the education and training needed to prepare them for these in-demand career opportunities that provide self-sustaining wages.

To maximize’s CTE’s value in reshoring, employers must be informed on its alignment with reshoring-connected careers and be partners in designing CTE programs to meet skills needs. Advance CTE’s employer engagement fact sheet and messaging guidelines provide several recommendations on effectively engaging employers about the positive return on investment that CTE experiences provide for business and economic growth. The findings from the research provide CTE leaders with several suggestions to enhance employer participation, program quality and learner outcomes.

Leverage partnerships to advance skills-based hiring
Expand partnership capacity among small businesses and local systems
Provide repeated and consistent messaging on the value and benefit of CTE for employers

This blog is the first in a series that will highlight promising state policies that connect the expansion of domestic manufacturing and CTE. The upcoming topics include curriculum and skill set development, programs of study alignment, and work-based learning programs that will all provide learners with the tools they need to be prepared to fill these high-skill, high-wage and in-demand jobs.

Paul Mattingly, Senior Policy Associate

By Layla Alagic in Public Policy
Tags: Domestic Manufacturing, Domestic production, Employer Engagement, Federal Policy, Learner Outcomes, manufacturing, Reshoring, state policy

ECMCF Fellow Feature: Dr. Kisha Aites

Friday, May 26th, 2023

In September 2022, Advance CTE and ECMC Foundation announced the second cohort of The Postsecondary State Career Technical Education (CTE) Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE—Sponsored by ECMC Foundation. The Advance CTE — ECMCF Fellows include representation across multiple demographic categories reflecting the Fellowship’s goal of intentionally building a postsecondary leadership pipeline for underserved populations in Career Technical Education (CTE) that closes racial representation gaps and removes equity barriers to postsecondary leadership advancement. For this first blog in the ECMCF Fellow Feature series, we interviewed ECMCF Fellow Dr. Kisha Aites (GA) who discussed her process for designing virtual experiences for learners to receive workplace skills training.

Tell us more about your journey to the Fellowship.

My journey to the Fellowship began while reading through both my Career Tech Update and the ACTE News in early 2022. As I read through both digital journals, an article titled, “The Impact & Promise of [Comprehensive Local Needs Assessments] CLNAs”, stood out. I clicked on the link for more information and was intrigued by what I read. I began to do weekly check-ins on the Advance CTE site and ran across the advertisement for the fellowship.

What are the skills or content areas where you’ve experienced the most growth through your participation in the Fellowship?

I would have to say data assessment. In order to be successful, equity-driven, Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders, doing a deep dive, identifying, collecting and accurately analyzing CTE data is paramount. I have grown immensely in this area. It has also helped me to determine where programs are, gauge program outcomes and adjust programming to ensure program quality.

Have you been tapped for new or more advanced roles within your organization as a result of your experience in the Fellowship?

Yes. I was selected to participate in the University System of Georgia (USG) Executive Leadership Institute. The purpose of the Executive Leadership Institute is to build and sustain a culture of leadership excellence by continuously developing talent with the USG. The Executive Leadership Institute is a comprehensive 120-hour development program facilitated by foremost experts in leadership. Participants in the Institute commit to enhancing their leadership skills to prepare for potential high-level advancement within the University System of Georgia.

The topics and experiences in the Fellowship have greatly helped me reinvest in my CTE background and have reignited my passion for career and technical development and ensuring that my institution is connected and is strengthening the pipeline from high school career pathways, to college degree programs, to careers.

How has the Fellowship expanded your network?

I value the collaborations made with other scholars and others in the profession. New connections haven’t changed my expectations but have allowed me to focus on the perceptions and lived experiences of other CTE professionals. I have also contributed to a newfound political astuteness that allows one to maneuver through political situations while negotiating and conferring with others to reach an agreement. This in turn has opened my eyes to future possibilities in a CTE role at the state level.

Tell us about your Real-World Project which focuses on developing and implementing a soft skills training module for a cohort of upperclassmen students at Savannah State University.

Historically, academic units at universities tended to focus on learners meeting the academic requirements necessary to graduate with a degree; however, recent research suggests learners also need to work toward mastering essential employability skills including social and emotional skills in the workplace known as soft skills, or professional skills. Graduates at 4-year institutions, particularly HBCUs, need to demonstrate that they are: communicators, thinkers and problem solvers, inquirers, collaborators, adaptable, principled and ethical, responsible and professional, and lifelong learners. The overall goal of the project is to:

Provide virtual simulation opportunities for undergraduate learners to practice, receive feedback on, and reflect on professional workplace practices;
Provide opportunities for learners to practice, receive feedback on, and reflect on adult-to-adult interactions (e.g., with colleagues, parents, community, and in evaluation and coaching situations); and
Provide wraparound workforce development experiences (in partnership with SSU Career Services) for select learners that provide individual and targeted workforce education/professional development.

While it might be early to think about this, what are the ways that your project could be replicated in other institutions/states?

The mixed reality approach enables each simulation to be hyper-responsive to the unique live performance of each individual learner and fully immerse themselves to produce significant and lasting changes in practice. Amplified by a suite of wrap-around services to include learner support and digital badges, the VR simulations will allow learners to convey aspects of their learning in persuasive ways to educators and employers. Schools could utilize similar virtual simulations and apply our evidence-based “prescription” of wraparound services that were helpful to our student’s growth and their employer’s satisfaction with their newfound workplace soft skills.

If you have any questions, contact Dr. Kisha Aites by email at aitesk@savannahstate.edu

Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Jodi Langellotti in Achieving Equitable and Inclusive CTE
Tags: Access and Equity, CTE Leadership, Georgia, Learner Outcomes, Soft skills, Virtual Training

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