Presentation by Melissa Clinedist, Kim Oppelt, and Jennifer Landy on integrating state requirements for middle- and high-school students.

1. E10. State Requirements and Counseling
Practices Related to ILPs for Middle- and
High-School Students
Melissa Clinedinst, National Association for College Admission
Counseling, VA
Kim Oppelt, Hobsons, VA
Jennifer Landy, Wayzata High School, MN

2. Background

3. Study Questions
• What are state-level policies related to ILPs?
• How are ILPs operationalized and implemented in high schools?
• Who is tasked with designing, implementing, and evaluating ILPs, and what
is the extent of their involvement in each phase?
• To what extent do ILP requirements contribute to high school students’
college/career readiness and successful transitions?
• Can any best practices be identified?

4. Methodology: State ILP Policy Scan
• Update and extension of information published by
Hobsons in 2009 and 2011
• Procedure
– Review of state department of education websites
– Follow-up emails to education department representatives
– ILP database U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability
Employment Policy
• Information Collected
– State mandate? Delivery mechanism
– Type of plan or activity Assessment findings
– Agencies involved Frequency of ILP review

5. Alaska Iowa Oregon
Arizona Kentucky Rhode Island
Colorado Louisiana South Carolina
Connecticut Maryland South Dakota
Delaware Michigan Tennessee
District of Columbia Minnesota Vermont
Georgia Missouri Virginia
Hawaii Nevada Washington
Idaho New Jersey West Virginia
Indiana New Mexico Wisconsin
States with Mandated Individual Learning Plans

6. 49
45
45
41
21
18
17
16
15
10
10
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Academic Plan
Academic, career, and personal goals identified
Career explorarion
Updated annually
Strengths and needs assessments
Resume builder
Personal reflection
Service learning
Action plan
Personality and learning style assessments
Learning support referal
Number of States
ILPElement
Key Elements of State Individual Learning Plans
Source: Scan of state policies conducted by 2015 report authors.
Note: N=51 (50 states and the District of Columbia)

7. Methodology: High School Survey
• Survey of high school counseling offices administered in
February/March 2015
• Stratified random sample of 10,000 U.S. high schools
– oversampling of schools in states with ILP mandates
• 1,626 responses received; 915 reported using ILPs

8. Characteristics of Schools that Use ILPs

9. Distribution of Counselor Caseloads for Survey
Respondent Schools Using an ILP
41.3%
50.9%
7.7%
250 students
251 - 500 students
More than 500 students
Source: High School ILP Survey, 2015.

10. Percentage of Schools Using an ILP, by
School Enrollment Size
62%
59%
54% 52%
55%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
50-249 250-499 500-749 750-999 More than 1,000
PercentageofSchoolsUsinganILP
School Enrollment Size
Sources: High School ILP Survey; U.S. Department of
Education’s Common Core Data (CCD), 2012-13.
Note: N = 1,573

11. Percentage of Schools Using an ILP, by
School Type
Sources: High School ILP Survey; U.S. Department of
Education’s Common Core Data (CCD), 2012-13.
Note: N = 1,374
54%
73%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Traditional public school Charter school

12. Percentage of Schools Using an ILP, by Student
Eligibility for Free or Reduced Price Lunch
Sources: High School ILP Survey; U.S. Department of
Education’s Common Core Data (CCD), 2012-13.
Note: N = 1,562
54%
58% 59% 59%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
0-24% 25%-49% 50%-74% 75% or more
PercentageofSchoolUsinganILP
Percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch

13. Percentage of Schools Using an ILP, by
School Funding Level
Sources: High School ILP Survey; U.S. Department of
Education’s Common Core Data (CCD), 2012-13.
Note: N = 1,517
55.8%
69.5%
39.5%
44.7%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Less than $8,000 $8,000-$11,000 $11,001-$14,000 More than $14,000
SchoolFundingLevelperStudent
Percentage of Schools Using an ILP

14. ILP State Mandate Status Compared to ILP Use
ILP Use Based on Survey Response
Use ILPs Do Not Use ILPs
State-Mandated ILP Policy
Yes 67 29
No 44 53
Sources: Scan of state ILP policies;
High School ILP Survey, 2015.
• 29 percent of survey respondents located in states identified as having ILP
mandates during the state policy scan report on the ILP survey that they, in
fact, do not use ILPs.
• Many survey respondents from states without ILP mandates (44 percent)
reported using ILPs in their schools.

15. ILP Features

16. Timespan for School Use of ILPs
Source: High School ILP Survey.
Note: N = 905
14%
19%
23%
31%
13%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
1-2 years 3-5 years 6-10 years More than 10
years
Not sure
PercentageofSchools
Number of Years Using ILP

17. Grade Level When ILPs Are Initiated
Source: High School ILP Survey.
Note: N = 904
5%
13% 12%
38%
27%
2%
4%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Before 6th
grade
6th grade 7th grade 8th grade 9th grade 10th-12th
grade
Not sure
PercentageofSchools
Grade When ILP is Initiated

18. Most Common ILP Elements
Percentage of Schools
Progress towards high school graduation (e.g., high school courses taken) 88
Completion of high school course plan of study 81
Career interest identified 77
Participation in dual enrollment (college) courses 65
Self-assessment of interests, strengths, aptitudes, etc. 48
Completion of pre-college entrance examinations (ACT’s PLAN, EXPLORE, etc.) 44
Student resume completed 43
Completion of college entrance examinations (ACT, SAT) 41
Extracurricular non-athletics 37
Volunteerism 34
Extracurricular athletics 30
Awards 29
Work experience (e.g. apprenticeship, internship, job shadowing) 29
FAFSA completion 23
College application submission 20
Postsecondary financial plan 20
Participation in personal financial literacy courses/workshops/activities 18
Other financial aid application completion (e.g., scholarships and grants) 16
Source: High School ILP Survey.

19. ILP Implementation

20. Types of ILP Training Provided for Survey
Respondents Using ILPs
44%
33%
28%
24%
22%
19%
13%
7%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
No Training
Implementing ILPs
Communicating with students about their ILPs
Designing/developing ILPs
Communicating with families about ILPs
Best practices in using ILPs
Communicating with teachers about ILPs
Evaluating ILP implementation
Source: High School ILP Survey, 2015.

21. Stakeholders Involved in Design,
Implementation, and Evaluation of ILPs
62%
79%
50%
32%
39%
21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Design/Development Implementation Evaluation
PercentageofSchoolsReporting
InvolvementofEachStakeholder
Counselor State
Source: High School ILP Survey, 2015.

22. Level of ILP Involvement of School-Based Personnel
Percentage of Survey
Respondents
ILP design/development
Highly involved 19
Somewhat involved 37
Not involved 41
ILP implementation
Highly involved 35
Somewhat involved 42
Not involved 21
ILP evaluation
Highly involved 14
Somewhat involved 31
Not involved 53
Source: High School ILP Survey, 2015.
Note: Numbers do not add to 100 due to missing responses.

23. Frequency of Meetings between School
Personnel and Students, by Grade Level
17%
38%
38%
43%
46%
39%
49%
48%
43%
36%
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Before 9th grade
9th grade
10th grade
11th grade
12th grade
Once or Several Times Each Term Once Each Academic Year

24. ILP Tracking and Evaluation

25. Percentage of Survey Respondents Reporting
State-Mandated ILP Tracking
36%
32%
31%
10%
Yes
No
Not Sure
Missing
Source: High School ILP Survey, 2015.

26. 37%
30%
24%
8%
1%
Paper & Computer/Online
Computer/Online
Paper
Not tracked
Missing
Tools Used by Survey Respondents
for ILP Tracking
Source: High School ILP Survey, 2015.

27. Survey Respondents’ Experience-Based Views
of ILPs’ Contribution to Student Outcomes
15%
46%
12%
24%
3%
Greatly improves
Somewhat improves
Does not improve
Not sure
No response
Source: High School ILP Survey, 2015.

28. Effective ILP Practices Reported
by Survey Respondents
• Focus on career and college guidance
• Consistent and continual review of ILP by students, staff, and parents
• Individual student meetings, oftentimes with parents
• Graduation course plan and requirements
• Develop ILPs early

29. Survey Respondents’ Suggestions for
Improving ILP Effectiveness
• More time with students/smaller student-to-counselor ratio
• More access to technology
• More student, parents, and/or staff buy-in
• More staff, resources, training, and funding
• More use in the classroom and by teachers
• Broader range of ILP elements/more student-driven ILP
• Better guidance from school, state, and/or district
• More data, tracking and evaluation

30. ILPs in Action:
Wayzata High School, MN

31. Wayzata High School
• Suburban community located 10 miles west of Minneapolis
• 3,300+ Students (Will be 4,000 by 2020)
• 9-12 Comprehensive High School
• Block Scheduling
• Class of 2014
– 76% Four-Year College
– 9% Two Year College
– Average ACT 26

32. Counseling
• 9 Counselors (Caseload about 400)
– Academic
– Personal/Social
– Post High School Planning
• Individual Appointments
• Group Guidance: Counselors meet with
their students in groups of 25-30.

33. P20 Education Partnership
• The P-20 Education Partnership, through the MN Department of Education,
is requesting that an Ed Mn designee and a licensed staff member
participate on a work group for developing recommendations for the
Partnership to forward to the legislature in 2015.
• The criteria for workgroup members are:
– Are involved in college and career readiness programs and planning
– Experiences with goal setting for students in middle level and high schools
– Interested in developing career pathway options for students
• Workgroup 2: Identify changes to revise a P-20 education system premised
on students’ individual career and college readiness plans and goals.
• The link for the P-20 Education Partnership: http://www.mnp20.org/

34. Planning for Students Successful Transition to Postsecondary
Education and Employment: Personal Learning Plans
Legislation requires all students starting in 9th grade to have a Personal Learning Plan around
8 key elements. This plan includes academic scheduling, career exploration, career and
employment related skills, community partnerships, college access, all forms of postsecondary
training, and experiential learning opportunities.
• Element 1: Provide a comprehensive plan to prepare for and complete a career and
college-ready curriculum by meeting state and local academic standards and developing
career and employment-related skills such as team work, collaboration, creativity,
communication, critical thinking and good work habits
• Element 2: Emphasize academic rigor and high expectations
• Element 3: Help students identify interests, aptitudes, aspirations, and personal learning
styles that may affect their career and college ready goals and postsecondary education
and employment choices

35. Planning for Students Successful Transition to Postsecondary
Education and Employment: Personal Learning Plans
Continued
• Element 4: Set appropriate career and college-ready goals with timelines that identify
effective means for achieving those goals
• Element 5: Help students access postsecondary education and career options
• Element 7: Help identify and access appropriate counseling and other supports and
assistance that enable students to complete required coursework, prepare for
postsecondary education and careers, and obtain information about postsecondary
education costs and eligibility for financial aid and scholarships

36. Group Guidance
(www.wayzata.k12.mn.us/whs/groupguidance)
Group guidance is grade-level specific and includes issues such as an
introduction to counseling/guidance services at Wayzata High School,
understanding transcripts, grading and credits, testing, academic planning,
post-high school planning, and the college application process.
– 9th Graders: September and February
– 10th Graders: October and February
– 11th Graders: September, January and April
– 12th Graders: September and May

37. 8th Grade
• 8th Grade Parent Nights at High School
• PEACE Day – Tours of the High School
• Registration Sessions at the Middle Schools
• Curriculum Night with Info Sessions on Various Classes

38. 9th Grade
• 9th Grade Parent Night & 9th Grade Student Orientation—Week before school
• Student Activities Fair (during the school day)
• Fall Group Guidance –Log into Naviance and complete the 9th grade survey.
– What have you enjoyed so far at Wayzata HS?
– What has been difficult in your transition to Wayzata HS?
– What do you feel is important for your counselor to know about you?
• Freshman Interview—During first semester
– Tell me a little bit about yourself (interests, hobbies, future plans, middle school experience, etc)
– Tell me a little about your family- who do you live with? How is life at home?
– Looking at 8th to 9th grade, in what ways did you grow or change?
– What do you feel are your academic strengths? (a subject in school, time management,
organization, study habits, homework completion, test taking)
– What areas do you struggle with the most in school?
– Do you plan on/ have you already joined any extracurricular clubs, sports, activities? If so, which
ones?
– What do you plan to do after high school? (2 year college, 4 year college, tech/vocational school,
military, work, don’t know). What have you done or what are you planning to do in order to
prepare for your selected college/career path?
– What are some potential careers/majors that you are interested in?

39. 9th Grade Continued
• Winter Group Guidance—Introduction of Course Planner
• Curriculum Night (February)
• Conferences—February/March
– Use open computer lab to work with 9th grade students and
parents on how to use Course Planner.
• Aspire by ACT (March)
• 9th Grade Respect Retreat (March)
• 9th Grade English?

40. 10th Grade
• Group Guidance – Fall and Winter
• Update Course Planner
• PSAT (optional)
• Do What You Are (Naviance in Fall)
• Pathways Tour (HTC)
• College Planning Night
• Curriculum Night
• Practice ACT for All Students (March)
• Individual Meetings

41. 11th Grade
• Group guidance – Fall, Winter, Spring
• 200+ College Rep Visits During Year
• PSAT (optional)
• ACT – Given to all Juniors in March (Practice test/classes)
• Post High School Planning/Parent Night & Selective College
Night
• Pathways Tour (Hennepin Technical College)
• Individual Post High School Planning
• College fair (March)

42. 12th Grade
• Fall Group Guidance – Application Process
• Post High School Planning Night for Parents
• Individual Post High School Planning
• 200+ College Rep Visits During Year
• Financial Aid Night (January)
• Cake day (May 1)
• Spring Group Guidance—Tips for Success After High School

43. Naviance