As any great counselor will tell you, advising students on their postsecondary journey is a process underscored by the delicate balance of “the art” and “the science” of counseling. A conversation with a student may venture from a student uncovering why going away from home is so important to them (“the art”) and snap right into evaluating which major at which college option delivers the best Return on Investment (“the science"). In this blog post, we will discuss the importance and process of goal setting towards postsecondary success, as well as share some specific goal ideas at the novice and expert levels - a focus on “the science”, because with a clear vision and goals, “the art” of counseling can be even more impactful.
Schools and districts routinely set goals for academic achievement, school culture, and even in areas of hiring, operations, fiscal management. And for good reason - goals signal the importance of specific objectives, help stakeholders become aligned and focused on a shared vision, and encourage collaboration and synergy. Yet, many schools’ goals end at graduation. Of course, your students’ futures continue on after that day in June; while you may not have direct control once they leave your school, you can set goals to accomplish before students graduate that will increase their likelihood of success. For more on that, we recommend the work from Education Strategy Group (ESG), “From Tails to Heads”.
There are many popular frameworks for setting goals; we’re not here to discuss which is the “best”. Instead, we recommend that you use a framework that is coherent with your school/district’s existing goals, processes and assets. Setting goals that are shared across stakeholders is likely already happening. And if goals for postsecondary success are not included in that process, we recommend that you understand when/where/how that process happens, and advocate for the inclusion of postsecondary goals. Historical data analysis and stakeholder (student, staff, family) input can help identify areas for improvement and set realistic targets (here’s a helpful self-assessment on your overall readiness). It's important to consider priority subgroups, such as students with IEPs or students experiencing homelessness, to ensure equitable progress.
OK, great, you’ve got a process, and investment and commitment to set goals for postsecondary success. What kinds of goals do you actually want to set and what is important to measure? In our work with some of the thought leaders in postsecondary success, we’re fortunate to see the variety and depth of goals that can impact student outcomes. So, we’ve listed out 8 categories in which you might set goals, and given two examples - one for newer-to-this folks and one for more advanced goal-setters - for each. Take a look and use these example metrics as a starting point for your goal-setting conversations. For Overgrad customers, collecting this data is easy - it’s either in your pre-built dashboards or easily created in custom reports. Ask your customer success team contact for more info!
Looking for more ideas for goal-setting? Check out NCAN’s Common Measures for Access.
In summary, goal setting serves as a powerful tool to focus efforts and achieve desired outcomes. By engaging stakeholders, considering historic data, and utilizing a goal-setting framework, your school/district can better set goals for students’ postsecondary success.
*TGR and IGR are calculated fields that match students with a “target” grad rate (TGR) and “ideal” grad rate (IGR) based on historic enrollment data and the student’s demographic information and academic profile. This metric analyzes the graduation rate of the institutions at which alumni enrolled, and compares the alumni academic profile to each individual student academic profile, creating a range of graduation rates (IGR - TGR) at which the student might consider a rigorous yet attainable graduation rate to pursue.
**ECC is a calculated field that estimates the 6-year college graduation rates of students based on historic graduation rates for the school each student will attend. Typically, each student’s indicated college of enrollment and their ethnicity is used to create an individual estimated completion rate (if 64% of African-American students graduate from the enrolled college, then an African-American students attending there has a 64% estimated completion rate) and then the average of all students’ individual estimated completion rate is calculated.
