Brooke Thompson

Describe what brought you to this research:

​​During the initial months of starting at my high school field-site, three main observations became the foundations of my action research. The first observation dealt with the current pioneering year of Common Core national standards. The mission of the Common Core Standards is to “ensure that all students...are graduating prepared for college, career, and life.” Therefore, I was curious as to how school counseling might play a role in implementing Common Core standards in terms of college and career readiness. The second observation was that my field-site was in it’s 3rd year of using the Naviance Family Connection online tool. However, there seemed to be a gap in how student’s perceived Naviance compared with how helpful the tool can be. The third observation concerned the issue of credit deficient juniors and seniors at the school site. Many of these students were scrambling to make up credits, and this put a lot of stress on school counselors in making sure that students who were credit deficient were prepared in time to graduate. I also looked at data. Before starting the guidance lessons, a 9th grade questionnaire showed that only 8.3% knew what the A-G requirements were. At the same time, data showed that 83.3% of 9th graders would like to attend college. Additionally, according to school data from 2006-2011, the average number of graduates meeting A-G requirements at the school was 59.8%. It seemed that students had expectations about their futures (e.g. attending 4-year colleges and universities), but were not knowledgeable about the steps they need to take in order to be eligible for college. Therefore, it was my opinion that students might benefit from early prevention-type interventions in the 9th grade that increased college and career readiness, which aligned with Common Core, and utilized the Naviance online tool.

What was your specific research question?

How does the implementation of my college/career, Naviance-based guidance lessons increase student knowledge of college eligibility and career readiness for 9th graders? A secondary question was how data can better inform a high school counseling program.

What are you currently doing as a credentialed practitioner?

​​I am currently in the process of obtaining my school counseling credential and completing my Master’s in Counseling at Cal State University, East Bay. My action research has specifically trained me in looking holistically at school systems and data in order to better assess the needs of students. I am always asking myself, “How are students better off because of what I do?”