To prepare students for success after school, schools need to provide support for both academic and social-emotional learning.
Advising plays an important role in creating an integrated system that considers the whole child through social-emotional learning (SEL), academic support, mentorships, and other programs. Finding the right approach to advising is often a challenge for rural schools with limited resources and staff. Here you will find resources and tools related to advising in the rural context.
Quick facts about advising
Social-emotional supports result in higher academic performance (Institute for Student Achievement)
Being connected to a caring adult is the #1 protective factor in preventing at-risk behaviors (Search Institute)
Social connections significantly impact career success and satisfaction (Wolff & Moser, 2009).
Distributive Guidance Model
Distributive Guidance is an advising model that takes resources scarcity in rural communities into consideration. It also tackles issues that are relevant to rural communities, such as mental health. Distributed guidance can be employed as a peer support program to reduce suicide risk. Data shows that rural schools are in dire need of systems that will train teachers to identify students who are at higher risk of suicide and that will give student the social and emotional skills necessary to self-regulate and form positive relationships and support groups (Murphy, 2014).
What are the graduation requirements in your area?
Cheraw School District:
Las Animas School District:
IKF
La Junta/East Otero School District:
Rocky Ford School District:
IKF, IKF-2
Swink School District:
Wiley School District:
IKF, in the process of updating
Career and Academic Planning
Individualized Career & Academic Planning (ICAP)
Since 2009, both legislative and policy efforts in the State of Colorado have supported ensuring that every high school student and ideally, every middle school student in the state has their own career and academic plan. ICAP is a research-based, multi-year, developmentally appropriate process designed to support secondary students in their transition to adulthood. The goal of ICAP is to ensure that every student receives the support needed to make a successful post-secondary transition.
GSN’s ICAP Digital Portfolio Table of Contents
If you are interested in accessing any of the resources listed in the ICAP Digital Portfolio Table of Contents to improve your school’s ICAP program, please contact Jennifer Nesselhuf.
College Approach is a college tutoring service that assists first-generation and low-income students through the college application and admission process. Services are free and their highly-qualified tutors have helped students achieve better outcomes with college admissions and financial aid.
My Colorado Journey, previously Colleges in Colorado, was initiated by the Department of Higher Education to serve the citizens of the State of Colorado by promoting access to, affordability of, and success in higher education and training for all students. Coloradans can use the platform to explore career and education pathways, break down barriers to post-secondary attainment, and create a plan for their postsecondary and workforce success.
Locally developed, but globally positioned, the Portrait of a Graduate serves as a north star for system transformation. Providing strategic direction for the redesign of the overall educational experience for students, this collective vision reinvigorates and re-engages students, teachers, and community stakeholders. To learn more about Portrait of a Graduate, visit the gallery here: https://portraitofagraduate.org/resource-hub/gallery
Health and Wellness
Mental wellness is central to a successful educational experience. Schools—where children spend most of their waking hours—often recognize that addressing a student’s mental health and social emotional needs lead to better outcomes. Students are healthier, happier, and more likely to succeed when the needs of the whole child are addressed, yet many schools lack the resources to provide effective mental health services. This Toolkit helps community advocates, schools, and local leaders work together to: assess, identify, prioritize, and fund school-based mental health services.
GSN Advocacy Program