Summary
In this professional learning experience, participants will explore how to build a strong college-going and career-focused culture. They will examine real-world examples of how GEAR UP models this to inspire students to plan for postsecondary education. Finally, participants will browse and use a practical digital resource kit filled with activities and tools to enhance college- and career-readiness efforts in their own school.
Essential Question
How can school leaders and educators promote a college-going and career-focused culture that helps students prepare for and pursue postsecondary education (PSE)?
Learning Objectives
Analyze key components of a college-going and career-focused culture that foster student aspirations for postsecondary education.
Apply tools and models from GEAR UP activities to design or enhance initiatives that promote a college-going and career-focused culture in schools.
Snapshot
Engage
Participants consider the meaning of and the fantastic possibilities of a college-going and career-focused culture.
Explore
Participants sort statements regarding varying elements of a college-going and career-focused culture into categories.
Explain
Participants make connections between what one sees, says, does, and believes, and the layers that make up culture.
Extend
Participants self-assess the cultural layers within their schools and examine a collection of curated resources supporting a college-going and career-focused culture.
Evaluate
Participants select a tool they plan to implement to improve their college-going and career-focused culture.
Materials List
Presentation Slides (attached)
Iceberg Card Sorting Mat (attached; one per group; print one-sided on 11x17” paper)
Statement Cards (attached; one set per group; print one-sided)
Note Catcher handout (attached; one per participant; print one-sided)
Assessment Rubric (attached; one per participant; print one-sided)
High Expectations document (attached)
Making Connections document (attached)
Visual Cues document (attached)
Pens
Paper
Preparation
During the Extend phase of this learning experience, participants will explore available, practical resources to customize for their school. These are found in the attached Visual Cues, Making Connections, and High Expectations documents that represent the three sections of the College and Career Culture Tool Kit. These documents are specifically designed for administrators, counselors, and educators who are dedicated to strengthening their school's commitment to college- and career-readiness.
These files are best shared digitally so that participants can use and customize the pages that best meet their needs. Well before the session:
Download the three attachments.
Then upload them to a file-sharing platform like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive.
Set file sharing permissions. View-only access for anyone with the link is recommended.
Copy the link.
Consider creating shortened URLs using a resource from our Shortened URL Links tech tool.
Edit slide 24 to add the prepared links. Participants should be able to easily access these links to the files with their devices.
Prior to presenting, place a piece of paper (lined or blank) and a pen at each table. Participants will use these materials at the beginning of the session to create a list as a group.
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Use the attached Presentation Slides to guide the session. Display slide 2 and introduce the session to the participants.
Transition through slides 3–4 and review the essential question and learning objectives. Advance to slide 5 and ask participants what comes to mind when they hear college-going and career-focused culture. Have participants discuss with others at their table for a few moments or ask volunteers to share their thoughts with the whole group.
Move to slide 6 and introduce the Round Robin strategy. Explain to participants that within their groups, one participant needs to use the pen and paper at their table to record responses as group members take turns, each sharing an idea. Explain that they should consider the ideal elements of college-going and career-focused culture in schools to make a list of fantastic ideas that could impact or improve that culture, e.g., “Wouldn’t it be fantastic if … we could offer more extracurricular activities that are STEM related?”
As time allows, ask for volunteers to share recorded responses with the whole group.
Explore
5 Minute(s)
Place a copy of the attached Iceberg Card Sorting Mat and a set of the attached Statement Cards at each table group. Transition to slide 7 and introduce the Card Sort strategy. Explain to participants that this is a discovery activity, so they should use their best judgment and context clues to organize the concepts (cards) into (unidentified) categories. Although this may be uncomfortable initially, the strategy allows participants to justify their ideas, consider others’ ideas, and modify their thinking as new information is presented.
Have participants set aside their sorted statement cards and mat to review later. If limited on space, consider having one member from each group use their device to take a picture of their work for later reference.
Explain
15 Minute(s)
Distribute a copy of the attached Note Catcher handout to each participant and display slide 8. Explain to participants that they should use the Note Catcher to record important concepts and ideas related to Schein’s Culture Theory and the elements of college-going and career-focused culture in schools. Then read the quote on the slide: “Cultures are learned patterns of beliefs, values, assumptions, and behavioral norms that manifest themselves at different levels of observability.” This quote from Edgar Schein’s book should help participants begin to see the connection between culture and the iceberg metaphor.
Show slide 9, which provides the connection between the language of Shein’s levels of culture in an organization and the language used in schools (and used in this learning experience). Starting at the bottom is an organization’s assumptions, which are the beliefs and generally held perceptions of that organization. To develop a college-going and career-focused culture, that assumption should align with high expectations. At the next layer of the iceberg is values, which are the norms and strategies we employ. These strategies are what we say and do in classes and extracurricular activities. Again, to support a college-going and career-focused culture, those values should include integrated curriculum and experiential learning, which is collectively referred to as making connections. And at the top of the iceberg are an organization’s artifacts, which are the visible elements accessible to all. To help students think about and plan for their futures, visual cues can make a big impact.
Transition through slides 10–12 to detail specific examples of how GEAR UP services and experiences model the various elements of a college-going and career-focused culture.
Display slide 13 and emphasize to participants the following:
Artifacts are the visual cues and are “what we see.”
Values are referred to as making connections and are “what we say and do.”
Assumptions are the high expectations and are “what we believe.”
Show slide 14 and ask participants to work with their group to re-sort the Statement Cards on the Iceberg Card Sorting Mat, based on what they know now. After about 2–3 minutes, transition through slides 15–17 to review the suggested answers to the Card Sort. Allow participants to share any alternative suggestions.
Extend
25 Minute(s)
Distribute the Assessment Rubric and display slide 18. Share that the assessment is intended to help participants to evaluate and share the cultural elements of their own school. The statements are grouped into the three sections they just learned: Visual Cues, Making Connections, and High Expectations.
Show slide 19 and invite participants to read each statement on the rubric. Direct them to score themselves using the rating scale of 1–3 as they read. Allow a few minutes for participants to complete the assessment. They should recognize some of these statements from the earlier Card Sort activity.
Display slide 20 and direct participants to add the scores for the statements to find a total score for each section on their rubric. The handout indicates beginner, intermediate, and advanced for score ranges for each section. Have participants use this information to reflect and note areas of strength and weakness. Give participants a few minutes to tally their scores and reflect.
Move to slide 21 and direct participants to find their overall total score by adding the scores from the three sections together. Then show slide 22. Ask participants to consider the following questions:
In what areas is our school doing well?
Which areas need the most improvement?
Encourage participants to write down their answers on their handout. As time allows, have participants share within their groups, and then ask for volunteers to share with the whole group.
Display slide 23. Invite participants to investigate the College and Career Culture Tool Kit. Share with participants that this tool kit is compiled from a variety of resources educators may use to positively influence the college-going and career-focused culture in their schools or spheres of influence. If participants are teachers, they may find the student-facing learning opportunities most useful, whereas counselors and administrators may find the educator- or family-facing resources more applicable.
Show slide 24 and share the attached Visual Cues, Making Connections, and High Expectations documents that represent the three sections of the College and Career Culture Tool Kit. Encourage participants to spend time looking through each tool kit and to pay particular attention to the sections that may help address areas of deficiency noted in their completed Assessment Rubric.
Evaluate
5 Minute(s)
Show slide 25. Ask participants to write down at least one tangible strategy on the back of their Note Catcher that they could take from the College and Career Culture Tool Kit to improve the college-going and career-focused culture in their school. After a few minutes, ask for volunteers to share their ideas.
Research Rationale
Research rationale for this resource is provided in the literature review College-Going Culture in High Schools: The Effects of College Expectations and College Talk on Students’ Postsecondary Attendance.
Resources
DinosoftLabs. (2020, August 29). Tool kit. [Illustration]. The noun project. https://thenounproject.com/icon/tool-kit-4104261/
K20 Center. (n.d.). Card sort. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/147
K20 Center. (n.d.). College-going culture in high schools: The effects of college expectations and college talk on students’ postsecondary attendance. Literature Review. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/literature-review/4774
K20 Center. (n.d.). Mentimeter. Tech tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/645
K20 Center. (n.d.). Round robin. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/2183
K20 Center. (n.d.) Shortened URL links. Tech tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/3319
K20 Center. (n.d.). Slido. Tech tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/4985
Schein, E. H. (2016). Organizational Culture and Leadership (5th ed., Ser. The Jossey-Bass Business and Management Series). John Wiley & Sons.