Making the Connection:

Leveraging Statewide Advising Frameworks to Promote College and Career Success

Lauren Norton, Education Strategy Group

Mitzi Holland, Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education

Emily Rusca, Education Systems Center at NIU

Lauren Norton

Associate Director

Education Strategy Group

Mitzi Holland

Director, Kentucky Advising Academy

Council on Postsecondary Education

Emily Rusca

Director of Policy

Education Systems Center at NIU

• Learn more about the development, dissemination, and refinement of two statewide advising frameworks.
• Reflect on the role of state-level entities in setting a vision for high-quality advising.
• Discuss lessons learned on building buy-in, leveraging partnerships, and supporting local communities with implementation.
• Preview what’s ahead and remaining questions for the field.

1. Welcome and Context-Setting
2. Overview of IL and KY State Advising Frameworks
3. Panel Discussion
4. Audience Q&A
5. Closing and Gratitude

Session Goals

Kentucky College and Career Advising Framework

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Our Vision

Kentucky educators will be equipped with the necessary resources to provide students equitable access to advising for a successful transition to postsecondary education and their desired career.

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Our Work

• Professional learning with opportunities for networking
• Postsecondary advising resource development
• Increased stakeholder involvement through collaboration and partnerships between secondary schools and postsecondary/employers

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The Kentucky Advising Academy is an initiative of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

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The Commonwealth Education Continuum exists to remove barriers throughout the system to ensure students can access a seamless P-20 education journey. The Continuum supports actions that lead to Kentuckians earning the necessary degrees and credentials to succeed in the workforce, elevate our communities, and increase economic opportunity. The CEC achieves this by:

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• Convening cross-sector partners,
• Monitoring and reporting progress,
• Identifying and advocating for policy solutions, and
• Accelerating action.

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The continuum is co-chaired by Kentucky’s Lieutenant Governor, the President of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, and the Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education and consists of twenty-eight members whose expertise spans early childhood to the workforce.

CEC Mission

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Postsecondary Advising Framework Goals

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• Provide advisors with a clear roadmap to guide their interactions with students on their postsecondary path

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• ​​​​Create alignment among advising professionals in Kentucky around the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for students to successfully transition to their postsecondary path

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• Acknowledge and connect areas of success around postsecondary advising, and identify gaps in data, capacity, and resources

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The Kentucky Advising Academy is an initiative of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

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Framework Components

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Postsecondary Advising Framework

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Four Main Categories:

• Career Exploration
• Postsecondary Opportunities
• Financial Aid & Literacy
• Essential Skills

• Aligned to the Individual Learning Plan (ILP)
• Aligned to Kentucky Career Studies Standards
• Feedback was received from district and state-level partners

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Our Toolkit

Providing a comprehensive collection of tools, information and resources, which will serve as a hub for advisors across the Commonwealth.

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www.cpe.ky.gov/advisingky-toolkit

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Pilot Implementation

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The goal of the pilot is to support a diverse group of districts with their implementation of the postsecondary advising framework by:

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• partnering with districts who have identified advising as a priority, including those who:
• lead the work without additional support
• partnered with a OneGoal coach to support their implementation
• providing strategies and guidance to support implementation fidelity
• analyzing feedback and revising guidance resources to increase effectiveness of statewide implementation
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Illinois PaCE Framework

State policy

alignment to ensure students are on PaCE to thrive

Postsecondary and Workforce

Readiness Act

2016 Public Act 99-0674 (HB5729)

Components

• Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE)
• Scaling of 12th Grade Transitional Courses
• College and Career Pathway Endorsements on High School Diplomas
• Pilot of Competency-Based High School Graduation Requirements

Original Expectations

• Agencies develop PaCE framework
• Districts opt-in to implementation

2022 Public Act 102-0917 (HB3296)

• Districts serving grades 6–12 must elect into or opt out of implementing a local form of PaCE by July 2025
• Agencies must update PaCE to extend to 6th grade and include other relevant updates

pwract.org

What does PaCE include?

Organized from 9th through 12th grade, the framework explains what students should be supported to do and what they should know at the end of each grade relative to three key domains:

• Career exploration and development
• Postsecondary education exploration, preparation, and selection
• Financial aid and literacy

Organized from 6th through 8th grade, the framework explains what a student should be exposed to and what a student should be supported to do at the end of each grade level relative to three key domains:

• Aspiration
• Self-advocacy
• Planning

Middle School

High School

Implementation Supports

Illinois Student Assistance Commission�Leads the development and implementation of PaCE, offering:

• Extensive resource materials, including sample customized frameworks, implementation guides, templates, etc.
• Customized PaCE training and support
• Convening annual Illinois PaCE Symposia

�Illinois Education and Career Success Network�Facilitates virtual and in-person learning opportunities for communities to learn about and implement PaCE.

Lauren Norton

Associate Director

Education Strategy Group

Mitzi Holland

Director, Kentucky Advising Academy

Council on Postsecondary Education

Emily Rusca

Director of Policy

Education Systems Center at NIU

1. Advising is inherently human-driven; with that comes variability, which can have equity implications for students based on how adults see their role.
2. Capacity will always be a limiting factor. How can we adapt for different entry points? How can we ensure that our approach isn’t one-size-fits-all? How can we leverage our partnerships? How can we expand funding for implementation?
3. Measuring implementation and impact is tricky. What are the key metrics to assessing impact? How can we build the capacity of local practitioners to leverage - and share data without overburdening them. How can we better leverage student input to inform iterations of the framework?

Questions We’re Still Grappling With

Lauren Norton lnorton@edstrategy.org

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Mitzi Holland mitzi.holland@ky.gov

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Emily Rusca

erusca@niu.edu

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Learn More

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https://tinyurl.com/stateadvising

Resources detailing how states can lead the way in designing and implementing financial aid programs that expand postsecondary access and success�

• Full report
• State benchmarking tool
• Spotlights of three states �(MI, TN, WA)
• Profiles of five hypothetical students

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NEW RELEASE: ESG’s Aiding Attainment Report

https://edstrategy.org/resource/�aiding-attainment/