Academic counseling to prepare for transitions to high school
High-performing middle schools help prepare their eighth-grade students for high school by providing counseling sessions that explain course expectations, career readiness options, and behavioral considerations for success in high school. In addition to informing students about the University of California’s a-g requirements (Outside Source), counselors and teachers help struggling students set goals to get on track with grade-level standards.
California Education Code Section 52378 et seq. provides funding for school districts to increase the number of school counselors in California’s high schools and middle schools. The law provides funds for districts if they develop a program to provide individualized counseling that includes the following provisions:
- Schools serving pupils in grade seven must develop a list of course work and experience necessary to assist each pupil in grade seven who is deemed to be at the Far Below Basic level in English language arts or mathematics based on sixth-grade California Standards Tests results. The goal of the course work is to help pupils successfully make the transition to high school and meet all graduation requirements, including passing the high school exit examination.
- Each pupil in grade seven should have a counseling conference before January of that school year in which the pupil is enrolled in grade seven to inform the pupil, and his or her parent or guardian, of the following:
- Consequences of not passing the high school exit examination.
- Programs, courses, and career technical education options available for pupils in need for satisfactory completion of middle or high school.
- Cumulative records and transcripts of the pupil.
- Performance on standardized and diagnostic assessments of the pupil.
- Recommendations on strategies, high school courses, and alternative education options available to the pupil.
- Information on postsecondary education and training.
- The pupil's score on the English language arts or mathematics portion of the California Standards Test administered in grade six, as applicable.
For more information about the Middle and High School Counseling Program, visit the CDE Web site, or refer to the California Results-Based School Counseling and Student Support Guidelines (2007) (PDF; 873KB; 88pp).
Previous
Articulated assessments
Next
High school visits