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School Counselor Corps Grant Program Charles E. Dukes Colorado Department of Education. What this presentation covers. Roles CDE/Program Manager Local Program Managers Fiscal Managers Program Overview History Purpose Structure and Emphasis Budget/Fiscal Management
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School Counselor Corps Grant Program Charles E. Dukes Colorado Department of Education
What this presentation covers • Roles • CDE/Program Manager • Local Program Managers • Fiscal Managers • Program Overview • History • Purpose • Structure and Emphasis • Budget/Fiscal Management • Evaluation and Reporting
Role of CDE/Program Manager • One: Exercise the “Spirit of the Law” • Partner in Mission • Broker resources • Keep our eyes on the prize for results/outcomes as legislatively intended • Ask – “What is the intent of the law? What are we hoping to • achieve?
Role of CDE Manager, cont. Two: Adhere to the Letter of the Law • Ensure use of funds are allowed by law • Fiscal accountability • Good paper trails • Avoid audit findings • Maintain the credibility of the program • Protect the dollars so they keep coming
Role of Fiscal Manager • Shared Responsibility with Program Manager • Monitoring expenditures to ensure utilization of funds are on track • Forecasting any cost-savings whereas funds could be devoted to other budget categories or new uses • Consult CDE program manager regarding budget revisions • Submit budget revisions for approval when necessary • Not needed - if less than 10% of award for purchased services and supplies • Needed - salaries and equipment; More than 10% • Ensuring required financial reports are completed and submitted to CDE by deadline
How CDE will help you: • Annual Fall Networking Meeting • Save the Date (Tentative): Friday, Oct. 21, 2011 • Site Visits • Learn about you and your program and needs • Coach and encourage • Refer to known resources • Primary purpose: General Technical Assistance • Secondary purpose: Monitoring of compliance
Background • House Bill 08-1370 established the School Counselor Corps Grant Program. The resulting legislation enacted by the General Assembly is 22-91-101 et seq, of the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S.). • Since 2008, the General Assembly has annually allocated approximately $5 million to fund this grant program. • $15 million has been invested to fund 37 grantees which represented 75.5 secondary counselors. • These counselors provided services to over 82,000 students of which over 38,000 (46 percent) are economically disadvantaged.
Purpose of the Program • To increase the availability of effective school-based counseling within secondary schools with a focus on postsecondary preparation; • To increase the graduation rate within the state; and • Increase the percentage of students who appropriately prepare for, apply to and continue into postsecondary education.
Impact Summary • In the first cohort of the three-year grant (2008-2011), 90 schools in 37 districts and/or Charter School Institute schools were awarded School Counselor Corps funds. Schools served by the grant demonstrated the following outcomes: • Decrease in Dropout Rate • Increase in College Preparation Data • Relationship to Other High School Initiatives
Decrease in Dropout Rate • The most recent available data shows that in comparison with non-funded School Counselor Corps schools, the schools receiving School Counselor Corps grant funds: • decreased (improved) their cumulative dropout rate from 5.2 percent to 4.6 percent from 2008-09 to 2009-10 while non-funded schools with similar dropout rates and free and reduced lunch rates increased their dropout rate from 10.6 percent to 10.9 percent points over this same period; and • maintained the graduation rate from 2007-08 to 2009-10 while non- participating schools showed declining graduation rates over the same period.
Impact on Increasing College Access • Overall findings for the three year program illustrate a positive impact on the students’ college preparation. The table below summarizes the total gains made by the grant program from 2008 to 2011:
School Counselor Corps Grant Program 2011-12 • The legislature approved $4.8 million in distribution for another grant cycle in May 2011. • 33 proposals were reviewed by CDE and Counseling and Career preparation specialists in the field and 22 were recommended for funding and approved for funding by the State Board of Education. • 88 schools will be served and 60.5 new professional school counselor positions will be created.
School Counselor Corps Grant • Quality of Plan • Adopting standards recommended by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA); • Providing quality professional development; • Using data over time; and • Setting measurable goals. • Development of Partnerships • Institutions of higher education, postsecondary service providers, or community based organizations and businesses; and • External education agencies, and/or community, and/or business workforce partners.
School Counselor Corps Grant • Post-Secondary Preparation • Providing a culture of postsecondary planning; • Developing Individual Career and Academic Plans (ICAPs); • Involving leaders to increase the effectiveness of postsecondary preparation in the school; • Using data to improve existing programs; and • Providing access to accelerated coursework and remediation courses. • Adequacy of Resources • Cost effectiveness; • Sustainability of program; and • Supplementing of current resources.
Evaluation and Reporting • Each education provider that receives a grant through the program will be required to report, at a minimum, the following information to the Colorado Department of Education on or before April15th of each year during the term of the grant • The number of school counselors hired using the grant funds (include the student-to-counselor ratio) ; • Any professional development programs provided using grant funds (hours, attendees, summary detailing the impact of the PD);
Evaluation and Reporting • A comparison of the following for the years prior to the receipt of the grant and the years for which the education provider receives a grant: • dropout rates, • graduation rates, • postsecondary and workforce readiness rates (percentage measured by the education provider), • college matriculation (number of completed FAFSA’s, college applications, scholarship applications, received scholarship dollar amount, and the percent of students accepted into post-secondary institutions) and • Remediation rates (program structure, number of students, and number of hours);
Evaluation and Reporting • Information indicating an increase in the level of postsecondary preparation services provided to secondary students at recipient schools including the following: • incorporation of ACSA standards; • individual career and academic plans (number of completed ICAPs, percentage of completed ICAPs, summary of ICAP implementation, number of student internships and career exploration); • enrollment in pre-collegiate preparation programs (number of active programs, student enrollment in active programs); • post-secondary or vocational preparation programs (student changes in enrollment in available programs, description of AP,IB, college level).
Evaluation and Reporting • Monitoring and Improvement site visits as a part of the School Counselor Corps Grant program.
Budget and Fiscal Management • Interim Financial Report: January 2012 • Final Revisions, if Any: Mid April • Annual Financial Report: September 1, 2012
Budget and Fiscal Management • Budget revisions must be approved prior to changes • Email the CDE Program Manager detailing budget request • In the request should include a clear description of all proposed expenditures. • An Example: • Insufficient - $3,150 Professional development • Sufficient - $3,150 Professional development for 2 Counselors to attend the ACT conference (Registration $350 x 3, Airfare $450 x 3, Lodging $ 250 x 3)
Budget and Fiscal Management • No Supplanting • Funding counselor positions that were previously funded by general funds is considered supplanting and is not an allowable expenditure. • Another example would be if an applicant is requesting SCCP funds for a counseling position that is already funded through district funds and there would be position cost savings from a SCCP award. This would be considered supplanting and is not allowable. • Annual Financial Report • Annual Financial Report is the final expenditure report • The budget summary sheet has the budget and Annual Financial Report included.
Contact Manager: Charles E. Dukes (P)303.866.6142 (C)303.815.9478 dukes_c@cde.state.co.us Fiscal Support: Marti Rodriguez (P)303.866.6769 Rodriguez_m@cde.state.co.us