Collaborative Counselor Training Intitiative (CCTI)
College Access for All Students: Strategies for School Counselors in Career and Academic Advising
Content includes sessions on communicating with students from diverse cultural backgrounds, creating a college-going school culture, career planning, academic planning, postsecondary choice, financial literacy, financial aid, college admissions testing, and the college application process.
The materials are designed for online delivery and can be used in a modular format for professional development credit or as a complete course for academic credit. States also will be able to use portions of the modules for face-to-face workshops.
The states in the collaborative have made the materials available to additional states that wish to purchase a license at a cost substantially less than the original development cost. The materials can be customized for any state joining the CCTI.
Target Audience
The modules are designed for middle grades and high school counselors and postsecondary student services professionals, including college admissions counselors and financial aid advisors. States can also use the modules for professional development of school principals, graduation coaches, and teachers who serve as advisors.
Flexibility to Meet State Needs
The modules are designed for online delivery, either as three distinct modules for professional development credit or as a complete course for certificate endorsement or academic credit. States also can use a subset of the modules for optional one- or two-day, face-to-face professional development workshops. Content can be customized with specific information about going to college in a particular state, including state-specific graduation requirements, postsecondary institutions, college planning tools and resources, and scholarships.
High-Quality Content
In addition to instructional design by EDC, the materials were designed and developed by a team of leading counseling faculty from postsecondary institutions, practicing middle grades and high school counselors (including the ASCA National Counselor of the Year), curriculum specialists and other content experts.
Facilitator Training and Support
Included in the cost for a license to customize and use the materials is a contract with EDC to train four facilitators in that state to teach the course or individual modules. Facilitators will be trained with other facilitators in the region in an online class that covers both the content and pedagogy. In addition, EDC will maintain a Web site for facilitators to provide them with support and information about the course and connect them with other course facilitators across the region.
Course Management Systems
The modules can be delivered in any course management system, including Moodle, Desire2Learn and Blackboard.