OPERATION PREPARATION AND COLLEGE/CAREER READINESS

Next week, students across Kentucky will be getting advice on what they can do academically to prepare for college or career as part of Operation Preparation. Governor Steve Beshear has issued a proclamation declaring March 12-16 as Operation Preparation College and Career Advising Week.

During Operation Preparation, 8th- and 10th-grade students are scheduled to meet with trained community advisors to review their college and career plans as identified in their Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) and talk about:

·         career aspirations and required education/training

·         whether the student is on target to meet his or her goals

·         whether the student is taking the courses recommended to prepare him or her for the future

“We want to help students realize their potential, maximize their academic preparation and stay on track for success during and after high school,” said Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday.

College/career-readiness is one of the measures on which schools and districts will be judged as part of the state’s new Unbridled Learning: College/Career-Readiness for All assessment and accountability system.

“Our teachers, our counselors and our principals need this support from our communities to ensure students graduate ready to take that next step in life,” Holliday added.

With a statewide student-to-counselor ratio of about 450:1, many school counselors are overloaded with the number of students to whom they must provide services. Operation Preparation is designed to supplement a school’s overall advising program by engaging parents and the community in a partnership with the school in support of Kentucky’s college/career-readiness agenda.

Last year, all Kentucky school district superintendents and local board of education chairs signed the Commonwealth Commitment, pledging to increase the college/career-readiness rate of their high school students by 50 percent by 2015. Statewide, the college/career-readiness rate stands at 38 percent (non-bonus rate) -- up from 34 percent in the 2010-11 school year.

The majority of Kentucky school districts, along with the Kentucky School for the Blind, the Kentucky School for the Deaf and the Division of Juvenile Justice Youth Detention Centers, are participating in Operation Preparation. (See map.) How it is implemented is a local decision, although the overall goals remain the same: help students see the connection between education and financial security in adulthood and help districts increase college/career-readiness of students.

More than 80 Kentucky Department of Education employees have volunteered to be community advisors in various districts across the state. Education Commissioner Terry Holliday will advise students at Gallatin County High on Thursday, March 15 and participating in several school assemblies in support of Operation Preparation.

Volunteer community advisors for Operation Preparation are required to take an online training course developed by the Kentucky Department of Education and KET, sign a non-disclosure affidavit agreeing not to share confidential student information and abide by all district policies.

Operation Preparation is a joint effort of the Kentucky Department of Education and the Department for Workforce Development. More information can be found at www.operationpreparation.com.

SOURCE: KDE Press release

PROCLAMATION

by

Steven L. Beshear

of the

Commonwealth of Kentucky:

To All To Whom These Presents Shall Come:

Whereas, the Kentucky Department of Education and the Department of Workforce Development recognize the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s economic future is dependent on an educated and skilled workforce; and

Whereas, more than 50 percent of all future jobs in Kentucky will require employees to have a college degree and/or postsecondary job training; and

Whereas, effective advising using a student’s Individual Learning Plan(ILP), is a key strategy in preparing all Kentucky students to be college- and/or career-ready; and

Whereas Kentucky’s citizens – parents, business people, elected officials, community members and educators  -- are committed to a better Kentucky and have a collective interest in seeing our children succeed; and

Whereas, we, as individuals, can help students maximize their educational opportunities and reach their true potential through effective academic and career advising;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, STEVEN L. BESHEAR, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, do hereby proclaim March 12-16, 2012, as

OPERATION PREPARATION, COLLEGE AND CAREER ADVISING WEEK

IN KENTUCKY.

DONE AT THE CAPITOL, in the City of Frankfort this 27^th day of December, in the year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven and in the 220^th year of the Commonwealth.

  

Steven L. Beshear, Governor 

Elaine N. Walker, Secretary of State