While many believe an excellent faculty and a rich curriculum are the necessary components to improving student outcomes, there is another area often overlooked by reformers - a comprehensive, coordinated student services system designed to enhance every student's chance for success. The means must be found to help all students move successfully from one educational level to the next and/or from school to work and lifelong learning. An efficient and comprehensive student services delivery system will help attain this goal. This BRIEF provides the rationale for such a system and describes the wide range of services high schools need to provide. A second BRIEF in 1996 will provide information about a coordinated student services delivery system. (This BRIEF is adapted from an NCRVE CenterWork article currently in press.)
The School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA) of 1994 supports providing all students equal access to the full range of program components, including recruitment and enrollment activities. The Act also places emphasis on improved career guidance and counseling services and the necessity for students to select a career major by the 11th grade. These and other services must be improved to strengthen the transition process. For example, all students will profit from career counseling; child care and transportation services allow single parents and teen parents to take advantage of their educational opportunities; job placement services assist students in their job search and also support good matches of students and employers; follow-up services improve programs; and student assessment helps all students understand their strengths.
In January 1995, the National Center for Research in Vocational Education reorganized its Office of Special Populations to become the Office of Student Services (OSS). Their work began by conducting a literature search to identify (a) the full range of student services represented in secondary schools and (b) the best models for effectively delivering these services. (Contact the OSS for a summary of the literature review.)
Surprisingly, the literature review failed to uncover a single listing of all student services one might expect to find in a secondary institution. Furthermore, the literature search revealed no comprehensive student services delivery models. While the literature is replete with information about student services, most references center on models for delivering services to students enrolled in special education, or services for other students considered to be at risk, or models for career development and guidance and counseling services.
Furthermore, even the "student services" terminology is problematic. Several terms are associated with and/or used interchangeably with student services. For example, student affairs, student personnel, student development, and support services are associated with student services in the literature. In addition, the terms support services and supplemental services are both used in recent legislation. While supplemental services is defined in the legislation (Carl D. Perkins Vocational and applied Technology Education Act, Sec. 521(38)) as "...curriculum modification, equipment modification, classroom modification, supportive personnel, and instructional aids and services," support services is not specifically defined. The Perkins Act indicates support services pertain to services such as counseling, special transportation needs, English-language instruction, mentoring, child care, and special aids. In the School-to-Work Opportunities Act and in day-to-day practice, the terms are used interchangeably.
In lieu of an acceptable definition in the literature, the Office of Student Services defines student services as those services provided by an educational institution to facilitate learning and the successful transition from school to work, military, or more education. To be effective, services must be:
The Office of Student Services (see figure 1) depicts three stages of attendance:
(1) pre-enrollment - the period when one is preparing to enroll in a secondary school;
(2) enrollment - the period when the student is enrolled; and
(3) post enrollment - the period when the student has left the program whether they have advanced to the next level or withdrawn.
Students require some services during all three levels and others at different stages of enrollment. Of course, each studentÕs needs will be unique. The OSS listing includes basic services that should be available during all three stages. Some of these services, such as counseling, food services, transportation services, safety and security services, and medical/nursing services, are often taken for granted by students and parents. Other basic or fundamental services include child care assistance, psychological services, social work/social services, and special accommodations.
During the pre-enrollment stage, students need certain services to facilitate their movement to the next level. Orientation to their new school is very helpful. Appropriate assessment should take place as well as career awareness and exploration activities. Students will benefit from career/educational counseling prior to entering a high school program.
During enrollment, most students will continue to need educational/career counseling including career exploration and awareness, career/transition planning (including financial aid), and additional assessment. Some students will need tutoring, most will benefit from a mentor, and almost all can use academic advisement. Job referral and job placement services help ensure students smooth transition to work.
While early school leavers and graduates traditionally have minor contact with the former institution, many of them would still profit from job referral, job placement, and counseling. There seems to be a growing trend for former students in the post-enrollment stage to return frequently to their previous school or college to serve on advisory councils, act as mentors to current students, offer jobs to students, and to provide other assistance.
While there is probably no single "best" approach to providing essential student services effectively, the following are some general guidelines that schools can use in building a student services system:
The student services team consists of professionals who specialize in providing counseling, job placement, consulting, assessment, and other related services to ensure the career, educational, social, emotional, intellectual, and healthy development of all students. Typically, a student services team consists of the school counselor, social worker, psychologist, nurse, and other related professionals (Schmidt, 1993, p. 35), as well as special education resource teachers, Chapter I teachers, special populations coordinators, assessment specialists, para-professionals, and rehabilitation counselors (Tennessee State Department of Education, no date).
Other school services personnel who should be included on the team are transition specialists, school-to-work coordinators, multicultural services professionals, tutors, academic advisors, job coaches, and recruitment representatives. Local service providers should also be represented. Inclusion of employment, health and social services, welfare, and other community services will further strengthen the team. Representatives from food services, child care, and transportation could meet periodically with the team.
Ideally, student services are centrally located or found in areas with good access. To coordinate the various services, a director is needed. Commitment and collaboration from among the different student services professionals are essential to organizing and implementing a comprehensive student services system. Members of a unified team collaborate with one another to make the various components work as one. They strive toward one goal - to prepare every student for success in careers and lifelong learning.
In 1996, the Office of Student Services will work to encourage systems change so that student services, which are based on the developmental career needs of all students, become an integral part of the eduational process. To learn more about implementing an inclusive student services delivery system, the OSS staff will work with two schools who seek to improve their student services system. Another BRIEF will be published next year highlighting the results of this study.
American Vocational Association. (1992). The AVA guide to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Schmidt, J. (1993). Counseling in schools: Essential services and comprehensive programs. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
School-To-Work Opportunities Act of 1994. (1994, May).
Tennessee State Department of Education. (no date). Support services team: Duties and responsibilities. Unpublished manuscript.
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For more information contact l-iliff@uiuc.edu