BizVoice July/August 2014 - page 8

8
BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – July/August 2014
Vectren Corporation is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin,
disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
In 2014, Vectren is dedicating nearly $45 million to natural gas pipeline upgrades
across Indiana. You may see us working in your town or even on your street.
So please be mindful of our crews, and drive safely as our work gets underway.
Learn more at
vectren.com/modernization
Find careers at vectren.com/careers
Vectren crew member
Jeremy Vice performs pipeline
replacement work on West 38
th
Street in Anderson, Indiana.
This Indiana Chamber Foundation research report was released in late
May. Excerpts from the press release and executive summary identify the
challenges and potential next steps.
A new Indiana Chamber report finds that school counselors are
not able to meet the range of postsecondary needs of students, due in
large part to a stagnant system and a variety of situations often out of
their control.
“What we have is a counseling issue, not an issue with the counselors,”
explains Indiana Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kevin
Brinegar. “In fact, the vast majority of counselors in the survey said they
would like to spend more time providing college and career guidance.”
The
Indiana School Counseling Research Review
was conducted for
the Indiana Chamber Foundation to assess the current state of school
counseling and to see whether the landscape had changed much the last
two decades. A 1994 statewide study titled
High Hopes Long Odds
had
identified disparities in the way counselors provided college and career
readiness to students.
“Unfortunately, little has progressed in 20 years,” Brinegar offers.
“This is such a vital tool for middle and high school students, but far
too little time is being spent with students on college and career
readiness despite the obvious need.”
What prompted the Indiana Chamber to seek the research is the
organization’s
Indiana Vision 2025
economic development plan, which
features a focus on Outstanding Talent. Brinegar emphasizes, “One
goal in the plan is to increase to 90% the proportion of Hoosier
students who graduate from high school ready for college and/or
career training; therefore improving the counseling aspect is critical.”
A total of 426 Indiana school counselors – 73% of them from high
schools – were surveyed for the
Indiana School Counseling Research Review
.
According to the survey, 58% of respondents said that a quarter
or less of their time is spent on college and career readiness activities;
that number jumps to 90% of counselors when the timeframe for college/
career readiness duties is placed at 50% or less. Fewer than 10% of
counselors said they spent more than half their time in this key role.
The Indiana Chamber report shows that just since 2010 the
amount of time counselors are asked to devote to non-counseling
duties has more than doubled. In 2010, 18% of a counselor’s time was
spent away from direct service to students; in 2013 it was 40%. (That
translates to time spent on college and career guidance declining from
32% to the current 21%.)
Report: Students Need More Counseling
School Counselors: Time on Tasks
2010 2011 2013 2013*
Counseling
20.0% 23.1% 17.1% 15.4%
Guidance
32.0% 29.9% 21.9% 21.4%
Advocacy
13.0% 13.1% 10.8% 10.6%
Program Management
19.0% 16.8% 13.3% 13.0%
Non-counseling
18.0% 18.2% 36.8% 39.5%
*
Indiana School Counseling Research Review
study. Previous surveys were conducted by
the Indiana Department of Eduction.
CHAMBER STUDY
OFC,IFC,1,2,3,4,5,6,7 9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,...OBC
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