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School counselors play a major role in college readiness. They provide services to foster student development in the career, academic and social/emotional domains as part of a comprehensive school counseling program. One of the common goals of a comprehensive school counseling program is to ensure all students are college, career and life ready by the time they graduate (Diehm, 2019). Assisting students with completing their FAFSA for the year is a way to promote college readiness.

The target level for this advocacy issue is for secondary students, primarily 12th graders.

Reference:
Diehm, A. (2019, February). School counselors' role in college readiness. School Counselors' Role in College Readiness - American School Counselor Association (ASCA). Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/newsletters/february-2019/school-counselors%E2%80%99-role-in-college-readiness

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Students who are Pell Grant-eligible missed out on $2.6 billion in free FAFSA college aid in 2018 simply because they did not submit the FAFSA (Johnson, 2019). Students who fail to complete the FAFSA before the deadline tend to miss out on financial aid that they are eligible for. As a result, some students may choose to go into debt. Some students may choose to dismiss the option of college altogether and this could become an issue.

Collaboration is the process of which multiple individuals work toward a common goal and share responsibility for the associated tasks (ASCA, 2019).

Techniques:

1. Teaming and partnering: School counselors work with families, administrators, teachers, school staff, businesses and community organizations to support improvement of achievement, attendance and discipline and fulfill the annual student outcome goals. Teaming and partnering occur through resource sharing, joint presentations, advisory councils or formalized partnerships with specific focus or agenda (ASCA, 2019).

2. Parent workshops: School counselors facilitate or organize informational sessions about student developmental issues to address students' needs and to enhance the attainment of the school counseling curriculum (ASCA, 2019).

By teaming and partnering, the school counselor will be able to collectively collaborate with families, teachers, administrators in order to ensure that all students complete the FAFSA by the deadline, as well other resources to have a successful transition to college.

This program will encourage all stakeholders to participate and will provide resources for students, parents, and teachers. This program will also grant students and their families the opportunity to ensure that students have all of the information they need for the completion of the FAFSA.

The program will begin with identify the key places that the placeholders play. The school counselors are the first leg, the teachers are the second leg, the families are the third leg. The counselors introduce the resources, the teacher reiterate the resources, and the families assist the students with using the resources. Secondly, the program's goal is to ensure that the student has everything that they could possibly use in order to be successful after graduation. The program will have some incentives, drawings for prizes, gift cards, and scholarships. Towards the end of the program, the school counselors will request feedback from the students, as well as the stakeholders to improve moving forward.

Reference:
American School Counselor Association. (2019a). ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs. Alexandria, VA: Author.
Johnson Hess, A. (2019, October 11). Students who don't fill out Fafsa are missing out on their share of billions in financial aid. CNBC. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/11/if-you-dont-fill-out-fafsa-you-miss-out-on-billions-in-financial-aid.html

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100% of the senior class will complete the FAFSA by the end of the 2022 - 2023 school year.

Last year, only 63% of the senior class completed the FAFSA.

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Mindset:

Self confidence in ability to succeed.

Understanding that postsecondary educations and life-long learning are necessary for long-term career success.

Belief in using abilities to their fullest to achieve high-quality results and outcomes (ASCA, 2021).

Behavior(s):

Apply self-motivation and self-direction to learning.

Apply media and technology skills.

Identify long- and short-term academic, career and social/emotional goals.

Demonstrate ability to assume responsibility.

Create relationships with adults that support success.

Demonstrate ethical decision making and social responsibility (ASCA, 2021).

Reference:
American School Counselor Association (2021). ASCA Student Standards; Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success. Alexandria, VA: Author.

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In order for the program to be successful, the school counselor would need to collaborate with families, teachers, administrators, other school staff and education stakeholders for student achievement and success (ASCA, 2019).

Partner with others to advocate for student achievement and educational equity and opportunities.

Explain the potential for dual roles with families and other caretakers (ASCA, 2019).

Along with the school counselors, families and teachers would be key stakeholders in this program. School counselors With the families working hand in hand with the teachers, students would understand the significance of completing the FAFSA. The teachers could even offer academic incentives for completing the FAFSA before the deadline.

Counselors provide guidance. The counselors dissiminate the necessary information to the teachers and the families.

Teachers collaborate with counselors to provide additional guidance to the students and assist with relaying the information to the families.

Families use the information given by the counselors and the teacher to ensure that the student is able to comprehend the information.

Reference:
American School Counselor Association. (2019a). ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs. Alexandria, VA: Author.