How Can We Be More Prepared?

This is the first unit of the second senior STEAM course, Social Entrepreneurship. In this class, we have talked about how people's minds and personalities affect businesses. We covered some psychological topics and took multiple personality tests to see who we are as people. We looked at different types of relationships and business culture. We learned how to set SMART goals and use a SWOT chart to think about a situation. We also learned about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. We explored how that relates to personality and businesses. We did complex number review for the math portion of this unit. For this project, we had to look at a certain aspect of the school and analyze it. I chose college prep as it is something that I feel needs to be changed at GCE. I hope that my ideas and opinions are considered because even if I don't benefit from it, I want future GCE students to have a better time than I did.

At GCE, the goal is to place students in college. GCE has a college counselor that guides students through the college application process. While students' goals are different, the common goal of the school is to place students into college. Not every student goes to college, but 100% of students are accepted into college.

I am a senior. I have been at GCE since I was a freshman. Currently, I am committed to Northern Michigan University. As a part of the school, I have been guided through the college process. According to the Meyers-Briggs test, I am an ISTJ. Throughout the college prep process, I have had strengths and weaknesses. One of my strengths was my logical thoughts and analysis. This was an advantage for me because I was able to see what I was being taught and what I wasn’t. This allowed me to advocate for myself, and also reach out to cover things that were not being covered in class. According to the DISC personality test, I am the most dominant and the least compliant. This was one of my weaknesses because I would get frustrated if I thought I was not learning or being taught everything I could be.

In my opinion, I think the college prep at GCE is lacking. According to the GCE website: “At GCE Lab School, we provide personalized, one-on-one support and counseling to build your post-secondary plans. Our graduates have 100% college acceptance and 80% of our graduates receive merit-based financial aid.” I am genuinely concerned that students are not learning at grade level, and that there is not enough rigor in the curriculum. As far as specific college prep, I think it is even more lacking. There is no standardized test prep and the curriculum does not reinforce many of the concepts covered on standardized tests. The average ACT score of GCE shows. I asked some seniors what they thought about the college prep. “I don’t feel prepared at all,” said one senior. “Academically college will be a lot harder than GCE and I know that for a fact. There will be labs and I have never taken a lab class.” When I was talking to this senior about standardized test prep, I told her that the average ACT score of GCE is a 22. “I am not surprised,” she said. “There is no test prep and you are on your own. I think if the school wants to improve that score, they need to incorporate a lot more standardized testing which I know is not the focus at a progressive school like this. At the end of the day, yes standardized tests don’t determine how smart you are but it’s a part of the college process. I wish I had known this before.” I have also experienced a lack of support in actually applying and choosing schools. I did everything alone. From looking at schools to applying, to deciding. When I did choose a school, I felt completely unsupported. Other students have also had this experience. “I have not gotten much support in terms of where I choose to go.” said another senior. Multiple students have felt pressure and judgment about their choice. I believe that if the school wants to be selective about what schools students enroll in, the college prep has to improve dramatically. This way there will be more options for students, especially more selective options.

I do think there are positive aspects of college prep at GCE. I asked one STEAM teacher about college prep. “Our focus is on 21st-century skills. How to research and how to tell if something is a good resource. We have been looking at presentations and technological integration.” The GCE curriculum does make students think more broadly about why they are learning something. “The grade shouldn’t matter,” said another teacher. The goal of GCE teaching is to prepare students for college in a different way. This is why in some areas, GCE prepares kids for college very well.

The commons is a common resource that is shared among the people of the community. The commons in college prep at GCE is our college counselor. We only have one counselor, and she has to be responsible for the entire student body’s college journey. Some students require more attention than others or want more guidance. Other students may want to do the process more independently. This means that there are limited resources from the counselor, but there are other staff and faculty that can support students.

I analyzed college prep at GCE using a SWOT chart. This chart measures strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

CM SWOT Chart. (2020)

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory that tiers the 5 needs of a person. If one cannot be obtained, it is extremely difficult to achieve the one above it. I applied college prep at GCE to Maslow's Hierarchy. The bottom levels of Maslow’s hierarchy do not apply to college prep as nothing college prep related is a threat to your safety, nor will you die without them.  

CM "Maslow's Hierarchy" (2020)

I propose that GCE should institute mandatory test prep for all students. This would begin sophomore year, and continue throughout junior and part of senior year. This will bring up test scores overall and will allow students to apply and enroll in higher tiered schools. This will look very good for GCE and entice more students to enroll. The general content of the test prep classes also provides additional rigor and knowledge for students. There are no additional staff required and could be implemented as a period class, or a workshop.

I created a SMART goal for my proposal. SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.

CM "SMART Goal" (2020)

My role is limited in this goal. I will graduate in 4 months and won’t be able to take advantage of the test prep. I can be an advocate for this class and I can try to lobby for staff to make this happen next school year. My goal is for future students of GCE to have a better and less stressful college prep experience than I did. I also want GCE to succeed. I think in order for GCE to grow, many steps need to be taken, only one of which is college prep. I hope that GCE can make a comfortable yet challenging college prep experience for all students in the future.

Works Cited:

“AMD Interview.” CM. Chicago. January 30, 2020.

“Anonymous Interview.” CM. Chicago. January 30, 2020.

“Anonymous Interview.” CM. Chicago. January 30, 2020

“DISC Personality Test.” 123 Test.com. December 14, 2018. Web. January 10, 2020

“DS Interview.” CM. Chicago. January 30, 2020.

“Our Approach” GCE Lab School.org. Web. February 1, 2020.

“Your Test Results.” 16 Personalities.com NERIS Analytics Limited. Web. January 8, 2020.

Images:

“College-Ready, Community-Minded.” GCE Lab School. GCE Lab School.org Web. February 1, 2020.

“Portrait of a Graduate” GCE Lab School. GCE Lab School.org. Web. February 1, 2020.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this project. I have a lot of strong feelings about GCE and I am happy I was able to make those feelings and ideas heard for an Action Project. I wish I had more time to do a bit more, but this is something I will be advocating for until I leave. I think GCE can do better and I would like to see that happen.