Miami-Dade County Public Schools Use Scoir to Establish Data-Driven Approach to College Counseling

Objective

To increase equitable college and career-readiness outcomes for all students, the district relies on its College Assistance Program, or CAP. CAP is a postsecondary advisory program in all public senior high schools in M-DCPS. The specialized focus of the program enables CAP Advisors to serve students more effectively because of their specific expertise in this field. CAP Advisors develop targeted relationships with college representatives as well as local, state, and national organizations, which positions them well to advocate on behalf of their students.

In support of the College Assistance Program’s (CAP) mission to increase equitable college and career-readiness outcomes for all students, M-DCPS believes that higher visibility into key data related to student engagement, application status, and collegiate outcomes enables CAP to engage in more strategic–and effective–advising that serve the district’s college-bound students.

Solution

In order to achieve that strategic approach to student support, M-DCPS decided to work with Scoir, opening the doors to a more intuitive approach to college counseling for the high schools within the district. Within Scoir, M-DCPS placed special emphasis on:

• District Dashboard and Analytics 
• Communication Tools
• Events
• Character Assessment Powered by PrinciplesYou

Learn more about the Scoir features for high schools.

District Dashboard and Analytics

When first joining Scoir, Ms. Krantz expressed a hunger from M-DCPS to have more insight into the details of their students’ application journey. Now, using Scoir’s District Dashboard, it’s simple for Sharon to view and manage information for the district at an aggregate level, and dive into individual high school performance. For example, she can see if certain schools are falling behind in application engagement and use that information to direct more resources or provide more support where needed. From there, working toward objectives and milestones can be accomplished strategically.

Communication Tools

In direct alignment with the district’s mantra of “equity and access for all students,” Scoir provides CAP Advisors in M-DCPS with a way to easily identify and communicate directly with sub-groups of students who require additional support on their college journey. The ease and simplicity of Scoir’s communication tools were celebrated by Sharon and Lou, who spoke of using Scoir to encourage a targeted approach to college counseling. 

Events

During an especially unconventional school year, ensuring that students have access to the same quality of and exposure to events about the college-going process was a key goal for M-DCPS. By using Scoir, CAP Advisors within the district are able to maintain virtual and in-person office hours, college visits, schedule group counseling sessions, FAFSA events, and more. Opportunities for learning about college opportunities were not lost on the students in M-DCPS! Supporting both in-person and virtual models, events in Scoir are simple to manage and even simpler to sign up for as a student. 

Aptitude Tests powered by YouScience

Last, but not least, the district desired a platform that would bring depth and uniformity to their college-going culture. Students within the district are introduced to Scoir as early as ninth grade. Once onboarded, students are encouraged to keep track of their academic and extracurricular activities, build their profile, and take advantage of YouScience, a best-in-class career aptitude assessment. This robust set of tools helps students explore in-depth career information for matched careers and majors related to careers to help guide their college discovery. Encouraging students to interact with Scoir early on in their high school career develops not only a culture of college-going but one of college fit, helping them to answer the questions: “Can I get in? Will I fit in? Can I afford it?” 

Results

A testament to Scoir’s ease of use and relentless customer focus, M-DCPS successfully onboarded its 84 traditional, public high schools to the Scoir platform in March of 2020. Amidst the challenges of the pandemic, Scoir’s Customer Success Team made sure M-DCPS felt comfortable as they rolled out to their CAP Advisors, students, and families. Hosting multiple series of in-depth training sessions and responsive product support was critical in onboarding a district of this size. 

Now well into its second year of adoption, the district looks ahead to a spring quarter of strong collegiate outcomes. With nearly 20K students in the Class of 2022, the district was thrilled to see that as of March 2022, 89% of the class have registered accounts and 54% of those students have active college applications. As those students decide what comes next, M-DCPS is excited that nearly a quarter (22.5%) of its senior class has already indicated an “accepted” outcome.

Looking ahead to the Class of 2023, a 63% registration rate shows early indicators of strong student engagement, with 31% of the class actively logging into Scoir on a monthly basis, and 20% already building their list by Following colleges on Scoir. Heading into the next application season, Scoir and M-DCPS will continue to collaborate to prepare students to reach their full academic, personal, and civic potential.

Through its use of Scoir, Miami-Dade County Public Schools is rapidly establishing a data-driven approach to college counseling, positively affecting its College Assistance Program, and ultimately impacting the futures of students within the district.

 20k Students in Class of 2022

 89% Seniors registered (have an active Scoir account)

  54% have active applications