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ClassLink is a dashboard GA DOE provides for school systems to link their online tools and manage logins for many of those tools. Among these tools is one specific to the counseling and career development role: YouScience. (Most, but not all, school systems choose to use ClassLink. If not, educators in such a system may need to consult with local technology support and/or GA DOE program contacts to access tools like YouScience.)
YouScience and its dashboard for Top State for Talent (formerly BRIDGE) activity completion data is accessible to school counselors thru Classlink.
Top State for Talent (formerly BRIDGE) activities are postsecondary planning activities to be completed across a student's 6th-12th grades. The activities are required, but a school/system can use their tool of choice to facilitate these activities, and submit completion numbers in year-end reporting to the state.
YouScience is an online college and career exploration tool built around its proprietary aptitude assessment. YouScience has customized its interface to cover most/all GA BRIDGE Law activities for Georgia users. Schools/systems are not restricted to YouScience as the only tool to satisfy Top State for Talent requirements. However, the GA DOE provides this tool for public students/educators to use statewide, and it is the only tool that automatically reports BRIDGE Law completion rates to the GA DOE. This makes it the ideal, turn-key choice for its robust features, low cost (free!), and easy accountability reporting.
Getting Started: For schools serving any grades 6-12, there should be a counseling, CTAE, or administrator who has a YouScience manager account. Work with them to set your account up using your work email. About 24 hours later, the YouScience icon should show in your ClassLink dashboard. Uncertain who in your school/district holds the manager account? You can reach out to the counseling program managers at GA DOE for assistance.
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For the most part, more specifically highlighted resources are not linked individually. This is to encourage familiarity with those individual items within the context of their larger (linked) resource pool, and to reduce frequency of broken/outdated links.
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At the Georgia Department of Education, school counselors are an integral part of the CTAE umbrella. As such, much of our state-level resources and reference documents are found on the CTAE section of Inspire, GA DOE's platform for GA standards and standards-aligned resources. Key documents here that define the foundation of the efforts of school counselors and other CCD educators include--
School Counselor role resources - incl. GA school counseling program standards and Top State for Talent advisement checklist
Profile of a GA CTAE Graduate - This interactive guide breaks down the knowledge, skills, and abilities we aim to cultivate in our graduates, and defines which educators play which strategic roles in that process. School counselors work hand-in-hand with CTAE educators for students' college and career development!
Career Clusters and Pathway Courses - incl. interactive Career Cluster & Pathway Guide and CTAE Programs of Study course plan templates.
Several other menu items in Inspire's CTAE page expound on ways and programs GA deliver on the above foundational targets (e.g., Dual Enrollment, Articulated Credit Agreements, CTAE+, CTAE Brand Toolkit, Career Development, High Demand Careers...).
To be clear, these are not the only state board rules we need to pay attention to. However, these are perhaps more pressing for a school counselor to orient themselves to if new or brushing up.
160-4-8-.05 - School Counseling - Updated at the end of 2021 to reflect modern best practices, this defines the role of the school counselor in Georgia.
160-4-2-.48 - High School Graduation Requirements for Students Enrolling in the Ninth Grade for the First Time in the 2008-09 School Year and Subsequent Years
160-4-2-.20 - State-Funded K-8 Subjects and 9-12 Courses for Students Entering Ninth Grade in 2008 and Subsequent Years - This is the state's course list. You can see each code's corresponding course title, department, and status as satisfying the department's core requirement (or not). The intro section also demonstrates the anatomy of the course codes, a basic knowledge of which is helpful in decoding your school's master schedule and/or records even if you don't handle registrar-type tasks.
160-5-1-.15 - Awarding Units of Credit and Acceptance of Transfer Credit And/Or Grades - Good to know when planning for a transfer student or navigating less common methods of credit (e.g., credit-by-exam).
Staying On Course - As stated above, GA State Board of Education rules define high school graduation requirements. However, when advising students who are bound for GA public 4-year colleges (or keeping options open), it is also important to mind the Required High School Curriculum (RHSC) considered for college admissions. A student being on track for high school graduation does not mean they will meet RHSC. The University System of Georgia (USG) governs these institutions and defines the RHSC they will expect to be satisfied on a student's final high school transcript. The USG publishes the Staying On Course document, which lists the number of required high school credits by subject--along with GA high school courses that are accepted towards those credit counts.
This document is especially useful when helping a student choose between multiple core offerings at their high school (e.g., choosing a 4th science that meets requirements for both high school graduation and admission requirements for GA public 4-year colleges). It also helps to consider this list when a school/system considers changing course offerings/sequencing in core and/or CTAE areas.
GA Futures is a resource for students and educators alike published by the Georgia Student Finance Commission, the agency that manages Georgia's student aid programs.
Students can learn more about HOPE Scholarship and other state aid, federal aid, college planning, career exploration, and more. Key outreach initiatives to Georgia high school students include Georgia MATCH and GA Apply to College Month.
In addition, school counselors use GA Futures to--
manage certain parts of their Dual Enrollment program
upload their school's transcript data for the GSFC to calculate HOPE eligibility
review the latest HOPE Rigor course directory to better advise students in course planning
request a GSFC representative to facilitate a financial aid events at your school/system
[Description from CTAERN website:] The CTAE Resource Network, Inc. (CTAERN) is a non-profit organization established in 2002 to strengthen and support Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) initiatives in Georgia. CTAERN is a unique consortium dedicated to providing exemplary professional development activities and other high quality services designed to meet the instructional career development needs of the educators of Georgia.
Practically speaking, CTAERN is a key access point for school counselors' CTAE-related professional development in Georgia. Use your CTAERN account to register for state provided professional development in CTAE as well as access a treasure trove of employability skills lessons. To obtain a CTAERN account, contact your local CTAE director.
CTE Learn is provided by ACTE's Online Learning Network. The free resources page linked here includes professional development and lesson plans alike.
ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION - Please check back periodically for more!
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