UC High counselors plan to implement the online-based program, Naviance, in student articulation this coming spring in hopes that it will benefit students. Naviance has previously been used at UC High by seniors submitting college applications.
According to its website, Naviance is “a powerful decision support system […] integrated directly into a school or district’s technology infrastructure.” It stores demographic information, academic achievement data, college and career surveys, plus personality and interest profiles, all of which come together into an online portfolio for each individual (naviance.com). Head Counselor Sherryl Godfrey said, “All grades 6-12 are using [the program]; however, its main users are seniors and some juniors, but it is incorporated in every school in San Diego Unified School District.”
This year, all freshmen, sophomores, and juniors at UC High, as well as eighth graders coming in from Standley Middle School will request their courses for the next school year through Naviance, according to Godfrey. “Students will still come in with their class and talk one-on-one with their counselors, but they will be using Naviance to submit their courses. We don’t quite have all of the details worked out yet, since it’s the first time we’ve used this program for articulation,” she said.
Godfrey added, “In a perfect world, we would have everyone come into a computer lab and have them click on their courses with a counselor supervising them after they had discussed their choices with their counselor. Regardless of how it is executed, Naviance will make the process of creating the master schedule and compiling the courses each student needs much cleaner and more efficient. Once we load every student’s choices into the system, all of the information will go into the master schedule, which the computer will then arrange. This should lead to a major reduction in class changes at the beginning of next year.”
Sophomore Osama Khan said, “[In the past], it’s been a long process for counselors to help students get their correct classes. I like the idea of using Naviance better, because it could potentially take your grades and test scores into account when deciding on your course load. It should also be much faster and more efficient, and it’ll allow students to get the right classes they need.”
Godfrey said, “The only disadvantage of Naviance may be fear of the unknown. [Naviance] doesn’t reduce one-on-one interaction between students, parents, and their counselors, because students still have to discuss their courses with their parents.”
College applications have been made simpler by Naviance, according to Senior Sarah McConnell. “It’s nice because it makes it a lot easier to request transcripts and everything. I prefer online applications, and just about all applications are online these days. In addition, our generation is more comfortable with computers than actual paper, so it makes sense [to use the online program for college applications],” she said.