Students and Parents

We Thought

High School students need plenty of space. As a parent you should take a step back and trust your child to make the right decisions about their education.

We Found Out

Parent involvement is essential to a teen's success.

Your Teen Wants You

78% of all middle school students and 48% of all high school students want their parents to talk to them more about school.

Parents Make A Difference

These four simple things that parents manage explain 88% of the difference in student math scores and 91% of the difference in reading scores:

Student attendance at school;
The variety of available reading materials in the home;
The amount of TV children watch;
The amount of time parents read to children.

At School

Research shows that family support is more important to school success than a student's IQ, economic status, or school setting.
Teens with highly involved parents are three times more likely to earn a bachelor degree or, at the very least, choose post-secondary educational opportunities.

Source: Dr. Susan Quattrociocchi, Ph.D., Director of Northeast Tech Prep Consortium, Bellevue Community College, Bellevue Washington; leading educator, public speaker and National Public Radio commentator.

Try these helpful websites:
www.ISEEK.org
www.careerparent.com
www.pfie.ed.gov

We Thought

Only students with high academic scores can receive college credit while in high school.

We Found Out

By increasing rigor in a particular course any 11th or 12th grade student who is capable of earning a grade of "B" or better in a particular course may earn college credits through Articulation or Advanced Standing.

How Does a Student Earn Articulation or Advanced Standing

By successfully completing certain high school courses a student may earn credit toward a degree program or elective credit at many Minnesota colleges.
Students earn high school AND college credit for some classes.
A student must earn a grade of "B" or better to qualify for the credit.
Many high school course catalogs list those courses where a student may earn articulated credits.
After successfully completing an articulated course, a student receives a certificate that specifies the number of college credits earned and the colleges that accept these credits.
When enrolling at college, present the Advanced Standing Certificate for proper credit. The certificate must be used within 2 years of issue date.

To find out what courses may offer Articulated credits or Advanced Standing, go to this website: www.techprep.dctc.mnscu.edu
Ask your high school counselor or teacher about articulation or call your Dakota County Tech Prep office for more information. 651-423-8262.
NOTE: not all courses are offered for articulated credit at all high schools. If you find a teacher is unaware of the possibility of offering her/his students college credit, the Tech Prep office can help.

We Thought

80% of graduating high school students go on to two and four-year colleges and complete a degree program.

We Found Out

40% complete a college degree.

What happens to the other 40% who started college:
25% drop out in their first year of college, many in the first semester.
24% of those remaining drop out before finishing their college degree.

Only 20% of jobs today require a bachelor's degree and 25% of graduates with a bachelor's degree are settling for jobs that do not require one.

Changing times lead to changing employment. Both skills and education will be the keys to career success in the 21st century. Today's jobs require employees to wear many hats.

What Can You, the Parent, Do To Help Your Child

Take these four steps to insure your teen's future success:

Help your teen identify interests and abilities and help them to relate those to an occupation.
Help your high school teen acquire the skills that are necessary to successfully pursue any post-secondary educational path.
Help your teen plan an appropriate, affordable post-secondary education.
Help your teen take advantage of all post-secondary programs available in high school.

Try these helpful websites:
www.ISEEK.org
www.careerparent.com
www.pfie.ed.gov

We Thought

Employers value technical skills more than any others.

We Found Out

Verbal skills, defined as "having strong reading comprehension, writing and listening skills" outranked even reasoning ability and management skills as the most marketable

Many jobs now require advanced technical skills, and skilled employees are better able to weather company downsizing and reorganization. Nevertheless, again and again employers tell us that communication skills are the most highly sought after skills. "Minnesota's Most Marketable Skills", a report published by the Minnesota Department of Economic Security identified the following seven skills that employers identified as the "most marketable". These Include:

Verbal skill	Reasoning Ability
Mathematics	Technical Design skill
Human Service skill	Managment skill
Medical/Dentistry Knowledge

Professional people pay huge sums for consultants and courses to help them increase their verbal ability. The good news is that it's never too late, or too early, to hone these skills.

Here is a link to similar reports available from the State of Minnesota
www.mnworkforcecenter.org/lmi/public.htm

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