A Comprehensive College, Career, and Military Platform for Texas

Challenges

• Difficulty managing and tracking student progress on course plans in multiple systems

Products & Solutions

• Naviance by PowerSchool

Results

• Within the first year of implementation, 90% of middle and high school students had started their course plans for the following year

Humble Independent School District (ISD) is located in Humble, Texas. It includes 43 campuses that serve over 43,000 students. Humble ISD strives to ensure that every graduate is prepared to pursue a best-fit postsecondary path.  

In Texas, school districts are required to support college, career, and military readiness (CCMR)—the state’s equivalent of college, career, and life readiness (CCLR)—for all students. Districts must be able to track and measure CCLR indicators and life readiness benchmarks to promote successful postsecondary student outcomes. 

Challenge

As part of Texas requirements, Humble ISD must ensure all students develop a personal graduation plan (PGP) that leads them to attend college, enter the workforce, or enroll in the military. Some challenges the district faces in reaching this goal include: 

• Beyond testing benchmarks required by the state, Humble ISD wanted to meet the greater needs of all students. While preparing for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests and SAT/ACT tests is important, the team at Humble ISD wanted to meet each student’s CCLR needs, allowing them to graduate with a plan that helps them to achieve their future aspirations and goals.  
• In Texas, students must select an endorsement (a series of courses grouped by interest or skill set, providing in-depth knowledge of a subject area) by the 9th grade. It can be a daunting challenge for students, so Humble ISD wanted to ensure that they were equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to make this decision confidently.  
• Because Humble ISD hadn’t streamlined its CCLR efforts, stakeholders had to use multiple workstreams, resulting in a heavy lift for staff, students, and parents. Students would build their course plans in one system, select their endorsements in another, and get parental review and approval in yet another. 

Solution 

Humble ISD implemented Naviance by PowerSchool Course Planner to allow students to develop personal graduation plans aligned to their chosen endorsements and track and measure outcomes. Naviance supports and tracks the completion of CCLR indicators for students in grades 6-12, including coursework, graduation plan completion, SAT/ACT prep, IEP management, and more. Developed in conjunction with Texas educators, Naviance Course Planner helps students meet standards that fulfill the Texas Education Agency (TEA) requirements. 

Students at Humble ISD begin using Naviance starting in the 5th grade. As 5th graders prepare for their transition to middle school, they take a transition survey and various strengths-based assessments in Naviance, which provides information to middle school counselors about students’ needs moving into 6th grade. Students build their course plans for middle school, exploring their strengths and interests and aligning to career clusters through the next three years. This work leads up to 8th grade to prepare students to transition to high school, select endorsements, and build their personal graduation plans. As students utilize Naviance to explore careers and participate in activities to prepare them for CCLR, they are informed and equipped to confidently make their endorsement selection. Students can build their personal graduation plans and select their endorsements with parental review and approval, all within Naviance. It has helped Humble ISD easily track these CCLR indicators and save staff, students, and families’ time.

Results 

With data from Naviance by PowerSchool, the staff at Humble ISD can better prepare to meet incoming students’ needs. The CTE department can also use the Naviance data to better forecast programs of interest that incoming students need to achieve their goals.

Humble ISD has done a tremendous job of implementing Naviance Course Planner. By helping students build the muscle of future planning starting in elementary schools, students are equipped with the skills and knowledge to select their endorsements in the 9th grade. 

The counseling team at Humble ISD says that student course plans are fluid documents. As students grow and change, so may their course plans. Counselors are proud that 90% of their students have started building their course plans with Course Planner, ensuring students are prepared for the next year and beyond. 

Within the first year of implementing Naviance Course Planner, Humble ISD had already seen great results. 

• Students were able to easily select their endorsements, build their personal graduation plans, and have parents review and approve, all in one system. 
• 90% of middle and high school students had started their course plans for the following year. 

Before implementing Course Planner, Humble ISD had difficulty managing and tracking student progress on course plans in multiple systems. Now, students build plans aligned to their strengths and interests, select their endorsements in the 9th grade, and give visibility to parents and guardians for review and approval—all within one system. Through Course Planner, Humble ISD now has one streamlined solution for counselors, students, and families to collaborate and provide district leaders with the ability to track, measure, and report on student outcomes.