Name: Dr. Moses McCutcheon, Jr.

Date: January 7, 2010

Education: School-To-Success

Education is the Key to Finding Your Purpose in Life

Recent research confirmed that more than 50 percent of high school graduates lack clear goals for life after graduation, and career development counseling in the school systems do not adequately address this issue. Although school counselors are busy and actively engaged in school activities, most of them spend little time in the area of career development. Research indicates that there are not enough school counselors and most school counselors spend their day assigning classes, teaching classes when teachers are absent, scheduling classes and discipline students. In an effort to help solve these problems and assist school counselors in the area of career development, the School-To-Success program was developed.

School-To-Success is a life purpose, career planning, career development and career coaching program that offers training with the School-To-Success curriculum. The School-To-Success curriculum is a life-purpose, self-discovery, life skills, creative-goal-setting, computer-skills and personalized community-career-development and coaching program developed by Dr. Moses McCutcheon, Jr., a Pepperdine University graduate. Dr. McCutcheon has more than 20 years' experience in vocational education, entrepreneurship and business.

As a result of Pepperdine's doctoral degree program in organizational leadership, an outstanding staff of Pepperdine University professors and the American Seminar Leaders Association, McCutcheon was able to confirm his own life purpose, conduct research, complete the development of the School-To-Success curriculum and successfully conduct a 2-year pilot test and 9 weeks dissertation study with outside observers of the School-To-Success curriculum.

The dissertation study was conducted under the supervision and direction of Dr. June Schmieder-Ramirez, Dr. Lois Blackmore, and Dr. Ronald Stevens-professors of education at Pepperdine University. During a typical day, students in School-To-Success incorporate life purpose discovery, life planning, career planning and skills assessment utilizing computer applications such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel and the Internet. Successful classroom performance enables the students to submit applications and interview for jobs as Junior and Senior Instructors after successfully completing the Train-the-Trainer program.

The School-To-Success program helps students answer the question: What's after high school for me? The program provides customized answers for students who do not know what they want to be or do after graduation. School-To-Success offers one-on-one training, small group training and creates personalized life purpose career development workbooks for personal and professional growth.

This program was designed to complement other community programs and help schools, businesses and organizations reach their goals and missions. The School-To-Success's mission is to help parents and guardians with children in middle school to high school and college (ages 12-18) discover their purpose in life, set clear goals and create plans to take their personal and professional life to a higher level in the areas of service, leadership and entrepreneurship.

School-To-Success helps school counselors, teachers and entrepreneurs in the area of career development. Although the program can help anyone, middle school to high school students will receive the most benefit. Recent research has revealed that School-To-Success responds to two major areas of concern:

1. More than 50 percent of all high school seniors do not know what they want to be or do after graduation. They lack clear goals for their future.

2. Career development and career counseling are inadequate with a counselor-student ratio of 1-to-490 on the low end and 1-to-994 on the high end.

Employers have become increasingly dissatisfied with the skills and behavior of recent high school graduates. The extreme disconnection between education and the work force has resulted in severe motivational problems in students attending school. Students need to be empowered to understand the connection between learning and the real world. For a majority of students, what they learn in school is not adequately connected to what they need to know to be successful after leaving school.

Preparing students to compete in a global economy and meet the employment needs of the 21^st century is a formidable challenge for all educators. Our technological and information-driven economy has required businesses to demand an educated work force and students to develop employable skills if they are to survive.

Many high schools have implemented some form of career development with school-to work or school-to-career programs. Former President Bill Clinton, a strong advocate of education reform, signed the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, May 4, 1994. That legislation has been an impetus for unprecedented change in the school-to-work movement. However, some researchers and educators believe that high school is too late for career counseling to make a significant difference for most students. By 9th or 10th grade, many students are turned off to education; either they want to quit school or simply comply with the minimum graduation requirements. These students never have had the opportunity to experience the correlation between school and their future. Unless students have already had the benefit of elementary and middle school counseling programs, high school programs will be too late to be useful.

Without substantial career planning programs at the middle-school level, many students are likely to make poor education and career choices in high school. Students need exposure to career development in middle school or they are likely to limit their choices when selecting courses for high school. High school programs can meet the skill needs of students if middle school programs adequately empower them to define and investigate their career interests.

Research indicates that educators are finally realizing that the best strategy to prevent high school students from dropping out is to identify their problems in the elementary or middle school levels. Recent research now indicates that career planning should start with family planning.

The Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development asserts that middle schools, "are potentially society's most powerful force to recapture millions of youth adrift."  Middle school students should become knowledgeable about careers-what skills they require and what lifestyles they symbolize. Students must be able to relate their educational choices and achievements to realistic career alternatives. The School-To-Success program was designed to help students make these choices, set clear goals and create a plan for a successful life.

Twenty important things parents need to know about education:

1. More than 50 percent of all high school seniors know that they don't know what they want to be or do after graduation, while another 50% think they know. They don't realize that they don't know until they are actually employed and/or have student loans to repay.

2.  A 4-year college degree at a private college or university can cost $100,000 or more and is increasing daily.

3.   A 4-year college degree at a state supported college or university can cost $50,000 or more and is increasing daily.

4. Schools do not teach students how to discover what they want to be or do after graduation.

5. There is a high price tag on not knowing what one wants to be or do. These hidden costs can be discovered in effective career development programs.

6. Most college students who have not been involved in career training do not know what they really want to be or do after graduation.

7. Most college students who do not know what they want to be or do change career majors many times.

8. Each time a college career major is changed, the cost of education increases.

9. The earlier the career development training is implemented, the better it is for the child.

10. The counselor to student ratio is 1-to-448 on the low end and 1-to-971 on the high end in California. Other states have similar statistics.

11. Schools with counselors do little to no career development training.

12. Schools without counselors do not do career development training.

13.  Career development training can save time and money.

14. Career development training teaches students how to make decisions about their future.

15. The ratio of counselors to students is too high for the counselor to serve all students effectively in the area of career planning and development.

16. Effective career development programs help students discover what they really want to be or do after graduation.

17. Effective career development programs help students create a plan for future success.

18. Schools do not have career-coaching programs. Career coaching services help keep students on track.

19.  Middle school students have been alive longer than they have left to plan the rest of their life. This simply means that planning needs to start early enough so that students will have time to explore before they are forced to make education and career decisions.

20. School to success was designed to provide life purpose training, career education, and career counseling and coaching services for middle school, high school and college students.

The School-To-Success model was tested at six community based organizations and three high school sites. The dissertation study was conducted at one middle school site. After a 2-year pilot test plus a 9-week dissertation research study, here is what students had to say about School-To-Success:

"The School-To-Success program helped me identify my skills and planned my future! This program is excellent!"-Brittany Lewis, 8^th Grade Student

"School-To-Success helped me discover a career that I really like. This program was very valuable to me. I learned lots of new things."-Tyrell Cook, High School Student

The School-To-Success Program has helped me obtain a focus in my career possibilities. The various exercises helped me recognize the many skills that I have learned over my lifetime. By recognizing my skills, I can put a plan together for long-term success in a career field that I feel passionate about. This program has helped me look at learning from a different prospective that will allow me to reach my full potential-Cory Vaughn, California State University, Long Beach

School-To-Success is an affordable cost-effective personalized life purpose career development-training program that provides customized answers to the above issues. School-To-Success does one-on-one training, small group training and creates personalized life purpose career development workbooks for specific education and career needs. This program helps students who do not know want they want to be or do after graduation. For additional information regarding School-To-Success or how to get involve with the program in your home or at your site (school or community-based organization), please call (323) 759-9868, visit our Website at http://www.school2success.com/ or write to School-To-Success, Attention: Dr. Moses McCutcheon, Jr., P.O. Box 47945, Los Angeles, California 90047. E-Mail: Schooltosuccess@gmail.com

References

Byrne, S.M., Constant, A., & Moore, G. (1992). Making transitions from school to work. Educational Leadership, 49(6), 23-26.

Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development (1989). Turning points: Preparing American youth for the 21^st century. Washington, DC: Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development.

Clark, D. (1992). Improving workforce preparation: Lessons from the career education movement (Report No. CE D61 941). Buffalo, NY. (ERIC Document Reproduction No. ED 349 437).

Gnaedinger, J.P. (1996). The careers for youth program: A different view (Report No. CE 072 238). Hermosa Beach, CA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 398 393).

Hirsch, A.S. (2004). How to be happy at work. Indianapolis: (2^nd ed.). Just Works.

McCutcheon, M. (2007). Planning Today for Success Tomorrow. Outskirts Press, Inc.

McCutcheon, M. (2004). A case study of the School-To-Success Program with Middle School Students (Doctoral Dissertation, Pepperdine University. 2004).

McCutcheon, M. (2003). School-To-Success: What's After High School for Me? School-To Success Program. Retrieved January 10, 2003 from http://www.schooltosuccess.org/

McCutcheon, M. (2001). School-To-Success: Train-the-Trainer Program-What's After High School for Me? Retrieved January 10, 2003 from http://www.schooltosuccess.org/

School-to-Work Opportunities Bulletin. (1996). Parent involvement in school-to-work. Washington, DC: The National School-to-Work Learning and Information Center     

Schultz, J.B. (1993). Exploring Life's work: A new role for vocational education. Alexandria, VA: American Vocational Association. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 363 775).