Each year school counselors across the country administer or are recruited to assist with testing. These tests can include state tests, benchmarks, finals, standardized tests, career tests, and district tests. With all the mandatory testing in schools, it is easy for professional school counselors to overlook the value of providing an optional, free test for students in grades 10-12 sponsored by the Department of Defense called the ASVAB Career Exploration Program. Because this is seen as an optional test, I have been in schools where our administrators passed over the opportunity to give it to the students. Other times we were allowed to administer on the same day as the PSAT for seniors, but many of our seniors skipped because they did not see it as important. As a school counselor, I have often had my own struggles with testing and test interpretation and where it fits in the counseling program. Well, in research for this blog post, I believe that the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is quite clear on my responsibilities with testing, which I often neglected (don't judge). ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies B-SS 2 indicates that school counselors should provide appraisal and advisement in large-group, classroom, small-group and individual settings (ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies). Now that is clear, we have to decide how we will do this task effectively. First, you just have to make up your mind that the ASVAB Career Exploration Program is just as valuable to students as the PSAT, SAT, PLAN, and ACT. Second, you have to educate yourself about the benefits of the program and how all students can benefit. Third, read this blog to see how it works and how to you can make it work in your school.
What is the ASVAB Career Exploration Program?
The ASVAB Career Exploration Program (CEP) is useful for students in grades 10th-12th and even in post-secondary schools. Results from the ASVAB CEP allow students to evaluate their strengths, estimate their performance in both academic and vocational areas, and identify possible careers (even ones they never considered). The goal of the ASVAB CEP is simple...to give students the opportunity to explore a variety of careers using information they have received from the assessment. Sitting down with parents and the student's counselor, the ASVAB CEP can be a useful tool in career exploration and developing an educational plan (this is something that both students and parents desperately want from school counselors and a source of complaints when school counselors do not have the time).
Check out this great Overview Guide about the ASVAB CEP to get started!!
So, what is the ASVAB Career Exploration Program? The ASVAB is an aptitude test that consists of eight tests and requires three hours to complete (see the following table for a breakdown of the ASVAB tests).
The ASVAB is one
component of the ASVAB Career Exploration Program. After taking the ASVAB,
participants receive a post-test interpretation, or career workshop, where they
receive score explanation, complete an interest inventory and use the results
from both assessments to explore careers using the OCCU-Find, an online career
catalog that contains in depth information about how to gain career field entry
via college, work-based learning, and the Military.
This workshop is
invaluable. It helps ASVAB test-takers understand their results from the
assessments and how to use them to figure out where they fit best in the world
of work. Also, the program tools help students evaluate all of the
post-secondary options and articulate an action plan that they can uses to have
meaningful conversations with their counselors and parents.
The ASVAB Career
Exploration Guide allows students to identify careers that may be of interest
and allows them to explore ways to gain knowledge and skills in those
areas. This overview guide can be useful to a school counselor in order
to conduct group guidance session to go over results or meet individually with
a student and parent to explore possible career interests. In addition to the
overview guide, the ASVAB Career
Exploration Program has additional tools that provide an output of students’
exploration and planning. These tools include:
· My Portfolio - gives students a place to
document their experiences and make a plan.
· My Educational and Career Plan Summary - a
worksheet that allows a student to further explore careers that may be of
interest.
· My Coursework Planner - a worksheet that allows
the student to determine what coursework he/she should take in order to prepare
for that career.
· Classroom activities – ready-to-use activities
for both counselors and teachers to integrate ASVAB into any classroom
curriculum to reinforce career planning.
Common Myths about the ASVAB Career Exploration Program
There are many myths
surrounding the ASVAB CEP that dissuade school counselors and administrators
from giving the assessment at their school or offering the follow on post-test
interpretation. I would like to share the most common ones.
Myth #1: Biggest one of
them all is that if our students participate in the assessment then they will
be recruited by the military. Well, it is true that the ASVAB CEP is does
help the armed forces identify qualified leads, and recruiters may contact a
student if they scores well, but it also is an aptitude and career assessment
instrument that helps students in their career search. There is actually
several options for reporting student scores to the military that will be
helpful for you to know. Continue reading!
Myth #2: The ASVAB CEP
costs money for students to take like the SAT or ACT. Newsflash, the
ASVAB CEP is free for students and schools! It gives them a piece of the puzzle
that other tests don’t.
Myth #3: The ASVAB CEP
only useful for the military. Although the ASVAB CEP does give students
in grade 11 and 12 a usable score for enlistment, many states are using it as a
pathway to graduation because it satisfies ESSA requirements to provide
students with career exploration activities that expose them to all
post-secondary paths. It’s not just a military test!
I think it is important
for school counselors to debunk these myths so that administrators are open to
offering the assessment at their schools and encouraging all 10th
-12th students to participate. Once administrators understand
the benefits of the assessment it will assist in reducing the stigma of the
ASVAB CEP among students, staff, and parents.
How to Coordinate the ASVAB CEP?
So, if you decide to go forward with offering the program, there is some important information here that may be helpful. As a high school counselor, coordinating another test was not high on my agenda. A definite positive for me personally was that ASVAB support personnel can handle the management part of the assessment for counselors. Typically the Education Services Specialist (ESS) will contact the school counselor to set up a testing date or the counselor can reach out to the ESS. It is imperative that you secure a testing area...I can overemphasize this enough. It would be devastating if all the test proctors arrive and you have to announce the test is cancelled due to a lack of space. Believe me it is happened to a colleague of mine and the principal did not like it one bit. After a date(s) is established, the counselor advertises the date to students who express interest. One draw back to trying to find a date(s) is that you do not interfere with other school activities (not always easy). It is important to have a school calendar of events on hand when you are organizing the ASVAB Career Exploration Program.
Now that the date(s) is solidified, you will need to remind them about testing and have students sign up. I typically had a sign in sheet in the office; however, you can have a link on your school website that automatically downloads a test confirmation. If you are old school, you can give students a simple testing ticket (typically something a school counselor creates with time and date). The good news is that the ASVAB Career Exploration Program also provides a sample sign up card. Now here is the good news!!! On the day of the test, the ESS will coordinate volunteer test administrators and military personnel to arrive and administer the assessment. Take that off of your list!!
Below, I have links to bring the ASVAB CEP to your school and additional links to advertising the program around campus.
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| https://www.asvabprogram.com/educators-information-bring |
Flyer for advertising the ASVAB Career Exploration Program
Sign Up Poster
Promotional Video
Preparing Students
Now that the test is scheduled, it is important to prepare students for what they will encounter. The ASVAB Career Exploration Program provides several preparation guides for students. Here are some links you can share with students:
Find
Two Sets of Sample Test Questions- https://www.asvabprogram.com/student-program
More Sample Test QuestionsPerformance Improvement: March2Success
Getting Ready for the Test
As the host, there are several things I have done to be ready for the test. I have asked my principal to provide breakfast for the students and I let the students know ahead of time they would have a sausage biscuit and orange juice before the test. Also, I have provided breakfast and snacks for the volunteers who took their time to come and administer the ASVAB. Another important task is to collect and sharpen pencils before the day of the test. Sometimes the ESS will send sharpened pencils so make sure you ask before you go to all that trouble. The day before the test I put up posters about test security and made sure that the traffic was minimized by my testing room. Oh, one last thing, make sure you remind your students to show up for the test and be on time. This is really important as well.
Below I have provided an overview of the test administration responsibilities of school counselors including pre-test administration, test day responsibilities, and post-test responsibilities.
Ok, this is an issue that comes up all the time about students taking the ASVAB. Here is an important piece of information to know...for a student to take the ASVAB CEP, a parent signature is not required. However, many parents are often concerned that the ASVAB CEP is a deceptive recruiting tool for the military. Educating parents and students about the ASVAB CEP as a useful career assessment can clear up any misconceptions and rumors that can cause you to have those copious phone calls from upset parents. However, if parents persist with reservations, you can provide an opt out letter in your student handbook or on your school website to head off any potential issues with parents. Regarding recruiters contacting students, the ASVAB CEP provides the following table shows counselors eight options for releasing scores to recruiters. I never knew this until I was doing my research!!!
- Opt-Out Letter
- Opt-In Letter
- Exploring Careers With Students (put link)
Here are some helpful quotes that you can provide parents if they are undecided about allowing their student to take the assessment or sitting in on the results.
"This is a world-class career exploration program that helped my daughter and my oldest son with making clear, focused, and data-driven decisions about their career pathways that led to declaring a major once and sticking with it."
-- Barry Kowald, Parent
“One of my kids scored high on the ASVAB, and we got him in Naval Intelligence, which he never dreamt of; now, he graduated with a degree in jurisprudence, and he is a JAG at the Pentagon,”
-- Steven Shoemaker, College and Career Adviser, Channelview High School
“I have had my students come back and tell me ‘wow I didn’t have any idea that that was an area I had strengths in, or something I gave any consideration,’ but after having taken the ASVAB and getting the results, they find that yes, they are leaning towards one area or the other.”
-- Mary Schena, Special Education Teacher, Bolivar-Richburg High School
“I really love the ASVAB career exploration program. I think every student should take it so that they have a good idea of what kinds of courses they need to take in order to meet their desires.”
-- Linda Hoffman, Counselor
-- Barry Kowald, Parent
“One of my kids scored high on the ASVAB, and we got him in Naval Intelligence, which he never dreamt of; now, he graduated with a degree in jurisprudence, and he is a JAG at the Pentagon,”
-- Steven Shoemaker, College and Career Adviser, Channelview High School
“I have had my students come back and tell me ‘wow I didn’t have any idea that that was an area I had strengths in, or something I gave any consideration,’ but after having taken the ASVAB and getting the results, they find that yes, they are leaning towards one area or the other.”
-- Mary Schena, Special Education Teacher, Bolivar-Richburg High School
“I really love the ASVAB career exploration program. I think every student should take it so that they have a good idea of what kinds of courses they need to take in order to meet their desires.”
-- Linda Hoffman, Counselor
"I had a girl that didn't really know what she wanted to do. She knew that 4-year school probably wasn't it, so she thought maybe the military. She took (the ASVAB) and she saw where she could succeed, and now she's going to a 2-year school. She realized the military maybe wasn't for her, but after taking the ASVAB she realized 'oh I do have a different pathway!'"
-- Patty Campbell, Teacher, Bellevue East High School
"t will help me find something that's specified to my interests and identify something that I haven't even thought of then I'd definitely be interested."
-- Aziz, Senior at Los Osos High School
"If it's (a skill) I didn't know I had like a secret talent or something or skill, I'm pretty sure it would be applicable to a lot of different things and open up different paths that I hadn't even thought of."
-- Christopher Gonzalez, Senior at Los Osos High School
"t will help me find something that's specified to my interests and identify something that I haven't even thought of then I'd definitely be interested."
-- Aziz, Senior at Los Osos High School
"If it's (a skill) I didn't know I had like a secret talent or something or skill, I'm pretty sure it would be applicable to a lot of different things and open up different paths that I hadn't even thought of."
-- Christopher Gonzalez, Senior at Los Osos High School
Remember finding time to discuss results with students is always challenging. However, taking time to help students understand their scores and how to research their own future interests can be rewarding. Consider these options for discussing results.
1. When you
schedule the ASVAB, also Schedule the post-test interpretation session so that
is it on the calendar and students are aware. A representative from the ASVAB
CEP will come to your school to conduct the workshop. If students miss
the session, I have attached a short video on how to interpret test
scores.
2. Use the results
as part of an advisement lesson. You can provide a cheat sheet for advisors and
students to interpret scores, complete the FYI (interest inventory), log into
OCCU-Find to explore for careers, and complete additional activities like My Portfolio. Below is a video
describing the OCCU-Find and an image of the areas that the FYI covers.
Below these items are several presentations for staff members for discussing
results that you do not have to create (YAY!).
ASVAB-CEP Presentation for School Counselors
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| Snapshot of the FYI Interest Inventory |
3. Have students
complete the coursework planner with you following the ASVAB test result
presentation so that they get that important one on one time with you.
In addition to these
three ideas I shared, you can use this page to guide your students
through the post-test interpretation.
The purpose of this post is to help reduce the stigma regarding the ASVAB CEP and educating counselors about its usefulness. If you want to know more about this assessment, check out the
Counselor Companion to the ASVAB!
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