Los Angeles Unified School District Selects Naviance By Hobsons To Scale Counseling Capacity And Improve College Readiness And Access For All Students

With funding from the California College Readiness Block Grant, the district will support students and families in making college and career goals a reality through its implementation of Naviance

Arlington, VA (PRWEB)- Naviance by Hobsons will provide technology and resources to streamline student pathways to college and careers for the Los Angeles Unified School District, the company announced today.

Beginning this school year, L.A. Unified will use Naviance to help high school students throughout the District to identify their strengths and interests, set career goals, select applicable courses, and access information for evaluating, applying to, and choosing a college.

Hobsons’ leading college and career readiness platform Naviance is used by 40 percent of high school students nationwide, and half of the Top 10 largest public school districts in the United States.

“We are excited to partner with L.A. Unified to help level the playing field for students in their preparation for life after high school,” said Kate Cassino, CEO of Hobsons. “Hobsons is committed to working with Los Angeles schools and to equipping all students, as well as their counselors and parents, with the resources and guidance they need to make their college and career aspirations a reality.”

Following a competitive procurement process, L.A. Unified selected Naviance with the goals of effectively scaling its college preparation programs, increasing the capacity of counseling staffs, and ensuring that all students have access to the resources needed to prepare for post-secondary opportunities. Naviance is being implemented with a College Readiness Block Grant awarded to the District by the California Department of Education.

L.A. Unified serves a highly diverse student body, including large populations of low-income, underrepresented, and first-generation college-bound students. Its graduation rate has increased steadily over the past four years, with a goal of 100 percent graduation by 2019.

Based on lessons gleaned by the LAUSD team from an information-gathering trip to Chicago, organized by the Los Angeles Education Research Institute (LAERI) through a research-practice partnership, the district decided to implement Naviance in 2017 to increase access for underserved students and improve reporting practices.

A recent LAERI report on college readiness supports in LAUSD describes some of the barriers counselors face in providing the kinds of college counseling students need. The district has adopted the use of Naviance as one approach to addressing some of the obstacles described in this research, to help schools provide information on the college search and selection process, help students complete the FAFSA, and connect students with the guidance they need to make decisions about potential colleges and careers.

About Hobsons
Hobsons helps students identify their strengths, explore careers, create academic plans, match to best-fit educational opportunities, and reach their education and life goals. Through our solutions, we enable thousands of educational institutions to improve college and career planning, admissions and best-fit matching, enrollment management, and student success and advising for millions of students around the globe. Our leading college and career readiness platform Naviance was named the 2017 SIIA CODiE Award winner in the Best College and Career Readiness Solution category.