Counselor Leadership Strategies for Whole-School Guidance and Academic Coaching

Using Distributive Guidance as a Key Strategy for Your School-Wide Initiative



Presented as part of the Two-Day Get Focused Stay Focused Spring Conference
April 29-30, 2024
UCSB University Center, Santa Barbara, CA




One of the most unique features of the Get Focused...Stay Focused!® (GFSF) program is the online 10-year Plan created in My10yearPlan.com®. This portable plan affords every administrator, counselor, and instructor the opportunity to understand—in a matter of minutes—the dreams, goals, and plans of each student they come in contact with. The more often students are asked to revisit and reassess their plans, the more meaningful the plans will become, and the more likely they are to value and strive to meet stated education and career goals. As they continue to adjust their plans to better reflect their evolving dreams, hopes, and aspirations, they take more ownership.

In addition, as students get in the habit of updating their plans, they become more comfortable with making decisions that involve change, which in itself is a crucial 21st century workplace skill. Why? Career stability is far less common due to globalization and technological advancements. Knowing how to navigate the ever-changing world of work is vital. Those who fail to adapt to this reality could be stuck in a future of subsistence living.
In this institute, you’ll not only learn how to access the power of My10yearPlan.com® for your own interactions with students, but also how to equip staff and academic instructors with techniques for using My10yearPlan.com® to personalize their work with students in academic coaching and advising situations. In addition, you’ll learn about the unique Skills-Based Education Plan that will ensure students are not only college ready but also, just as important, career ready with the skills to compete for jobs in their chosen career or industry. As you learn strategies for the planning, training, and coordination of academic teams, you will also prepare for presenting this information to other stakeholders such as parents, local employers, or community groups.

Why should counselors lead this whole-school initiative?

The counseling team is uniquely positioned and prepared to act as the change agents for the shift to the whole-school initiative. As state systems increase requirements for all students to have education plans early in their secondary years (as supported by research), the school-wide initiative of the Freshman Transition/Get Focused…Stay Focused!® programs support the development of these plans in a distributive fashion—easing some of the burden on counseling teams while positively impacting retention, graduation rates, and campus culture. And, taking on a leadership role as a school scales up to a four-year Get Focused…Stay Focused!® program, counselors can also contribute to the capacity building of the rest of the personnel on your campus—helping to train instructors and administrators in how to conduct “CAREing Conversations” with students.


For advisory situations to function at the highest level, instructors, counselors, and advisors need quantitative information about each student as it relates to their education and career goals. The best guidance is provided when support is based on specific examples, rather than general or vague notions about the student. If advice and mentoring is based on each student’s self-articulated career/education goals and lifestyle expectations, it has more meaning. By having this type of in-depth information online using My10yearPlan.com®, all appropriate stakeholders can provide individualized guidance easily and efficiently. In this institute, educational leaders will learn the strategies and procedures to formalize this process on their campuses.


At the conclusion of this institute, participants will be able to:
  1. Promote the importance of and strategies for distributive guidance.
  2. Use the online 10-year Plan to motivate students to higher achievement through academic coaching, advising, and counseling.
  3. Present capacity-building activities to all personnel within a school on the use of students’ 10-year Plans for advisory purposes and academic coaching.
  4. Present information at parent or community meetings on the use of the 10-year Plan to help students not only stay in school but also transition to post-secondary education/training and into the workforce as self-sufficient adults.


  • Counseling team members on high school and college campuses
  • Your school's Get Focused…Stay Focused!® coordinator/administrator
  • Your school's Career Choices lead teacher
  • Principals and school site leaders
  • District program specialists
  • Counseling department chairs and deans


With your registration, you’ll receive curriculum materials valued at $174.65!

Texts and Materials:
  • Get Focused…Stay Focused!® Program and Instructional Manual
  • Instructor’s and Administrator’s Guide for Career Choices and My10yearPlan.com® 9th Edition (2021)
  • Career Choices and Changes (softcover text)
  • NEW Workbook and Portfolio for Career Choices and Changes
  • Get Focused…Stay Focused!® Follow-Up Module 1 Workbook: Developing Attitudes and Aptitudes to Promote College and Career Readiness
  • Get Focused…Stay Focused!® Follow-Up Module 2 Workbook: Determining Your Informed Major and Post-Secondary Education Path
  • Get Focused…Stay Focused!® Follow-Up Module 3 Workbook: Preparing to Act on Your 10-year Education and Career Plan
Online Course Materials and Platforms:
  • Online access to The Teachers’ Lounge, which includes the Quick Start Study Guide for Guidance and Academic Coaching
  • A demo account for Career Choices and Changes Online PREMIUM through My10yearPlan.com® with a complete sample student plan