MEMO OF TRANSMITTAL

To: Evelyn Shafer

From: Shelby Baccala
Date: 27 November 2016
Subject: Proposal to Investigate Options to Prepare Red Bluff High
School Students for Life After High School
Attached is the requested recommendation report concerning preparing Red
Bluff High Schools students for life after high school. The purpose of this
report is to introduce a life after high school preparation program at Red Bluff
High School.
Recommendations
The two possible solutions I will be evaluating will be as follows:
Introduce a life skills class for one semester during Red Bluff High
School students senior year
Hire career counselors to meet with students periodically throughout
high school to cover specific questions and topics
Methods
To make the best decision possible, I used a variety of resources listed below:
Primary:
o Interview with Evelyn Shafer
o Survey of Cal Poly and Cuesta students
Secondary:
Findings
My research is disclosed in the Results section of my report and it is
analyzed in the Conclusion section.
Final Recommendation
My final recommendation is to hire career counselors for high school
students to meet with throughout their high school career.
Thank you for your time and consideration of my recommendation. Please
contact me with any questions.

Prepared for Evelyn Shafer

Senior Funding Analyst
J. M. Consulting, Inc.

Proposal to Investigate Options to Prepare Red Bluff High School

Students for Life After High School

Prepared by Shelby Baccala

Submitted November 27, 2016

Table of Contents
Introduction
..1
Purpose
1
Background
..1
Organization
.1
Methods
.1-2
Primary
Methods
.2
Secondary
Methods
2
Results
..3-4
Primary
Methods
.3
Secondary
Methods
4
Conclusion
.5

Recommendation
.6
References
.7
Figures
Cited
.8

Introduction
As young adults leave home for the first time, whether it is to a university,
junior college or straight into the workforce, many find themselves unable to
file taxes, balance a check book, and so on. Life skills curriculum can be
found online with courses and lessons, but none is found in a Red Bluff High
School classroom.
Purpose
I am currently a young adult in the process of learning many valuable life
skills. While I am managing to tackle basic tasks, I am not able to perform
them at a high level and often do not fully understand the consequences.
Life skills not taught in high school include how to talk to your boss, how to
take out a car loan, how to file taxes, how to build credit, and how to read
technical documents, like a lease or mortgage agreement. It is time to

prepare young adults for life away from home. I will address Evelyn Shafer,
Senior Funding Analyst for J. M. King Consulting, Inc., to gain a plan of action
to better prepare Red Bluff high school students for life after high school,
whether RBHS offers a one semester life skills class for seniors or provides
career counselors for students to meet with once a semester.
Background
Students graduate Red Bluff high school ill-prepared for tasks necessary in
life. 72% of young adults do not feel comfortable filing taxes, paying off
student loans, or building credit according to a survey I conducted [1]. It has
been found that a large part of minority groups have not been eligible to
attend a CSU straight out of high school due to not meeting the required
college preparation courses. Latinos made up 34% of high school graduates
in 2003 but only 16% of them were eligible to attend a CSU [2]. 27.2% of Red
Bluff High School students are Hispanic or Latino of any race [3]. According
to this percentage, less than 70 of the 435 Hispanic or Latino students at Red
Bluff High School will be eligible to attend a CSU. First generation students
also suffer a lack of support to enroll in college. In 1999, only 56% of
students whose parents did not attend college enrolled in a college [4].
Young adults are forced to learn life skills through trial and error or seeking
additional support. Many can rely on their parents but many students from a
low socioeconomic class do not have a parent who has gone through college
to guide them through. Without a basic understanding of these skills or a
parent who has gone through the system, these students are left guessing
about common things (for example: student loans, financial aid, taxes).
Organization
After the introduction, the following report will contain the primary and
secondary research methods, the results of the research, and a discuss of
the following recommendations with a final recommendation:
Introduce a life skills class for seniors in high school that takes place
for one semester
Add career counselors as an asset for students to discuss life after high
school
Methods
A variety of research was compiled to better understand the possible causes
and solutions for a lack of preparedness for life after high school.
Administrative perspective was collected by an interview with a high school
principal, student views were collected
1 through a survey and other research
was collected from popular sources as well as academic journals.
Primary Methods
Interview

I interviewed Evelyn Shafer, the Senior Funding Analyst for J. M. King

Consulting, Inc., to gain insight about diversity on the Red Bluff High School
campus.
I asked Evelyn Shafer the following questions:
1. What percentage of Red Bluff High School students are Hispanic or
Latino of any race?
2. What percentage of Red Bluff High School students are African
American?
3. What percentage of Red Bluff High School students are American
Indian or Alaska Native?
4. What percentage of Tehama County School Districts are Hispanic or
Latino of any race?
5. What percentage of Tehama County School Districts are African
American?
6. What percentage of Tehama County School Districts are American
Indian or Alaska Native?
7. What percentage of California School Districts are Hispanic or Latino of
any race?
8. What percentage of California School Districts are African American?
9. What percentage of California School Districts are American Indian or
Alaska Native?
Online Survey
I asked fifty Cal Poly and Cuesta students the following questions:
What year are you currently in?
Did you have a class or resource in high school to prepare you for life
after high school? If so, what was the resource and what did you learn?
Are you a first generation college student?
o If so, what resources did you use to prepare for college?
Ethnicity origin (or Race): Please specify your ethnicity:
The survey is intended to receive student input about the issues centering
around life skills after high school.
Secondary Methods
Charles B. Reed
I will use information from the article The Future Cannot Wait by Charles B.
Reed (former chancellor of the California State University System) from
January 1, 2007 in the magazine, Change.
Khanh Van T. Bui
I will use the article Middle School Variables That Predict College Attendance
For First-Generation Students on December 1, 2005. Khanh Van T. Bui is a
psychology professor at Pepperdine University.

Javier Cavazos Vela, Brande Flamez, Gregory Scott Sparrow, and

Eunice Lerma
2
I will use the article Understanding Support From School Counselors as
Predictors of Mexican American Adolescents College-Going Beliefs to gain
better insight to the large Mexican American population of students. Javier
Cavazos is an assistant professor of counseling and guidance at University of
Texas Rio Grande Valley. Brande Flamez is a professional counselor and
clinical professor at Lamar University. Gregory Scott Sparrow is an associate
professor in the Department of Counseling and Guidance at the University of
Texas Rio Grande Valley. Eunice Lerma is a professor in the Department of
Counseling and Guidance at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Results
After extensive research, I found the following results regarding life skills
being taught during high school. An interview with a high school
administrator was conducted, as well as a student survey for primary
research. Popular articles and academic journals were used as secondary
research.
Primary Methods
Interview
I asked Evelyn Shafer, the Senior Funding Analyst for J. M. King Consulting,
Inc., to gain perspective about diversity at Red Bluff High School. She
answered the following questions:
1. What percentage of Red Bluff High School students are Hispanic or
Latino of any race?
a. 435/1,600; 27.2%
2. What percentage of Red Bluff High School students are African
American?
a. 15/1,600; 0.9%
3. What percentage of Red Bluff High School students are American
Indian or Alaska Native?
a. 51/1,600; 3.1%
4. What percentage of Tehama County School Districts are Hispanic or
Latino of any race?
a. 4,045/10,705; 37.8%
5. What percentage of Tehama County School Districts are African
American?
a. 87/10,705; 0.8%
6. What percentage of Tehama County School Districts are American
Indian or Alaska Native?
a. 274/10,705; 2.6%
7. What percentage of California School Districts are Hispanic or Latino of
any race?
a. 3,360,562/6,226,737; 53.9%

8. What percentage of California School Districts are African American?

a. 361,752/6,226,737; 5.8%
9. What percentage of California School Districts are American Indian or
Alaska Native?
a. 34,704/6,226,737; 0.6%

Red Bluff High School Enrollment by Ethnicity for 2015-16

White

Hispanic or Latino

African American

American Indian or Alaska Native

Pacific Islander

Filipino

Asian

Two or more races

Not Reported

Figure 1: Red Bluff High School Enrollment by Ethnicity for 2015-16

Survey
Fifty Cal Poly and Cuesta students were asked the following questions in a
survey to gain more insight to student perspective:
What year are you currently in?
o 15% First, 45% Second, 30% Third, 6% Fourth, 4% Fifth
Did you have a class or resource in high school to prepare you for life
after high school? If so, what was the resource and what did you learn?
o 67% of students responded they did not have a resource to
prepare for life after high school and the other 33% of students
stated they had a resource, most of which was something along
the lines of a counselor
Are you confident in your ability to file taxes, build credit, take out and
pay off student loans in a timely manner, and read contracts?
o 72% of students responded they are not confident in their ability
to complete any of these tasks.
Secondary Methods
Charles B. Reed
Charles B. Reed is a former chancellor of the California State University
System and the State University System of Florida. He writes about how the
CSU system is the most diverse university system in the country but there is

still room for improvement. He discusses percentages of first generation,

Latino, African American, and other minority groups in the CSU system. He
continues on to state graduation is the ultimate goal and discusses not only
how to increase enrollment but to also increase graduation rates.
Khanh Van T. Bui
In the article Middle School Variables 4
that Predict College Attendance for
First-Generation Students, Khanh Van T. Bui, a Pepperdine University
psychology professor, writes about variables that effect first generation
college attendance. Bui finds the middle school years to be the most
important to focus on for first generation college students because it has
been found that interventions in the eighth or ninth grade years are more
successful. Bui uses prior research from NELS to conduct their research.
There are six control variables in the study; including sex, race, yearly family
income, grade, standardized test scores, and educational aspirations. The
study was able to create ratios for students that predicts their college
attendance based on the six control variables.
Javier Cavazos Vela, Brande Flamez, Gregory Scott Sparrow, and
Eunice Lerma
The article Understanding Support from School Counselors as Predictors of
Mexican American Adolescents College-Going Beliefs by Javier Cavazos
Vela, Brande Flamez, Gregory Scott Sparrow and Eunice Lerma discusses the
impact of high school counselors on Mexican American students collegegoing beliefs. They found that Mexican Americans not only have a low
college attendance rate but also a low completion rate among those who
attend. The authors wanted to do a quantitative study since only qualitative
have been conducted in the past.
Conclusion
As a first generation college student, I am passionate about life skills being
taught in high school. I have my first car payment, a full time job, my own
health insurance, and my first lease. I file FAFSA every year for myself and
have to walk my mom through her portion. I am helping my little sister
through the application process now. Time management, communication,
contracts, and credit are things every high school student should have a
basic understanding about.
Some members of minority populations struggle to not only attend college
but also graduate with a degree; but those who do are often just as
successful as their non-first generation peers. Only 10.6% of Mexican
American students received a college degree compared to the 30.3% of
white students [5]. Only 56% of students whose parents did not attend
college continue their education after high school compared to 85% of their
non-first generation peers [4]. Red Bluff High Schools population is 27.2%

Hispanic or Latino [3]. I do not have an exact number but I do know many of
my peers were also first generation students at Red Bluff High School.
My first proposed solution was to introduce a life skills class for high school
seniors that takes place across one semester. This solution provides a set
curriculum for all students. This is a benefit because not all students will
think of questions or things they may need to know after high school. It
could, however, be a downfall as well because there is less one-on-one time
for specific student questions and backgrounds. It is also a benefit because it
puts groups of senior students together so there is a variety of questions
asked as well as a wide range of backgrounds. The downfall of this solution
are that it takes open units away from seniors to take another science,
language class, or an elective (ex. Student government).
The second proposed solution was to provide career counselors to high
school students to answer questions and
5 help them prepare for life after high
school. The benefits of this solution are that it is tailored specifically to each
student and their background, it does not take up any units, and they get
one-on-one time with a counselor to discover their plans after high school
from the time they are freshmen to the time they are seniors. The downfall of
this solution is that there is no set curriculum or required meeting time to
ensure students are prepared for their life after high school. It also does not
allow for questions to be asked as immediately as in a classroom setting or
for students to build off of one another.
Recommendation
My final recommendation is to introduce career counselor meetings for high
school students because it is more immediately feasible and tailored to
specific student needs. As we go forward, Red Bluff High School should set a
discussion list for counselors with their students that they touch base on
different topics.

References
[1] S. Baccala, Preparedness for Life After High School, Survey. 14 Nov
2016.
[2] C. B. Reed, The Future Cannot Wait, Change. 1 Jan 2007.
[3] E. Shafer, Senior Funding Analyst, J. M. King Consulting, Inc. Interview.
Chico, CA. 14 Nov
2016.
[4] K. V. T. Bui, Middle School Variables That Predict College Attendance
College Attendance for First-Generation Students, Education. 1 Dec 2005.
[5] B. Flamez, E. Lerma, G. S. Scott, J. C. Vela, Understanding Support from
School Counselors as Predictors of Mexican American Adolescents CollegeGoing Beliefs, Academic Journal.

Figured Cited
[3] E. Shafer, Senior Funding Analyst, J. M. King Consulting, Inc. Interview.
Chico, CA. 14 Nov
2016.