Building a Better Advising System: Washington’s College & Career Landscape Assessment
How Do You Improve Advising Systems to Close Postsecondary Gaps?
Client: Gates Foundation
Services: Research and Analytics, Community & Stakeholder Engagement
Focus Areas: K-12 & Postsecondary Education
Landscape Assessment Meets Actionable Framework
In Washington state, stakeholders have long recognized the importance of strong college and career advising. Yet despite widespread support, there’s been little shared guidance on what enables strong advising environments and systems or how to ensure equitable access to it. The Gates Foundation partnered with Kinetic West to explore what enables strong advising environments and how Washington compares to national best practices. The goal? To develop a clear, data-informed roadmap for strengthening advising and increasing postsecondary enrollment.
To uncover opportunities for improvement and provide guidance to the field, we conducted a full-scale College and Career Advising Field Assessment and developed a corresponding Advising Framework grounded in best practice.
► Broad & Deep Data Collection: We gathered insights from over 150 survey respondents across school districts, schools, and community-based organizations. We also analyzed over 34 job descriptions, interviewed 20 leaders from high-performing districts and national organizations, and reviewed 43 existing frameworks and reports on advising.
► Field-Informed Framework: Drawing on national research and local voices, we created a framework to define and evaluate effective advising practices. Key focus areas included vision, staffing, partnerships, curriculum, data, and equitable supports.
► Workforce Analysis: We assessed the advising workforce to understand gaps, roles, and capacity across the system. This enabled us to offer targeted recommendations around staffing, training, and scaling supports.
►Landscape Synthesis & Insights: Our analysis confirmed what many practitioners suspected: college and career advising is seen as essential—but varies significantly in quality and access. There’s no widely used model for what strong advising looks like, and students’ experiences can differ even between schools in the same district.
The Result: A Shared Framework for Advancing Advising
Kinetic West completed two key research deliverables to the Gates Foundation and Washington stakeholders:
The College & Career Advising Framework, providing a common language and structure for defining and assessing quality advising
The College & Career Advising Field Assessment, capturing the current state of advising across the state, identifying key equity and access gaps, and outlining recommendations for advancing the field of advising
Download the Report
Read the executive summary, including recommendations for advancing the field.
Read the full report, including framework and complete survey data.
Why It Matters
Postsecondary planning should not depend on what school a student attends. With a shared understanding of effective advising and where current gaps lie, Washington is better equipped to improve advising systems that support all students—especially those historically underserved.
Let’s Talk
Are you working to build or improve advising systems in your region or state? We’d love to help you assess what’s working, what’s missing, and how to create systems that deliver for every student. Email avery@kineticwest.com to connect.