Succeeding with At Risk and Disadvantaged Youth

1
Succeeding with At Risk and Disadvantaged Youth

• Howard Johnston, Professor
• University of South Florida
• and
• Heath Burns, Superintendent
• Angleton ISD

2
30 Kids Born In the USA Today

• About 10 minutes worth.
• An American born every 19 seconds.
• Based on projections from the US Census Bureau
• Not counting immigrantsone of whom arrives every
  31 seconds.

3
What Does it Mean to Be AT RISK?At Risk of What?

• Out of those 30 children
• 19 are minority
• 11 are poor
• 11 were born out of wedlock
• 15 were born to parents who will divorce or
  separate

4
What Does it Mean to Be AT RISK?

• 4 were born into families earning 60,000 a year.
• 13 will live on public assistance
• 14 will have no health care
• 9 will drop out of school
• Sowhos special? Whom to include?

5
What Does it Mean to Be AT RISK?

• 8 were born after prenatal exposure to drugs
• 19 after prenatal exposure to alcohol
• 28 will try alcohol 5-6 will be addicted
• 19 will try drugs 2-3 will be addicted
• 12 were born into families earning less than
  14,000 a year

6
The Grim Status of Children in the USA

• They are the poorest Americans.
• They have the worst health care.
• They are the most likely victims of violence.
• They believe they face a bleak economic future.

7
The Grim Status of Children in the USA

• The are the most pessimistic about their own
  futures than any generation since the Great
  Depression of the 1930s.

8
So What Can We Do?

• I.
• Challenge the Regularities of Schooling!

9
School Adjustment FearsHigh Achievers

• Public Performance (academic)
• Mastering physical space.
• Difficulty of academic program.
• P.E. Dressing Showers
• Failure
• Grade retention

10
School Adjustment FearsLow Achievers

• Grade retention
• Public performance (academic)
• Punishment
• Unkind adults
• Being ridiculed
• Harassment
• Difficulty of academic program

11
School Adjustment FearsAlternative School

• Keeping up with work
• Public performance
• Difficulty of academic program
• P.E. Dressing and Showers
• Failure
• Punishment

12
DIFFICULTYor they just cant do the work. Really?

• Given Achievement Scores, Attendance, Prior
  Failure, Suspensions, Ethnicity, Sex, SES, Self
  Reported Attitudes

• Analysis placed 97 accurately in passing
  group
• BUT
• Predicted that 83 of failing kids should have
  passed, too.

13
Homeworkor school work carried home.

• 49 of marking period failures were for no
  homework.
• 21 of grade level failure for no homework
• But who does homework in the first place?

14
Predictors of who will do homework at all

• Family income
• Education level of the mother
• Adult supervision outside of school
• Teacher follow up

15
Preponderance of Lecture-Recitation-Seatwork Model

• Field Independent Learners
• Setting Cooperative, Loose, Informal.
• Focus Concepts General Principles

• Field Dependent Learners
• Setting Formal, Structured, Individualized.
• Focus Information Details.

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Preponderance of Lecture-Recitation-Seatwork Model

• Field Dependent
• Social Context Work together to benefit the
  group.
• Reward For effort, group contribution, common
  good.

• Field Independent
• Social Context Work alone everyone for him or
  herself.
• Reward For outcome, quality of product on
  predetermined standard.

17
What is Success?

• Field Dependent
• Helping the group getting group approval.

• Field Independent
• Meeting the standard getting approval of
  authority.

18
Lack of Direct Instruction in Intellectual
Strategies

• 39 best reading and social studies teachers
  observed teaching 17,997 minutes of reading
  instruction in 5 days.
• 45 minutes (.25) devoted to direct instruction
  on comprehension skills.
• 17.7 of time spent assessing comprehension.

19
ISOLATIONout of the mainstream of school life

• Low levels of adult-student interaction outside
  of class -- about 1/10 as much as other students.
• Status and friendship groups older and out of
  school
• No pass no play effects
• Status earned at job, in gang, in family

20
Isolation, cont.

• Low reward status in School
• 27 academic
• 45 athletic
• 18 artistic
• 10 other

21
Isolation, cont.

• Anonymity
• 71 of 9th Grade Sample
• 48 of 6th Grade Sample
• Never called by name

22
SO, WHAT CAN WE DO?

• II.
• Build Strong Social Relationships and Networks.

23
But We Only Have Them for 6 Hours a Day!

• 6.5-7.5 hours in school.
• 4.0-6.0 involved with media.
• 1.0-2.0 with peers and playmates.
• 7.0-9.0 sleeping
• 20.5-23.5 accounted for
• 0.5-3.5 with others, including parents

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And They Still Dont Know Us

• Are your Teachers happy?
• Yes 16
• No 12
• DNK 72

• Do Your Teachers like to spend time with you?
• Yes 17
• No 17
• DNK 66

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And They Still Dont Know Us

• Most Teachers Like Kids.
• Yes 20
• No 15
• DNK 65

• My teachers like to talk with kids informally.
• Yes 11
• No 25
• DNK 64

26
And They Still Dont Know Us

• My Teachers like to play and have fun.
• Yes 8
• No 11
• DNK 81

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Promote Social Bonding

• School Success Social Bonding
• Social Bonding
• Attachment Commitment
• Involvement Belief

28
Attachment

• Familiarity
• Attractiveness
• Social-emotional bonds

29
Commitment

• Clear and obvious benefit
• Rational assessment of group assets

30
Involvement

• Amount and nature of participation
• Attractiveness of participation

31
Belief

• Faith in legitimacy of group
• Confidence in groups power
• Conviction that this group is for people like
  me.

32
SO, WHAT CAN WE DO?

• III.
• Close the Opportunity Gap.

33
3-9 P.M. Activity Pattern

• Play outside, eat, homework, clean/chores, play
  bed.
• Homework, clean kitchen, play, eat dinner, help
  clean up, TV, bed.
• Eat, homework, play, TV, bed.
• Play on own, TV, begin homework, dinner, TV, bed.
• Chores, homework, read or play, TV, bed.

34
3-9 P.M. Activity PatternFor Low Achievers, age
10

• Play outside, eat, homework, clean/chores, play
  bed.
• Homework, clean kitchen, play, eat dinner, help
  clean up, TV, bed.
• Eat, homework, play, TV, bed.
• Play on own, TV, begin homework, dinner, TV, bed.
• Chores, homework, read or play, TV, bed.

35
Achieving 10 year olds

• Snack, homework, play or TV, help parent with
  dinner clean up, hobby or TV, reading, bed.
• Music lessons, dinner, homework, visit grandpa,
  errands, TV, game or read, bed.
• Visit aunt, swim, help fix dinner, homework, TV,
  bed.

36
Achieving 10 year olds

• Chores, play, read, homework, sign language
  class, dinner, TV, bed.
• Homework, snack, baseball practice, dinner, clean
  up, TV, read, bed.

37
High Achievers

• Spend more time in conversation with adults.
• Receive explicit achievement training.
• Have a regular pattern of behavior.
• Engage in anticipatory behavior.

38
Achievers

• Engage in activities extending the opportunity to
  read and write.
• Engage in constructive learning besides homework
  (hobbies, games).
• Participate in little unsupervised, passive
  recreation (e.g., TV, hanging out).

39
Achievers

• Do something important or special that
  establishes them as an important player in the
  school, family, or community.

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(No Transcript)
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Sphere I School Culture

• Average Impact
• Prepare kids for graduation.
• Policy focuses on rules
• Teach/admin less consistent about achievement
  goals
• Teachers tolerate external standards assess.

• High Impact
• Prep kids for life beyond HS.
• Policy focuses on achievement
• Teach/admin consistent about achievement goals.
• Teachers embrace external standards assess.

42
Sphere II Academic Core

• High-impact
• Students encouraged to take on academic
  challenges.
• Assessment data is used for future planning,
  e.g., curriculum improvements, teacher
  assignments.

• Average Impact
• Hurdles to access the most challenging courses.
• Use data primarily to measure past student
  performance

43
Sphere IV Teachers

• High Impact
• Teacher placement driven by student needs and
  teacher expertise.
• Support for new teach focused on curric instr.

• Average Impact
• Teacher placement driven by teacher preference
  seniority.
• Support for new teach more personal and social

44
Sphere III Student Support

• High Impact
• Help in ways that keep kids on track for college
  prep.
• Faculty assume responsibility to offer extra help

• Average Impact
• Help in ways that delay entry to college prep.
• Extra help available, but optional

45
Sphere III Student Support (cont)

• High Impact
• Early warning systems ID kids needing help
• Counselors actively monitor kids
• Use partnerships for post-sec opportunities

• Average Impact
• Help offered after kid fails or falters
• Counselors work thru referrals
• Use partnerships for drop out drug prevention.

46
Sphere IV Teachers (cont)

• High Impact
• Admin create small classes for struggling
  students
• Principals have more control over who joins
  faculty

• Average Impact
• Class size relatively equal
• Principals tend to accept teachers sent by
  district office.

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Sphere V Organization

• High Impact
• Time use determined by academics
• 9th graders get more reading instruction
• Most time spent in academic or grade level courses

• Average Impact
• Time determined by multiple factors.
• 9th graders receive little reading
• High proportion of time in remedial or basic
  classes

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Sphere V Organization (cont)

• High Impact
• Strict in protecting academic time
• Senior year relatively low academic challenges

• Average Impact
• Flexible time use policies
• Senior year relatively low academic challenges