Chapter 1:A Failure to Adapt
This was an interesting chapter. It set the stage for some of the problems with high school education. According to the text, the main one being the lack of personalization for students. The writer speaks about his adpoted sons that are placed into ESL classrooms. The parents are assured that their children will receive a strong education but upon observation this was clearly not the case. It was not because the teacher was not trying to do a good job rather it was beacuse of the limited and outdated resources and the almost impossible task the teacher/s faced. One classroom was in an old weight room which the other was an old lumber storage area. The books were old, damaged, and out of date. The students in the classrooms came from various countries and spoke a wide variety of languages including Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Italian, Korean, and Spanish. The students were also in three different grades. I do not know how any teacher could be very effective in that diverse of an environment. The story went on describing how the parents tried to get help from the school and district with basically no improvements. So, the parents went on to file class action discrimination appeals to both the state and federal offices for civil rights. This is when improvements finally happened. Their sons were finally making progress and succeeding in school but at the end of their 6th grade year came the beginning of a down hill battle between the parents, the students, and the schools. One of their sons ended up struggling through their freshmen year three times despite being a smart student. At this point, after many struggles, the student asked the parents if he could attend a private school. The parents were sad that public schools could not give their son what he needed but glad that he was finally willing to try something different. After a little time at the new school the student came home and announced, " I'm not stupid". Despite the parents effort to convince him that he wasn't stupid that is how he saw himself in the public school. The boy went on to become successful at the new school and graduate high school. He was one of two students from his 6th grade class that accomplished this task. If it wasn't for his parent's support and resources he probably would not have made it either. After the story the author outlines the major problems with public high schools; depersonalization, lack of adult support, unresponsive teaching, imperceptible results, invisibility, and isolation. These six issues are what the author builds the book around in hopes that future students will not believe they are stupid.
Chapter 2:Guiding Personalized Learning
The key issues iterated over and over in this chapter was advisory groups. The private school that the author's child joined had an advisor for every student. This person (usually one of the teachers) meets with the student every week, sometimes multiple times during the week. They usually work with the same students throughout their high school career. This provides the student with an adult that provides support, caring, and help in planning out their high school career and their future. Showcase schools for advisory groups typically include the following; Offering an advisory program with a clear purpose, Looping students so they saw the same teachers over more than one year (for many of the schools, the looping took place in advisory), planning weekly professional development opportunities for the entire school staff, strongly expressing the understanding that they hadn't reached their goals yet and still had much to improve. The text describes a list of some of the purposes of advisors. Although, not all of these things are expected from one advisory group. * To increase student motivation * To guide course selection * To help students imagine their future * To connect families to student learning * To celebrate student achievement * To connect each student with a caring adult * To relate student work to standards * To explore noncurricular options * To support identity formation * To initiate lifelong learning
* To increase self-awareness * To emphasize applications of knowledge * To gather a best work portfolio * To banish anonymity from school life * To clarify graduation requirements * To plan a path after high school * To prepare for college application * To define a personal pathway * To promote reflection and reevaluation * To improve basic skills * To explore career choices * To develop personal talents * To extend community involvement * To evaluate content acquisition * To legitimize nonschool achievements * To prepare for college applications
The article also outlines how to set goals, organize, prepare activities and asses advisory groups. Several examples of assessments are available in the chapter.
Do you believe that advisory groups would be helpful in increasing student achievement in the high school and why? What do you see in this summary that would benefit your future students? Why do you think advisory groups made such a big difference in the success of the author's son?
This was by Elizabeth Walton. I forgot to put my name on it! Typical of a high school student huh?
ReplyDeleteI taught in a school with advisory groups and loved the interaction with students and parents. When my students walked across the stage to receive their diplomas from me, their advisor, it was an extremely moving experience. Each student had an adult in the school who knew him/her, who advocated for the students, and who contacted the family regularly. we kept that sytem for several years; a new principal arrived and we no longer had advisory groups. Another reform-minded individual who did not look for the strengths of what we were doing but thought the advisory groups took away from instructional time. Without consulting the faculty, he restructured the school. Attendance rates declined and there were more referrals, especially among the freshman class.
ReplyDeleteAdvisory groups seem like a great idea to me.Students at that age need guidance, as a lot of times they will not seek it out or it does not mean anything if it comes from the parents.To know that at school ,there is someone who genuinely looks out for them,someone they repect and trust,makes a huge difference as we can read from Dr. Graham's comment since she experienced it first hand.
ReplyDeleteI read about the example of the ENL class.I wondered how the public school was servicing their other students who were not ENL?I ask because I taught in a school that had many students from many different nationalities where most of them did very welll academically(actually top of the class).I believe this was so because the district,the high school,the community,the parents and the teachers all shared the same goals and philosphies and wokred with ALL the students.This school was in an affluent community and actually provided many opportunitites and supports to ALL students .
Don't feel bad Elizabeth. I had not posted my name either when I posted my book review.
ReplyDeleteAssigning an advisory teacher to each student is very important. This teacher gets to know the students. If a student is struggling with a teacher, their advisory teacher can talk w/the other teacher and find out the problems and the provide solutions to help each other. The student has someone they trust and can turn to for help in school and outside of school. The thing I saw with this book was the author's son got the personal attention he need. In addition, he was able to get the necessary resources and guidance that he needed to be a successful student. I am sure that all of this helped his self-confidence and that goes a long way as well. The advisory groups helped keep the parents aware of all the situations and that helped everyone see what the student was doing well, what improvements need to be made and what direction to use to get the help or direction they need.
ReplyDeleteI can see why you bought the book!
ReplyDeleteIt seems to cover all the major aspects we will be dealing with as teachers.
The opening example is a classic example of what happens without interaction of community, family and administration.
Of course interaction finally came in the form of a class action lawsuit…
I believe an advisory group is an essential component to the students’ successful academic and societal future. It is stakeholder collaboration we have been learning throughout this class. Most importantly, a successful advisory group wades through the many individual stakeholder agendas and parses out of it a strategy best for the student. And then, in unison, it is carried out. Since this is a dynamic process, periodic meeting are a must to accommodate inevitable curve balls society (and government) throws. Bill_H
I agree that advisory groups can meet an accountability need for many students. In our school, we have what is called "Freshman Academy," similar to the advisory group concept. It is still in its infancy--second full year--but I think it has potential. We are currently on a block schedule, so each academy class meets every other day. The first portion of each class is used for instruction on various topics that are pertinent to having a successful entry into high school. The remainder of the class is used as a study session. Students are able to use passes to other classes where they receive help from specific teachers, etc. Our program still has quite a bit of refining to do, but I think it's on the right track so far. Currently we do not loop with students, but I can see that as being beneficial for building lasting relationships with students. I do think that the personal accountability that could come with advisory groups could definitely improve student achievement. As was the case with the author's son, I think that advisory groups provide the opportunity for students to have a solid connection with someone at school, rather than just being a number. This can make a huge difference in students who are at-risk of failure or for dropping out.
ReplyDeleteBarbara,
ReplyDeleteHow many students were in your school? How were the groups divided? Tell me more. I would love to see how it would work in larger schools. Our schools is small by most accounts but it sounds much larger than what the book seems to describe. Oh... and I don't believe I mentioned it in my blog but some would think this is the job of the counselors but at our school we have 3 counselors and over 900 students there is not way they can fulfill all their duties and meet with each of their assigned students on a regular basis.
We have a group advisory here as for students who want to learn better ways to become a better student and advice on what is needed to go to college. Next year, I believe we will meet with students either before 1st period or the last 20 minutes of before they leave and have group time for academic purposes or just getting to know them personally. This would be great because it is also a type of guidance for students. Maybe, they need someone to talk to or guidance on what to enroll in. Even though we are not counselors we are adult educators who meet with them everyday and can be a genuine listener and promote a better environment in class. Close to the end of the school year, some students came in to work on some make-up work and during those times, we talked and got to know each other by sharing music. Maybe, there is nothing great about that but a window of friendship was opened and I no longer had any behavior problems in my class again.
ReplyDeleteI think advisory groups sound like a great idea but I do have some concerns that the others have voiced: does this only work in a smaller school? How do you convince the administration to implement this program over a long period of time? I think that a program like this would have to be in a school for at least a few years and I think the administration tends to get impatient when the results are not instant. I think it is a great idea though and would love to be a part of a program like this when I start teaching.
ReplyDeleteAdvisory groups seems like a fantastic idea. It's important for students to feel like they have a connection to the school that's outside of traditional class work. In my high school, my senior year they piloted a program (I forget the name of it) that paired a two seniors with a group of freshman. It was good for a while, but a few weeks in the acceptance letters started coming in, and our minds drifted to South Bend or West Lafayette or Indianapolis. Football games and senior-itis kicked in, and by graduation the program at the beginning of the year was long forgotten.
ReplyDeleteUsing faculty members is a great idea because they're less likely to be distracted by the traditional "senior year" stuff that comes along with being eighteen and months away from moving to college. It makes the faculty seem more approachable and less terrifying for a young student.
And after four years, receiving a diploma from your advisor would be very moving.
I don’t see any reason why schools should not have advisory boards! I think it is a great way for more interaction between teachers and students. There is no doubt it would increase achievement, the more one on one time you have with a student to talk about progress and how their life is going is only going to be beneficial. I think for my future students advisory boards would only improve the well being of the student. It is like having another mentor for the child to admire. When the student knows that someone cares about their well being and progress, positive results in school work and overall student achievement should increase. It gives the student self motivation because if the mentor really gives them positive encouragement and relays the message that hard work pays off then only wonderful things can happen. As for the author’s son, the things that I have already described above are why his child succeeded against the odds set before him.
ReplyDelete