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Question 2: Please tell me as a middle school counselor what more I can do to support the high school programs; and what are some other ideas I can use to offer students, teachers and families in middle school who are at high risk. |
Counselors, and adults with counseling skills, are central to keeping young people engaged in school and on track to graduation. The presence of high quality, supportive relationships in a young person’s life can make the difference between success or failure. Many people who succeed against overwhelming odds induced by poverty and other cultural barriers, attribute their success to one or more adults (a special teacher, counselor, coach, or mentor) who nagged and nurtured them and refused to let them fail. Unfortunately, development of those kinds of relationships is too often left to happenstance or luck. As the resident relationship experts in schools, counselors can play pivotal roles not only in providing targeted support to struggling students, but also in creating positive personalized school environments organized in ways that support students with high quality relationships as a matter of course.
I’m not familiar with your particular school context or the guidance program you’ve already got going, so it’s hard to be specific about what more you could be doing. You are clearly a seeker with an eye on continuous improvement, so if you haven’t already, check out the National Middle School Association’s recent research summary on best practices in middle grades counseling (Akos and Kingsley, 2008). It is reasonably short and full of good nuggets and direction to other helpful resources (including the authors themselves). Also see the recent Education Week (Feb 4, 2009) article about the Roxbury Preparatory Charter School where the counseling team not only provides intensive supports during the middle grades, but sustains direct contact with students via phone, email, and Facebook as they progress through high school.
Your question indicates that you get it when it comes to the need for what’s come to be called “vertical teaming,” i.e. articulation, communication, and coordination between middle and high schools. Though the focus of vertical teaming has been largely on curricular alignment, it may be extended to academic and social expectations, messages, and supports as well (Kowal, 2002). There are many barriers to vertical teaming, but counselors are in a unique position to serve as the catalysts since you know the students, typically have access to the data, and often have system-level opportunities to develop relationships with counselors in other schools. Some activism, ingenuity, and chutzpa may be needed to establish this practice since this is relatively new terrain. Even if it just starts with 2-3 counselors across schools in a regular breakfast meeting (make sure the coffee’s good!), focused coordination and communication can ease students’ transitions and help get the right supports to the right students at the right time before they disengage and give up on school.
Let me offer three other ideas based on strategies specifically related to dropout prevention:
First, advocate for and work to establish a data-driven early warning and response system in your school. Students signal frustration and disengagement from school in their attendance, behavior, and course performance. Studies show that we can identify up to half of future dropouts as early as the sixth grade just by looking at these variables. See the NHSC brief for more information and guidance.
Second, clone yourself. What I mean by this is that it is worth investing in training not only students, but other adults in the building (and family members as well) in basic community and relationship building skills (e.g. anger management, conflict resolution, non-violent communication). Students benefit enormously when adults are on the same page and modeling and reinforcing the same strategies and messages. That applies to study skills and messages about the relevance and importance of success in school to future outcomes (college, earnings, etc.), and the disastrous consequences of dropping out. Our program has incorporated much of this into a Freshman Seminar course, units of which we are now adapting to the middle grades so there is consistency across the transition from middle to high school. It also helps if teachers are organized into interdisciplinary teams that share the same group of students throughout the day and year and share common planning time. These teams can serve as the front line for prevention, outreach, and intervention on the ABC’s of dropout prevention (attendance, behavior, course performance), making it easier for counseling staff to focus on specialized interventions (e.g. grief counseling), targeted case management, and coordinating academic extra help, mentoring, and social services. Advisories (with training and specified curriculum) and looping are other systemic strategies that build capacity for supportive relationships in middle schools.
Third, create a proactive, positive school climate that combines incentives and recognitions with targeted supports. There is a saying that “what you pay attention to grows.” Working with administrators, teacher teams, and families, guidance staff can reinforce high standards and progress toward standards by making visible student work and accomplishments and regularly celebrating those accomplishments with families and community partners. Success is attractive and infectious; counseling staff can be powerful guides by highlighting the positives while tending to the challenges. A number of our schools are instituting weekly recognitions around the ABCs, a practice called “getting caught doing something good,” and showcasing student talents and strengths in conjunction with fundraising events.
References
Akos, P., & Kingsley, M. (2008). Middle grades counseling. Retrieved [date] from http://www.nmsa.org/Research/ResearchSummaries/Counseling/tabid/1739/Default.aspx
Kowal, P.H. (August, 200). Vertical teaming: Making connections across levels. Middle Ground, Vol. 6, No. 1. National Middle School Association. Retrieved from www.nmsa.org/portals/0/pdf/publications/On_Target/transitioning_hs/transitioning_hs_3.pdf+vertical+teaming&hl=en.
Disclaimer
It is important to note that the National High School Center does not endorse particular programs or practices.
