If a student is observed to be failing a class whether it be due to academic, attendance, or professionalism the instructor will write up an Advisory Form which is a communication device to ensure the student is aware of all his available opportunities, so if he needs help he can take advantage of it before it is to late.
This 3 stage process matches what we do at our institution. I believe it is important to regularly weave in the compassionate conversations throughout this process, to make sure the student knows that they matter.
To prevent academic erosion our school strives to have a good student to teacher ratio. That way instructors are not overwhelmed with the number of students. Thus giving them the opportunity to give the right amount of attention to each student. There are also amazing counselors to go over concerns before enterin a program. Thus hopefully eliminating any stress from going to school.
To be honest it did help with his attitude because the class that he was put into was an evening class with a lot older people and the class that he had left was a younger crowd which was pretty much straight out of high school.
Having students bring a copy of their grades to you is an interesting way to engage your students, Luke. How do they react to this? Do you get any push-back?
Paper? Electronic? Where do they go and who is responsible for follow up?
Christa, this sounds like a team effort. Who are the players and who leads the efforts?
We utilize our student portal to give the students a real time view of their grades. I also have the students bring me their grades on Monday so I know they are looking at them. I'll also post questions and problems on the portal for them to post the answers. I think this engages them and keeps them on top of their personal progress.
At end of week 3, Midterm evaluations between student and instructor to assess student's progress. If below standard, discussion between Program Director, instructor and student is initiated as an intervention.
Advising forms to identify area of concern.
At my institution we document attendance, tardiness, tutoring, then we attempt to contact the student each class they are absent. We monitor the grades closely and constantly look for patterns. Based off the grades and attendance we will request in writing a mandatory tutoring. We have midterm reports and meet with each student regarding where they stand in grading and attendance.
Interesting. Sometimes a change of scenery can make a big difference. Did this switch make a difference? If so, were you able to determine why the change of class turned things around?
We had to have an intervention with one of our previous students do to his lack of respect not only for instructors but for his fellow students as well, but the final outcome pretty much came to us switching him with another class or he was going to be removed from the school indefinitely.
Our school has in place a monitoring system which includes the advisors, registrar and the instructors. When an instructor notices frequent absences, we must contact the student and refer this information to the registrar. We are constantly monitoring the academic performance as well. The atmosphere setting is very inviting where students feel comfortable talking to their instructors as well.
Arnitra, how successful are your tutoring programs? How many students use them?
The forms are paper and time line is usually dependant on students actions. But students are accountable also they have to sign them and I turn them into my education manager. Education managers also keep track of them as well.
Since our classes are very fast, usually about 2 weeks tops for most classes, we give students mid-term reports of where they stand in the class. We also offer tutoring to those that are below expectations. We work with these students to try and get them to where they need to be.
Paul, are these forms paper/pencil or computer based? Is timeliness of information an issue?
We use student advising documents. Ranges from attendance issues, grade issues, and behavior issues. These forms are intiated by the students instructor. This opens the door to find out if the student is have other issues that are causing his/her issues.
Many of my students are responsive to tutoring, however, work schedules tend to hinder efforts, so we work out a few minutes immediately after class or conversations during a self guided lab.
