Intervention Strategies
Describe an intervention practice at your institution that addresses either Academic Erosion or Academic Stagnation.
Instructors monitor and input the daily attendance. Since our programs are fairly short in length, we have guidelines of certain actions that are to be taken at different intervals. Once a student has reached a total of 16 missed hours, the Director of Education will meet with them. Our campus recently started having meetings to start discussing those students who are at risk and bounce ideas off of each other in how to be proactive rather than reactive to their issues before they become an academic issue or an attendance issue.
As a Program Director, I contact my 2nd term students at the beginning of this term to schedule an independent meeting with each one to review academic policies, procedures, career goals and other issues or questions that the student may have about our school.
We are in almost constant contact with our students via e-mail, phone calls, facebook, texting, etc. Faculty is very easy for them to contact, and they can communicate with us through the computer which can make questions easier to ask or answer.
We use a similar process and include a student action report tool to try and open a dialogue with students who are lagging behind the rest of their classmates. It has proven to be quite effective in opening a dialogue between instructors and students who are reticent to discuss their problems with coursework.
Our student action reports are not only when a student is failing but could be on track to fail. Instructors sit down and talk to a student when grades are falling or alot of absences are accuring even if a student has good grades but is all of a sudden missing class or late for class. We try to talk to student first- me I ask Is there any thing I can help you with or do you need a listening ear for awhile or just vent. i tell them I have noticed a change in behavior and that I am interested in their well being not just their skills but they intertwine.
Retention is all about doing the right things the right way; having the right people at the right place at the right time. The free flow of information is pivotal to making that possible. Try to have the student tell you what is really wrong. The instructor should not try to solve the problem themselves, have the student solve the problem on their own.
I have never had to intervene, so im just going to read thru some of your post to get an idea.
An intervention practice at our institution that helps to address Academic Erosion is the use of council forms. Council forms are used to try and handle students problems, such as academic problems, attendance problems, or conduct issues. After the first council form, or warning, the student is sent to administration.
We have recently implemented a new program to provide students with a trial basis to allow the student to get a feeling for his or her chosen program, and make sure they have a vested interest in their field selected.
At our school as instructors any time we have students who are absent we call and email our students to check on them and find out if they will be back for the next day of class. If they are having any issues like carpooling sometimes other classmates can start carpooling together. If they are sick and do not have insurance we have information on free clinics they can go to and get medical attention. If the issue is beyond what we can do but know another department that can help we give them the contact info of that individual that can help. We also email that individual in that department to let them know the student will be contacting them.
Another way we monitor grades, absences, and tardiness are through a weekly Student's At Risk Report that is discussed with our lead instructor to discuss options to assist the student. We also fill out a student action report which we go over with the student and they sign this form and it goes to our Program Chair and in the student's personal file. The key is to find out early what we can do as instructors to help our students succeed and stay in school. If they need tutoring, we either assist our student or recommend school Tudors. If our student's need a job we can give them leads and/or send them to career services. The biggest thing I try to let my student's know is I care and want to see them succeed.
We do a mid-term counseling form that addresses the students progress regardless of grade. If a student is doing poorly we work with the student to develop an action plan to help identify the issues and come up with a solution that will meet this particular student's needs. Often it is something as simple as carpooling to help the student make it to school.
The most common intervention practice that I personally use is a midterm grade. Students who are earning a D, F or are otherwise missing more than 20% of class time are counseled and asked to sign a student action plan. The plan addresses the students shortcomings and is intended to be used a s tool for their own betterment. This also gets students engaged in their grade; I often find that students have no idea that they are doing poorly so it acts as a wakeup call for them. One thing I always make sure to do is let them know that there is still time for them to bring their grade to a acceptable passing level and I advise them on how to do so.
Daniel
An example against Erosion has affected me. I was seemingly favoring some other certain students and thankful that had been noticed and mentioned to me by my supervisor. Those student I was ignoring would have been moving towards erosion, but now as I treat them all the same they seem to be more interested in the class then they were before
Here at our school each teacher is assigned as an acadmic advisor to a group of student, each term we sit down with them and ask them about the current terms classes and how they are doing. We also ask them if there are any issue that the feel that are keeping them from learning and how should the go about fixing them.
That is a great idea. In my field, this could really help in having an impact on my students
In addition to the Program Director meetings, as instructors, we also call students who are absent from class, in addition we speak to other instructors who have the same students as we do to access if they are attending all of their classes or just picking and choosing certain classes. This is beneficial information as it ascertains the interest level of the student or a potential work-school schedule conflict, and possibly a transportation issue which all can be resolved potentially.
We use guest speakers and field trips as well. Are best success is when graduates come in and talk to the current classes. Talk about the challenges and exciting things happening in the field. We also have an externship program and we have those students talk to the other existing students in the program. It really gets the students excited to see what is coming their way.
Intervention frequently starts with the instructor. Early recognition of a change in character or performance is critical. Many times just listening will help the individual talk through the stress factors involved and they will be able to come to a possible resolution without any additional intervention. There are times when we need to understand that anger that is displayed towards a faculty member is not a personal attack but an outburst caused from stress or frustration from external factors. Remember to remain calm and not perceive this as a character attack.
We have a Career Services department at our school that really does a great job. They set up many job fairs throughout the year on campus during school. They also help students with their resumes. Most of the employers interview that day. The students become so excited and energetic and let us know (the teachers) who is interested in them. Many jobs have been offered to many students - most of the jobs are extership-related as well. Hopefully the students stay on after their externship requirements since they would be fully trained.
