We use a "blinker" system in which instuctors send a daily email indicating who was absent in their class, how many days they have been absent in total, and what the instructor has done about it (as in calling the student)or what the instructor has heard about the situation (student previously informed instructor they would be out, emailed the instructor, or passed along information through classmates). This email goes to the student services and student success staff as well as the Program Chair, DOE, and lead instructors. They are then aware of any potential issues and can assist in contacting the student if the instructor is unable to reach them.
We have a student advising program where students are require to meet with there advisor on a consistent basis to dicuss any issues the student may be having.
How does the tracking system work? Who makes the entries and the decision to intervene?
How often do you have students voluntarily re-take a course because they feel weak in the subject? How does that effect their progress through the curriculum? Is this in addition to their course load or instead of a course?
Our school have set up a "blinker" system where faculty instructors report daily activity regarding the students in their current class through an electronic submission. These can include attendance, conduct, or academic issues just to name a few. It is directly forwarded to the appropriate people to handle each specific issue. Unfortunately, I don't typically hear much about what takes place after that.
We have a similar system we call Blinker. It sounds simple, but has been tremendously effective.
When the faculty put their attendance in, there is a popup where they can alert the Blinker Team (students services and dept. chairs) about at-risk students. This allows faculty to easily alert support staff, and allows support staff to identify and help students at a far earlier time.
This also means we only need to train faculty in at-risk identification, and not so much advising (they would generally rather focus on teaching).
Win-win all the way around.
To be able to intervene successfully with the student, the instructor needs to know what is going on with the student. This is maintained by having a positive attitude with the student and trying to get the student to open up to you concerning their feelings or situations. If the student feels that they can not talk to the instructor, then student services or the DOE may be able to help out. In other words, we need to know what is happening before we can intervene.
We have a tracking system that will flag students that are trending toward failure. We call the students that miss class to develop the conection with them. This gives us the chance to offer help to the student before they are at risk of dropping.
instructors are required to give 2 "master workshops" that are topics outside of the normal curriculum, also we have many clubs to appeal to a wide range of interests.
We have a myriad of intervention practices in place at our school. Blinkers, hot reports, weekly meetings, we even have a report built into our gradebooks that triggers alerts to the DOE and Registrar. But all these combined are still only tools. The best practice we have has everything to do with human resources. By hiring caring, engaged and open instructors our academic environment is one of caring and openness. Just as we must 'walk the talk' as professionals, we as instructors must 'walk' compassion. No form or widget can take the place of an engaged and caring faculty.
We offer counseling, free tutoring, the opportunity to resit any class that they may feel weaak in. We also have our team of program directors and our DOE olus student services that work with our students in a time of need.
The new practice is still in the early stages and I haven't heard wether calling the students at home is beneficial or not.
How successful have you been with this practice?
We have recently implemented a system we call "the Blinker". It is a daily message to the appropriate people (Dean of Students, Compliance)infoming them of students who may be in danger of dropping because of excessive absences or tardies, financial aid issues, and housing. Also, students who are absent and have not contacted their instructor are called at home the same day to make sure everything is okay.
we have a policy to call the students if they are not there for that day. If we see a trend, we call them to see if we can jsut get them back on campus. With a little will power, they will come back and feel "the dream" and get inspired again.
Are the teaching assistance programs for students with low GPAs? Are these done after class? Is the tutoring done by faculty or advanced students?
Satisfactory Academic Progess. An advising session that is mandatory when a students GPA reaches a particular point. After this advising session students often times are enrolled in teaching assistance programs such as tutoring.
Do your students comply with this process? My experience suggests that students who made the decision that they have to drop out are not interested in re-telling their story repeatedly to staff and faculty - particularly if they perceive those people to be part of the problem.
For intervention purpose we have each student meet with various people before the possible drop.
If we have a student go sideways I will direst them to our Student Services Director to see if there is anything we can do to stop the spiral.
