School –Based Efforts: A Plan to Support At- Risk Youth

Introduction

Name: Barbara Ford

Position: Family Advocate

Audience: Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees

Purpose: To develop strong partnerships with the school district and families to strengthen the family unit. To provide families with available resources such as parenting classes, counseling and emergency assistance in addition to intervention and referral services for substance abuse and support for the family.

Youth At- Risk Indicators

“The term at-risk youth typically implies a future with less than optimal outcomes. Youth are considered at-risk for a number of reasons.”. http://schoolengagement.org/school-engagement-services/at-risk-youth

Poverty/homelessness or transient Students with learning disabilities

Family function – Neglected at home or live in stressful environment's Poor Grades

Substance abuse Juvenile delinquency

Emotional adjustment – Lack of social or emotional support

Levin, Zigmond. and Birch (1986) found that rates of school dropout were significantly higher in youth with learning disabilities than students without disabilities. Research exploring the extent of dropout by students with learning disabilities has found that rates of 33% to 47% are common (Levin et al., 1986; Zigmond & Thornton, 1985).

Behavioral EffectsBehaviors Associated with At-Risk Youth

Truancy Running away

Alcohol & Drug Abuse Bullying Fighting

Community acts of violence

http://schoolengagement.org/ (Youth At Risk)

Student Academic Ability

Short Term & Long Term Implications Motivations from teachers Parental Involvement Intervention from administrators Tutoring programs Family Therapy/or individual therapy Parent Conferences

“The Three As of School Engagement: Attendance, Attachment and Achievement.” Kids who attend classes regularly, feel a close relationship with other students and staff in school, and experience feelings of academic success, are far more likely to persist to graduation than those who are missing even one of the As. To that end, we help build and evaluate attendance improvement programs, replace punitive push-out policies with supportive pull-in policies, and create an environment and system of supports conducive to academic achievement for all students. Furthermore, students do better when parents are involved in their education and stress the importance of high school success, so we work to help schools enhance parent engagement as well”.http://schoolengagement.org/school-engagement-services/dropout-prevention

Creating Community & Family Partnerships

“ The National Center for School Engagement mission is to improve school engagement to ensure school success for at-risk youth and their families. School success is defined in terms of high school completion and positive educational outcomes for youth. We help build and evaluate attendance improvement programs, replace punitive push-out policies with supportive pull-in policies, and create an environment and system of supports conducive to academic achievement for all students. Furthermore, students do better when parents are involved in their education and stress the importance of high school success, so we work to help schools enhance parent engagement as well”. National Center for School Engagement

1. Increased family involvement2. Enhanced community capacity3. Quality programs

Staff, Community, and Parental support/Involvement

“The connection between home and school is an important factor. When families feel disaffected by the school system, they need help to be able to re-engage in the schooling of their child. Schools should encourage parents to be involved with their children’s school life”. http://schoolengagement.org/

1. Communicating –Two way communication with school and parent2. Collaboration with the community3. School Decision Making and Advocacy4. Volunteering “The importance of parental involvement in schools is well documented. Over 30 years of research shows that one of the most effective ways to increase student achievement is for parents to be actively involved in the education of their children. A 2002 National Education Service study indicates that when parents are involved, students tend to achieve more, regardless of socio-economic status, ethnic/racial background or parents’ educational level”. http://schoolengagement.org/school-engagement-services/increasing-parental-involvement

Feedback:

Group Activity: Roleplaying (Students, parents and administrators) Situation: Family of drug and alcohol abuse and Domestic Violence

How can the school district enhance their framework for Students At-Risk?

What is your respective?

Potential Solutions:

Plan of Action:

Share Ideas

ReferencesBernard, B., & ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, N.Y. (1997). Turning It Around for All Youth: From Risk to

Resilience. ERIC/CUE Digest, Number 126 .Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED412309

Morrison, G., & Cosden, M. (1997). Risk, resilience, and adjustment of individuals with learning disabilities. Learning

Disability Quarterly, 20, 43-60. Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/6174/

National Center for Learning Disabilities (2014). What is IDEA? Retrieved from http://www.ncld.org/disability-

advocacy/learn-ld-laws/idea/what-is-idea

National Center for School Engagement

http://schoolengagement.org/school-engagement-services/increasing-parental-involvement

National Center for School Engagement. (n.d.). At-risk youth. Retrieved from

http://www.schoolengagement.org/index.cfm/index.cfm/At-risk%20Youth

National Center for School Engagement. (n.d.). Parental involvement in schools. Retrieved from http://

www.schoolengagement.org/index.cfm/index.cfm/index.cfm/Parental%20Involvement%20in%20Schools

http://schoolengagement.org/school-engagement-services/at-risk-youth