What is an at-risk student?

An at-risk student is a student who is at-risk of not achieving their credit. (This includes students at-risk of dropping out of school).

Our data tells us that we are behind the provincial averages, but there has been some improvement.
KLDCS Gr 9 Credit Accumulation
40%
60% 40% % of Cohort 20% 0% 5 or less credits 6 or 7 credits 8 or more credits

30% 20% 10%

2005 06 25% 35% 40% 2006 07 18% 26% 56%

0% 13 or less credits 14 or 15 credits 16 or more credits

2005 06 30% 34% 36%

2006 07 38% 23% 39%

Gr. 9 (8 credits) Gr. 10 (16 credits)

Board 2005 06 2006 07 51 61 47 53

Province 2005 06 2006 07 75 NA 66 NA

How does a student become at-risk?

From their family context:

Illness (cancer, mental illness) Death of a friend or family member Separation and divorce Neglect (lack of food, clothes, love, or interest in a childs education) Alcohol and substance abuse Physical and emotional abuse Sexual abuse

Something to consider: If you havent been shown the value of work, how could you demonstrate work ethic in class?

Disabilities in learning Disadvantages (economic, social, familial) Personal management deficits Lack of confidence Attention deficits Mental illness, physical illness and addictions Friendship and Relationship choices Lack of direction

Students also become at-risk from their individual context:

Education opens doors

Education gives students

opportunities

for a diversity of careers and income levels opportunities for a variety of experiences

Is it really possible to overcome these obstacles?

Everyone has a sad story, Diana Soliz tells her graduating eighth grade students, It's what you do with that sad story that makes you different.

Soliz is no stranger to strife. She grew up destitute, but with determination and hard work completed college and built a successful career.

Diana's confidence powers many students through rough patches. Struggling eighth grader Reynaldo Garcia is typical. She tells me not to give in, to stay in the fight, he explains. I just get fired up it's like a little engine in the back like, you want to do it, and that's how I feel.

Soliz knew their hardships from the inside. During her own childhood, her single mother earned a piecemeal living rarely earning enough to support herself and four daughters.

Soliz's youth was a blur of meager welfare checks, cut off electricity, halted phone service, and scant health care. And there were countless evictions more than 7

So Diana poured her energies into providing a solid education to lowincome kids, to put them on a level playing field with more affluent children and to expand their life choices. Education gives you the opportunity to choose what kind of job you want to have, what kind of skills you want to learn, what kind of things you want to enjoy, she says.

And in 2001, Diana became a founding teacher at a new middle school in Houston.
From Overcoming the Obstacles of Poverty by Courtenay Singer

Can students really overcome these obstacles?

Yes, they can.

How?

When we work together, through

Frequent communication Accountability (Study Hall, CIT, etc) and understanding Connections and affirmation from adults and peers (SOS) Modeling of work ethic and values like respect and perseverance Differentiated instruction Counseling (CWY, TCAS, etc.)

Frequent communication with

Students Parents Student

Success Teacher Special Education Department Administration

Communication about what?

Academic

progress Work habits Learning opportunities at school and at home

Differentiated Instruction
What

is it? What does it look like in your classroom? Why use it?

Differentiated Instruction is a way of thinking about teaching and learning. It involves teachers using a variety of instructional strategies that address diverse student learning needs Differentiated instruction is a way to enhance learning for all students by engaging them in activities that respond to particular learning needs, strengths, and preferences It is effective in addressing the needs of gifted, or high-achieving students, students with special needs, as well as secong language learners who are in the same classroom.

Consider this: If you learn best with your hands, and demonstrate your knowledge best with your hands, and so did your parents and your grandparents, shouldnt you have opportunity to use your learning style in your classroom, so you can show what you know and so you are better prepared for a career to work with your hands?

We know
Who are students are The obstacles in their path to success The opportunities that could be theirs

We can make a difference.

"It takes a village to raise a child," ~African Proverb And Many hands make light work. ~John Heywood

Hey Were all in this together. ~Ben Lee