Currently, 100%
of our students are identified as “at risk”.
83% of students enrolling in the court ordered Leadership Academy
Residential Facility are reading below grade level. Many students had poor school attendance
before enrolling at our campus, and 100% have been arrested more than 3
times. This affects student achievement
in all areas. The recidivism rate is
high for our students, and many end up dropping out of school. Our students are in need of role models and
a positive support system.
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Vision: How will the
family-school-community partnership that you are proposing resolve the issue by
meeting the demonstrated need, and how will it support student achievement?
Proposed
Partnership: Tutor-Mentoring Program
made up of volunteers from the community.
These volunteers would serve as role models, academic tutors, and a
positive support system.
The
tutor-mentor volunteers would not only help students work on academic skills,
but would also serve as positive role models. The students on my campus would
benefit from a positive adult relationship, and the tutor-mentor would
provide support and guidance now and in the future when they are no longer in
the residential treatment program.
Each student would be matched with a tutor-mentor. To support student achievement, the
tutor-mentor would meet with the students after school and on the weekends to
work on academic skills and homework.
With a mentor-tutor, the students are more likely to attend and stay
in school, improve grades, and are less likely to get in trouble in and out
of school.
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Describe the need for the new or
improved school-community partnership. Summarize the strategies/ activities
you are recommending.
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Students are in need of a positive
adult relationship with a mentor-tutor that will help to increase student
achievement in all areas, both academically and personally.
The strategies that I am
recommending would be to start by contacting mentor-tutor programs in the
community to form a partnership with our program. Next, we would form a committee consisting
of campus teachers, school counselors, Travis County staff such as probation
officers and members of the treatment team, and a representative from the community
program that will be providing the tutor-mentors. At our first meeting, we would collaboratively
develop a clear statement of our purpose and goals, discuss the selection or
matching plan for tutor-mentors to students, and develop a schedule for the
tutor-mentors to meet with students.
The students will be meeting with their mentors once or twice a week
while they are in the residential treatment facility, but will continue to
provide their guidance after the student is released. The tutor-mentor will be provided with
activities to use when working with students such as reading books together,
having lunch together, and helping with homework. The students will also be involved in
deciding how the pair will spend their time together.
Another activity would be to host
a family night once a month where the mentor-tutors would meet with students
and their parents to develop relationships and discuss student progress. This would be a time to give parents
updates on how students are doing, and also support parents by providing them
with suggested strategies for working with the students once they are
released from the program.
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Reference the research
that supports the strategies/ activities you are recommending.
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According to the National Dropout
Prevention Center, mentoring has proven to be effective with many different
youth groups, but has been extremely effective with youth in at-risk
situations.
Mentoring has proven to be an
effective strategy for keeping students in school. Programs across the country have an
abundance of solid evidence supporting this fact. For example, the most comprehensive
national research evidence is from a thorough review of Big Brother/Big
Sister programs (Tierney & Grossman, 1995) showing these results:
46% decrease in initiating drug use;
27% decrease in initiating alcohol
use;
38% decrease in number of times hitting
someone;
37% decrease in skipped classes; and
37% decrease in lying to parents.
Another nationwide study reported
similar positive results from mentor programs. The Commonwealth Fund's survey
(McLearn, Colasanto, and Schoen, 1998) reported the following:
62% of students improved their
self-esteem;
52% of students skipped less school;
48% of students improved their
grades;
49% of students got into less trouble
in school;
47% of students got into less trouble
out of school;
45% of students reduced their
substance abuse; and
35% of students improved family
relationships.
According to the National
Mentoring Partnership website, studies of mentoring programs that provide
youth with one-to-one mentoring relationships have provided strong evidence of
their success in reducing the incidence of delinquency, substance use and
academic failure. In addition, these studies also show that youth mentoring
programs can promote positive outcomes, such as improved self-esteem, social
skills and knowledge of career opportunities.
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Compose three or more
measurable goals for the school-community partnership.
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1.
100% of students will participate in the tutor-mentor program.
2.
Mentors will meet with students 1-2 times a week, for 45 minute
sessions where they will build relationships while working on identified
academic skills.
3.
The students will show improved grades in all courses.
4.
Parents will be given progress updates of students once a month.
5.
The recidivism rate of students participating in the program will
decrease.
6.
The graduation rate of students participating in the program will
increase by 50%.
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How will the school-community partnership
increase student achievement?
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The tutor-mentor will act as a
role model and provide positive support for the students’ academic, social,
and emotional growth. If the students
have a trusted adult that takes the time to show that they care about their
well-being, the students are more likely to make positive choices. The
tutor-mentor will tutor students to improve educational skills such as
reading and math.
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Identify the school-community partnership’s stakeholders.
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The partnership’s stakeholders
include students, parents, teachers, counselors, school and district staff, Travis
County treatment team members, probation officers, and community volunteers
to serve as tutor-mentors.
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What are the steps to
approval and implementation of the partnership? What are possible sources of
funding?
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The first step to getting approval
for the partnership will be to discuss all aspects with the principal. Once the principal approves the program,
the next step will be to get approval from Travis County. Next, will be the implementation phase.
Implementation Steps:
1. Create a committee consisting
of campus teachers, school counselors, Travis County staff such as probation
officers and members of the treatment team, and a representative from the
community program that will be providing the tutor-mentors.
2.
Develop a clear statement of our purpose and goals, discuss the
selection or matching plan for tutor-mentors to students, and develop a
schedule for the tutor-mentors to meet with students.
3.
Develop a recruitment and selection plan for the tutor-mentor
volunteers.
4.
Develop a training program that offers continuous support for the
tutor-mentor.
5. Have students and mentors
complete a questionnaire to help match the two together.
6. Develop a schedule for the
tutor-mentor meetings to take place.
7. Set monthly meeting dates to
hold a family group where the tutor-mentor can meet with the students and
their parents.
8. Monitor and evaluate the
program.
Possible sources of funding are
title one funds and grants.
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What resources are
required for the partnership?
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Resources required for the partnership
are school counselors, teachers, Travis County counselors and support staff,
tutor-mentor volunteers from the community, title one funds, and the school
facility to hold meetings.
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How will you market your school-community
partnership idea?
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The idea will be marketed by
creating a website of information, school announcements, flyers, bulletin
boards, phone calls, visits, and word of mouth. To build support and buy-in, a monthly
newsletter will be sent to all stakeholders that will include news of activities,
profiles of participants, inspiring quotes, and other available resources for
tutor-mentors.
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How will you evaluate
your partnership’s outcomes?
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The outcomes will be evaluated
through ongoing evaluation and monitoring.
I will solicit feedback from all stakeholders by asking them to fill
out formal surveys. I will also
evaluate the program by analyzing data from the participants such as test
scores, grades, graduation rates, and behavior. The evaluation measures will help to ensure
that we continually improve the quality of the program.
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