Frequently Asked Questions
Why is a Comprehensive Learning Supports System an imperative?
What needs to be done to make such a component a reality?
What does such a component need to look like at a school?
What's the research-base for such a component?
Why is a Comprehensive Learning Supports System an imperative?
As the Carnegie Task Force on Education has stressed:
School systems are not responsible for meeting every need of their students. But when the need directly affects learning, the school must meet the challenge.
- Leaving No Child Left Behind. Schools need a better system of learning supports to increase the likelihood that ALL students have an equal opportunity to succeed.
- Enabling Schools to be Effective. All schools, and especially those high priority schools “in need of improvement,” must enhance how they use the considerable resources they expend in addressing barriers to student learning.
- Available Data Underscore the Nature and Necessity of Meeting the Challenge. National findings related to high school graduation indicate that nearly one-third of all public high school students fail to graduate.
- Findings indicate that one-quarter to one-half of all beginning teachers leave teaching within four years and many do so because of the lack of an adequate system of learning supports.
- In most states, a significant proportion of schools are designated as “High Priority” (previously Low Performing) Schools.
- Evidence is growing that when test score gains are achieved, they mainly occur for young students, are related to noncomplex skills, and tend to plateau after a district shows modest gains over a three year period.
What needs to be done to make such a component a reality?
- Establish a policy for a learning support component and make schools accountable for how resources for learning supports are expended. School improvement efforts must focus on better instruction and also on enhancing how a school addresses barriers to learning. For this to happen, policy should be established that encompasses greater accountability for using existing resources to develop an effective component of learning supports at every school (see Exhibit 2)
*While not treated as a primary and essential component, every school offers some school-owned student "support" programs and services – some of which links with community owned resources. All the activity, however, remains marginalized and fragmented in policy and practice.
*Learning support is established in policy and practice as primary and essential and is developed into a comprehensive system by weaving together school and community resources.
- A concise and coherent approach. To guide development of a comprehensive learning support system, it is essential to provide a concise and coherent framework for learning support activity at a school (see Exhibit 3)
- Moving forward. Developing a comprehensive learning support system calls for:
- reframing the support staff roles and functions
- redeploying some existing resources by reducing fragmentation, redundancy, and the overemphasis on expensive services
- redesigning infrastructure mechanisms from the school level on up through the state Department of Education
- addressing capacity building and systemic change considerations
- accountability reviews
What does such a component need to look like at a school?
A Comprehensive Learning Support System is conceived as a primary and essential facet of school improvement. The aim is to ensure that every school develops a comprehensive, multifaceted, and cohesive component to address barriers to learning and promote healthy development. Given limited resources, such a component is established by deploying, redeploying, and weaving all existing learning support resources together.
A school with a learning support component redesigns its infrastructure to establish an administrative leader to guide the component’s development and be accountable for daily implementation, monitoring, and problem solving. Another facet of the infrastructure is a resource-oriented team that helps establish and evolve the component over a period of years. The administrator and the team use the CPLSS framework in planning and implementing programs in all six content areas (see Exhibit 3), with the aim of establishing an effective continuum of systems to:
- promote healthy development and prevent problems
- respond to problems as soon after onset as is feasible
- provide intensive care.
There also are mechanisms for responding when students are identified as having problems. In each instance, an analysis is made of the reasons for the problems. For most students, the problems are resolved through minor situational and program changes. Those for whom such strategies are insufficient are provided additional assistance first in the classroom. For those whose problems require more intensive help, referrals for specialized assistance are made, processed, and interventions are set in motion and carefully monitored and coordinated.
Because there is an emphasis on programs and activities that create a school-wide culture of caring and nurturing, students, families, staff, and the community feel the school is a welcoming and supportive place, accommodating of diversity, and committed to promoting equal opportunities for all students to succeed at school. When problems arise, they are responded to positively, quickly, and effectively. Morale is high.
A Typical Example of Focusing on Helping the Teacher with Student Re-engagement, Rather than Overemphasing Discipline and Referral for Services.
Matt, a third grader, has not been doing well at school. He often is in trouble on the school playground before school and during lunch. Before the component was established, his teacher constantly had to discipline him and send him to the principal’s office. He had been referred to the Student Success Team but he was among a long list of students who were in line to be reviewed. Now, the focus is on how to enhance what goes on in the classroom and on school-wide changes that minimize negative encounters; this minimizes the need for classroom management, discipline, and referral out for expensive special services.
The focus on enhancing teacher capacity to reengage students in daily learning activities is helping Matt’s teacher learn more about matching his individual interests and skills and how to design the instructional day to provide additional supports from peers and community volunteers. Rather than seeing the solution in terms of discipline, she learns how to understand what is motivating Matt’s problem and is able to provide more a personalized approach to instruction and extra in-classroom
support that will reengage Matt in learning. Over time, all student support staff (all professional staff who are not involved in classroom instruction) will be trained to go into the classroom to help the teacher learn and implement new approaches designed not just for Matt, but for all students who are not well-engaged in classroom learning.
At the same time, the focus on enhancing support for transition times (such as before school and lunch) increases the recreational and enrichment opportunities available for all students so that they have positive options for interaction. Staff involved in playground supervision are specifically asked to work with Matt to help him engage in an activity that interests him (e.g., a sport’s tournament, an extramural club activity). They will monitor his involvement to ensure he is truly engaged, and they, along with one of the student support staff (e.g., school psychologist, counselor, social worker, nurse) will use the opportunity to help him and other students learn any interpersonal skills needed to interact well with peers.
Newcomers: One Example of Support for Transitions and Home Involvement
To enhance family involvement in schooling, special attention is placed on enhancing welcoming and social support strategies for new students and families. Student support staff work with office staff to develop welcoming programs and establish social support networks (e.g., peer buddy systems for students; parent-parent connections). As a result, newcomers (and all others) are greeted promptly and with an inviting attitude when they come into the school. Those who do not have the correct enrollment records are helped to access what is needed. Parents are connected with another parent who helps them learn about school and neighborhood resources. Upon entering the new classroom, teachers connect the newcomer with a trained peer buddy who will stick with the newcomer for a few weeks while they learn the ropes. Support staff will work with each teacher to identify any student who has not made a good transition, and they will determine why and work together and with the family to turn the situation around.
Crisis prevention:
To reduce the number of crises, student support staff analyze what is preventable (usually related to human relations problems) and then design a range of school-wide prevention approaches. Among these are strategies for involving all school personnel (credentialed and classified) in activities that promote positive interactions and natural opportunities for learning pro-social behavior and mutual respect.
Fewer Referrals, Better Response:
As the in-classroom and school-wide approaches emerge, the need for out-of classroom referrals declines. This allows for rapid and early response when a student is having problems, and it enables student support staff to work more effectively in linking students up with community services when necessary.
What's the research-base for such a component?
An extensive and growing body of literature indicates the value of providing supportive programs and services. Enabling students to learn and teachers to teach improves school attendance, reduces behavior problems, improves interpersonal skills, enhances achievement, and increases bonding at school and at home.3 A recent statewide example comes from California where data indicate a significant relationship across secondary schools between the state’s Academic Performance Index (API) scores and three-quarters of the survey indicators on the Healthy Kids Survey.