Writing Samples
Lange, C.M., Ysseldyke, J.E., Lehr, C.A. (1997) Parents' Perspectives on School Choice, Teaching Exceptional Children, 30(1) pp. 14-19. by Thom Hemeleski
Summary:
Minnesota's "open enrollment" option allows parents to transfer their students from one school or district to another. This option presumably allows parents to 'shop' around for the school that best fits the needs of their child and family situation. An apparent underpinning of the open enrollment plan is that if schools are forced to compete on the market for students they will be more responsive to the needs and expectations of parents and the community. In an effort to better understand why some parents move their children to another school, Cheryl Lange, James Ysseldyke and Camilla Lehr interviewed parents of students with disabilities in Minnesota who had switched their used the open enrollment options to change schools.
Lange, Ysseldyke and Lehr looked at surveys asking parents to answer questions in several areas. The authors looked at why parents transferred their children, what needs they felt their children had, what they expected from a school, and what they expected from a teacher.
Certainly there are numerous factors related to why parents move their children from one school to another. The authors wanted to see if there was a set of reasons that parents cited frequently. A mailed survey was sent to parents who had recently transferred their children. Parents were allowed to choose from a set list of reasons, but were also allowed to add additional reasons if they wanted.
A series of interviews were conducted to find answers to the other factors surrounding school transfer. When asked about their perceptions of what their children needed from school, parent answers coalesced around a few areas. Parents reported beliefs that their child's needs would be better met at the new school, and that the teachers at the new school would give more personal attention. They also expressed unhappiness with the old school and a belief that the new school will maintain better parent communication.
Parent expectations about what their child's school should provide included numerous references to increased communication with the school. They wanted to be better informed of their child's progress, and wanted to be able to work closely with school personnel to guide their child's progress. Other frequent comments by parents had to do with the school helping their child become more self-sufficient and responsible.
Similarly, parent comments about teacher expectations were grouped around a small number of topics. Parents want teachers who enjoy their jobs and are well organized. Along with references to increased communication with parents, most comments fell into these categories.
These fairly in depth interviews and surveys give insight into the parent decision making process regarding school choice.
Critique and Implementation:
Despite serious concerns about whether or not it is a effective tool for improving education, school choice, under a variety of forms and names is an increasingly popular option in many parts of the country. Therefore, it is important that schools become aware of the multitude of reasons parents cite for moving their children from one school to another. The parents interviewed for this article represent a demographic cross-section of the state. While this article focuses on children with disabilities, it can be extrapolated to include any student who may move from one school to another. This increasingly includes at-risk students who frequently move from one school or program to another, in search of a place where they can find success.
In examining parent reasons for transferring schools, a common theme that emerges is that parents wish for more communication from the schools. These parents want to be more involved and more aware of what is going on at school. All schools should be working towards a satisfactory level of communication between schools and parents. Increased parent involvement is Goal 8 of the National Education Goals (Plunkett, 1997). Most educators would agree that increased communication is helpful, and that the more schools and parents work in unison, the more they are likely to find success. Parents who want to be involved with their child's education should be encouraged to do so. Parent involvement is a key to developing a professional community in schools (Newmann and Wehlage, 1995).
The authors of this article are attempting to assist schools in understanding the motivations behind parent decisions to change schools. Their suggestions that schools concentrate on improving climate and communication are the most important finding in this research. Given the nature of the parent expectations of schools and teachers, efforts made to correct these areas would likely dramatically reduce all ideas of school transfer. In schools with a high level of parent communication, parents have more opportunity to become involved with educational decisions (Newmann and Wehlage, 1995). Parents in these situations may be less likely to transfer.
This article does not seek to address questions of whether or not school choice is an effective way to deal with parent dissatisfaction with a school. Market forces do not seem likely to improve school performance on their own. (House, 1998) While parent expectations found by Lange, Ysseldyke and Lehr sound like the expectations many parents would have for any school, these parents have clearly been convinced that such characteristics are not likely to be found in the home school. Shouldn't state laws instead be constructed to encourage resolution of these issues within the home school? Changing schools can be a troublesome experience for children (House, 1998), and it therefore seems prudent that state laws should be constructed to avoid the needless shifting of students from school to school. Indeed, parental involvement is a key component of school restructuring and reform (Newmann and Wehlage, 1995). Indeed, analysis by Virginia Plunkett of the National Association of State Title I Directors indicates that:
"Schools that also serve as Parent resource centers-providing specialized services for families such as counseling, after-school tutoring and recreational activities, adult education, referral services, parenting classes, and workshops for parents, along with an interesting and challenging educational program for the children- increase the likelihood of reducing student mobility and increasing the quality of the children's education" (Plunkett, 1997).
It would be helpful if Lange, Ysseldyke and Lehr could have provided a more detailed analysis of their data. For instance, analyzing the parent comments and comparing them to various demographic factors including marital status, education level, ethnicity, etc might further inform schools about why parents move their children. With this information, schools might be able to set up programs that would target specific issues, and prevent student transfers.
Overall, the authors provide a useful look at the factors contributing to school transfer in Minnesota. Schools can use this information to create initiatives that can help parents feel more involved in their children's education, and more satisfied with their school. Even in localities where student transfer is not as easy as it has become in Minnesota, schools, parents and students will benefit from schools making these efforts.
References:
House, E.R. (1998). Schools for Sale Teachers College Press: New York.
Newmann, F.M. and Wehlage, G.G.(1995). Successful School Restructuring University of Wisconsin: Madison.
Plunkett, V.R.L. (1997). Parents and Schools: Partnerships That Count Journal of Education of Students Placed At Risk, 2(4) 325-327.
Weisstein, E. (2001) A High School Diploma- And More. Educational Leadership, 56 (6), 73-77. by Thom Hemeleski
Summary:
Author Ephraim Weisstein is the director of the Boston-based Center for Youth Development and Education (CYD). The CYD is a division of the Commonwealth Corporation, a state-charted organization operating in the area of Workforce Development for Massachusetts. Realizing that at-risk students had a great deal of difficulty making the transition from school to work, the CYD sought to create a program that would specifically address this issue.
Diploma Plus is a program designed for at-risk youth who are struggling with or have dropped out of school. It was created by the Center for Youth Development and Education in Boston in 1995 with an impressive goal. The CYD sought to create a program that will encourage students who had previously found little or no success in a traditional school setting, to not only progress through a curriculum, but to excel, and to move through the curriculum at an advanced pace. The program’s goals then extend beyond high school with a goal that students will continue in school and earn an associate or bachelor degree or a technical certification.
The Diploma Plus program was designed around a series of integrated guiding principles. High expectations permeate the Diploma Plus atmosphere. Students, staff and community members all reinforce a success orientation for all involved. Meaningful and exciting teaching is another goal of the program. Lessons and curriculum are designed to promote interest among students and to have meaning in the context beyond school. Another principle is that student progress is measured by actual performance rather than seat-time or Carnegie credits. So students work through the Diploma Plus program at their own pace.
Most complete the first part of the program in about two years. This initial portion of the program requires students to demonstrate mastery of various competencies which are benchmarked at the 10th grade level. Mastery can be shown by performance, assessments, products or portfolio pieces. Students are encouraged, but not required to complete part of their learning as homework, to accelerate their pace through the program.
The second stage of the program (the Plus stage) puts students into a challenging transitional environment. In this portion of the program, students complete a service learning project, along with a mastering a few final academic skills. Classes in this stage are college level courses which are integrated in dome degree with the community service project. The project discussed in this case is the design and construction of a community garden. This stage of the program presents students with an integrated and authentic curriculum. All academic activities reflect back to the service project, and guide the students towards an industry in which they have an internship.
Although a fairly new program, DilpomaPlus has already begun to show promising results. The program has been implemented in a ten sites under a variety of conditions. Four alternative high schools and two Schools-within-schools operate the program along with a GED program, a community college and two community organizations. Nine of the sites operate under financing of local school districts. Altogether, 600 students age 16 to 22 receive services from DilpomaPlus programs. Specific demographic data were not provided except to state that most are children of color, low socio-economic status and possess writing, reading and numeracy scores in the 7th to 9th grade range.
Limited results are presented by Weisstein, but the results given are promising. An independent evaluation was performed by Jobs for the Future, a national research organization unconnected to CYD. Without providing details about survey techniques or other data collection information, the author reveals that up to 3⁄4 of students in the Plus stage of the program have earned a C or better in their college level courses. Also significant are the personal aspirations revealed. Fully 4 of 5 students claim they have higher aspirations for themselves than they did before entering the program, and seventy percent enter post-secondary programs following completion of the Diploma Plus program. These results certainly give an indication of a valuable program in progress.
Critique and Implementation:
The Diploma Plus program is commendable in its intent, its spirit, and so far, its results. Too many at-risk programs are designed as reactive, low expectations programs (Krovetz, 1999). Diploma Plus, breaks this mold and instead works from an assumption that at-risk students are talented individuals who can not only graduate from high school, but continue in school beyond high school. Although the process for admission to Diploma Plus is not revealed in this article, the content of the program is clearly a step in the right direction. It moves away from the punitive nature of so many at-risk programs which are designed more to remove troublesome students from the regular school than to actually help at-risk students (Leone and Drakeford, 1999).
Weisstein presents a glowing picture of a successful smoothly operating program. While the Diploma Plus program certainly looks promising, the lack of detailed analysis in the report creates questions about what has been left out and why. As a new program there were no doubt difficulties in the first few years of operation which might provide valuable insight into how the Diploma Plus program evolved. None of this developmental process is revealed here.
Nonetheless, the success rate for the program is nothing short of phenomenal. To take at-risk youth and turn them into not just high school graduates, but post-secondary students is truly remarkable. But it again begs the question of what is being left out of the discussion. Seventy percent of graduates go on to post-secondary schooling. This is impressive, but an important question left out of the discussion is how many students drop out or are removed from the program. Certainly the success rate within the Diploma Plus program is as important as what happens after students complete the program. Another significant factor is the true demographic make up of the student body to begin with. The demographic and selection process of the program is glossed over quite briefly by Weisstein. A more thorough understanding of what students are like coming into the program would reveal a lot about what kind of transformation Diploma Plus is able to create for students.
Despite these missing pieces of data, what Weisstein reveals about Diploma Plus is quite promising. The program as described combines many elements that have been identified by educators as necessary for success with at-risk students.
Both the first, academic-based, and the second service-based stages of the program are built around the concepts embedded in authentic instruction. As described by Newmann, Secada and Whelage, authentic instruction should:
∑ Involve (the student) in hands-on activity
∑ Set high expectations for in depth understanding of challenging academic content.
∑ Replace traditional testing with performance assessment and the se of portfolios. (Newmann, Secada and Wehalge, 1995)
The Diploma Plus program incorporates all of these elements in its regular operation. The first stage is described as offering hands-on activities that teachers attempt to consistently tie to community and workplace environments. The second stage, with its massive community-based service project linked directly to academic subjects clearly meets the major criteria for authenticity. By rooting its curriculum in this authentic setting, and avoiding marking student progress by ?seat time? or simple credits, the Diploma Plus program makes important strides towards creating meaning for its students. Test scores, credits and grades can be seen as inconsequential to both students and teachers (Newmann, Secada and Wehalge, 1995). The efforts made to link curriculum to the community?based service project, and to reinforce the message that students are not in school to fulfill some abstract state law, brings true meaning and legitimacy to the Diploma Plus students.
The community-based learning aspects of the program are commendable. Research by numerous educators has shown that students involved in their community are more likely to be successful (Meyers, 1999). Diploma Plus has taken this concept and built a large portion of their program around it. Students are out in the community for most of the second stage, working on projects that are closely linked with their occupational areas of interest.
Two shortcomings of the Diploma Plus program are two other key elements of successful at-risk programs: mentoring and parent involvement. Turkel and Abramson (1986) among others, identified the importance of mentoring to help build a positive self-concept. While there is little mention of mentoring being used in the Diploma Plus program, Weisstein does report that students work occasionally with mentors after school. The author reports an increase in student aspirations, one of the key benefits of mentoring programs. A more thorough understanding of the nature and design of the Diploma Plus mentoring system would be helpful for those hoping to replicate its success.
Parent involvement is another key element of at-risk program design repeatedly cited by educators, which is not discussed in the Diploma Plus program. Parent relationships with students are a key element in student success (Plunkett, 1997). Although the Diploma Plus program is quite involved with the community, a direct link with families would likely increase student success even more. This would connect with the existing community relationships, and improve an important aspect of the school’s support mechanisms (Newmann and Wehlage, 1995). It is important for schools to interact with parents, to see the family as an active partner in the student?s eventual success. Increased parent involvement can help a program establish stronger ties with the community (Epstein, 1995).
The Diploma Plus program shows signs of being a very successful program. A more thorough analysis of student data may reveal more clearly which aspects of the program work best, and which need improvement. As a ?work in progress?, changes are no doubt under way already. Early results indicate that this may be a model worth replicating for creating a successful transition for at-risk youth from high school to post-secondary options.
References:
Epstein, J.L. (1995) School/Family/Community Partnerships: Caring for the Children We Share. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9), 701-712.
Krovetz, M.L. (1999) Resiliency: A Key Element for Supporting Youth At-Risk. Clearinghouse, 73(2), 121-123.
Leone, P.E. and Drakeford, W. (1999) Alternative Education: From a “Last Chance” to a Proactive Model. Clearinghouse, 73(2), 86-88.
Meyers, S. (1999) Service Learning in Alternative Education Settings. Clearinghouse, 73(2), 114-117.
Newmann, F.M. , Secada, W.G. and Wehlage, G.G. (1995) A Guide to Authentic Instruction and Assessment: Vision, Standards and Scoring, Madison: Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
Newmann, F.M. and Wehlage, G.G. (1995) Successful School Restructuring, Madison: Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
Plunkett, V.R.L. (1997) Parents and Schools: Partnerships that Count. Journal of Education for Students Placed At-Risk, 2(4), 325-327.
Turkel, S.B. and Abramson, T. (1986) Peer Tutoring and Mentoring as a Drop-out Prevention Stratagy. Clearinghouse 60(2), 68-71.
Title:
Case Study on Parent Involvement at CrossRoads
Description and Rationale:
Parental involvement at the CrossRoads Program
The CrossRoads Program is a School-within-a-school program operating as part of East High School in Madison, Wisconsin. CrossRoads is a program that targets students who failed ninth grade (they did not earn the minimum three credits required to be considered sophomores). CrossRoads takes thirty of these students away from the East High environment for a year. About ten blocks away these at-risk students meet at different hours than their peers back at East, and they earn credit in just four main academic areas- math, science, history, and English. Through accelerated credit, small class sizes, and an enthusiastic staff, the goal is for the students at CrossRoads to regain lost credit and rejoin their classmates at East High the following year, ready to graduate on time.
It is a challenging endeavor. The Crossroads student has a host of difficulties in addition to mere lack of credit. Poor study skills, alcohol and drug issues, emotional problems and criminal records often accompany students to the cozy CrossRoads setting. CrossRoads students need assistance in a number of different areas, and the small staff ( three full time teachers, a part time assistant and a part time social worker) cannot do it all. The staff relies heavily on parent family support to make it all come together, to convince these students who have not succeeded in the past that they can and will graduate form high school, and can even go on to college.
The staff of CrossRoads has learned that the parents are often a big part of the problem and a big part of the solution for these at-risk children. So they look for assistance from not just parents, but grandparents, siblings, older friends and peers. These members of a students’ family can make all the difference for a student. It’s not just parents- any number of people are in a position to make the kind of impact these children need.
Family involvement begins at the very start during the admissions process. CrossRoads is a program of choice- students choose to go there. No one is “sent there.” There are also far more students eligible for the program than there are slots available. So students go through a multi step screening process to determine each September’s roll. Parent participation in these initial steps is strongly encouraged, and gains a student a lot of credibility with the staff. The teachers and administrators know that a student with at least one family member dedicated to helping bring about success is far more likely to ultimately benefit from the program.
Efforts to continue family involvement are at the forefront of activities in the beginning of the school year. For the first two weeks of the school year, the phone list is updated to include the home and work phone numbers of all family members who have regular are contact with the student. This phone list is used extensively in the beginning of the year as students and family realize that the CrossRoads staff will establish contact immediately in the event of absences or tardies. Calls also go out to makes friendly calls to family members who may not be used to hearing from school unless it is ‘bad’ news.
It is also in this early period of the year that a final part of the CrossRoads family involvement plan goes into effect. It is during these early contacts that parents are sought out to participate in the daily activities of CrossRoads. Parents regularly give guest talks sharing their areas of expertise. Parents are also invited to attend all field trips.
In this way the staff gets an early start on understanding the full nature of each student’s family life. By the time the third week has passed, someone from the CrossRoads staff has had contact with someone from almost every family. The one’s that haven’t been contact- they are one’s to look out for. Continued efforts are made to make positive contact, because regular family contact is critical to student’s success at CrossRoads.
Turkel, S. B. and Abramson, T. (1986) "Peer Tutoring and Mentoring as a Drop-Out Prevention Strategy," Clearing House 60 (2) pp. 68-71, Washington,DC by Thom Hemeleski
Summary:
Schools, teachers and parents around the country have been looking for new a better ways to stem the drop out rates of high school students for many years. Over the past several decades several factors have combined to make drop out rates a serious concern. As our national economy has shifted from an industrial based one to an information-based economy, job opportunities have decreased for unskilled high school drop-outs. Many states have raised the age at which a person can legally drop out of school. This leaves many students, who in generations past might have dropped out and joined the workforce, still in school. As mandated standardized graduation tests gather more support, schools are trying to find methods to keep students from dropping out, and simultaneously raise test scores and skill levels.
Two ideas, which have been used for decades by some schools, are peer-tutoring and mentoring programs. These programs are designed to raise skills of many students from a variety of backgrounds. Peer tutoring is thought to help both the tutor and the student receiving the tutoring services. By showing both participants that they have valued skills and knowledge, the hope is that there will be mutual benefit. Likewise, mentor programs match a struggling student with an older member of her/his community for friendship, advice and inspiration.
This study sought to formalize the results of a mentoring program in New York City, providing concrete data on the effectiveness of (or lack thereof) these types of programs.
The authors, Turkel and Abramson, are directors of a mentoring program at Queens College in New York City. They have evaluated the effectiveness of a mentoring program, which matches ninth grade students who are at risk for dropping out with college students in the education program. They studied the results as compared to a similar group of ninth graders who did not receive mentoring services. Students were compared in the areas of attendance, attitude towards school and GPA. The results showed a significant improvement for the mentored students in the area of attitude towards school. Improvement also occurred in the areas of attendance and GPA but the improvement was not statistically significant.
Critique and Implementation:
The authors are quite enthusiastic about the benefits of the mentoring program. This is not surprising considering that one of them is the coordinator of the program. Their enthusiasm is perhaps borne out, as the research does indicate a positive effect from mentoring, for high school students who receive it. What is particularly useful with this study is that the students involved were all identified as at high risk to drop out of high school. Any program that can make inroads with this difficult population is worth examining carefully.
The title of the article is rather misleading since it really has very little to do with Peer Tutoring, as ninth graders and college students are not really peers. The chronological age differences, as well as maturity levels, and world's of experience are quite different for fourteen year-old, ninth-grade students as opposed to college students in their low twenties. Teachers and coordinators of drop out prevention programs and at risk/ alternative programs could easily be misled as to the content of this article. As valuable as it may be regarding the mentoring aspects, it is not really about peer tutoring at all. What is really discussed here is a fairly effective Mentoring/tutoring program.
An effective discussion of peer tutoring can be found in William Glasser's work, The Quality School (Glasser, 1992). Glasser discusses the positive effects for both tutors and tutees in a high school setting. Specifically, Glasser's program uses students from within the same school to tutor fellow classmates of a similar skill level, true Peer-Tutoring. Glasser's discussion centers on the benefits of peer tutoring on all students, and establishes a framework for getting students of varying achievement levels and skills involved.
Turkel and Abramson do make a good point that Tutoring and mentoring programs can be implemented without a full scale school restructuring. Given the resistance to restructuring found at many levels, beneficial programs that can be added to the existing school structure need to be considered. Peer Tutoring can be effective without full scale restructuring of the schools.
This is significant due to the difficulties in enacting change in schools. Restructuring is a difficult process for many schools. But mentoring and peer tutoring are time-honored concepts already common all over the country. Fred Newman and Gary Wehlage, in their important treatise, Successful School Restructuring, note that it is non-traditional ideas, out of the mainstream, that face the biggest challenges in acceptance (Newman and Wehlage, 1995). In this regard then, Tutoring and mentoring can be put at the forefront of successful options for schools trying to decrease drop out rates and increase successful graduation.
References:
Glasser, W. (1992) The Quality School, HarperCollins, New York, NY.
Newman, F.M. and Wehlage, G.G. (1995) Successful School Restructuring, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System: Madison, WI
Rojewski, J.W. and Hill, R.B. (1998) Influence of Gender and Academic Risk Behavior on Career Decision Making and Occupational Choice in Early Adolescence, Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk, 3(3), 265-287. by Thom Hemeleski
Summary:
One of the primary missions of schooling is to prepare students for the world of work. Many students begin pursuing career goals at the beginning of high school, if not sooner, selecting classes to prepare them for college, or in specific career fields. But many other students have little or no idea what career lies before them, or even what options are available. Schools need to be informed about which students are likely to have the most difficulty with career decisions, and how best to help them.
In this study, Rojewski and Hill gave 132 students at an urban mid-west high school a series of surveys and interest inventories to determine the students career aspirations, expectations and level of career indecision. The students sampled were predominantly female (71.2%) and African- American (65.9%), the next most dominant ethnicity being white (24.2%). The students were all enrolled in a Career Pathways course, and most were in the 9th grade (79.5%). Most students were 14 or 15 years old (70.3%).
As a part of the demographic portion of the survey, students responded to questions designed to give an indication of their academic risk status. Questions were asked regarding school discipline, cutting classes, dropping out of school, getting in trouble with the law, and their own view of success and hard work. This self-report allowed Rojewski and Hill to rank the students based on academic risk status, and sort the survey results along these lines.
Career indecision was measured using Osipow's Career Decision Scale (CDS), which assesses four major factors. These include:
∑ Diffusion, a measure of confusion and lack of information about careers.
∑ Support, a reflection of uncertainty in decision making.
∑ Approach-approach, a reflection of student difficulty in choosing between several promising career choices.
∑ External barriers, which covers external factors and a lack of interest in careers.
Another set of questions measured both occupational aspirations and expectations- a student's ideal career visions, versus what they feel is their most likely career.
Career aspirations were measured with survey questions asking students what their ideal career choices would be if they faced no limits of money, skills, etc. Career expectations were determined with similar questions asking what career student thought they would most likely enter. Careers from both aspiration and expectation questions were rated using a socioeconomic index code which rated each career choice on the basis of income earned, social prestige and education level required.
The results of the CDS revealed differences in how students of different gender viewed career issues. As a group, females scored lower in all areas of the CDS, indicating fewer problems with career decision-making. The most significant area of difference was in the area of external barriers. When the results were compared on the basis of academic risk factors, differences were also revealed. Students at substantial academic risk scored higher in the diffusion area.
The occupational aspirations and expectations of the students surveyed revealed notable findings when examined along gender lines. A higher percentage of male students chose moderate prestige occupation aspirations than their female counterparts, while this trend was reversed among the high prestige occupations, where a higher percentage of females aspired to those than their male counterparts.
No significant differences were revealed when occupational aspirations were examined by the academic risk variable. However, in the occupational expectation analysis, distinct differences were apparent with respect to academic risk. Students with higher substantial academic risk reported lower occupational expectations than those with minimal or moderate risks. Students with substantial academic risk were also the group with the highest level of discrepancy between occupational aspirations and expectations.
Critique and Implementation:
The research of Rojewski and Hill is highly valuable to teaching professionals, particularly those at the high school level where many vocational programs are placed. Knowledge about trends among students regarding occupational choices and opportunities is necessary for designing effective career programs. A vital part of this knowledge is the understanding that not all students will face these issues in the same manner, nor do they all have the same needs.
One major result of this study is that at-risk students lack both information and motivation about careers. Career programs targeted for students in this population should address these issues. Many at-risk programs already include a vocational component as an important focus (Weir, 1996). This study should help give some direction to these programs. A program directed towards at-risk youth should provide encouragement about the availability of options and a wealth of information about occupational choices, according to these findings. Many academically at-risk students have been cast as failures by peers, families and schools. It is logical to expect this imagery to reflect itself in their career goals as well. Programming should address these factors in order to help students try to overcome them. In fact, many successful at-risk programs use career and vocational information as a tool to encourage students to complete high school (Fashola and Slavin, 1998). Research has shown that successful at-risk programs which incorporate workforce development have direct impact on future job earnings, enabling students to come closer to achieving their expectations. (Gray and Herr, 1998).
Occupational choices for both aspirations and expectations were limited for all students to a range of fairly traditional responses. This indicates that more efforts need to be made to adequately inform all students of the wide range of career options available, especially careers in emerging technology fields.
Rojewski and Hill's suggestions that at-risk programs work to foster a sense of community among teachers, students and parents reinforces a basic premise of at-risk programming (Weir, 1996), but does so from a career-building standpoint. Community building is an important step to school restructuring, one that has been traced to academic success (Wehlage and Stone, 1996).
References:
Fashola, O.S. and Slavin, R.E. (1998) Effective Dropout Prevention and College Attendance Programs for Students Placed At-Risk Journal of Education for Students Placed At-Risk 3(2) 159-183.
Gray, K.C. and Herr, E.L. (1998) Workforce Education Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Wehlage, G.G. and Stone, C.R. (1996) School-Based Student and Family Services: Community and Bureaucracy Journal of Education for Students Placed At-Risk 1(4) 299-317.
Weir, R.M.Jr. (1996) Lessons from a Middle Level At-Risk Program Clearinghouse 70(1) 48-51.
Hamilton, M. A. and Hamilton S. F. (1997). When Is Work a Learning Experience? Phi Delta Kappan, May 1997 by Thom Hemeleski
Summary:
Work-based learning experiences are a common program for high school students. But work-based learning environments are not inherently more effective than school-based learning. The authors seek to lay some grounding principles that will facilitate learning at work places.
Hamilton and Hamilton have directed youth apprenticeship projects for four years and have generated a list of guiding rules to help orient work programs in a learning direction. The principle Technical Competence refers to a curriculum being in place for students to learn and master technical skills required for their jobs. Breadth seeks to have students spend time learning all aspects of the industry they are employed in. Personal and Social Competence includes so-called ‘soft skills’ such as punctuality and neatness that employers need in employees. Such skills are rarely explicitly taught in high schools. Students, teachers, parents and employers all require clear Expectations and Feedback in order to find success in a work-based learning environment. Teaching Roles refers to the many different educational roles played by a variety of people who interact with the students in the workplace. Academic Achievement reflects the needs of students to maintain high levels of academic success in order to become members of the work force. Finally, Career Paths, and Next Steps, asks students to define both educational and occupational paths for the future.
Critique and Implementation:
Hamilton and Hamilton do a setting up an easy to follow framework for making work experiences educational. They have clearly worked with work-education programs long enough to iron out the kinks in their program. The seven principles they set forth should allow a new or existing program an effective rubric for evaluating a work program.
The authors’ seven principles allow for teachers or administrators of work programs to avoid the well-worn arguments about the value by setting up program every bit as rigorous and every bit as objectively evaluated as any standard academic program. It allows program administrators to avoid the common mistake or making work-programs too easy, out of fear of pushing the students into drop-out status. Indeed, they explicitly comment on this phenomenon, stating that it ‘misdirects’ youth by letting them abide by lower standards than are found in the real world.
Steinberg (1998) creates a link between the classic apprenticeship programs and modern work programs, enumerating a similar framework for establishing the worth of such programs. Steinberg’s analysis is further linked to the work and ideas of both Howard Gardner and John Dewey, aiding in its ready acceptance. Hamilton and Hamilton’s work could benefit from such connections to other research. Their ideas stem from their extensive work with youth work-education programs, but is not rooted in the larger world of educational research.
Gray and Herr (1998) analyze several different lists of content requirements and evaluative frameworks. The seven principles developed by the authors here, share a similarity of view to these work education tools. Hamilton and Hamilton have an important goal in establishing the difference between youth work programs and work based education. This difference is shown in items like principle number six, that specifically talks about how the youth is to not simply complete the tasks assigned, as a regular employee might. The youth is to be paired in learner- teacher roles, with the adult assigned to teach the youth specific knowledge or tasks in the workplace.
Work-based education programs that are thrown together in a hasty effort to remove ‘difficult’, ‘unruly’ or ‘at-risk’ students from the regular school environment, will not pass muster on Hamilton and Hamilton’s principles. The program laid out by the authors allows for a standardization of sorts for work-based education programs. An administrator, or employer could use these principles to easily make comparisons to similar programs run by other schools or other employers anywhere in the world. Evaluations made based on the seven principles can be used year after year to fine tune and improve existing programs, as well be used as the foundation to establish new work- based education systems.
The seven principles set out by the authors, while worthwhile a an evaluative tool, require an outlay in personnel that is largely overlooked by Hamilton and Hamilton. Hammering out work-based curriculum, teaching soft- skills and the other recommendations for a successful work-based education plan require more effort and allocation than most work-based learning programs usually allow. This is a point left un-addressed by the authors. School districts need to make work-based education a serious part of the overall plan, and provide allocations and budgets accordingly in order to successfully enact the seven principles laid out by Hamilton and Hamilton.
References:
Gray, K.C., Herr, E.L. (1998) Workforce Education. Needham Heights,MA: Allyn and Bacon
Steinberg, A. (1998) Real Learning, Real Work: School-to-Work as High School Reform New York: Routledge
Weir, R. M. Jr. (1996) "Lessons from a Middle Level At-Risk Program," Clearing House 70 (1) pp. 48-51, Washington, D.C. by Thom Hemeleski
Date Submitted: 5/18/2001
Summary:
The author examines the attributes of a successful program for At-Risk middle school students in Washington State. The program at Hood Canal School in Shelton, Washington serves twenty sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Weir is examining the program based on its first year of operation. Weir makes an excellent point that most programs designed for at-risk youth are implemented at the high school level, and therefore information on middle school level programs is scarce. However, his analysis of this program will provide useful insights to anyone developing an alternative program at any level.
Weir uses a three-component structure for his analysis of a successful alternative program: organizational components, instructional components and interpersonal components. The author then analyzes the Hood Canal School's program, the Multicultural Alternative Middle School Program for At-Risk Students (MLC), in some depth. The actual evaluative techniques used are not discussed. Weir apparently observed the program at length and used school records as well as surveys and interviews of staff and students.
The three components are important concepts for use in designing and evaluating alternative programs. The location, size and nature of the alternative program are covered under the organizational component, as are such important factors as student input in decision-making, community connections and the discipline code. These last areas are particularly important, as at-risk students tend to have issues with authority.
Instructional components deal with curriculum and teaching styles. Projects to improve performance in specific subject areas like Reading, or in specific behavior areas, like attendance are all covered in this component. The variety of teaching methods and alternatives to standard textbooks are also part of this aspect of program design.
Interpersonal components are staffing and climate. At- risk students are at-risk because something (or many things) about the traditional school experience does not work for them. The interpersonal component of program design tries to address the realm of organizational climate for the alternative program. Efforts must be made to make the program 'feel' different than a regular school. Staff must be selected carefully, and additional steps must be taken to help the students adapt to their new school environment, with the goal of improving their long-term opinions about school in general.
Weir then lists about twenty specific factors that contributed to the success of this program. For many of these factors, including such items as students opinions about the program, and student self esteem, the MLC program was considered to be successful, having made strides in the proper directions. Other areas, particularly several having to do with the curriculum of the program were cited as needing improvement or upgrading.
In general, the program studied was considered successful, with recommendations being made to further increase its effectiveness.
Critique and Implementation:
Weir's analysis is developed from researching a middle school program, but it will be quite useful in studying the effectiveness of any alternative program for at-risk youth. Given the fact that students identified as at-risk are so likely to drop out of high school, early intervention does seem practical as a method of turning around at-risk youth.
Weir based his concept of three components necessary to effective program design on the work of Finn (1989). These three components of good alternative programs echo the concept of circles of support, as outlined by Newman and Wehlage (1995), as well as other writers. A good program or school includes input from a variety of sources, including many from outside the educational establishment. In fact, this three-component framework could be used to analyze any school, alternative or not.
The framework Wier uses also reinforces the results of Duke and Griesdorn's (1999) survey of Virginia alternative schools. This survey found that alternative schools should be structured and evaluated on the basis of academic achievement and behavioral/ psychosocial development. Although different category names are used, the same basic framework emerges- programs for at risk students need to address issues in all these different areas.
This framework also encourages teachers and administrators responsible for program design to look at programming from three different perspectives. This will be useful in ensuring that an alternative program truly hits all the key aspects that at-risk students need for success. At-risk students have found difficulty with one or more parts of their educational experience. A successful program needs to try to provide alternatives in a variety of areas in order to make the connections with at-risk students that were lacking in their earlier school careers. The program analyzed here, while striving to reach beyond the school, suffers from a lack of connections with social and mental health services for instance. But as this is a new program, these connections could be expected to grow given time.
Weir's recommendations and critiques of the MLC program are as useful as the rest of his analysis. It is likely that many programs for at-risk students will see themselves reflected in these ideas for improvement. The process for selecting and admitting students to the MLC program is in need of clarification, according to the author. This is a problem many at-risk programs deal with as students are recommended by word of mouth, or based on teacher or administrator 'instinct.' Another factor that many alternative programs deal with was also mentioned by Weir- materials. As programs are established and begin seeking 'alternative' ways to teach curriculum, they quickly run out of money and time to complete the process. Units and techniques are found to be effective, but lacking in depth. Again, these are issues that one would expect to find in a new program, and one would likewise expect to become diminished as the program establishes itself and begins to reuse successful items and seek replacements for others.
Weir recommends that the MLC program develop a more comprehensive vocational aspect. This is a vital part of at-risk programming. Adria Steinberg, for instance, discusses vocational issues at length, specifically covering how at-risk students can become more motivated for school with vocational education and work experience.
Weir's analysis and recommendations for the MLC program provide useful insight into the evaluation of alternative programs. Further information on the tools used to measure gains in the program would be useful, but as a beginning guide to what to look for in evaluating or creating an alternative program, this article is adequate.
References:
Finn, J.D. (1989) Withdrawing from School, Review of Educational Research, 59: 117-42.
Duke, D.L. and Griedsdorn, J. (1999)"Considerations in the design of Alternative Schools," ClearingHouse 73 (2) pp. 89-92, Washington, D.C.
Newman, F.M. and Wehlage, G.G. (1995) Successful School Restructuring, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System: Madison,WI.
Steinberg, A. (1998)Real Learning, Real Work: School to Work as High School Reform Routledge: New York
Lange, C. M. and Lehr, C. A. (1999) At-Risk Students Attending Second Chance Programs: Measuring Performance in Desired Outcome Domains. Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk, 4(2), 173-192 by Thom Hemeleski
Summary:
The state of Minnesota has moved to the forefront of the alternative education movement with its Second Chance Option. This state wide initiative allows students who are at substantial risk of academic failure in a traditional high school, to enroll in a different high school or in one of a number of alternative programs. The working assumption of this legislation is to increase the percentage of high school students who ultimately graduate. An underlying assumption is that these students are failing in the traditional high schools because of the very nature of the traditional high school. If these students could find the correct alternative education environment, they would succeed.
Although Minnesota1s Second Chance Option has been in operation for over ten years, there has been little measurement of their effectiveness. This study attempts to address this problem, by establishing measurable student performance outcomes. Alternative programs require alternative measurements. Student performance on standardized tests, and other tools used to measure success in traditional school environments are not effective or reflective of the alternative school experience.
Lange and Lehr studied fifty- nine students from three different alternative programs in Minnesota. Students were evaluated in the fall and again in the spring. Half of the students dropped out of their alternative programs before the completion of the study. In addition, twenty-nine teachers of the study participants took part in the study.
Students were evaluated in seven performance areas. Presence and Participation measured objective data like attendance and credits earned, as well as more subjective measurements of student engagement in activities. Academic Literacy is a measurement of student performance on standardized tests of reading, math, and writing. Personal and Social Adjustment reflects student performance in areas of social skills, group skills and empathy. Responsibility measures student goal setting abilities, group behavior and task completion. Physical Health reflects student’s participation in high risk behaviors. Contribution and Citizenship measures reduction in student participation in illegal activities. Finally, the area of Satisfaction measures student opinions regarding level of learning, teaching staff, course variety, rules and expectations, support services, career preparation and relationship with staff.
Critique and Implementation:
Effective evaluative tools are a necessary component to alternative programs. Alternative programs have an expectation to increase student graduation rates, and otherwise meet the needs of students who do not succeed in the traditional high schools. However, this does not mean that careful attention should not be paid to areas in which these alternative programs succeed, and areas in which more attention is needed. Furthermore, by utilizing the evaluative tools used in this or other studies, educators can get a better idea of what types of students generally attempt alternative programs, as well as what characterizes those who succeed there.
Lange and Lehr have generated a fairly comprehensive set of evaluative measures for alternative programs. Their study looks beyond the standard academic tests to include responsibility, citizenship and other frequently overlooked character traits. The authors have overlooked some additional sources of data for measuring success however. Missing from their participant lists are parents or other family contacts, and community members such as employers.
Smith (1997) has shown how parental involvement is a critical component to high school success rates in the traditional high school. One could extrapolate that parental participation is equally critical in alternative schools.
Certainly, if a student joined an alternative program and then showed an increased level of job performance or job satisfaction, this would be a sign of success. Rojewski and Hill (1998) have studied how student career aspirations, expectations and career decision making impact on the lives of academically at risk students. A student performing poorly on other measurements, but showing increased knowledge in these areas should be labeled as a success. Measures such as these could be a useful addition to this analysis.
In this study the authors found that persisters, the students who did not eventually drop out from their alternative program, performed significantly better in the area of Attendance. Differences between persisters and dropouts in the other six areas were not significant, although persisters scored slightly higher in most areas.
A significant difference however, was noted in initial measures of school and social engagement. Persisters scored higher in these areas upon entry to their alternative program. This may indicate that the keys to successful alternative programs lie in recruiting students with matching characteristics, rather than activities of the program itself.
So what does a successful alternative program do? The results of this study indicate that persisters did not perform improve in most areas of measurement after a year in an alternative program. Certainly, in areas of attendance and credits earned the persisters performed well. But the message of this study would seem to be that alternative programs do help some students succeed who had had previously difficulties with the traditional high school.
However, the alternative programs were not dramatically transformative. They did not suddenly find success with those who had failed before. And the success may have originated in the nature of the students themselves, prior to joining the alternative program. Only in reading did significant improvement appear. To a lesser extent math, writing, responsibility and citizenship improved. Alternative programs are not a panacea, that will take care of all the holes in the traditional high school system. They can help some students, but mostly those who arrive with a disposition encouraging help. Half the students in the study dropped out. Helping these students remains a daunting task.
The results of this study present an interesting and vexing problem, not just for alternative programs, but for education as a whole. Are there some students for whom no alternative program, regardless of its form, will be successful? As states continue to push students towards graduation they are setting themselves up for disappointing results. And as they hold schools accountable for drop outs with high stakes testing, and funding based on school success, administrators and legislators must acknowledge and deal with students who would traditionally be allowed and even encouraged to drop out.
References:
Rojewski, J.W. and Hill, R. B. (1998). Influence of Gender and Academic Risk Behavior on Career Decision Making and Occupational Choice in Early Adolescence. Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk, 3(3), 265-287.
Smith, J. B. (1997). Effects of Eighth-Grade Transition programs on High School retention and Experiences. Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 90, #3
Smith, J.B. (1997) Effects of Eighth-Grade Transition Programs on High School Retention and Experiences. Journal of Education Research, 90(3), 144-152. by Thom Hemeleski
Summary:
The transition from eighth grade and middle school to ninth grade and high school is a difficult one for many students. Smoothing out this transition can help more students find success in high school. As much as educators are concerned about high school graduation rates, they are concerned about this transition process.
The National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) was conducted from 1988 to 1992. It looked at 26,200 students from 1035 schools. Data from all aspects of school life including students, parents and teachers were gathered and analyzed. The NELS provides researchers with ample information to look at schools and students from a variety of perspectives.
In this study, author Smith uses the NELS to explore the connections between high school success, particularly with regard to credits earned and/or dropping out, and specifically designed transition programs for eighth graders. Smith analyzed only public schools, and only students that moved from one school to another during the eighth to ninth grade transition. This left a study group of 7,924 students from 702 middle schools.
The author looks at three main areas in which transition programs have been established at various schools. Efforts have been made to ease transition by addressing needs of students, the parents and staff. Some schools have programs that are aimed at one or more of these groups. Schools where programs addressed all three areas had the most success as measured by drop out rates and senior year Grade Point Average (GPA).
Student targeted programs included having eighth graders attend high school classes, having high school students give presentations to eighth graders, a big brother/big sister program linking eighth graders and high school students, and having high school counselors meet with eighth graders.
Parent targeted programs included having parents visit the high school, and having parents attend a fall orientation at the high school.
Staff targeted programs included having middle and high school teachers meet, having middle and high school administrators meet, and having middle and high school counselors meet.
Smith’s analysis shows the importance of transition programs for entering first year high school students. Across economic levels, and throughout the country, transition programs that target parents, students and staff have a noticeable effect on GPAs and drop-out rates.
Smith has worked out an elaborate analysis of the NELS study. Carefully mining the data for effective practices in this critical area of high school transition. The first year of high school may indeed hold the key to long-term success for most students. Schools that acknowledge this fact and develop transition programs that target the various audiences that have an impact on ninth grade performance will have the benefit of fewer failures and drop-outs, thereby preserving resources for other important aspects of the high school experience.
The author made efforts in the analysis to control for such variables as socio-economic status (SES) of schools and students. Schools with a higher average SES tended to offer more elaborate transition programs. As stated, transition programs that targeted all three areas had lower drop-out rates and higher GPAs. Schools with a higher average SES also performed better in these areas. However, even when controlling for SES, transition programs that addressed all three areas were more effective in decreasing drop-outs.
Critique and Implementation:
Critique:
The idea that it is important for schools to work to connect students, staff and families is not a new one. The results of Smith’s analysis are not surprising, but neither are they insignificant. Educators have long tried to show that schools and staffing are only one part of the equation. Smith’s data driven results prove that this effort to link home and school is not simply a good hunch, but a verifiable fact.
Smith’s data also reinforce the concept, central to current ‘restructuring’ models, that the needs of staff, students, and family are interconnected. Fred Newmann and Gary Wehlage discuss various aspects of this issue in their writings about ‘circles of support’ for student achievement. Establishing parent involvement and developing a professional community in schools are both important aspects of a successful school, as well as the more obvious questions addressing students learning and teaching methods (Newmann and Wehlage, 1995). Building strong communal characteristics, including parent and community involvement, has been found to boost both academic achievement and equity of achievement in restructured schools (Wehlage and Stone, 1996).
Advocates for increased parent involvement in schools have long argued that parent-school contacts lead to improved success for all students. The Head Start and Title I programs were developed in the 1960?s with parent involvement as important components (Plunkett, 1997). In 1994, Title I funds were directly tied to schools development of a family-school ‘compact’, again emphasizing the importance of these links (Baker and Soden, 1998). The groundbreaking report, “A Nation at Risk”, also urged family support of schools in the 1980's (Plunkett, 1997). Students, teachers and parents need to work together to form a learning community that will enhance student success (Epstein, 1995).
Numerous studies have also shown that in particular for students who are at-risk for dropping out of high school, parent and family involvement is a key. Parent involvement should play a key role in interventions for at-risk students (Bowman, 1994). Specific behaviors related to academic risk status including attendance and preparation for school, are improved with increased parental involvement (Simon, 2001). There is little question that students are at a decreased risk for dropping out of school when their parents are more closely connected to school.
Staff communication across grade levels is also critical for successful schools.
A logical next step for Smith’s research is to analyze which specific types of parent, student and staff interventions have been the most effective. This is the type of follow up called for by Baker and Soden in their analysis of parent involvement research and will allow schools with limited funds or personnel to choose the most effective programs possible (Baker and Soden, 1998).
School programming needs to include not just staff, but students and parents as well, if quality results are to be expected. Indeed, Smith’s results clearly show that a small effort is a wasted one. Schools that had a transition program that targeted only one or two of the key groups, had no noticeable effect on drop-out rates or GPAs. These partial attempts are actually a waste of time and money. In order to be effective for teenagers at this critical time in their lives, a school transition program absolutely must target all three audiences. Staff members at the middle school level need to work hand in hand with the high school staff. Organized efforts must be made to introduce and prepare eighth grade students to the high school experience. And likewise, parents of eighth graders need to be fully informed of the expectations and opportunities that are available at the high school level.
References:
Baker, A.J.L. and Soden, L.M. (1998) The Challenges of Parent Involvement Research. ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education Digest, 134.
Bowman, B.T. (1994) Home and School: the Unresolved Relationship. In Kagen, S.L. and Weissbourd, B. (Eds.) Putting Families First: America?s Family Support Movement and the Challenge of Change. New York: Jossey-Bass.
Epstein, J.L. (1995) School/Family/Community Partnerships: Caring for the Children We Share. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(9), 701-712.
Newmann, F.M. and Wehlage, G.G. (1995) Successful School Restructuring, Madison: Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
Plunkett, V.R.L. (1997) Parents and Schools: Partnerships that Count. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 2(4) 325-327.
Simon, B.S. (2001) Family Involvement in High School: Predictors and Effects. NASSP Bulletin, 85(627) 8-19.
Whelage, G.G. and Stone, C.R. (1996) School-Based Student and Family Services: Community and Bureaucracy. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 1(4), 299-317.
Mini-Case Study of Integrated Curriculum in Gang Violence
Description and Rationale:
CrossRoads and Gang Experiences
The CrossRoads program at East High School in Madison is designed to assist students who have fallen significantly behind in their academic progress by the end of their ninth grade year. Generally, this means the students have failed to earn at least three credits during their first year of high school. CrossRoads is designed to meet the needs of these students in a new, community-based setting.
Traditional school experiences have not worked for these students. They have checked-out emotionally or physically from the high school scene. At East High School, less than 20% of these students will graduate from high school without some type of intervention. CrossRoads removes the students from the East High campus, and attempts to find a more personal and more meaningful way to teach them. The CrossRoads goal is to reconnect students with their education, help them get back on track, and ultimately achieve high school graduation.
CrossRoads is based in the community. Classes meet in space rented on the ground floor of a church on the eastside of Madison. CrossRoads has no library and no science labs. Assignments and projects need to be adapted to fit the needs of the students and the circumstances of CrossRoad's
location and facilities. Many projects and class assignments are group activities that allow students to practice working in teams, using their own knowledge bases to achieve learning objectives. Frequent guest speakers and student interviews with community members help complete the educational experiences of the CrossRoads students.
In addition, the program has arranged purchase of laptop computers with a wireless internet connection. These computers allow students to access the wealth of information on the world wide web, and help make up for the lack of library facilities.
The students, although somewhat computer savvy, for the most part do not know how to go about searching the internet. Most students when they arrive at CrossRoads are familiar only with very basic internet skills. They know how to navigate to a known web site (www.nintendo.com) but they don't know how to locate specific pieces of information. An early part of the student's CrossRoads experience include instruction on how to conduct internet searches and how to ascertain the validity of information found on the web.
Many of the students who find their way to CrossRoads have found themselves adrift in high school with few, if any, positive experiences with adults. Many CrossRoads students also come from backgrounds where they have dealt with issues of physical and/or sexual abuse, as well as drug and alcohol problems. For some of these students, a common response to these challenges and their own sense of alienation is the security and support of the gang culture. Approximately, 25% of CrossRoads students have freely admitted gang participation at some point in their lives.
The program at CrossRoads attempts to take advantage of the circumstances and experiences of its student's lives, so the staff looked for a way to match student's interest and familiarity with gangs and gang culture with the education goals of the program. At the suggestion of a student, a project on gangs was developed. Several students had read the book Monster, an autobiography of a Los Angeles Crip gunman. While an interesting and compelling story, Monster had the further advantage of being written at a fairly low reading level, and an action packed pace. Luckily, it was also published as a mass market paperback, so it was inexpensive and readily available.
For a period of several weeks, the students at CrossRoads read the book, Monster, in class. At the same time, they read and discussed a series of short articles clipped off the internet describing in part the history and origins of gangs in the United States, as well as psychological information discussing the personality types and personal issues of young people who are drawn into gangs. As they closed in on the end of the book, the students began to discuss a short research essay that each would construct using information from the book and internet searches.
This assignment required students to use their own personal knowledge and experiences regarding gangs in the United States, and add to it, information drawn from internet resources. Students needed to analyze their own positions and opinions about gangs, and find an area that they
personally wanted to explore further. They combed the book Monster to find references to their selected topic. Then, they generated key word lists that might lead them to helpful web sites. They accessed websites used by police and community groups to combat gangs. They found websites from university sociology and psychology departments, discussing the formation and structure of gangs. Some students even uncovered recruiting websites run by gang organizations.
Many students at CrossRoads hadn't written any formal schoolwork in over a year, but with the small group and one-on-one guidance that CrossRoads provides most students completed the assignment.
