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Engagement at Secondary Level:
Connections Project
Presented by Kim Pristawa, School Psychologist at Burrillville High
School
At 7/31/2012 RIASP Conference
From research and our practice in the schools, we know the following are generally positive factors for students: Overall engagement in school Involvement in extracurricular activities Connections to adults at school Connections with peers Self-esteem / Self-confidence
Why Look at Connections?
Connections Project originated out of our desire for a universal social-emotional screening Based on resiliency research -
Importance of students having at least one adult connection in their life (see references)
Our “Connections Journey”… 2008-2012 Key: RTI Problem-Solving Team established
2010
Background / History
Examine adolescent connections at our high school with both adults and peers
Interested in students’ perceptions as well as adults’ perceptions
Not a common practice, needed to develop our own surveys and process
Surveys administered during advisory at end of first quarter each year
The data has been powerful!
Overview: Connections Screening at Burrillville High School
Think about what this would look like in your school... And discuss the following points with a colleague1. What % of your students do you think would
report NO adult connections in your building?2. What obstacles might you encounter in collecting
this data?3. What potential benefits might arise from having
this data (in addition to learning about adolescent connections)?
Be prepared to report out some ideas to group
Brainstorming Activity(2 minutes)
Fall 2010: 89% student response rate 12.5% reported no adult connections in building 5% reported no adult and no peer connections
Fall 2011: 95.5% student response rate 12% students reported no adult connections in building 3% reported no adult and no peer connections
Some interesting finds: Only about half of the students who reported zero adult
connections also failed 1 or more classes Student self-reported adult connections significantly
related to other key areas (NASP Poster Presentation 2012)
DATA ANALYSIS (Fall 2010 and 2011)
Resulting Data over 2 years
Overall Data from 2010
77%
7%
5%
11%
Connections
1 or more adult0 adult, some peer0 adult, 0 peerabsent/ refused
Overall Data from 2011
83%
9%
3% 4%
Connections
1 or more adult0 adult, some peer0 adult, 0 peerabsent/ refused
Resulting Data over 2 years
Breakdown of the students who reported no adult connections in 2010
45%
18%
19%
18%
FreshmenSophomoresJuniorsSeniors
Breakdown of the students who reported no adult connections in 2011
51%
31%
4%14%
FreshmenSophomoresJuniorsSeniors
Now what do we do with all this data?1. Review overall data analysis with Problem-Solving Team2. Identify an initial target group:
We selected: students with no adult and no peer connections (20)
Provide one-on-one follow-ups with each student Offer additional support
3. Identify secondary target group: Students who reported no adult connections (did name peers)
(67) Provide some one-on-one follow-ups
4. Alert appropriate adults of all students above to encourage them to make an effort (advisor, guidance, adult who named them, etc.)
Follow-up / Interventions
Started valuable discussions from adults and students about the importance of making connections in school
Gave some teachers a different perspective on advisories For difficult-to-reach students: we are able to check their
reported adult connections to see who might be a good choice to approach them
For students who seem to be going downhill: we can check their reported peer connections to see potential influences
In times of crisis, we can check student’s connections to see who else might be affected and in need of support
Unforeseen Benefits of Connections Project
YES, you can do this… but here is what would be helpful: Supportive administration A problem-solving team to develop the
process A point person to organize all the details Someone available for confidential data
entry A school that has some knowledge of RTI Advisories with willing advisors
Can I do this in my school?
Questions?
For more information, contact: Kim Pristawa, School Psychologist at Burrillville High School
at [email protected] or (401) 568-1310, ext. 2317
If you are interested in piloting the Connections Screening in your school, see the next slides for more specifics about roles/responsibilities and the process involved.
There is the potential for a statewide Connections research project this year. If you would like to sign on to this project and share your data with us, we will provide the materials as well as assistance with the overall process and data analysis. Please contact Kim Pristawa at [email protected] if interested!
If you are pursuing this project on your own, we only ask that you give Burrillville credit for the origin/development… thank you!
Additional Information (for those interested)
Fuchs, L.S., Fuchs, D., & Compton, D.L. (2010). Rethinking Response to Intervention at middle and high school. School Psychology Review, 39(1), 22-28.
Ginsburg, K.R. (2011). Building Resilience in Children and Teens, 2nd Edition. New York: Edison.
Liljeberg, J.F., Eklund, J.M., Fritz, M.V., & Klinteberg, B., 2011. Poor school bonding and delinquency over time: Bidirectional effects and sex differences. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 1-9.
Rueger, S.Y., Malecki, C.K., & Demaray, M.K. (2010). Relationship between multiple sources of perceived social support and psychological and academic adjustment in early adolescence: Comparisons across gender. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 39, 47-61.
Werner, E., and Smith, R. (1989). Vulnerable but Invincible: A Longitudinal Study of Resilient Children and Youth. New York: Adams, Bannister, and Cox.
References
Administration: provide the leadership, set the tone At BHS: our principal (thank you, Dr. Whaley!)
Problem-solving team: develop the process, review the data, and conduct follow-ups At BHS: team of educators including principal, school psychologist, school
social worker, special educator, guidance counselor, reading specialist, PBGR coordinator/history teacher
Point Person: oversees the organization & background work, cleans up data and conducts analyses At BHS: school psychologist with assistance from URI practicum student
Data Entry Person: enters all confidential data At BHS: hand-picked one of our long-term substitute teachers
Survey Administrators: distribute and collect surveys At BHS: advisors
Roles/Responsibilities for Connections Project
EDUCATION / AWARENESS Months prior to survey administration
planning with RTI Problem-Solving Team, alerting faculty of process through emails, discussions, RTI presentations to include importance of screening social-
emotional A week before survey administration
Email to entire school with information about process Two days before survey administration
Advisors engage in connections discussion with advisory students (prepared handout given to all advisors) – improvement this year Note: this activity was optional (advisory not contractual
teaching time)
Connections Screening: A Step-by-Step Process
BACKGROUND PREPARATION / PAPERWORK Obtain rosters for each advisory in school (60) Put packets together:
Student surveys (approx. 10-15 per advisory) Adult survey (these surveys also given separately to non-
advisors) Instructions to be read to advisory on top (improvement
over last year) Survey packets placed in large envelopes with advisory
roster and instructions to teacher on top Surveys placed in teacher mailboxes and reminder email
sent Survey administration: one day only for all advisories All completed surveys put back in envelope for
confidentiality and returned to collection box
Step-by-Step Process (cont’d)
CLEAN UP / ORGANIZING Envelopes returned to collection box same day Go through envelopes and organize by YOG Open all envelopes and double-check attendance Surveys that are completed are removed for data
entry Prepare second round of collection for those
absent (improvement over last year) Second round of survey administration for absentees
occurs one to two weeks later, reminder email sent to teachers
Additional surveys given to data entry person
Step-by-Step Process (cont’d)
DATA ENTRY All adults in building are assigned a number – create
adult list One person assigned to enter all data (hired sub for
day) Data entry fields:
Student name (eventually coded with a unique ID) Year of grad # adult connections Adults named (all coded with numbers) # peer connections Additional data that may be helpful: free/reduced lunch,
IEP or 504, absences, tardies, discipline infractions, # courses failed Q1, etc.
Step-by-Step Process (cont’d)
Scheduling issues / Advisory is not “teaching time” Potential for uncooperative adults Lack of overall coordination Students (refusals/ not taking survey seriously) Timing considerations
New students, freshmen Other surveys or screenings/testing happening at same time
Confidentiality Large amount of data to manage / accurately code Concerns about how data will be used Getting “stuck” at intervention stage
Potential Obstacles
Work on ways to create buy-in with faculty and staff
Problem-solve with your team regarding any obstacles
Learn from your mistakes Identify ways to improve the process Involve as many adults and students in the
process as possible Use the data collected in creative ways to
help you work with kids!
Some Additional Tips
