Re-Engaging Youth in School

Research, Practices and PromiseOctober 24, 2008

• Have to re-conceptualize youth transitions – no longer linear – but navigating pathways

• Sequential movement through educational process is not the norm

• We need to allow for reversible movements to accommodate the complex transition process of young people (Ross & Gray, 2005)

Changing Realities of Educating at Risk Students

Research on Dropping In

• According to NLSY – 50% of drop outs returned within 6 years to an educational setting (Ekstrom , 1987)

• The longer out of school time, the less likely to return to school (Chuang, 1997)

• Effect of local unemployment rate – if high unemployment in community more likely to return, and have shorter duration of being out of school (Chuang, 1997)

• Events that happen while out of school – marriage, childbirth, employment seem to have no effect on whether return to school (Chuang, 1997)

Research on Dropping In• San Bernardino study – 1/3 of students try to

re-enroll (60% in original school)• 18% of re-enrollees graduated from the

district • 50% of re-enrollees drop out again after 1

year

(Berliner et al., 2008)

What is Engagement? Behavioral engagement draws on the idea of participation; it

includes involvement in academic and social or extracurricular activities and is considered crucial for achieving positive academic outcomes and preventing dropping out.

Emotional engagement encompasses positive and negative reactions to teachers, classmates, academics, and school and is presumed to create ties to an institution and influences willingness to do the work.

Cognitive engagement draws on the idea of investment; it incorporates thoughtfulness and willingness to exert the effort necessary to comprehend complex ideas and master difficult skills.

Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris (2004)

When students return to school ~ how do we re-engage them?

Typical Re-engagement Strategies

• Social control through behavior management using extrinsic motivators such as rewards or punishments

INSTEAD…Adelman & Taylor 2008 recommend building

intrinsic motivation by increasing the student’s expectations for success and recognition of the value in learning

Re-Engage Youth with Strategies that…

• Enhance feelings of self-determination• Develop feelings of competence and

expectations of success• Support feelings of interpersonal relatedness• Increase the range of interests and

satisfactions related to learning

(from Adelman & Taylor, 2008)

What does this mean for schools? • Pull factors – persuasive, caring and persistent school

staff (Ross & Gray, 2005)• Emphasize school ‘s “welcoming, caring and just”

environment (Adelman & Taylor, 2008)• Tolerance for wider range of behavior (Berliner et al.,

2008) • Rapid credit recovery for students in 9th and 10th grade

who are falling behind (Berliner et al., 2008) • Change the automatic F grade to incomplete (Berliner

et al., 2008) • Coordinate credit accrual plans for individual enrollees

(Berliner et al., 2008)

What does this mean for School Districts?

• Reduce fragmentation in system to easily accommodate re-entry (Ross & Gray, 2005)

• Create outreach programs to re-connect to students , for example use SSAID to track students (Berliner et al., 2008)

• Re-entry must be 1.Accessible 2. Effective, and 3. Equivalent (Ross & Gray, 2005)

What does this mean for Families?

• Build on the knowledge and interests youth develop at home

• Develop consistent & coherent messages between school and family

• Promote family involvement as just as important in high school as well as early grades

• Connect with community based organizations to meet needs of at risk youth

(NRO & IOM, 2004)

What does this mean for Communities?

• Create opportunities for students to extend and apply school-learned skills in contexts outside of school

• Create environments for youth to learn from adults in and out of school

• Connect youth to needed services in the community to support educational endeavors

(NRO & IOM, 2004)

Final Comments on Re-Engagement

• Important to emphasize life long learning – first chance at education cannot be last chance at education

• Accept non-linearity of education – multiple pathways to success may include reversible movements

• Re-engagment is about regaining an identity as a successful self.

References• Center for Mental Health in Schools. (2008).

Engaging and Re-engaging Students in Learning at School. Los Angeles, CA: Author.

• National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine. (2004). Engaging Schools: Fostering High School Students’ Motivation to Learn. Committee on Increasing High School Students’ Engagement and Motivation to Learn. Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.