Response, Ideas, and Reflections

My first reaction to the survey was a bit disappointing but as it sunk in I was able to understand that most of our staff have very little background as to the operation and process that has been implemented. I will try to respond to comments in this post that will help guide the program next year. The lack of any format to share what was happening with the Alternative Education Program has been my biggest frustration. Hopefully, this blog and my website will help with getting the word out to people that have an interest in the progress made.


First of all, working alone is difficult. I really don't like being isolated and trying to fit in with a program that no one really understands. Fortunately for me I am surrounded by a majority of people that believe in me and what I can do. I do know that there are several folks that have different priorities and that was what I had hoped the survey would convey and it did. I have gone through a tremendous series of emotions dealing with the comments you hopefully have read from the survey. It becomes very apparent from some of the comments that the most people never even knew that an outside consultant had been hired to evaluate and make recommendations that were used to structure this program. I purposely worded the survey to bring out differences in beliefs so that there was concrete evidence of varied diverse opinions.

A few facts for you to hold while I continue to reflect on my perceptions regarding this year. First of all is my admission to the fact that I really do "love kids and teaching". This year has allowed me the time to really care about each one of these kids and my inner self has been continually revived by each of them. There were maybe four of the kids that were so far gone that I had no chance of helping them and theye were destroying the progress of the others. I hated to loose the kids but they were unwilling to try at all and had been placed in the program, not applied. After every intervention and option was granted to them, they exited themselves from the program and school. Once this happened the others were able to begin a transformation and develop appropriate behavior patterns that have slowly changed their performance. By second semester every student had signed a program contract and these were used throughout the year for the few that violated their contract, to either reduce schedules or remove them from the program. A few of the students did reapply after two weeks and successfully completed the school year. Behavior did change dramatically as their overall discipline slips reduced by 66%. Three of the students did receive suspensions for drug possession or being under the influence, and two students for staging a fight with each other. None of the Alternative Education were involved in the more serious offences that occurred during the school year. These students constituted 16% of the suspensions/expulsions, and none were enrolled as an Alternative Ed. student when expelled, (one student that had been removed for contract violations (drug use), was finally removed from the school. Roughly 40% of the suspension/expulsions came from SE and the rest from the General Ed. population. However, the perception of some remains that the Alt. Ed. kids are responsible for these problems.

Alternative Education has a lot of transitions. I lost several kids over the year, either due to moving because of their home lives, or because of their need to be in a specific treatment program. Without this program they would have been simply expelled and cast off with no supports at all. This all hits back to the philosophical issue surrounding this program. "Do we cast off these kids with emotional needs or develop a means for them to stay connected?" Obviously my response is to find any way possible to keep these kids connected to school and learning. One of our favorite students Kia, was forced to move when her father could no longer support her. She had lived since last August in an apartment with no water, heat, or electricity. She often related how she had to hide in her room and cry while her father and brother were using drugs. However, she did come to school every day and did the best she could under the circumstances. She moved to Bremerton to live with a family that offered to take her in.


While at times people may view these kids as taking advantage they in fact have learned to "trust", and through that trust have been able to accept new expectations - accountability. In the next few blogs and this one, I will share some of the success stories, and the failures. These are all important for you the reader to understand the importance of this program. By the second semester we were moving into adding "APEX" classes that allowed them to move at their own pace. These network based programs have allowed the students to work on credits that they could not earn at the Junior High. The students that had no attendance problems did very well, while those that are not have very little to show. The biggest problem with running the APEX classes is the lack of ability to show their grades on Skyward, ( our online grading program ). Since the students were enrolled in a variety of classes in one period their progress was impossible to show since the only way to show grades is from their "Options" class. The students understood this but apparently some staff felt that these students shouldn't have a high grade that showed up on Skyward. Credits for online classes and "Matching" classes are turned in separately to be entered into their transcript. None of these grades show up on their progress reports, so the students have been given a new transcript whenever they have completed a course.


Joe Brazier, my IA has been an ideal person to share this adventure with. He's finishing his Master's in Special Education and will not be here next year. He'll be off to spread his own wings and do very well what ever he does. The kids love Joe (Mr. B ), and for good reason. He's young enough to still relate better to their music and love for video games than the "Old Man" in the room. He has brought laughter and humor into the room while still able to keep the kids on task. I know that to an outside observer these times appear like nothing is getting done. What is getting done is simply a release that each of these kids need. Always, after these periods of release the students get back to work, ask for help and when needed talk privately about personal issues they have. Next year he will be an intern with our districts Special Education Program.



Kristina, our star; has been able to break through the disappointment of having to repeat the 9th grade and was moved up to the HS half time for second semester. She is bright, inquisitive, and capable. Her confidence is still fragile but she has overcome so much this year that it is hard not to be proud of her. She will enter the HS next year with enough credits to be classified as a Junior!

Second semester, we also began a joint WASL Math Preparation course with the High School where both the students in Mrs. Shipley's class and my returning 9th graders were working on the same curriculum. We had three students go to the High School for the class there while we were working on the same lessons at the Junior High. We tried to use some of the online video to make the lessons "live" but were unable to make it work due to the bandwidth draw on the network. We are working to be able to use "live broadcasting" for next year as a pilot for the district. These students received a "P" for the class if they fully participated in the lessons and assignments.

Many staff members at the Junior High have gone to incredible lengths to work with me on offering interventions, incentives, program changes that have been invaluable for the students. In some cases simply moving a student to a smaller more intimate class has been the only change necessary to improve their performance. Parents have been consulted on each and everyone of these changes and they have occurred quickly so that the student(s) can benefit directly from the options provided. In every case the students have stated that they know that the expectations put in place for them were to help them become successful. It is mindful to remember that students need to learn how to become successful internally and not through external forces. External controls have taught these students to rebel, and work against the system. Through countless private meetings that have allowed them to react and then learn appropriate means for finding solutions they have been able to control themselves when dealing with acusations and discipline, generally working witht the Dean of Students.

Academically, the students were shown the option of using "Scaffolding" for writing papers. This process uses a table in Microsoft Word so that they can paste relevant text from the internet when doing research. In the next column to the right they rewrite the text in their own words, (this eliminates plagurism and promotes metacognition). In the final column they paste the URL. Thus when they write their drafts and final copy their papers are fully developed on their own. One student that is a drop in for Math, had been sited for plagurism and was shown this process to correct her work. She willingly reworked her paper and resubmitted it after the changes were made. She was very proud of the work she had done and simply wondered why she had not been shown this process in the beginning. Several of the English teachers have now adopted "electronic notecards" as their means of research.

On another ocassion involving a student that was failing his CPM Geometry course, met with me only four times before he was able to think globally and apply these skills to solving proofs. On his first test after the intervention he received and A and no longer felt the need to receive further help. Similar situations also occurred throughout the year where more severe failure had occurred. For these students the progress was slower but by the end of the year they were all working seriously and more successfully with their programs. This all shows that for these students that have shown repeated failure, they need to learn to read math, rather than memorize steps. Without fail, the students that are not being successful have tried to memorize rather than learn math.

Alternative Education Program Summary

After an outside review of Alternative Education needs for the Tahoma School District the New Horizons program began implementation in the fall of 2008. As a part of this new plan, Tahoma Junior High and Tahoma Middle School were identified to host a program variation as well. Budget cuts eliminated the Middle School program and the Junior High program did open this past fall.

Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships have served as a foundation for these students that lack a relationship with their schools, find little relevance in a college prep curriculum and have almost no support from home that provides them with the skills to approach school with any rigor. The other aspect of these students is that they are often out of school, moved, and or run away from home. Other aspects of these students include hyperactivity, attention deficit disorders, mental health issues and a history of failure.


Having a "Safe" place in the school has been one of the major directions deemed necessary as these kids struggle to stay in school. Research has shown that as these kids stay in school while building relationships and beginning to feel safe at school, they can begin to improve and develop their academic performance.


At the Junior High students were selected by counselors to begin the program since there was no way to address an entry process at its inception. Unfortunately, there had been no real introduction to the staff regarding this program, just that it was going to happen. None of the assumptions about these kids were ever discussed openly, and as the year progressed these assumptions grew.

These kids are bad kids and will never change
They are just being enabled
They don't belong here, and should be housed elsewhere
They are responsible for the drug and alcohol problems at our school
They are agressive, defiant, and violent
They don't care about school
They will never complete school and don't care about doing any work.
They can't behave and should be dismissed

All of these assumptions are present in the survey and it is clear that there needs to be a lot of work done with the staff and community if this program is going to continue. I have pulled data from the discipline records that show that the Alternative Education program has not only reduced by 66% the discapline referrals for students, they have also been a very minor part of the activities that require suspension and/or expultion. The Alternative Education student's account for about 16% of the suspension/expultion incidents. Two of these students were moved out of the school and program as soon as their behaviors violated their contracts. It is important to note that the students that caused the most severe disruptions were allowed back in school several times, and were either expelled finally or back in school. At no point was this process discussed as an Alternative Education issue but dealt with through the buildings discapline process.

Alternative Education Survey

This has been an interesting year to create a new program, given all of the financial upheaval that has hit every school and every family that has had to deal with even more stress than before 2009. Working through this blog you will be able to develop a sense of this first year of Alternative Education at the Junior High. I recently surveyed staff in our building and received some interesting responses.

_________________________________________________

1. The Alternative Education Program has been an asset to the Junior High.

..........................................................................................% .............Responses

Yes, it has been a positive asset to the school.________54.8 _________17

No, it has not been an asset to the school.____________0.0___________0

I really haven't seen any effects.___________________25.8___________8

Other:_______________________________________19.4___________6

- I am not sure

- I still question why some of the kids seem to be coming and going a lot through the halls during classtime. It seems that (boy student) and (girl student) have been taking advantage of this freedom. It's hard to justify to other students why these 2 seem to be allowed hallway freedoms that others don't get. I also think that there needs to be e-mails to make sure that students actually get to their point of destination and that they are there the entire period. In other words verification that the student actually did show up to #114 or actually did make it back to my class if that's what Ken/Joe were told. The classroom teachers really don't know if the student showed up by you or not and if in fact they were at some point sent back to us.

- I think it has been positive for individuals in the school. I have had concerns that the students in the program have leniencies that most of the other students aren't allowed.

- I have had no interaction to judge by.

- nonproductive students out of the classroom

- I haven't seen it work differently than the SpEd program

2. I have noticed improvement in the behavior of the Alternative Education students.

in some of the students..........................................................41...............................13

in few of the students.............................................................25.................................8

I can't see any difference........................................................6..................................2

Other:......................................................................................25.................................8

- most of the time
- have had limited experience using it, but seemed mostly effective
- I have had no interaction to judge by.
- only one was behavior-no change
- yes
- Some difference in one student
- in All my Alt Ed students
- in a few some of the time

3. I have seen improvement in a student that was quite difficult at the beginning of the year.

- Attitudes better, but effort is still low
- In most students it seemed to give them the flexibility and support they needed.
- No
- I have seen less referrals and students have a more positive attitude.
- On some days I saw an improvement in Danny...
- there seemed to be a higher level of positive expectations from these students at the beginning of the year, but that seemed less so as the year went on
- As for #2, only a couple students of mine needed Alt Ed and seemed to benefit a bit, but their problem wasn't just basic self-discipline.
- No, I feel it becomes more of a hassel for administrators. Problemkids are still problem kids.
- Dasha is doing more work with an appropriate attitude compared to the beginning of the semester. Alex is doing a better job of communicating with me at the end of the semester and after he realized that he could not avoid me...
- Colin has gone from a complete classroom disrupter in Papers class to being more conscious of his behavior in my class. It is a start but he still has a way to go.
- no
- It has been an excellent option for 9th grade students who move in credit deficient and need support and the Apex option for credit retrieval.
- Being in alt ed has given some of my students the connection they needed to stay in school and care about school.
- I have had no interaction to judge by.
- I have seen a couple of students who struggled in Math get quickly back on track and were stronger and more confident second semester.
- One student showed periodic improvement in assigment completion.
- These students have stayed the same behaviorally all year.
- A bit calmer. Able to self-advocate when an alternative work area is needed.
- I have a student who was failing, and with consistent help actually cares about her grade and has been turning everything in.
- Behavior improvement (more respectful, more communicative), but not academic improvement (still failing my class)
- Not really.
- N/A

4. I have seen certain students become more difficult to deal with as the year has progressed. Please be specific.

- Some students abused the system at times. I know at times I had a couple students wandering the halls instead of being in my class or the Alt. Ed. Room. I also feel like some students wouldn't pay attention during class because he/she was going to the Alt Room and Mr. Wilson would teach them.
- Several of my students that are in the program ended up dropping my class and just doing Apex. They kind of shut down. Maybe they are doing better in the program. I don't know b/c I don't see them. Patrick really had an attitude problem and always felt it was his "right" to go work on the stuff he hadn't gotten done for homework in Mr. Wilson's room DURING class. It was annoying!
- I haven't seen this. I have seen some students try to take advantage of their ability to work in a different environment, but have abused that option.
- I have seen very little improvment.
- I have a student who is using it for help on work but there are often times when he still returns without the work done!
- I have not seen this.
- Katie has gone from bad to worse. No reflection on you.
- no
- I can't say that I have seen increases in difficult behavior.
- Some students have avoided responsibility in their regular classes by using the drop in option of alt. ed
- I have had no interaction to judge by.
- I have noticed students who are failing more classes second semester.
- Students are using " going to Mr. Wilson's" as a way to get out of class or what is being asked of them. Also, these same students come back to class with no homework done- even when that it why they went to Mr.Wilson's
- No
- Alt Ed students wanting to spend less and less time in my class
- I have a student who will now get very angry and withdrawn in class and calls herself a "failure".
- N/A

5. The Alternative Education Program has helped improve students academic performance.

I can't tell. ___________________________________3.2 _________________1

I have seen some improvement. ________________48.4________________ 15

I have seen little or no improvement.____________ 19.4_________________ 6

I have seen little or no improvement.____________ 22.6 _________________7

Other:______________________________________ 6.5 _________________2

- I am not sure honestly. I notice student who are getting good grades, above average in the options classes but are getting D's/F's in their general ed classes.

- I have had no interaction to judge by.


6. Does allowing Alternative Education students come down for academic assistance help?

No, it is a bother and disrupts their learning ___________0.0______________ 0

Yes, they have been able to get individual help. _______26.7______________ 8

Yes, but just to get them out of the room. _____________10.0 ______________3

I think that they are being enabled. __________________6.7 _______________2

Other: _________________________________________56.7 _____________17

- Some students have abused the privilege and don't return when requested.

- I think that all of the above apply at different times.

- Haven't used this service

- The extra time in the halls can be disruptive and they don't always take the direct route to their destination.

- sometimes it's good, other times I think they use it as an excuse

- I think it is a good optioin, if not abused.

- If they don't use it as an excuse to do "real work" - which I think some who ask do.

- I really don't like how this option is worded, but it seems to be the best answer. When a student is constantly disruptive in a classroom, then he/she needs to be in a different place away from an audience of 30 of their peers. This way the learning of the other 30 won't be impeded, and the 1 stands a better chance of learning something if he/she actually wants to.


7. Do the Alternative Education students value their program?

No, I've heard them complain about the program._____ 0.0___________ 0

Yes, they seem to value the program. _____________48.4 __________15

I don't know. _________________________________41.9 __________13

Other: _______________________________________9.7___________ 3

- Some do, others just think that they're getting away with something, more freedom to come and go.

- I am not sure if I can say. I think there is a portion that value the flexibily, mentorship and support they have gotten. I think the other portion

- I have had no interaction to judge by.


8. What constructive criticism would you offer to improve the program?


- Maybe a short presentation to the staff (vid/ppt) would help us know a little more about the program and become more involved/support it.

- The physical location would be better removed from the building. I think a portable and alternate schedule to limit peer interaction time would help.

- I was concerned that many times when I came down to talk to certain students during planning, they were basically sitting around doing nothing. Feet up on the desk, visiting. Didn't seem like they were doing anything. It wasn't lunch time and it happened more than once. I think the program has a positive effect with some students, but we still need to really make sure we keep expectations high.

- Keep them "pumped" with achievable goals throughout the year......maybe current, relevant goals?

- Students need to follow the standard routine of expectations for their regular class - otherwise things get messy. They can't be doing something "different" and then allowed to re-enter the regular class not being prepared with the expectations/routines established with all the other students.

- Again, some kind reporting on who is in #114 and when to the regular classroom teacher to make sure that students are where they were sent.

- Shorter schedule or alternative home d with computer work. Their social behavior doesn't help kids that are on the bubble of making bad choices.

- I believe that the students should be encouraged to use it as assistance as needed, not a crutch.

- Unless they are hovered over, many still do not get much done.

- Revisit program enrollment process and provide a syllabus. How/when will students exit the program?

- I would like to see a more structured, identifiable admitance and exit process and more communication with parents.

- I have had no interaction to judge by.

- More specific study and organization focus and monitoring of non-Acad. Options coursework.

- The time they spend out of class they should be working on assignments for the class they are pulled out of.

- I would include in the program actual life skills, so that their time is being used wisely and productively. Students shouldn't be getting F's in the regular Ed classes and all A's in the Alternative program. What is happening in the program should be reflected in the student's performance outside the program

- N/A

- I have no idea how the program is intended to work. I would like more specifics. I do feel as though my students are being enabled when they leave my room . that it is just a big party where they can do whatever they want. They have been sent back to class when they really needed to be working, but there wasn't room for them.

- Mainly that we need to be more selective about when students are pulled out of class. I have one or two students that are gone almost every day, and I find out later that they were in the Alt Ed room.




9. Should the Alternative Education Program be reduced, stay the way it is, expanded or be dropped?

Reduced ________________________20.0 ________________6

Stay the way it is _________________30.0 ________________9

Expanded _______________________16.7 ________________5

Dropped _________________________0.0 ________________0

Other:__________________________ 33.3 _______________10

- Keep it, just work on finding some way to get the kids to understand it's to help them stay in class and be successful, not use an out

- Hard to say - from my point of view only, it seems satsifactory as is.

- not sure

- I do not think that I have seen any specific changes

- I would like to see the focus be on repeat 9th graders and incoming 9th graders who struggled here as 8th graders.

- I have had no interaction to judge by.

- It is a great asset to have options for students than need them. We may want to restructure some aspects to make it work more efficiently.

- Structured learning with consequences

- I'm really not sure as I have only one student who has been involved and that student has had a lot of other home issues to deal with this year. I'm not sure much would have been effective for him other than a safe place to be.

- Some more guidelines on when students can make use of the resources (i.e. maybe only during SSR or have a Resource Period for any student in the Program)

10. Please offer any comments you have that may not have been addressed in this survey.


- I wish there was a way for the alternative teacher to work with the gen. ed teacher so, that the gen ed. teacher was more informed and could help and reinforce what the alternative ed program is trying to help the student with. Information and communication can help to better serve the student and the teacher.

- What I have seen has been positive. It seems that some of these students need to feel like they're working hard and getting a little bit of freedom in return and I think that's what they've been getting.

- The Alternative Education program has been an excellent addition to our school and has helped the students who wanted the support.

- A "new" lesson plan will have successful parts and less than successful parts. Over time, the less than successful parts are replaces with more appropriate pieces and a viable lesson is created.

- The same holds true for a "new" program or change in program. You keep the parts that work and modify/change the parts that don't. I think our alternative program is like this, i.e. there are some very successful parts and some parts that might make use of some modification.

- By the time they get to 8th and 9th grade, some students have reached the point that they need an alternative environment in which to succeed in school. Not having such an alternative limits those students' ability to succeed.

- Conclusions are left to the reader.

- I am concerned students will find this as an "escape" from responsibility. As an alternative testing environment it did not work at all. Even with simple expectations to stay current with regular work, my two students did not seem to meet even basic levels of completion. I'm not sure the environment is structured enough to support/improve the basic work habits the students desperately need.

- I have appreciated having another resource and support to assist students. I have found the expectations for students in alt. ed. to be high and helpful. I do not always know who is in the program and who is not.

- You have your hands tied by the state as to what you can do. Vocational programs would fit many of these students better.

- I have seen some kids blossom, in particular the returning 9th graders. I worry that 8th graders may end up tracked as alt. ed. I would prefer that the program focus on a clear attempt to reintigrate them into all gen ed classes. It may be beneficial to take more of a team approach where teachers, parents, and alt. ed staff get together each semester to review the student's progress- make it more formalized.

- Thanks for for all that you have done for these kiddos. I feel that having a safe space for students can make a huge difference in the long term.

- When students request to go down to the Alt ED rooms my expectaion is that they are actually working and will return to class with work done- which is not always the case.

- I really appreciate all of you! You do an excellent job!

_______________________________________________________


Developing a program that was concieved to meet the need of struggling students in a year like this has stretched many concepts and attitudes to a breaking point. More students have severe problems than ever before. Families have lost jobs, resulting in devastation of their foundations, and schools are realing to fund a valid program.
I have had to constantly remember that the students in my program came into it with huge problems; drugs, alcohol, dysfunctional parents and families, mental and emotional problems, past histories of failure, all students that were now ready to be discarded at a moments notice. At times the kids acted out more than usual and tested the concept of even having a program for them to the limits. Some students were lost throughout the year, but for those that did not move away the others have shown through the observations I have included, that they are worthwhile. Discipline referrals for this year and the students previous year were also aggregated and showed and overall 66% decrease in discipline. Included below are the change in discipline referrals from 2007/08 to 2008/09 for the returning 9th graders and the first year 9th graders.

_________________________________________________

08 .................09................ % Decrease

47 ........................6 .............................87%
24 ........................3............................. 88%
33 ........................9 .............................73%
25........................ 7............................. 72%
8 ..........................5............................. 38%
2.......................0.0........................... 100%
31 ......................16............................ 48%
29 ....................14.............................. 52%
30........................9............................. 70%
16..................... 13.............................. 19%
27 .......................3.............................. 89%
15 .......................4 ..............................73%
9 .......................11............................ -22%

(Student discipline referals increased)

66% decrease over previous year.

_________________________________________________

Students were placed into the Alternative Education Program for this first year by the counselors. We knew that this was not the best way to begin but at the time it was our best option. Since the beginning of the year all new students must be recommended through a counselor, approved by the building's TAP team, and then may apply to the Alternative Education Program. If accepted then they must sign a contract that governs their being in school. This first year has been a shifting of placed students to one of accepted students. (To view enrollment packet go to my SWIFT website:

http://swift.tahoma.wednet.edu/tjhs/kwilson/index.php

You will find the program description and if you go to the documents section you can find the application packet for the program.

______________________________________________

The year began without much to work with. I had no budget, was not a part of the Junior High (as such) and would need to seek budget from the District and/or program. I had furniture and computers installed that came as a surprise the week before school was to start. Not having any real time to work through what would work and what wouldn't I set up the room quickly so that all of the computers would be working for the start of school. Starting a new program with little or no support was daunting but I made the decision to work paperless, I really had no choice.
My classes were set up so that on Blue Days; returning 9th graders were scheduled for first period. Ninth graders (first time) were scheduled for second period, and 8th grade students would fill the third period of the day. On Gold Days, my periods were scheduled with students that needed either Apex classes (online computer courses), Academic Matching where I handled their curriculum using district standards and tests, and Interventions when students needed drop in only. (Note that my planning period was given to serving students that I had enrolled in various classes).
The most difficult class turned out to be the first year ninth graders. They were the most heavily involved in a tight social circle that involved outside use of drugs, alcohol, sex, and planned disruptive behaviors. Through the course of the first semester the students that were so heavily invovled were sent to treatment and/or left the school for violating their Alternative Education contract. Once these students were removed the real process of working with this group began. As their disruptive behaviors began to change they continued to come to school knowing that they must meet the expectations of their contract. The Alternative Education contract does hold them to meeting expectations or being dropped from their program.
During the first semester of the program all of the students created a WIKI page that was linked to the classroom WIKI with myself and my TA - Joe Brazier as administrators. The students posted their updated grades each class and learned to add, complete lessons, and demonstrate their assignments online. The classes were also learning "Life Skills", through a series of lessons that involved group activities, and online responses. Application of these skills were handled in confidential conversations when students needed to develop approprate options to discipline problems they had created. By the end of the first semester the students were able to request support (advocate) and/or have me with them when discipline issues arose.