David and all:  As far as techniques and strategies, I would say that we
immediately show these young people a level of respect by speaking to them
very directly and as adults.  We let them know that we care and that we
realize that they may not really want to be there, but as long as they are
there they might as well work towards their GED.  We ususally end up having
lengthy discussion about what their lives might consist of if they don't get
the GED and often times we get initial agreement as to their behavior and
their intent.  However, keeping these students engaged in the classroom is far
more difficult.  We usually have the teachers try techniques from their "bag
of tricks", but the younger students who really need to or want to stay seem
to respond best when they have a serious one-to-one meeting with me, the
Director.  We discuss their reasons for being there and what they will do
differently going forward in order to be allowed to stay in the program.  The
"seriousness" of this last line being drawn in the sand seems to change many
behaviors.  Of course, this does not work for the "try-out" student who really
doesn't have good reason for being in class.  This is what we're going to try
to flesh out with the new counselor role of which I spoke earlier.  Also, we
now understand that this is a process through which we need to progress for
these students as oppossed to what we used to do which was say, basically, why
don't you come back when you're ready to be an adult.

------ Original Message ------
Received: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:45:31 AM EDT
From: David Rosen <djrosen at comcast.net>
To: specialtopics at nifl.gov
Subject: [SpecialTopics 132] Re: Persistence Discussion questions


> Terri, and others,

> 

> Terri, you and I were both thinking about the five pathways at the  

> same time.  I would be interested in hearing more about what you do  

> with mandated (and perhaps "pressured") young adults. What are some  

> of the "parental" strategies and "youth development techniques" which  

> you have found to help motivate them, and to increase their persistence?

> 

> I would also like to hear from others who have effective strategies  

> for increasing motivation and ultimately persistence for mandated  

> students.

> 

> David J. Rosen

> Special Topics Discussion List Moderator

> djrosen at comcast.net

> 

> On Jul 12, 2006, at 9:21 AM, Terri DeVito wrote:

> 

> > To John and All:  I had participated in the Persistence Study  

> > Circle that was

> > held in Massachusetts this spring and the description of the five  

> > pathways

> > rang so true when we thought of our students and has changed the  

> > way we think

> > about our students and the systems with which we address their  

> > needs.  We are

> > changing the role of our counselor beginning in September so that  

> > she will

> > spend far more time with each incoming student prior to entering  

> > class and

> > will conduct interviews, learning style inventories, discuss  

> > barriers and

> > barrier removal, and lay the ground work for goal setting which  

> > will then be

> > completed by the classroom teacher.  She will help students develop  

> > a plan if

> > they are not ready to enter classes yet and will stay in touch with  

> > those

> > students who do not enter immediately or "stop out" within the  

> > first 3 weeks.

> > After a student has completed a 3 week (21 hour) orientation class  

> > and has

> > been enrolled in a class, it will then become the teacher's  

> > responsibility to

> > follow through and report back as to the status of a student.  We also

> > immediately began thinking about our mandated students very  

> > differently.  I

> > actually consider most immediate high school drop outs as mandated  

> > students

> > because I am pretty sure someone else is insisting that they get  

> > their GED at

> > once.  Of course, the court and agency mandated student falls  

> > clearly into

> > this category.  Our approach to these young students is far more  

> > parental

> > while still using youth development techniques and showing these  

> > students an

> > adult respect and level of expectation.  We're hoping that our  

> > awareness of

> > these pathways and our systems changes will settle the population  

> > from the

> > beginning and will be placing our most serious students in class.

> >

> > ------ Original Message ------

> > Received: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 05:50:14 PM EDT

> > From: John Comings <comingjo at gse.harvard.edu>

> > To: specialtopics at nifl.gov

> > Subject: [SpecialTopics 126] Re: Persistence Discussion questions

> >

> >> In the final report of the second phase of our study, we developed a

> >> typology of "persistence pathways". We chose to describe these as  

> >> pathways

> >> rather than as types of students because we saw evidence that  

> >> people moved

> >> from one type to the other over the course of their lives.

> >>

> >> One pathway was "try-out". People on this pathway were motivated  

> >> to learn

> >> (demonstrated by showing up to enroll in a program) but had too many

> >> barriers to persistence and were destined to drop out early. We  

> >> suggested

> >> that a good approach for people on this pathway was for programs  

> >> to counsel

> >

> >> them out of joining a class (why should they experience another  

> >> failure in

> >> education?)but help them develop a plan to both do some self-study

> >> (possibly coming in to the program to talk with a tutor once a  

> >> month) and

> >> develop a plan that would lead them into a class after they had  

> >> addressed

> >> the barriers to persistence in their life.

> >>

> >> However, this positive "outcome" is not listed on the NRS. This is  

> >> one of

> >> the new forms of success our programs should help students achieve  

> >> (in fact

> >

> >> some programs do this informally) and should be able to report on  

> >> the NRS.

> >>

> >> --On Tuesday, July 11, 2006 2:10 PM -0400 MWPotts2001 at aol.com wrote:

> >>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>> In a message dated 7/11/2006 11:23:12 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

> >>> comingjo at gse.harvard.edu writes:

> >>>

> >>> As far as persistence is concerned, what other context or personal

> >>> factors

> >>> do people think might be important? That is, that the impact of  

> >>> supports

> >>> to

> >>> persistence might be affected by these factors.

> >>>

> >>>

> >>>

> >>> John and All,

> >>>

> >>> You have hit here on my question: What is the difference between  

> >>> program

> >>> supports to persistence and the nature of student persistence? I  

> >>> see them

> >>> as two different things, and most of the posts have been dealt with

> >>> supports.  If we can identify the nature of persistence, we might  

> >>> be able

> >>> to recruit to the point.  This may not be a popular stance, but  

> >>> given the

> >>> drop out rate and even the stop out rate, perhaps we should give  

> >>> it a

> >>> try.

> >>>

> >>> Meta Potts

> >>> FOCUS on Literacy

> >>> Glen Allen, Virginia

> >>

> >>

> >>

> >> John Comings, Director

> >> National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy

> >> Harvard Graduate School of Education

> >> 7 Appian Way

> >> Cambridge MA 02138

> >> (617) 496-0516, voice

> >> (617) 495-4811, fax

> >> (617) 335-9839, mobile

> >> john_comings at harvard.edu

> >> http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu

> >>

> >> -------------------------------

> >> National Institute for Literacy

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> >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to

> > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/SpecialTopics

> >>

> >

> >

> >

> > -------------------------------

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> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

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