# Presentation: 316693

## Archived InformationCreating and Implementing Student Advisories

*	**Joseph DiMartino *
*The Education Alliance at Brown University*
*	**Dr. John Clarke*
*Mount Abraham High School; Bristol, VT*

## The mission of the American high school has changed...

## No Child Left Behind

- New era of accountability nationally:
- Schools held to new standards
- Principals expected to be instructional leaders
- Teachers required to reach all students

## Publications Featuring Personalization and Advisories

## Breaking Ranks...

-  “The high school of the 21st Century must be much more student-centered and above all much more personalized in programs, support services and intellectual rigor.”
- Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution

## Personalized Learning Study

- Education Alliance at Brown
- Seven High Schools in 2000
- Shadowed 21 students in all 7 schools
- Characterize student needs
- Describe school structures
- Characterize interactions

## Student Needs and School Practices:  Building Relationships

- Voice

- Equity

- Recognition

- Need

- Practice

- Relationship

## Student Needs and School Practices:  Building Relationships

- Belonging

- Community

- Acceptance

- Need

- Practice

- Relationship

## Student Needs and School Practices:  Building Relationships

- Choice

- Opportunity

- Trust

- Need

- Practice

- Relationship

## Student Needs and School Practices:  Building Relationships

- Freedom

- Responsibility

- Respect

- Need

- Practice

- Relationship

## Student Needs and School Practices:  Building Relationships

- Imagination

- Challenge

- Purpose

- Need

- Practice

- Relationship

## Student Needs and School Practices:  Building Relationships

- Success

- Expectations

- Confirmation

- Need

- Practice

- Relationship

## Slide 13

## Definition of Personalization

- 	Personalization is a learning process in which schools help students assess their own talents and aspirations, plan a pathway toward their own purposes, work cooperatively with others on challenging tasks, maintain a record of their explorations, and demonstrate learning against clear standards in a wide variety of media, all with the close support of adult mentors and guides
- (Clarke, 2003)

## What is an Advisory?

- Supportive and stable peer group that meets regularly with an advisor
- Organizational structure in which one small group of students identifies with and belongs to one educator, who nurtures, advocates for, and shepherds through school the individuals in the group
- Caring environment for academic guidance and  support, everyday administrative details, recognition and activities to promote citizenship

## What an advisory is NOT:

- Substitute for Guidance Counselor
- Mental Health Therapist
- Homeroom Monitor

## Evidence of Success in Advisories

- Studies have shown the following results in schools where advisories have been implemented:
- Improved academic achievement
- Reduction in failing grades
- Increase in test scores
- Increased rate of taking college entrance exams
- Significant increase in student attendance
- Reduction of dropouts

## Five Key  Dimensions of Successful Advisory Programs

- A stated purpose
- Thoughtful organization
- Relevant advisory program content
- Ongoing assessment
- Strong leadership

## Contact Info

- The Education Alliance at Brown University
- 222 Richmond Street, Suite 300
- Providence, RI 02903-4226
- Phone: 401-274-9548
- E-mail: ssr@alliance.brown.edu
- Fax: 401-421-7650
- Web: www.alliance.brown.edu