project overview

OVERVIEW

This is the second year that our project is focused on an Advisory Program model. Last year our team developed a comprehensive plan for implementing an Advisory Program in our building; and for the most part we accomplished what we had set out to do in the first year. Included in this document is a replication of last year's project Overview which provides detailed information on why this project was undertaken.

What we intend to accomplish is to develop activities that our teachers can use during the designated advisory time periods. These activities are being developed in response to themes/ topics that were identified by staff as having high priority. Accompanying this paper is a copy of the survey that was given to our teachers to assist us in determining what they saw as important issues that might be addressed during the advisory time.

In addition to the problems that this project would address as stated in last year's program proposal, we have established a building goal that states that the number of middle school students who will achieve success in the core academic area will increase by 2% annually. We believe that institutionalizing an Advisory Program in our middle school will be part of the prescription to assist us in realizing that goal. During the course of this past school year, we had four different teams made up of staff and parents that visited other middle schools that had Advisory Programs in place. A common component among the four schools was that the Advisory Program was used for academic monitoring and goal setting with the students. The teachers, counselors, and administrators from those schools were

confident that this academic monitoring feature was effective in improving the academic standing of the students. THe most lethal cause of student underachievement is parents lack of support for schools and teachers. Three of the four schools that we visited employed student-led conferences which resulted in a 98% to 100% parent turn-out for Fall and Spring Conference Programs. The student-led conference idea is a goal that has been established for our Advisory Program that we are confident will assist in the effort to improve student achievement by increasing support for and involvement in the childS education.

Following is the Overview from last year's project:

For more than thirty years the School District of South Milwaukee included four or five elementary schools, one junior high school, and one senior high school. In the spring of 1985 the Board of Education made the decision to restructure the grade alignment of its schools. The first phase of the plan involved the transfer of the ninth grade to the high school which was implemented for the start of the l987-88 school year. This made the then junior high school a seventh and eighth grade building, while the elementary buildings remained kindergarten through sixth grade. The second phase of the restructuring occurred in the fall of 1990 when the sixth grade students were transferred to the junior high school, a move that expectedly met with tremendous concern, anxiety, and resistance from those respective parents. In preparation for the transition from the traditional junior high school program to that of a middle grades program, in the fall of l987 our school participated in the Middle

Grades Assessment Program (MGAP) designed by the Center for Early Adolescence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This assessment identified areas in our existing programs that were consistent with effective middle school practices and those programs or practices that needed improvement or did not exist. Among the weaknesses that surfaced was the absence of an Advisory Program.

In the fall of 1992 our program was evaluated again using the Center for Middle Level Assessment at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. It was evident that progress had been made in addressing those areas that were identified in 1987. However, this evaluation, more than the previous one, highlighted the continued absence of an ongoing Advisory Program. The attached Chart II demostrates the efforts and progress to date in regard to completing the transition to a comprehensive middle level program. As you review this chart, conspicuous by its absence is an Advisory Program. It is the intent of those of us attending this summers seminar to develop a comprehensive plan that will provide the vehicle for implementing an Advisory Program at South Milwaukee Middle School in as short a period of time as is possible. This project will include a definition of an Advisory Program, a mission statement, and program goals and objectives. Included in this project will be a plan to increase staffS awareness and involvement in its development. It is our intention to develop an extensive plan for implementation of an Advisory Program which will include program development, staff development, and parent education components. More than ever before in the history of public education is there a need for programs that model themselves around the concepts inherent in an Advisory Program. In the recently published book, Preparing Students for the 21st Century, a 1995 study by the American Association of School Administrators reveals the following societal changes, among others, since the1960's:

* The number of dysfunctional families has grown.

* Children are threatened by crime, violence, ignorance, and poverty.

* Communities are changing and becoming more diverse.

* Children shun authority, traditional values, and responsibilities.

* A hurry-up society often lacks a sense of community.

* Peers exert a powerful influence on values.

* Mass media grip our children, giving them more knowledge at an earlier age.

In response to those alarming changes, schools need to provide a 'healthy family" model for students, especially those entering early adolescence. As stated in the Carnegie Council report Turning Points, THe student should, upon entering middle grade school, join a community in which people-students and adults-get to know each other well to create a climate for intellectual development. Students should feel that they are a part of a community of shared educational purpose. Every student needs at least one thoughtful adult who has the time and takes the trouble to talk with the student about academic matters, personal problems, and the importance of performing well in the middle grade school.Ó Young adolescents live in a society that presents them with many challenges and choices. Students carry with them into the school environment the events of their lives beyond the school day. Therefore, there is a need, perhaps a responsibility, for middle level educators to offer a responsive, appropriate, and caring atmosphere. A cohesive Advisory Program will help educators assist students in successfully negotia- ting the 'contests' encountered during this period of their lives.