When a single student starts to fall behind, misbehave, and lose interest in class, many schools now have systems in place to detect and address the issue early on. But what happens when half of the class, or even half of the entire school, exhibits similar warning signs?
Carla Gay, the executive director for innovation and partnership at the Gresham-Barlow School District in Portland, Oregon, emphasized that solely focusing on the students who require intervention overlooks the bigger picture. She explained, "If a high percentage of students are showing signs of needing help, it’s an indication of the overall health of the educational system."
This dilemma is faced by many educators and administrators in the aftermath of the disruptions caused by the pandemic. While schools have been implementing data systems to track and analyze student indicators at an unprecedented rate in recent years, the creators of these systems caution that the indicators and interventions designed prior to the pandemic may no longer be sufficient to help students get back on track.
"The pandemic has created greater needs for a larger number of students, with more diverse and ever-changing needs," said Robert Balfanz, co-director of the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University and an early advocate for early-warning systems in schools. He added, "Sometimes, we became too enamored by the technology and focused solely on having the best data system with all the fancy features. But we also need to prioritize the supportive mindsets and the human aspect of education."
Balfanz, along with research scientists from the Center for Social Organization of Schools, the University of Chicago Network for College Success, and six other research and education groups, has initiated a project to develop "next-generation" early-warning and intervention systems. The objective is to identify a broader range of academic and non-academic indicators that apply to a larger group of students. While the initial systems mainly considered critical indicators for high school graduation, the updated version aims to include important transitional periods in middle and high school, as well as postsecondary success. The project also seeks to assist districts in implementing more comprehensive interventions when a larger number of students are at risk.
The impact of the pandemic has pushed red flags beyond the traditional focus on academics. Early-warning systems have been primarily developed based on the work conducted at Johns Hopkins and the Chicago consortium. Balfanz and his colleagues identified what they referred to as the "ABCs" of student disengagement: absenteeism, behavior problems, and course performance. Persistent absenteeism, defined as missing 10 percent or more of available school days, behavior problems resulting in detentions or suspensions, and poor course performance with grade failures or incomplete credits were found to be indicators that a student was becoming disengaged from school. Over a decade of research has shown that an increase in these three areas can predict students’ likelihood of dropping out, with some studies even suggesting that these indicators can be detected as early as 1st grade.
According to Gay, the pandemic has brought to light certain imbalances within the system that can hinder schools’ attempts to intervene with students on an individual basis. The district is collaborating with various partners to identify practices and policies in schools that can support students who face difficulties attending school due to issues like transportation or other obstacles.
