Having worked with at-risk and alternative education programs for over twenty years, I’ve watched many strategies and techniques for identifying these students come and go. Most of these focused on identification from the view of the educator. Historically, administrators, counselors, and teachers have been encouraged to look for:

• Erratic, low, or no attendance
• Low literacy or numeracy skills
• Lack of interest in school
• Negative interactions with peers
• Behavioral issues including aggression, violence, and social withdrawal
• Significant changes in behavior, attitude, or performance
• Downward trends in grades or increased credit deficiencies

We used all of this information and thought we were basing our identification of at-risk students on the true picture of the student. We missed two critical components. First, we missed including the students’ perspectives in the identification process. Second, we took those we labeled as at-risk, put them in some type of alternative program, and never revisited their “at-risk-ness” again. As long as they attended school and made some academic progress, we smiled.

In AdvancePath’s blended learning academies, usually attended by students with multiple risk factors, we recognize both of these critical components. Students use the ScholarCentric Surveys to provide teachers and building leaders with a true at-risk profile at both the individual level as well as in the aggregate. Teachers use the data to plan groups learning activities, such as lessons from Success Highways, focused on resiliency. Students and teachers work together to better understand the individual risk factors and develop plans of action and personal growth.

Since ScholarCentric provides additional surveys, each academy uses the data to plot not only their action plan (using the first survey), but also their growth over time (using the second survey administration.) Combine this with the standard identification areas listed above, and districts have a powerful set of tools to define the true, total picture of the student. In fact, many times, our administration of the surveys have allowed us to identify students long before they exhibited any of the risk factors listed above. We intervene before the symptoms appear.

Often, the blended learning environment provides the change in structure that many at-risk students require in order to stay engaged with education. Adding a focus on their perspectives and at-risk profiles, along with strong resiliency instruction, ensures that we set them up for success in all areas, not just “some academic progress.”