Addressing the needs of at-risk students

Education

Addressing the Needs of At-Risk Students

In today’s education climate, school success is defined as ensuring achievement for every student. To reach this goal, educators need tools to help them identify students who are at risk academically and to adjust instructional strategies to better meet these students’ needs. At-risk students typically require more resources than students who are adjusting well to the social and academic demands of school.

There are many reasons students may be “at risk,” which can mean any student who is not socially, emotionally or academically healthy.

Before measuring a student’s academic progress to meet Ohio Department of Education standards, educators must meet students where they are. There needs to be an understanding of their immediate emotional needs while keeping an eye on their social behaviors.

Whether your child is experiencing positive or negative progress, as educators and parents we must first “name it” so that we will be able to assess and address it. The importance in naming the progress (i.e. my daughter is having an outburst every Monday before going to school, or my son dropped from a sixth grade reading level to a third grade level) is that it allows the professionals in your school to first assess contributing factors and then create a plan. Each plan should be filled with the steps of progression toward positive outcomes. This plan is shared with everyone as a part of their academic life.

Your role as a parent is extremely important. Keep in close communication with the school, your child’s teachers, the school counselor, their therapist and even the school nurse, as this paints the best picture for everyone. psi can help in your child’s academic progress as it partners with more than 500 schools across Ohio. psi helps schools across Northeast Ohio identify these social and emotional needs. These needs cross over to school clinics, counselors and psychologists, and then many of the pieces are picked up in the classroom by teachers and intervention specialists. psi-solutions.org