Student Mentoring Taos High School Mary Spears 2010 New Mexico GEAR UP Spring Workshop April 30 – May 1, P.S. & G. Khalsa

High School Demographics 724 students Multicultural school 8% Native American 72% Hispanic 18% Anglo/others Free lunch program Title 1 school

Identify Problem / Need Failing school by AYP standards – R1-holding Must meet diverse needs of students Incoming freshmen not proficient in Math or English - Jamie Spears 2007

Students & parents lobby for study hall High rates of absenteeism and tardiness to study hall without credit New graduation and test requirements required by state

Fore-shadowed Problems Inaccuracy of data Student apathy towards testing Disagreements among staff about curriculums Frequent turnover of leadership all levels Graduation rates

Solution /Program Description Form high school goal teams with all staff to investigate solutions Develop Response to Intervention(RTI) deficiency strategies so students reach proficiency levels

Solution School wide tutorial classes with pass/fail credit

Scheduling for staff and students Senior Class Seniors with 2.5 GPA and above can choose to drop tutorial Seniors with 3.0 GPA can drop 2 classes Under old graduation rules 23 credits with 7 period day

Juniors, Sophomores, Freshmen –Take short cycle assessment: MAPS –English: Scores indicate end of 5 th grade year assigned to English Tutorial class –Math: Same criteria assigned to Math Tutorial Class –If low in both subjects, assigned to Math Tutorial

All other students are scheduled into regular tutorials except: Due to IEPs, exceptional students are assigned to tutorials taught by special education certified teachers

Regular Tutorials Teachers use intervention strategies with students to meet proficiency levels by: Assignment help Vocabulary building Career choices Test / study skills Goal setting Silent reading Monitor academic grades

Barriers to Tutorial Program All students scoring below 9 th grade should be in Math and English tutorials but too many students Different teaching methods of staff

Budget / Cost per Student Most teachers have one tutorial Students nor staff available for electives Considered an elective so replaces other elective choices of experiential learning

Data / Potential Outcome No data available for first year Goal teams looking at improvements

School Year Some students taking testing seriously to enable choice of electives English Dept. will incorporate emotional intelligence instruction into the curricula Social worker intern working one-on-one UNM-Taos College and Career Prep teaming with GEAR UP

Two things that help one move out of poverty are education and relationships. Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D

Questions -rich web.net