1. Clear Creek Amana High School
Academic Advisory
Clear Creek Amana High School

2. Academic Advisory Held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
20 Minutes in length
1st Block 8:25 – 9:50
AA 9:55 – 10:15
2nd Block 10:20 – 12:20 (with Lunch)
3rd Block 12:25 – 1:50
4th Block 1:55 – 3:20

3. Academic Advisory
There is no AA on Wednesday due to the early out schedule and staff Professional Development
1st Block 8:25 – 9:25
2nd Block 9:30 – 10:35 (Announcements)
3rd Block 10:40 – 11:40
4th Block 11:45 – 1:20 (with Lunch)
PD 1:45 – 4:00

4. System Purpose
Create and maintain a positive Teacher/Student relationship
1. Student assigned to a teacher for all 4
years of high school
2. Teacher/advisor oversees the development
and initiation of student’s PLPs

5. System Purpose Each student at CCA has a PLP:
1. Personalized Learning Plan
2. Developed as a Freshman and acts as the
blueprint for their educational needs until
they graduate

6. System Purpose
PLP’s are developed and written with input from the student, teacher/advisor, and parents
This guideline maps out their 4 years in high school and identifies all the required coursework for graduation
It also helps identify electives and areas that interest the student
Students, teacher/advisor, and parents meet twice yearly to update progress on PLP’s

7. System Functions
Gives teacher/advisor the chance to check their student’s grades and completion of assignments
1. Teacher/advisor uses Powerschool to track their students academic progress
2. Teacher/advisor collaborates with other staff members to help students falling behind
3. Provides students someone to go to when they need academic assistance

8. System Functions
Gives teacher/advisor time to set goals with their students
1. All students, with the help of their teacher/advisor, create goals as part of
the PLP
2. Teacher/advisor check to make sure each student is making progress towards their
goals

9. System Functions
Give students time during their day to do make-up work and/or receive information they might have missed from being absent
1. Students can speak with other teachers
2. Students can check-out computers
3. Students can get on Powerschool
4. Students can have study time

10. Basic AA Schedule Monday – in AA classroom for study time
Tuesday – grade checks and study time
Thursday – group meetings and study time
Friday – community building activities/assemblies

11. Feedback
I spoke with 6 different teacher/advisors to get their feedback and prospective on our AA
I wanted to hear what they considered both positive and negative about AA

12. Positive Feedback Build relationships with students over 4 years
Build relationship with their parents
Provide guidance for students who have little
Help students achieve their goals
Having AA daily keeps you in the know
Common time for all the different activity groups to meet that doesn’t cut into class time
Seeing improvement
Community building activities

13. Negative Feedback
20 minutes not enough time to get everything accomplished
Students don’t make good use of the time
Students skip AA too often
Too scripted
Should change teacher/advisor after 2 years
Can’t help students in other academic areas
Spend too much time with a handful of students while the others receive little attention

14. Organizational Learning Disabilities
“I am my position”
I believe too many staff members view themselves as classroom teachers only and spend all their time preparing for their classroom lessons
Very little “extra” time is put into their role as teacher/advisor of their AA classroom
It is just something they do from 9:55-10:15 on those AA days

15. Organizational Learning Disabilities
If we want AA to function as it is intended, we need better “buy-in” from the teacher/advisors
I also believe that our students can sense when teacher/advisors are just going through the motions
If the teacher/advisors aren’t dedicated to the process, why should students dedicate themselves to improving their learning?

16. Organizational Learning Disabilities
“The parable of the boiled frog”
Our teacher/advisors are correct. Students don’t make good use of their time in AA, they don’t view the time as useful/important, and many of them find ways to skip or avoid being there.
I believe this is because from the very first day of AA during their freshmen year, we are forcing a large amount of information their direction.

17. Organizational Learning Disabilities
We ask them to plan out the next 4 years of their educational lives, reminding them that it will have a huge impact on post-secondary options
We cram large amounts of materials and information into a 20-minute window
We force them into doing things that fit our purpose and our direction, but rarely ask for their feedback
Slowing things down for a more inclusive, thoughtful purpose may help generate better results

18. System Archetypes

19. Leadership Plan
The goal of improving a system should focus on a Leadership Plan that leads to:
1. Better Personal Mastery
2. Clarification of Mental Models
3. Development of a Shared Vision
4. Through Team Learning

20. Personal Mastery Personal growth and continual learning
Success of a system relies on a group of individuals with a shared vision
Common Purpose
Too much emotional tension involved in our Academic Advisory
Emotional tension leads to lower expectations and therefore lower chances of optimal results

21. Personal Mastery Leadership must model personal mastery
Provide guidance and support for teachers
Set clear expectations for what you want to get out of Academic Advisory
Make it important
Should be treated like a regular class
Maybe some PD time focusing on how to better the system through training

22. Mental Models Our view of the way the system operates
Current view of Academic Advisory is that there is not enough time to make it work effectively
Another common view is that its time wasted which could be better spent in the classroom
This way of thinking limits growth and improvement
Good in theory, bad in practice
Its why the best ideas fail

23. Mental Models
Best way to deal with mental models is to have serious discussions
Foster these discussions and be open to feedback
Senge’s theory on being a veteran advocate tells us that simply listening to feedback is not good enough
You must actively inquire into others views that differ from your own
This creates better understanding

24. Shared Vision
Vital for a system because it provides a common focus and energy for learning
Currently, the vision of Academic Advisory is shared by some, but not by all
Teacher/advisors have different visions and students have different visions
No collaboration time spent on creating a shared vision for AA
Viewed as a top-down program with very little input or influence from staff

25. Shared Vision
Teacher/advisors care about their students and want to see them succeed
The potential for success is there
More collaboration and planning
We don’t expect teachers to “wing it” in the classroom, so why are we asking for this in AA?
Shared Vision is the rudder of the ship that keeps everything on course

26. Team Learning
Organizational decisions are best made and carried out in small groups/teams
How are building PLC’s fostering improvements to Academic Advisory?
Are they ever discussed?
Time becomes a major factor
Collaboration time is spent on other things
What guidance, training, information is provided for new teachers in an Academic Advisory setting?

27. Team Learning
The team will not be successful without a shared vision and individuals dedicated to personal mastery
This idea must be supported by the building leader
It requires time and practice and needs to be part a staff development or professional development activities
Teacher/advisors must model team learning if we expect students to do the same

28. Conclusions
5 Main Conclusions on how to improve Academic Advisory at Clear Creek Amana
1. More Time
2. Organization and Guidance
3. Collaboration among teacher/advisors
4. Feedback from students and teacher/advisors
5. Shared Vision