Evaluating Resiliency in Elementary Students

February 13, 2014 Melissa Schlinger

Today’s Speakers

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Melissa Schlinger Vice President, ���National Accounts

Christine De Baca Director of Operations and Quantitative Research

The Problem: Academic Achievement Remains Flat

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Schools have tried many different approaches to student improvement—without significant impact.

•  Technology

•  Accountability

•  New teaching strategies

•  Smaller class sizes

•  Increased professional development

So what obstacles to learning remain?

Resiliency Research

February  12,  2014  

When examining groups of students from the same community, what differentiates academically successful students from their peers who struggle, disengage and perhaps even drop out?

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Resiliency Makes the Difference

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What the research shows.

•  In matched student groups, resiliency determines why one group succeeds and the other does not.

•  Six interrelated resiliency skills can be measured and taught.

•  As students’ resiliency improves, so do: •  Academic achievement •  Attendance •  Behavior •  Graduation rates

!e Six Resiliency Skills Assessed and taught by Success Highways

Valuing education Academic con"dence

Connectedness Stress management

Health and well-being Intrinsic motivation

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Resiliency: The Key to Student Success

As students become more resilient, they:

•  Take ownership of their education

•  Set goals

•  Manage adversity

•  Take responsibility for their lives

•  Improve their academic performance

•  Thrive in school and beyond

For grades 6-10

Available in English & Spanish

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How do we know how resilient students are?

Success Highways Resiliency Assessment – now for grades 3-5 55 questions covering the six critical resiliency skills:

Importance of school

Confidence

Connections

Stress management

Sense of well-being

Motivation

Research Background - Validation

•  Items from our middle and high school resiliency skills assessment were reviewed by four teams of elementary teachers. •  Language revisions to make the items more appropriate

and inclusive for the younger age group •  657 elementary students responded to a 125-item

measure. Using factor analysis, 55 items were found to be most valid.

Research Background - Validation

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Elementary Assessment

National Sample

•  The national sample is comprised of 940 students in schools across the United States. •  Free/Reduced Lunch: 81% •  Race: • 18% White • 30% African American • 30% Hispanic • 3% Native American • 3% Asian/Pacific Islander

• Gender: 50% Male, 50% Female • Grade Level: • 30% grade 3 • 20% grade 4 • 50% grade 5

Cumulative Resiliency Results

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Percentile Groupings

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Individual Resiliency Analysis

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Building Resiliency in the Classroom

What can we do to improve resiliency in the classroom?

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Valuing Education

Helping Elementary Students Connect School to the Future

•  Exploring different jobs and careers

•  Inviting in community members to talk to students

•  Research different careers

•  Exposure to Colleges and Universities

•  Field trips to college campuses

•  College students to talk to students about their experience

•  Communicate to students about WHY they are in school

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Confidence

Helping Elementary Students Build Confidence

•  Emphasize a growth mindset – Carol Dweck    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTXrV0_3UjY

•  Help students to understand that success has more to do with behaviors they can control (work ethic, perseverance) than factors they cannot control (innate ability).

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Connectedness Connecting with Elementary Students

•  Tell stories: Share appropriately about yourself and your own experiences

•  How was it that you became a teacher? What obstacles did you overcome?

•  Be genuine

•  Communicate high expectations

•  Comfort vs. Discipline

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Stress

Helping Elementary Students Cope with Stress

•  Take time to give students an opportunity to talk about what stresses them out – either in discussions or writing about it.

•  Role play scenarios that show stressful situations. Talk about them as a group and have the students make recommendations.

•  Talk about healthy and unhealthy ways of coping with stress and the consequences of each.

•  Use resources in the school to help address issues that may arise that are too serious to handle in this setting

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Health and Well-Being

Helping Elementary Students Achieve a Balanced Sense of Health and Well-Being

•  Help students to understand the link between their physical state and their ability to engage meaningfully in school

•  How much am I sleeping?

•  What am I eating?

•  What are things I can do to improve my physical state?

•  Keeping logs of sleep, food, water consumption, steps, exercise, TV, gaming, etc… can help with discussion and analysis of places where we can change our lives which will result in improved outcomes.

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Motivation

Helping Elementary Students Build Intrinsic Motivation

•  Intrinsic motivation can increase as strength in other areas of resiliency increases

•  Help students to understand their own motivation

•  What kinds of things are they motivated to do? Why?

•  How can they create conditions to help them stay motivated during more difficult/unappealing tasks?

•  Focus on the end

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ScholarCentric Offerings

For Elementary Students

•  Resiliency Assessment & Data Consultation

For Middle/High School Students

•  Resiliency Assessment & Data Consultation

•  Success Highways Resiliency Curriculum

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ScholarCentric Professional Development

For Elementary, Middle and High Schools

•  Data Consultations – for school leadership

•  Classrooms that Build Resiliency – for all staff

•  Success Highways Implementation Training – for middle/high school teachers who will implement Success Highways curriculum

•  Parent Workshops; Building resiliency at home

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Questions & Answers

Melissa Schlinger Vice President, Educational Partnerships ScholarCentric 312-282-8667 m.schlinger@scholarcentric.com

For More Information:

www.scholarcentric.com | 800-995-8779

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