Intensive Care Kids

Administrators and counselors had consistently monitored student attendance at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California. Any student whose unexcused absences in a class totaled more than a third of the days in the school year so far was brought into the office and his or her parents notified. Principal Emilio Urioste could easily see on his computer that some of the students with attendance problems also had very low grades and disciplinary infractions. Urioste knew these students needed closer attention and began to refer to them as “intensive care kids.” Urioste felt that in their case a Student Study Team (SST) meeting was not the best initial approach, as these meetings often took a long time to schedule with parents and did not have the most thorough or timely follow-up.

Urioste decided to use technology to monitor the students. Once a student is identified, Urioste brings him or her to his office to explain his concern and the monitoring process that will be used. He explains the process to students using a medical analogy: if he or she went to a doctor and their blood test showed a problem, there would be monitoring and follow-up visits to solve the problem. Urioste continues, “Based on data, we have identified a problem, and all of your teachers and I will be closely monitoring you and having follow-up meetings to help resolve it.” He also calls home with the same message for parents. Then, each week Urioste asks all those students' teachers to fill out a brief feedback form via e-mail with questions about homework, classroom behavior, and attendance. Urioste finds that since e-mail seems to be so easy for teachers, they often write much more in the comments than is required. Urioste shares all that information with parents each week. Then, if they need to have an SST, there is much more information available.

The concerted attention being paid to students and detailed information being communicated to their parents are having a positive effect on student behavior. The specific feedback makes parents much more aware of their child's situation. In turn, teachers and administrators are pleased that they are keeping students from falling through the cracks.

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