Want kids to show up to school? Embed a mentor there
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Stacy Teicher Khadaroo Staff writer
| Providence, R.I.
The stuffy basement cafeteria swirls with middle-schoolers. This is where Justin Roias usually checks in with a sixth-grader he鈥檚 mentoring, but Manny Aponte is nowhere to be found.
Word comes that Manny鈥檚 been spotted in a hallway 鈥� a streak of red and black, flashing by on a skateboard.
Manny鈥檚 skipping lunch, but at least he鈥檚 not skipping school.
That marks major progress for a boy who is trying to break free from the shadows of the day when, as he tells it, out of all the children playing in the yard, 鈥渢hat bullet chose me.鈥� 聽
His attendance could also mean the difference between the road to dropping out and the road to graduation.
Mr. Roias navigated his own challenges growing up, including homelessness and his parents鈥� addictions. For 鈥渕any of us,鈥� he鈥檚 told Manny, education 鈥渋s the only path.鈥� 聽
But that path can seem lonely and overwhelming to a boy like Manny, who had to deal with physical and mental trauma before he was even in second grade.
The arrival of Roias changed that. For Manny, there was suddenly an adult focused intensely on whether he showed up at Gilbert Stuart Middle School in Providence, R.I. 鈥� giving him new incentive to want to answer 鈥渉ere鈥� when his name was called.
鈥淜ids come to school when they know someone cares about them and is going to miss them,鈥� says Hedy N. Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a national campaign by the nonprofit Child and Family Policy Center.
Mentors like Roias tap into a growing body of research about the power of such relationships to give low-income students footholds in an uphill climb through school.
They鈥檙e not the traditional volunteers who take a kid out to chat over lunch or go bowling a couple of times a month. 鈥淪uccess mentors鈥� take the effect that one caring person can have further, offering attention from adults who are connected enough to a school to give real-time feedback.
For many students dealing with adversity, having at least one anchor relationship that connects them to a web of supports is key. If students feel supported by adults in school, it can reduce the likelihood of them dropping out by 25 percent, according to a recent report by America鈥檚 Promise Alliance.
Checking in almost daily 鈥渂uilds a kind of relationship of trust that allows it to be more likely that [the students] will talk about their challenges, and the success mentor can help them gain access to supports,鈥� Ms. Chang says.
When Gilbert Stuart Middle School took a closer look at attendance last winter, it found that 322 students 鈥� about one-third of the school 鈥� were absent more than 10 percent of the time.
Manny was among them.
He and 62 other sixth-graders were paired with mentors, including teachers, staff members, and a cluster of young City Year participants like Roias, who are serving in a branch of Americorps.
The school is a testing ground for a national strategy to reduce chronic absenteeism by connecting more kids to a supportive relationship at school.
Around the country, 6.5 million 鈥� or 13 percent 鈥� of K-12 students missed more than 15 days of school in 2013-14. That鈥檚 the first national snapshot of absenteeism, released as part of the US Education Department鈥檚 Civil Rights Data Collection.
But in a significant number of schools 鈥� often those with concentrations of poverty 鈥� chronic absenteeism rates top 20 percent among elementary students and 50 percent among high-schoolers, says Robert Balfanz, director of Johns Hopkins University鈥檚 Everyone Graduates Center in Baltimore. In Providence, 31.8 percent of middle-schoolers were chronically absent last year, down slightly from 33.4 percent the year before.
Missing 10 percent of school lowers the likelihood of a child learning to read by third grade. For middle-schoolers like Manny, it contributes to children failing classes and being held back. For high-schoolers, chronic absence during even one school year is correlated with at least a fivefold increase in the likelihood of a student dropping out, a Utah study found.
鈥淲e need kids in school every day if we鈥檙e going to close the achievement gaps and opportunity gaps that exist,鈥� says Providence Superintendent Christopher Maher.
To that end, the Education Department has a goal of reaching 1 million students within the next several years. It launched the My Brother鈥檚 Keeper Success Mentors Initiative in January in Providence and nine other cities 鈥� and quickly added 20 more. 聽
The game of tag that changed everything
Most of Manny鈥檚 troubles with school can be traced back to one moment.
He was 6, playing tag outside with his cousins, when he was shot.
He survived the gang rivalry that involved a member of his family, who has since left that life. But Manny was afraid to leave his mother鈥檚 side. A few years later, anxiety attacks led to his repeating fourth grade, twice, he says.
鈥淪ometimes I just think about myself like, I鈥檓 a mess-up ... but I鈥檓 not. I know I鈥檓 not,鈥� he says.
What seemed like minor issues to a teacher could set Manny off, leading to suspensions.
鈥淢anny was the first student who ever threw something at me,鈥� says Jamie Woods, who teaches supplemental math. She noticed that Manny seemed skittish, so she called his mom and found out about what had happened.
Ms. Woods realized her first job was 鈥渢o make him feel safe,鈥� she says.
If he came to class late, she鈥檇 thank him for coming and encourage him to come earlier the next day. If he needed her to explain something again, she didn鈥檛 lose patience. The change in her student was dramatic.
鈥淗e told me, 鈥業 never understood division before. Now that I get it, can I come do some more?鈥� 鈥� Woods says. 鈥淗e asked to be excused from gym to come do math.鈥�
'Real talk'
But when Gilbert Stuart started its mentor program in February, Manny wasn鈥檛 so interested. In fact, he skipped the ice cream social where he was supposed to meet Roias for the first time.
Roias tracked him down 鈥� and eased into a friendship by showing Manny he knew the local slang, could chat about hip hop, and could beat him in basketball.
鈥淗e鈥檚 dealt with a lot of challenges growing up. But I didn鈥檛 learn that till we built a strong relationship,鈥� Roias says.
As a child, Roias says he witnessed his parents abusing drugs, alcohol, and each other. When he was 14, his father went to prison, and he and his mom moved into a homeless shelter. After graduating from high school in Providence, Roias got a bachelor鈥檚 degree in social work from Rhode Island College.
鈥淎 couple weeks ago we had what I call a 鈥榬eal talk鈥� conversation,鈥� Roias says. 鈥淲e talked about life; we talked about his childhood.鈥�
Manny鈥檚 attendance improved dramatically 鈥� not because of the prize incentives students were offered, Roias says, but because 鈥渟omething turned on and he just wanted to be a better student.鈥�
Manny credits Roias for much of the change. 鈥淗e motivates me. He鈥檚 the best person I ever met in the world.... I have no other people like him ... that鈥檚 always on me, pushing me,鈥� he says. 鈥淓ver since I met with Justin the first time, it was a big difference for me. I felt like he cared for me.鈥�
Manny鈥檚 progress hasn鈥檛 been a straight line. After the major turnaround, he was suspended again for skipping class and behaving in ways that teachers deemed disrespectful.
When he came back, Roias tried not to let his frustration show. 鈥淚 said, 鈥業 need that Manny that was here before April vacation.... The physical you is here, but the real Manny is not.鈥� 鈥�
鈥榊ou gotta high-five to get by鈥�
Many school officials simply don鈥檛 realize how often certain kids aren鈥檛 even in the building.
Traditionally, public schools have tracked average daily attendance only for the whole school. 鈥淵ou could have [attendance] in the low 90s ... and still have 20 percent of your kids missing a month or more of school,鈥� says Mr. Balfanz.
Now, at Gilbert Stuart, there鈥檚 little chance of skipping school unnoticed. On this particular morning, there鈥檚 no chance of showing up unnoticed, either.
As clusters of students arrive at their giant 1930s-era building, the stairway is lined with City Year participants. They鈥檙e snapping, clapping, and chanting 鈥� calling out students by name: 鈥淵ou gotta high-five to get by, to get by.鈥�
Some students ham it up, dancing slowly up the stairs to soak in the love before bounding into the building. A toddler in a nearby car stares in wonder.
鈥淭his alone is changing the culture of the school,鈥� says Shannon McLoud, an English teacher and success mentor.
The initial focus on sixth-graders has already been a catalyst for efforts to improve attendance, including incentives such as special field trips for classes with perfect attendance in a given month.
It鈥檚 a starting point for a school that hadn鈥檛 been paying enough attention, says Principal Scott Sutherland, who arrived last fall with experience turning around one of the city鈥檚 troubled high schools. 鈥淲hen you have [more than 300] students excessively absent from school, you really need to dive in deep,鈥� he says.
Some fixes are straightforward: This fall, he鈥檚 reinstating a homeroom system, so one teacher can consistently track who is there.
Another problem was an overreliance on suspensions. He hired a dean to deal with behavioral issues and cut suspensions dramatically.
Sixth-grader Deanna Alvarez had some issues at the start of school last year 鈥� she would get to class late and talk back to teachers. But she might not have gotten much attention if it weren鈥檛 for the attendance analysis, says Ms. McLoud, her mentor.
Deanna rolled her eyes at first, but she became more interested when she realized she could improve her chances of winning a prize by showing up each day to place a ticket in a lottery bag.
Her mother, Jessica Cruz, says at first she didn鈥檛 believe the program was real: 鈥淪he was like, 鈥楳a, I got to get to school on time. I can鈥檛 miss.鈥�... She鈥檚 the first one in the house up in the morning.鈥�
Then Deanna came home with proof: 鈥淏eats by Dr. Dre鈥� headphones.
It wasn鈥檛 just the prizes. Ms. Cruz rattles off the ways Deanna describes McLoud: 鈥淪he鈥檚 not rude, she鈥檚 nice, she鈥檚 mellow, she doesn鈥檛 yell, she鈥檚 respectful, she understands.鈥�
Deanna adds, 鈥淚f she sees me in the hallways, she鈥檒l be like, 鈥楧eanna, get to class now,鈥� and she鈥檒l start counting from five, and I鈥檒l start walking.鈥�
鈥淪he smiles more in the hallway,鈥� says McLoud. 鈥淚鈥檝e always known she was a smart girl.... There鈥檚 no doubt this kid is going to rock it in high school and get some scholarships and go on to college.鈥�
When a student doesn鈥檛 check in, the mentor calls home. Maybe she missed her ride to school and is afraid to walk. Maybe he鈥檚 home taking care of a sick sibling because his mom can鈥檛 miss work. Each mentor keeps a log and shares any concerns with a school attendance team. An 鈥淴鈥� in one binder marks an absence with a note: 鈥淕randma died,鈥� accompanied by a sad face.
More complicated problems are referred to a social worker or other supports.
Dan Harris, an eighth-grade science teacher, has been mentoring three students. Two improved their attendance quickly. The third has been more of a challenge, because of stress at home, Mr. Harris says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to overcome a home situation like that, but 鈥� it very well could have gotten worse if there wasn鈥檛 someone from the school communicating with his mom very frequently.鈥�
By June, the number of Gilbert Stuart sixth-graders who were chronically absent had been cut in half.
A bar chart representing one student shows 26 pink lines for absences before the kickoff of the mentor program in February. In the three months that followed, the same student missed only four days.
This year, school officials are starting mentoring at the beginning of the school year and bringing in seventh- and eighth-graders.
Manny will face a different arrangement. Roias will have finished his two years as a City Year participant, so he will no longer be at Gilbert Stuart. But he plans to stay in contact with Manny. 鈥淢anny鈥檚 my small win,鈥� he says.
鈥淭eachers say this all the time.... 鈥榊ou need to do good in school,鈥� 鈥� Roias tells him. 鈥淏ut when I鈥檓 saying this, don鈥檛 think of me as a teacher.... I鈥檓 telling you straight up, you have to do good in school.鈥�
Manny鈥檚 reply is instant: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the only option.鈥�
