In the fall semester, SeaCoast High School implemented a new social service program called advisor/advisee. The purpose is to assist students to "make a connection" with a faculty member who acts as their academic guidance counselor. The goal of the
program is to try to catch students who are "falling through the cracks", having teachers tune in to the numbers the students are currently generating to identify academic or attendance issues that could impact grades and school performance. This time is also
used to address topics pertinent to school or society, issues that students, especially high school graduates, should be aware of, in categories like career and citizenship and covering topics like freedom of speech and how to read a paycheck stub, etc.
The program is implemented at SeaCoast via a weekly meeting--one class period per week is dedicated to the Advisor program, usually 3rd period either on a Tuesday or a Thursday. An additional one class period per week is devoted to Advisor "prep" during teacher common plan on Wednesday morning. During this time, teachers, broken up into teams, devise lessons that all teachers present during advisor period.
Some of the advantages of the advisor program are the structured time built into the schedule to keep a close tally of current grades and achievements with individual students, and ,thorough one-to-one interaction, the opportunity to monitor weekly goals.
While the program seems to present a win/win situation, there are some disadvantages.
During the year, in four terms and two semesters, 40 class hours are devoted to advisor issues which is time not spent "on task. " For classes already time strapped like Chemistry, or Biology, any minute not on content could have a serious impact on content
comprehension and retention.
Another disadvantage to the program is topical immediacy. Since content is developed and delivered "en mass" it may be more pertinent to one advisory group than another, for example, seniors vs 9 prep students.
Because of these reasons, the advisor sessions that I have held with my advisor group have been less than successful. The students in my advisor group are mostly seniors and have not embraced the idea of close one-on-one interaction with the purpose
of improving their scholastic achievement. Because they are older, most feel they are "almost out" of school and have no need for advisement. Others feel they "already know" any vocational or careerbuilding information being presented.
To improve this situation, I have implemented the following changes:
Use a more structured approach. Advisor period used to involve sitting around a small desk. Now it's a more formal educational experience with a do now, content presentation and review at the end of the period.
Assign a deliverable. Advisor period was primarily a discussion. Now, there is an assignment which needs to be passed in at the
end of class.
Assign a grade. Advisor period was pass/fail. While it still is, I assign a grade for each class period including attendance and
participation.
Since implementing these changes, advisor period seems to be working better. Students are more engaged and involved in the content matter, completing assignments and answering questions when asked.
