Success Program Models

Choosing A Good Road Intervention Models

How can Choosing a Good Road be used to improve student retention, persistence, graduation and learning outcomes?

The textbook can be used in numerous student success models, whether taught in a life skills course, embedded in a single course from a core discipline like English or mathematics, or infused more broadly across the school curriculum. These models include:

Stand-Alone Success Classes

The textbook can be used in a life skills, student success, learning skills, health, leadership or other human effectiveness class as a primary textbook, with additional skills introduced as required from other sources. The textbook is designed to provide students a full range of learner effectiveness skills.

Orientation/Bridge Programs & Workshops

The textbook provides 9 learning segments that can also be introduced in stages to students. These learning opportunities can occur during summer introductory bridge or remedial programs that precede the start of the school year, in an intensive first week orientation process, during a school intercession, or through a series of workshops that take place across the school semester or year.

Linked Courses and Learning Communities

The textbook can also be used in conjunction with two or three linked courses, or across all courses for students assigned to learning community or cohort programs. Educators teaching in these learning communities can coordinate which skills will be addressed in each class, and plan strategies to reinforce all the skills across the entire learning community. Learning community themes such as leadership or career success can be used to guide and focus the course content, and both content and strategies can be aligned with content from the linked courses.

Success-Infused Single Discipline Success Course

The textbook can be used with students in a specific, single discipline, such as English, mathematics or history. The learning skills can be narrowly applied to application in the embedded or infused course. Assignments can be developed to solidify understanding of the inter-relationship of concepts from both the success content and the traditional discipline content. The acquisition of the learning skills will improve the learning outcomes of the single discipline course.

Success-Infused Multiple Discipline Courses

The textbook can also be embedded across multiple discipline courses, with each area sharing responsibility for introducing specific chapters or skills, and all areas planning methods to reinforce these strategies and provide opportunities for students to practice the application of the strategies. This approach requires less assignment planning by individual educators as the success content is distributed across the various disciplines. It also communicates to students the expectation that learner success is intended to be applied across the entire curriculum.

Success Across the Curriculum Programs

The textbook content can also be infused across all school courses, programs and student services, with every area sharing responsibility for introducing specific chapters or skills. Students learn about success strategies in their core content classes, and through electives, athletic programs, the guidance office, student organizations, etc. Such an approach can be transformational for a school campus, consistently sending students (and educators) the message that success skills are required across every area of life to reach one's goals. This approach requires cooperation, teamwork, increased leadership and institutional planning across the campus, and encourages critical dialogue about student success methods.

Optional or Mandatory Before or After School Programs

A success course can be optional, or required of particular student cohorts: student leaders, low-academic performers, first year students, at-risk student populations, etc. Such courses can be independent or immersed in broader support programs, and can take place before the start of the school day, at the end of the school day, or during an elective period.

Off-Campus Programs

Many high schools offer students an off-campus or alternative learning experience, such as e-campuses, off-campus learning sites, and middle college programs. A success course for high school students can be included with the traditional range of core high school classes that are offered on these campuses.

Distance Education Success Program Delivery

Schools face major challenges in adding additional requirements to the impacted school day. Most schools have limited classroom space, and limited teacher and counselor staffing resources. Student success programs can respond to these challenges by delivering success content through a variety of distance learning modalities:

Hybrid Models

The textbook content can be offered in a distributed model that is a hybrid of face-to-face and online learning environments. Experiential activities can be offered to students in the face-to-face classroom, while the online component offers assignments, discussion forums and additional interactive activities.

Online Classes

The life skills course can be offered exclusively through an online environment. All weekly assignments, activities, forums, and testing take place through the school's selected course management system, and the teacher interfaces with students solely through the online format. Additional links, such as paired and group activities (problem-based learning assignments focused on learning skills), ready for college/career activities, and leadership or service projects offer a rich effectiveness skills learning environment.

E-Reader

The textbook will be available soon through an e-reader format, and can be downloaded by students for use on a desktop, laptop, Kindle and other e-book formats. The e-book offers a less expensive, technology-learner-friendly alternative to the traditional print textbook.

E-Courses

E-courses can be developed that are tailored to the unique needs of your student body and educators. These can be moderated by teachers, or assigned as an independent (optional or required) learning model that students complete outside of the school day. The model can include self-paced or scheduled assignments. The e-course offers an highly interactive and engaging forum through which students learn effectiveness skills to apply in their daily lives and can include chapter assessments that provide checkpoints to ascertain the students' level of understanding and application of each success topic.

Your School's Innovative Model

Every school has unique student, educator and community needs. Learner effectiveness skills can be introduced to students in countless ways that are optional or mandatory for targeted segments of learners. Your unique model can include e-courses and other learning components that are customized to the school's student population, district requirements, state learning standards and mandates and desired effectiveness benchmarks.

If you'd like support in developing methods to introduce these skills to your students (and educators), please let me know and I'd be glad to share both research and success program development strategies. Please e-mail success@agoodroad.com.

© 2011-2016 Jonathan Brennan. All Rights Reserved.