Chronic absenteeism, referring to a student who is missing more than 10% of the school year, is of rising concern for schools and districts nationwide. Rates have doubled since the pandemic; from pre-pandemic levels of 13% to 26% for the 2022-23 school year. When students aren’t in school, they can’t [...]
Back to school. Those three words are exciting for many students. But for other students, those words bring up feelings of discomfort and anxiety. You may remember what it was like a few days before the new school year started. New supplies of book bags, pens, pencils, and paper. [...]
Most schools have a process or structure to evaluate, address, and monitor the needs of students. Sometimes, these processes are referred to as RTI (Response to Intervention). Other times, you may hear the term MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support). While these two approaches are similar, distinct differences set these [...]
There are often times in school schedules when there is a planned period of non-academic studies. For example, middle schools and high schools sometimes allow students to have an activity, advisory, flex, or study period. However, there may be questions about how to use this time productively, while giving [...]
“An intervention period? There’s no time for that.” “Flexible time in our bell schedule sounds great…but I don’t know where to start.” There’s no denying it: school schedules are busy. Between classes, passing periods, lunches, activities, pep rallies, and drills…every minute at school is precious. Given this, administrators, teachers, [...]
WIN (What I Need) time is an effective tool for middle and high schools. But what is it, why does it matter, and how can WIN work in block schedules? Let's dig in, and talk a little bit first about block scheduling. Decades ago, before the internet and smartphones, [...]
Schools have started adding intervention programs, during the school day, to address social and academic needs. Are these interventions beneficial to students? What is the best way to install these interventions? School interventions take on many forms. They can be behavioral, social/emotional, and academic. The benefits of these programs [...]
Many educators have grown accustomed to a traditional period schedule for middle school. However, there are several different types of schedules that schools currently use. The schedule your middle school uses may be slightly or even starkly different from the schedule of a nearby district, or perhaps even [...]
Not a new concept, schools have had interventions in place over the years to support their students. However, not all attempts at interventions have resulted in success. While some schools do not have the means to change or update their intervention methods, many interventions of the past offered no [...]
Why Consider FLEX Time in Middle School? Students entering the new and uncharted territory of Middle School are often faced with challenges daily. Offering students FLEX time at the middle school level provides them with designated tutorials and classes where they are provided with the extra support, intervention, [...]