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West Virginia School Counseling Protocol
Early Warning Indicator & Interventions
6th – 8th Grade
School Counselor Performance Standard: Standard 2: The professional
school counselor facilitates delivery of the WV Comprehensive
Developmental School Counseling Program for all students.
Function: Function 2E: Responsive Services
Indicator (s): Indicator 2E1: The professional school counselor maintains
a structured process for early identification of at-risk behaviors and
student referrals. Indicator 2E2: The professional school counselor
collaborates with others to provide access to early and ongoing
interventions for at-risk students.
GOAL: Counselor will assist the school leadership team in using research based
indicators (attendance, behavior and course failures) to identify students at-risk of
dropping out of school and facilitate early intervention and support services for
those students.
Rationale:
There are effective, research-based steps school systems can readily take to identify likely high
school dropouts. The first step toward an effective dropout prevention strategy involves tracking
and analyzing basic data on which students are showing early warning signs of dropping out. Most
future dropouts may be identified as early as sixth grade. One key study indicated that more than
half of sixth graders with the following three criteria eventually left school: attend school less than
80 percent of the time; receive a low final grade from their teachers in behavior; and fail either
math or English (Balfanz & Herzog, 2005). Eighth-graders who miss five weeks of school or fail
math or English have at least a 75 percent chance of dropping out of high school. (Neild & Balfanz,
2006). Retention in middle grades, and even elementary school, is associated with dropout. For
example, one study on dropout determined that 64 percent of students who had repeated a grade
in elementary school and 63 percent of those who had been held back in middle school left school
without a diploma (Alexander et. al., 1997). Research has shown that students with prior behavior
problems are most likely to fail during transition years and eventually drop out. There appears to
Developed by: Barbara Ashcraft, West Virginia Department of Education
Shelly DeBerry, West Virginia Department of Education
West Virginia School Counseling Protocol
be a window of opportunity in reaching middle-grades students who show signs of poor behavior
but who are not yet failing academic subjects. By the time future dropouts get to high school, poor
behavior and course failure tend to converge among many students who eventually leave school
(Herzog and Balfanz, 2005). Most future dropouts can also be identified in the first year of high
school when a sense of urgency around reaching out and supporting these students is critical
before they disappear from school. These key indicators can assist decision makers in targeting
dropout prevention resources to the students most at risk of imminently leaving school.
Activity Description: The school counselor in collaboration with the school
leadership team identifies students at-risk of dropping out of school and develops
targeted and/or intensive interventions and supports for those students that include
but are not limited to: small group counseling, tutoring services, mentors,
individualized education plans, individual counseling, behavior contracts,
parent/guardian contact and education, and progress monitoring.
Materials:
Counselor Resource #1 Form to Identity At-Risk Students
Student Assistance Team Referral Form
Individual Student Plan
Daily Progress Reports
Counselor Resource #2 NHSC Excel Spreadsheet Tool to Identify Students At-Risk
Counselor Resource #3 NHSC Tool 2.v Technical Manual
Counselor Resource #4 Early Warning System Implementation Guide
Counselor Resource #5 Sample Behavior Contracts
Counselor Resource #6 Counseling permission forms
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Procedures:
1.) School counselor collaborates with the school leadership team to establish a data system (
Counselor Resource #2, #3 & #4) that tracks individual student attendance, grades, promotion
status, and behavior marks/referrals indicators in order to identify students at risk of
potentially dropping out of school using these indicators:
a) attendance below 90%
Developed by: Barbara Ashcraft, West Virginia Department of Education
Shelly DeBerry, West Virginia Department of Education
West Virginia School Counseling Protocol
b)
c)
d)
e)
1 or more suspensions
failing English
failing Math
retained a grade
2.) School counselor shares the list of identified students with appropriate faculty and
administration.
3.) School counselor distributes attached Counselor Resource #1 Form to Identify At Risk
Students to all teachers to establish a referral process from the teachers.
4.) School counselor may refer students with two or more of the above indicators to the Student
Assistance Team to determine appropriate and necessary interventions. (These interventions may
need to be creative and flexible alternatives).
5.) Appropriate Targeted Interventions may include but are not limited to the following:
a. Flexible scheduling
b. Change of teacher(s)
c. Classroom accommodations – eg. preferential seating, extended time
d. Assign an adult mentor
e. Assign a peer tutor
f. Assign a teacher tutor
g. Assign a community tutor
h. Provide an on-line tutoring program
i. Provide individual or small group supports in test-taking skills, study skills, or targeted
subject areas such as English Language Arts or Math.
j. Create an Individualized Graduation Plan to include career goals and post-secondary
education plans.
k. Credit recovery opportunities before, during and after school that can include on-line
courses.
l. Make referrals to community based organizations for social service needs or more
intensive counseling needs.
m. Assist student in becoming involved in extra-curricular activities at the school.
n.Develop behavior contract and method for regular monitoring of the contract.
6.) School counselor sets up small group counseling for groups of students according to their
Developed by: Barbara Ashcraft, West Virginia Department of Education
Shelly DeBerry, West Virginia Department of Education
West Virginia School Counseling Protocol
indicators. (ie: those with the attendance indicator and put in a small group together etc.) Also,
may set up topic groups such as: anger management, grief, alcohol/drug abuse etc.
See protocol on small group counseling.
7.) School counselor will set up a monitoring system to track and report student progress after
alternatives have been put in place. This includes regular contact with parents and regular
reporting to the Student Assistance Team or the School Leadership Team.
Additional Resources:
IES Practice Guide, What Works Clearinghouse, Dropout Prevention
America’s Promise, Grad Nation Community Guidebook
America’s Promise, Grad Nation Tools
Approaches to Dropout Prevention: Heeding Early Warning Signs With Appropriate
Interventions, National High School Center
Web Links:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/practiceguides/dp_pg_090308.pdf
http://www.americaspromise.org/Our-Work/Dropout-Prevention/Grad-Nation-Guidebook.aspx\
http://www.americaspromise.org
http://wvde.state.wv.us/counselors/documents/NHSC_ApproachestoDropoutPrevention.pdf
References:
Balfanz, R., & Herzog, L. (2005, March). Keeping middle grades students on-track to graduation: Initial
analysis and implications. Presentation at the second Regional Middle Grades Symposium, Philadelphia.
Heppen, Jessica B. and Therriault, Susan Bowles, “Developing Early Warning Systems to Identify Potential
High School Dropouts”, American Institutes for Research®
Neild, R., & Balfanz, R. (2006). An extreme degree of difficulty: The educational demographics of the urban
neighborhood high school. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 11(2), 123–141.
Alexander, K., Entwisle, D., & Kabbani, N. (1999). Grade retention, social promotion, and “third way”
alternatives. Paper presented at the National Invitational Conference for Early Childhood Learning: Programs
for a New Age, Alexandria, Virginia.
Evaluation:
1.) Documentation of identified at risk students
2.) Agendas and Minutes from Student Assistance Team meetings
Developed by: Barbara Ashcraft, West Virginia Department of Education
Shelly DeBerry, West Virginia Department of Education
West Virginia School Counseling Protocol
3.) Individualized graduation plans
Developed by: Barbara Ashcraft, West Virginia Department of Education
Shelly DeBerry, West Virginia Department of Education