Advisement and High Schools
That Work:
Designing a Quality System That
Involves Students, Teachers, and
PARENTS
Is Each Student Known Well?
“Anonymity is the curse of good teaching and
inevitably leads to corner-cutting. If no one
knows the students in a high school, it is
easy for them to drift through.”
-Ted Sizer
The Students Are Watching: Schools and The
Moral Contract
1999 Beacon Press
Where are You When the Sun
Comes Up !
 When
the sun comes up, the gazelle must
run faster than the lion or it will be killed.
 The lion must run faster than the slowest
gazelle or it will starve to death.
 It doesn’t matter if you’re a gazelle or a
lion: when the sun comes up - you’d better
be running !
IF YOU ALWAYS DO WHAT
YOU’VE ALWAYS DONE
YOU’LL ALWAYS
GET WHAT
YOU’VE ALWAYS
GOTTEN.
 RESOLVE TODAY
TO DO
SOMETHING,
ANYTHING,
DIFFERENT !!

Presentation Outline
Determining the
purpose of your
program
 Avoiding pitfalls and
snipers
 Preparing an
advisement “lesson”
 Using advisement to
engage parents/raise
achievement

HSTW Key Practice
 Guidance:
Involve students and their
parents in a guidance and advisement
system that develops positive relationships
and ensures completion of an accelerated
program of study with an academic or
career/technical concentration.
Why Advisement??
 What
do you want to accomplish for your
students through advisement?
 Think-Write-Pair-Share
 Numbered Heads
 Brainstorm Lists
 Ranking Items
BREAK
The “Key” To A Successful
Advisement Program

Teachers and other professional educators
who will serve as advisors for high school
students must be WILLING to expand
their roles .
Can You Spot the Snipers?
Activity
With a same school partner, work to identify
the staff members who may openly (or
behind the scenes) work to sabotage the
program.
How do you anticipate the resistance and keep
it from frustrating your efforts?
Major Components
 Selection
of faculty members
 Grouping of students
 Training of Advisors
 Allocating time for Advisement
 Relevant and quality services
 Duration of Advisor-Advisee relationship
 Evaluation of program effectiveness
Selection of Faculty Advisors
Will all professional
staff members serve as
advisors ?
 Will students be
assigned randomly ?
 How many advisors
should be allocated for
each group ?

Grouping of Advisees
 Determine
the number per group
 Assign students by grade (or year of HS
entry)
 Mainstream special needs students
 To alphabetize or not - another issue
 Balance by sex and race
 Determine if any “special “ groupings are
needed or desired
Group Your Own Students
 Discuss
how you
might group
students in light of
the purpose(s) you
have determined for
your own school’s
Advisement
Program.
Lunch
Advisor Training
General knowledge of
curriculum , diploma
programs, career
programs
 Career development
activities
 RTI procedures
 Conferencing skills

Allocation of Time
Regular weekly or
daily meeting times
 Combine with
homeroom concept
 Use “Activity
Schedule”
 Allow for extra time
as needs arise

Services To Provide
 Academic
assistance and monitoring - link
to RTI referral or guidance referral
 Delivery system for career guidance
activities - via Discover, Work Keys, or
other career guidance programs
 Information source for special programs
(internships, apprenticeships, summer
study, HOPE Scholarship, etc.)
 Yearly Parent-Student-Advisor conference
Developing An Advisement
“Scope and Sequence”
Select a single grade
or other grouping
configuration and
provide a series of
8 general topics to
become “Lessons”.
Then, create a single
“Lesson” outline.
BREAK
Duration of the Advisor/Advisee
Relationship
Students are assigned
to an advisor upon
enrolling. They retain
that same advisor until
they leave the school .
 Returning students are
reunited w/advisor.
 5th year students keep
same advisor.

Program Evaluation
Use formal written
questionnaires for
parents, students,
teachers - consider
random sampling
 Use anecdotal data
whenever available
 Watch for problems as
they arise

Features of Freedom High’s
Teacher Advisement System
Students assigned
based on year of 9th
grade entry
 Twice monthly
meeting time of 40
minutes minimum
 Meet EVERY day
after 2nd block – vocab
study and DOL

Vehicle for all
“homeroom” type
activities
 Career guidance
activities build from
year to year
 ALL FHS parents
conference each year

Planning Your School’s
Advisement Program
 How
ready are your faculty members to
expand their roles? What can be done to
help establish readiness?
 Who will be your advisors? Will you
involve all certificated staff?
 How will students be grouped? How many
per advisor?
 What training will your advisors need ?
Planning Your Program
 Who
will provide training for advisors?
What functions should your advisors focus
on initially? (Hint - Start with a manageable
load so everyone can experience success
and satisfaction early on.)
 The conference is a MAJOR commitment
for teachers to make. How can you “sell”
this idea?
Planning Your Program
 When
will advisors meet with their
students? How often? Is your schedule
flexible enough to allow extra time when
needs arise?
 How will you handle “homeroom” types of
activities that require students to be grouped
by grade level.
 How long will advisors keep their students?
Benefits of Involving Parents
 Break
down feelings of isolation - create
enduring relationships over time
 Focus on the future instead of the past
 More help in dealing w/the “poor effort”
student (support, cajole, harass,)
 More students taking the hardest classes
 Fewer students “bailing out” of their
courses in the Fall
 No information “slipping thru the cracks”
Ways That A Teacher-Adviser
Program Can Boost Achievement



Personalize the HS – Kids
don’t care how much you
know until they know how
much you care!
Support System for
students when
performance drops
Parents have 1 staff
member they know and
trust



Connect HS Program to
career goals-counselors
can’t do it by themselves
Team up w/parent to push
students into most
challenging classes
Inform students and
parents about special
programs and options
Use The Registration Process
 Students
are advised of proper courses to
take by teachers and their advisors
 Parents are required to meet face-to-face
with advisors to approve selections
 Additional information is shared as it relates
to course selections (use a checklist)
 Establish a 2-3 week time frame for
completion of conferences
Registration Process (continued)
 Once
time frame is up, input approved
requests into computer
 Print verifications for these students
 Input remaining requests (but no
verifications printed for these)
 Distribute verifications in advisement to
trouble shoot any errors
The Bottom Line

When students don’t
receive verifications,
advisors tell them they
are not registered and
won’t be until their
parents come in for the
conference. Their lack
of a verification is
“proof” that we mean
BUSINESS!
Follow Up
 As
remaining parents come in, verifications
are printed individually
 Advisors make one last “push” for last
holdout parents during postplanning
 The list of “non-conferencers” is forwarded
to administration
 Students on the list have their schedules
pulled
The Next Step
Advisors try again in
preplanning
 No conference - no
schedule. When
students show up, they
are not allowed to
attend class until
parents come in and
meet w/administration

Light Another Candle
A few years ago, at the Seattle Special Olympics, 9
contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled
at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they
all started out, not exactly in a dash, but each with a relish
to run the race to the finish and win.
All, that is, except one little boy who stumbled on the
asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry.
The other 8 heard the boy cry.
They slowed down and looked back. Then they all turned
around and went back…….every one of them.
One girl with Down’s Syndrome bent down and kissed
him and said, “This will make it better.”
Then all 9 linked arms and walked together to the finish
line. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went
on for several minutes. People who were there are still
telling that story.
WHY?
What Matters Most
Because deep down we know that what matters most in
this life is more than winning for ourselves
What matters most in this life is helping others win, even if
it means slowing down and changing our course.
If you pass this on, we may be able to change our hearts as
well as someone else’s ………..
A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.
For More Information:
Dr. Ken Prichard, Principal
Freedom High School
511 Independence Blvd.
Morganton, NC 28655
(828) 433-1310