Facilitating Resilience in the Face of
Poverty and Hardship: Program
Components Having a Positive Impact on
Academic Success
Michele Einspar, Ed.D.
meinspar@mac.com
Learning Outcomes
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Risk Factors associated with homelessness
How protective mechanisms ameliorate effects
Program components associated with academic success
Resilience components help students to be successful
How parent education helps children have success in school
Introductions
• Districts
• School Sites
• Community Organizations
Risk Factors-What we Know…
• Turn to your partner and talk about some of the risk factors
you know that are associated with homelessness
• Risk Factors:
• Transportation, dropping out, admin. Igorance, intolerance,
fees, school system, nutrition services, credits, no parent
participation, drugs, food, mental health issues, feelings of
safety at home school, deportation, immigration policies,
school supplies, substance abuse, violence, DV
• The term “at-risk”- focusing on potential for failure- a deficit
model.
Risk Factors
Biological
Environmental Cumulative
Perinatal stress
Gender
Ethnicity
Mental health issues
Physical health issues
Domestic violence
Family instability
Drug abuse
Mental health issues
with primary caregiver
Negative school
environment
High Mobility
A combination of
biological and/or
Environmental risk
factors that perpetuate
more risk factors
A Vicious Cycle: The Function of Risk Factors
What is Resilience?
• A student who is resilient is one who, despite adversities and
stress in life, manages to experience success in school and in
life
• Process of positive adaptation despite being confronted with
adversity
• Dynamic protective mechanisms that can facilitate success
• Developed through interaction of the environment, factors
and processes
• Process leads to the positive adaptation of exposure to risks,
such as homelessness
(Bernard, 1998; Brown, Caston, Bernard, 2001; Doll & Lyon, 1998; Henderson & Milstein, 2003; Luthar,
Cicchetti & Becker, 2000; Masten & Coatsworth, 1998; McMillan & Reed, 1993; McMillan & Reed, 1994;
Morrison, Brown, D‟Incau, O‟Farrell & Furlong, 2006; Pianta & Walsh, 1998; Wang, Haertel & Walberg,
1996; Wang, Haertal & Walberg, 1998).
Protective Mechanisms
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Lower impact of risk
Maintain a high self-esteem
Create opportunities for success
Eliminate potential negative effects of risk factors
Critical during times of transition
Can direct students onto a positive pathway
Child may be exposed to risk, but armed with protective
mechanisms and positively adapts.
(Doll & Lyon, 1998; Masten, et al., 1990; Pianta & Walsh, 1998; Rutter, 1987).
Image retrieved from:
http://www.tularehhsa.org/tasks/sites/default/assets/Image/PublicHealth/Primary_Care_Services/Clinics/immunization.gif
Protective Cycle
Program Components that
Facilitate Success
• Take a moment and jot down some components in your
program that you know have been successful with your
McKinney-Vento Children
• Program Components
• Tutoring, after school porgrams, class fees, partnerships without
side entitites, collaboration, proactive measure- school of originwith registrars- annual training and comunication, program for
unaccompanied youth- provide a place to talk ask questions and
get linked to resources, life skills for students, consistent place to
be, social work support services for students- ind/group
counseling, work closely with parents, utlize community
resources, family resource center where families can take
showers, access internet, clothing food bank, homeless connect
fair- haricuts, job aps, birth certificate, ameri corp ncccresidential prorgram ged prep help with housing
Program Components that
facilitate success
• Forming Meaningful Relationships
• Counselors, teachers, peers
• Creating a caring environment
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Providing basic needs
Providing transportation
Expedient enrollment
Equal access
• Creating a sense of belonging
• Policies facilitate increased access to school and students/families feeling
more welcome in school
• Creating community involvement in schools
• Collaboration with agencies
• Developing positive family relationships
• Parent involvement
• Identifying families and educating families about student rights and needs
• Providing information and referrals to resources in the community
Meaningful Relationships
Image downloaded from: http://www.tcnj.edu/~hofmann/goals.jpg
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No conditions
Positive
High expectations for success and academic achievement
Counseling focused on social emotional support helps to
establish meaningful relationships
• Social workers focused on fostering strengths and adaptive
skills
• May lead to increased self-efficacy
Bernard, 1998; Brown, et al., 2001;DeCivita, 2006; Henderson & Milstein, 2003; Jozefowicz-Simbeni & Israel,
2006; Masten & Coatsworth, 1998; McMillan & Reed, 1993; McMillan & Reed, 1994; Morrison, et al., 2006;
Wang, et al., 1996; Wang, et al., 1998
Program Implications
Image downloaded from: http://www.tcnj.edu/~hofmann/goals.jpg
• Strategies
• Forming new student support groups
• Take one on one time to meet and encourage students and
welcome them to the school
• Mentoring focused on helping students solve problems
• Components
• Give choices
• Construct opportunities to succeed
• Foster responsibility for self and others
Program component ideas focused on
meaningful relationships
• Model out of mn. Check and
Connect- dev. mini
relationships of trust- checking
grades, attendance, discipline
• Career center- connect with
students- for extra curricular
actitivty, start with the
principals- PD up the principals
• Strategies
• Forming new student support
groups
• Take one on one time to meet
and encourage students and
welcome them to the school
• Mentoring focused on helping
students solve problems
• Components
• Give choices
• Construct opportunities to
succeed
• Foster responsibility for self
and others
A Caring Environment
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Buddy Programs
Providing a place to do homework
Increase access and awareness to resources in the community
Providing school supplies
Sensitive to student needs (understanding the negative
connection with term homeless)
Program Component Ideas for Creating Caring
Environments
• Cinderella’s closet for prom
• Food pantry at school- each
family gets to take home food
every week- delivered to site
• Partnering with local food
bank
• Take photos of kids- staff
activity- every staff adopts a
student- data driven
• Poverty simulations
• Ruby Payne -PD
• Poverty simulation
• Buddy Programs
• Providing a place to do
homework
• Increase access and awareness
to resources in the community
• Providing school supplies
• Sensitive to student needs
(understanding the negative
connection with term
homeless)
A Sense of Belonging
• Positive school climate- encourages one to one connections
with students, teachers and administration
• Peer programs designed to help students feel like they are a part
of the school.
• Teacher training
• Policy
• Affidavits to facilitate prompt school enrollment, support for
transportation, dispute resolution process
• Providing shelters with school items (school spirit t-shirts,
prom dress, memory books, graduation invitations) and school
communication
• Welcome the parents
• Resource center for parents
Program Ideas for Creating a Sense
of Belonging
• Holiday helpers- parents
volunteer and get gift cards to
shop for kids- parents feel
involved and kids feel
connected to school and
parents mentor families going
through other situations,
• Positive school climateencourages one to one
connections with students,
teachers and administration
• Peer programs designed to help
students feel like they are a part of
the school.
• Teacher training
• Policy
• Affidavits to facilitate prompt
school enrollment, support for
transportation, dispute resolution
process
• Providing shelters with school
items (school spirit t-shirts, prom
dress, memory books, graduation
invitations) and school
communication
• Welcome the parents
• Resource center for parents
Community Involvement
• Coordinated school-linked services
• Shared decision making
• Collaboration to provide integrated services geared towards
facilitating academic success: housing, health, mental health
Program Ideas for Community
Involvement
• After school programs service
learning partnerships with
community and colleges
• After school tutoring at churches.
School buses will transport to site.
• Partnerships with local thrfit
stores, backpacks,
• Costco will often donate
backpacks and fill backpacksfind
out giving cycle
• Walmart- donation drive• Collaboration with staff to provide
for extracurriculuar activities
• Social networking with churches,
rotary- facebook page where
teachers can share needs ,
• Swift resource.com
• Coordinated school-linked
services
• Shared decision making
• Collaboration to provide
integrated services geared
towards facilitating academic
success: housing, health,
mental health
Developing Positive Family
Relationships
• Programs that promote self-efficacy and student success
• Resources that improve parent-child relationships: how to talk
with kids about school, budgeting, nutrition, discipline strategies,
finding resources within school and community that help with
school.
• Family resource centers where parents feel connected to their
school
• Connect parents to the teacher
• Parent conference to celebrate success and increase awareness
about resources in the community
• Knowing the parents’ native language
• Focus on family strengths
Three Steps to Success
• Get Ready!
• What students need to be
ready for school
• Get Set!
• How to talk with your child
about school
• How to set goals with your
child
• Keep on Going!
• How to Reflect and Improve
Goals
• Good Study Habits
Program Ideas for Positive Family
Involvement
• Parenting with love and logic
• Parent advocates about rights
under IDEA,
• Split conference times,
• Multi cultural piece and
demongraphics culture of
different families,
• Provide food at events
Program Implications
• Principal’s role in the school
• Program duration and depth
• Meaningful relationships
• Focus on advocacy
• Positive Family Programs
• Enrichment and Strengths
• Growth mindset
Web of Protection
Questions to Consider
• Take parent teacher
conferences to the commnity
• How can you involve principals
in your district?
• How can you improve the
depth of your program?
• How can you direct your
program to focus on
strengths?
Resilience education is the key to
ending the cycle of homelessness