Enhancing School Improvement:
Addressing Barriers to Learning
and Reducing the Achievement Gap
>Why is a System of Learning Supports Imperative
for School Improvement?
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The Imperative
Lenses for Viewing School Improvement Efforts
What Are Schools and Communities Currently Doing?
Four Fundamental and Interrelated Concerns in
Developing a System of Learning Supports
>What is a System of Learning Supports?
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a policy perspective
an intervention perspective
an infrastructure perspective
>What’s Involved in Getting from Here to There?
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enhancing understanding of systemic change
taking action
>Rebuilding with an Emphasis on Intrinsic Motivation
The Center for Mental Health in Schools operates under the auspices of the
School Mental Health Project at UCLA. The Co-directors are Howard Adelman &
Linda Taylor. Support comes in part from the Office of Adolescent Health, Maternal
and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services
Administration (Project #U45 MC 00175), U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
Why is a System of Learning Supports
Imperative for School Improvement?
>Redressing Key Problems Confronting Schools
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High Student Dropout Rates
High Teacher Dropout Rates
Continuing Achievement Gap
So Many Schools Designated as
Low Performing
• High Stakes Testing Taking its Toll
on Students
• Plateau Effect
>Addressing Barriers to Learning & Teaching
We just missed the school bus.
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Don’t worry. I heard
the
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principal say no child
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will be left behind.
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Lenses for Viewing
School Improvement Efforts
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All Students
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Barriers to Learning and
Teaching
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Re-engaging Students in
Classroom Learning
Range of Learners
(categorized in terms of their response to academic instruction)
I = Motivationally ready and able*
II = Not very motivated/
Lacking prerequisite knowledge & skills/
Different learning rates and styles/
Minor vulnerabilities**
III = Avoidant/
Very deficient in current capabilities/
Has a disability
Major health problems
*
**
Few youngsters start out with internal problems that interfere with
learning what schools teach. There can be little doubt that external
factors are primarily responsible for the majority of learning,
behavior, and emotional problems encountered in schools.
All learners have assets/strengths/protective factors that can
contribute to success; all have differences that require some degree of
personalization by instructional systems; any may internalize negative
experiences that interfere with learning at school.
Barriers to Learning & School Improvement Efforts
Range of Learners
(categorized in terms of their
response to academic instruction)
I = Motivationally
ready & able
Not very
motivated/
lacking
prerequisite
II = knowledge
& skills/
different
learning rates
& styles/minor
vulnerabilities
Avoidant/
very deficient
in current
III = capabilities/
has a disability/
major health
problems
No Barriers
Barriers*
to
Learning,
Develop.,
&
Teaching
Instructional
Component
(a) Classroom
Teaching
+
(b) Enrichment
Activity
(Accountability)
Desired
Outcomes
(High
Expectations)
(High Standards)
*Barriers include both external factors
(neighborhood, family, school, peer)
and internal ones (vulnerabilities and
disabilities).
Caution: Don’t misinterpret the term
•
Barriers to Learning
It encompasses much more than a deficit model
of students.
And, it is part of a holistic approach that
emphasizes the importance of
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Protective Buffers
(e.g., strengths, assets, resiliency, accommodations)
and
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Promoting Full Development
Examples of Risk-Producing Conditions that Can be Barriers to Development and Learning
E n v i r o n m e n t a l
C o n d i t i o n s*
Person Factors*
Neighborhood
Family
School and Peers
Individual
>extreme economic deprivation
>community disorganization,
including high levels of
mobility
>violence, drugs, etc.
>minority and/or immigrant
status
>chronic poverty
>conflict/disruptions/violence
>substance abuse
>models problem behavior
>abusive caretaking
>inadequate provision for
quality child care
>poor quality school
>negative encounters with
teachers
>negative encounters with
peers &/or inappropriate
peer models
>medical problems
>low birth weight/
neurodevelopmental delay
>psychophysiological
problems
>difficult temperament &
adjustment problems
>inadequate nutrition
Examples of Protective Buffers
Conditions that prevent or counter risk producing conditions – strengths, assets,
corrective interventions, coping mechanisms, special assistance and accommodations
E n v i r o n m e n t a l
C o n d i t i o n s*
Person Factors*
Neighborhood
Family
School and Peers
Individual
>strong economic conditions/
emerging economic
opportunities
>safe and stable communities
>available & accessible services
>strong bond with positive
other(s)
>appropriate expectations and
standards
>opportunities to successfully
participate, contribute, and be
recognized
>adequate financial resources
>nurturing supportive family
members who are positive
models
>safe and stable (organized
and predictable) home
environment
>family literacy
>provision of high quality
child care
>secure attachments – early
and ongoing
>success at school
>safe, caring, supportive,
and healthy school
environment
>positive relationships with
one or more teachers
>positive relationships with
peers and appropriate peer
models
>strong bond with positive
other(s)
>higher cognitive
functioning
>psychophysiological
health
>easy temperament,
outgoing personality,
and positive behavior
>strong abilities for
involvement and
problem solving
>sense of purpose
and future
>gender (girls less apt to
develop certain problems)
Examples of Conditions for Promoting Full Development
Conditions, over and beyond those that create protective buffers, that enhance
healthy development, well-being, and a value-based life
E n v i r o n m e n t a l
Neighborhood
Family
>nurturing & supportive
conditions
>policy and practice promotes
healthy development & sense
of community
C o n d i t i o n s*
School and Peers
>conditions that foster
positive physical & mental
health among all family
members
>nurturing & supportive
climate school-wide and
in classrooms
>conditions that foster
feelings of competence,
self-determination, and
connectedness
Person Factors*
Individual
>pursues opportunities for
personal development and
empowerment
>intrinsically motivated to
pursue full development,
well-being, and a valuebased life
*A reciprocal determinist view of behavior recognizes the
interplay of environment and person variables.
For more on this and for references to relevant literature, see:
Adelman, H.S., & Taylor, L. (2006). The school leader’s guide to student learning supports:
New directions for addressing barriers to learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Brief Activity
About Barriers to Learning and Teaching
Jot down your thoughts about the following:
What are the key factors that result in students
experiencing learning and related behavior
problems?
(An alternative way to ask this might be: In some communities,
why do so many students have learning, behavior, and
emotional problems?)
How schools are affected by barriers to learning?
What do schools currently do to
(1) address barriers to learning
and teaching and
(2) re-engage students in
classroom instruction?
With all the budget problems,
We have to do everything on a
shoestring.
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Are you saying
you
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still have a
shoestring?
/
What do old ideas look like
Talk about fragmented!!!
Psychological
Testing
Which of these
addresses
barriers to
student
learning?
AfterSchool
Programs
HIV/Aids
Prevention
Clinic
Health
Services
Special
Education
Physical
Education
Violence &
Crime
Prevention
Health
Education
Nutrition
Education
Pupil Services
Juvenile Court
Services
School
School Lunch
Program
Drug
Prevention
CommunityBased
Organizations
Counseling
Drug
Services
Mental
Health
Services
Social
Services
HIV/AIDS
Services
Smoking
Cessation For
Staff
Pregnancy
Prevention
Child
Protective
Services
Codes of
Discipline
Adapted from: Health is Academic: A guide to Coordinated School Health Programs (1998).
Edited by E. Marx & S.F. Wooley with D. Northrop. New York: Teachers College Press.
How is the district/school addressing barriers to learning?
Fragmented policy
Fragmented Practices
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Clearly, current interventions
are not conceptualized within
a comprehensive & cohesive
Framework
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School Improvement
What’s Missing?
Everyone needs to ask:
How does school improvement planning
address barriers to learning?
Instructional
Component
What’s
Missing?
(to directly
facilitate learning)
Management
Component
(for governance
and resource
management)
It’s not really missing --
it’s just marginalized
This is because current school
improvement policy essentially
is based on a two component model
for describing the key functions schools
must pursue each day.
How does current policy, practice, and research address
barriers to development & learning?
A Two Component Model for
Reform and Restructuring
Direct Facilitation
of Learning
(Instructional Component)
Addressing Barriers to Development,
Learning, & Teaching
(not treated as a primary component)*
Governance and Resource Management
(Management Component)
*While not treated as a primary & essential component, every school &
community offers a relatively small amount of school-owned student
"support" services and community-owned resources – some of which are
linked together. Schools, in particular, have been reaching out to community
agencies to add a few more services. All of this remains marginalized &
fragmented.
What’s the
community doing?
AGENCY REFORM
Restructuring and Reforming
Community Health and Human Services
The intent of current agency reform policy –
>end fragmentation
>enhance access to clientele
The focus –
>interagency collaboration
>school-linked services, sometimes
based (co-located) at a school
Problems –
>doesn’t integrate with school’s efforts to
address barriers to learning
>limits the focus to current agency work
As a result, current agency policy produces –
>an additional form of fragmentation
>counterproductive competition
>greater marginalization
It is important to remember that
Community Agency Reform
is not the same thing as
Strengthening Communities
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The major intent of agency reform is to restructure
services to reduce fragmentation.
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The emphasis is mainly on interagency collaboration.
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Schools have been included since they offer better
access to agency clients. Thus, the concept of school
linked services, and the idea of community agencies
co-locating services on a school site.
Because the focus is on services,
little attention is paid to
»
integrating community resources with
existing school programs and services
designed to address barriers to learning;
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strengthening families and neighborhoods
by improving economic status and
enhancing other fundamental supports.
Police
Day care
Center
Banks
Faith-based
Institutions
Higher Education
Institutions
Senior
Citizens
School
Library
Local
Residents
Businesses
Artist &
Cultural
Institutions
Restaurants
Media
Community
Based Orgs.;
Civic Assn.
Health & Social
Serviecs Agencies
Excerpted from: J. Kretzmann & J. McKnight (1993). Building Communities from the
Inside out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets. Chicago:
ACTA Publications.
A Range of Community Resources that Could Be Part of a Collaboration
County Agencies and Bodies
(e.g., Depts. of Health, Mental Health, Children &
Family Services, Public Social Services, Probation,
Sheriff, Office of Education, Fire, Service Planning
Area Councils, Recreation & Parks, Library, courts,
housing)
Municipal Agencies and Bodies
(e.g., parks & recreation, library, police, fire,
courts, civic event units)
Sports/Health/Fitness/Outdoor Groups
(e.g., sports teams, athletic leagues, local gyms,
conservation associations, Audubon Society)
Community Based Organizations
(e.g., neighborhood and homeowners’ associations,
Neighborhood Watch, block clubs, housing project
associations, economic development groups, civic
associations)
Faith Community Institutions
Physical and Mental Health & Psychosocial
Concerns Facilities and Groups
(e.g., hospitals, clinics, guidance centers, Planned
Parenthood, Aid to Victims, MADD, “Friends of”
groups; family crisis and support centers, helplines,
hotlines, shelters, mediation and dispute resolution
centers)
Mutual Support/Self-Help Groups
(e.g., for almost every problem and many other
activities)
Child Care/Preschool Centers
Post Secondary Education Institutions/Students
(e.g., community colleges, state universities, public
and private colleges and universities, vocational
colleges; specific schools within these such as
Schools of Law, Education, Nursing, Dentistry)
Service Agencies
(e.g., PTA/PTSA, United Way, clothing and food
pantry, Visiting Nurses Association, Cancer
Society, Catholic Charities, Red Cross, Salvation
Army, volunteer agencies, legal aid society)
Service Clubs and Philanthropic Organizations
(e.g., Lions Club, Rotary Club, Optimists,
Assistance League, men’s and women’s clubs,
League of Women Voters, veteran’s groups,
foundations)
Youth Agencies and Groups
(e.g., Boys and Girls Clubs, Y’s, scouts, 4-H,
Woodcraft Rangers)
(e.g., congregations and subgroups, clergy
associations, Interfaith Hunger Coalition)
Legal Assistance Groups
(e.g., Public Counsel, schools of law)
Ethnic Associations
(e.g., Committee for Armenian Students in
Public Schools, Korean Youth Center, United
Cambodian Community, African-American,
Latino, Asian-Pacific, Native American
Organizations)
Special Interest Associations and Clubs
(e.g., Future Scientists and Engineers of America,
pet owner and other animal-oriented groups)
Artists and Cultural Institutions
(e.g., museums, art galleries, zoo, theater groups,
motion picture studios, TV and radio stations,
writers’ organizations, instrumental/choral,
drawing/painting, technology-based arts, literary
clubs, collector’s groups)
Businesses/Corporations/Unions
(e.g., neighborhood business associations,
chambers of commerce, local shops, restaurants,
banks, AAA, Teamsters, school employee unions)
Media
(e.g., newspapers, TV & radio, local access
cable)
Family Members, Local Residents, Senior
Citizens Groups
The real difficulty in changing the course of any
enterprise lies not in developing new ideas
but in escaping old ones.
John Maynard Keynes
Developing a System to Address Barriers to
Learning and Teaching and
Re-engage Students in Classroom Instruction
Four Fundamental and Interrelated Concerns
Policy
Revision
Framing Interventions to
Address Barriers to Learning
and Teaching into a
Comprehensive System
of Interventions
Rethinking
Organizational
and Operational
Infrastructure
Developing Systemic
Change Mechanisms for
Effective Implementation,
Sustainability, and
Replication to Scale
Additionally, because of the overemphasis on using
extrinsic reinforcers in all aspects of efforts to improve
schools, we find it essential to re-introduce a focus on
intrinsic motivation.