Establishing Your Advisory Purpose

Establishing Your Advisory Purpose Barbara Ashcraft WVDE School Counseling Coordinator Office of School Improvement

Critical QUESTIONS when you have an established program… • Is your current structure working? • What is/are the primary purpose(s) of advisory? • Have you established expected student outcomes? • Have you established expected staff outcomes? • Have you defined staff roles and responsibilities?

Advisory Types: COMMUNITY Community-oriented AA programs recognize that students may feel a sense of alienation and is designed to keep students from falling through the cracks. Young adolescents, especially sixth graders, are leaving the security of the self-contained elementary school classroom, where they came to know both the teacher and their peers well, and coming into a situation where they are one of 100’s of students. The high school AA builds a new small community for students. To combat the social anonymity that students feel, the faculty and staff strive to build relationships among a small peer group. The role of the advisor in this program is to foster a sense of belonging and community, a sense that "we are family." Activities focus on building a group identity and might include creating an AA name and song, creating a theme and displaying it on a bulletin board, choosing AA colors and using them on a T-shirt to be worn on spirit days, completing a community service project, or friendly competition via an intramural program to build a sense of team identity (George & Alexander, 1993; Kunkleman, 1994; Shaw & Koppleman, 1994).

Advisory Types: INVIGORATION The invigoration type of AA provides a setting for informal interactions between staff and students. Just as we recognize the value of recess in an elementary school setting, many schools feel the need for a time-out from the academic program in the middle schools. These programs provide an opportunity for students (and advisors) to have fun, to recharge their batteries, and to recover from mental fatigue prior to resuming instruction. The advisor's role is to maintain a balance between pandemonium and constructive activity.

Advisory Types: INVIGORATION The personal attributes and skills of advisors are important factors in this regard (Bushnell & George, 1993). Logistically, the invigoration program may accommodate large groups, but there is a potential liability that comes with the great flexibility of this program. Schools should take into account the possibility that parents will disparagingly consider it "free time." The ability of staff to interact at this level of informality is also a relevant consideration.

Advisory Types: School Adjustment • School Adjustment Advisory. This model provides a systematic examination of the school-related issues that adolescents face. Moving between schools or grades, improving school performance and achievement, making use of school resources, planning for high school, learning peer mediation skills, or other such matters become the topics of discussion and activity in the advisory sessions.

Advisory Types: ADVOCACY In advocacy programs the relationship between the teacher and the individual student is paramount. Although group activities may be used, individual conferences and informal meetings are stressed as ways to develop a relationship in which the student feels comfortable in talking with the advisor about whatever issue may be of concern to him or her. An important part of the role of the advisor is to get to know the student personally and serve as his or her advocate with teachers and parents.

Advisory Types: THEMES School Wide Themes might change each month or quarter, assuming a focus of particular importance at that time (bullying prevention, test readiness, school success skills, Red Ribbon Week, etc.) Theme groups might also be arranged by cross-grade level groups organized by student groups with the same interests: Recycling, Auto Mechanics, Drama, golf, literature,

Advisory Types: THEMES Students meet in team-based groups and Schools Wide Themes, Study and Test Skills and Opportunity Day. Themes might carry over into Service and Interest Club membership that is open to everyone and children from all grade levels join them. Typically, older students mentor younger students in the activities of these clubs.

Advisory Types: Test Prep Study and Test Skill preparation is in response to NCLB requirements and the focus is on strong standardized test performance. By linking a portion of the advisory program clearly to the academic mission of the school, the community's concerns about the time invested in advisory activities are abated… but this in isolation does not fulfill the original intent of AA of supporting the whole child.

Advisory Types: SERVICE Service Based Advisory. In this approach, the advisory group is formed as a service organization for the school or the community. Some of these are actually sponsored by outside groups, such as the Boy and Girl Scouts, 4-H, or junior Rotary.

Advisory Types: WORK BASED LEARNING Workplace Based Advisory. This program is organized around the development of workplace skills such as planning, collaboration, and providing a useful and important service or product. A good model for this type of advisory is found in Learning a Living: A Blue Print for High Performance, from the Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, 1992.) Examples include: • the "tech squad" for the school, taking care of all the technology and managing computer training for students and teachers • the "teacher aides," students who work with teachers to prepare class materials, conduct background research, or perform other errands and services. • Natural Helpers, Conflict Mediators, Tutors, Student mentoring (LINK CREW), Rachel’s Challenge, Aids to special needs children. Among the most important aspects of both this format and the service format is the creation of a meaningful and important sense of "purpose" for students.

Advisory Types: POSTSECONDARY/ WORKFORCE READINESS This type of advisory focuses on building postsecondary and workforce readiness skills and academic and career planning. May have a heavy focus on 21st Century Skills: Teamwork, critical thinking, technology, car At the secondary level may assist students with scholarship, financial aid, college and work applications and be very heavily focused on career planning.

Advisory Types: INTEREST CENTERED Interest Centered Advisory. This format allows students and teachers to form groups based on mutual interests, such as a craft, hobby sport or academic field. The students and teachers interact informally, but it is around something they are both interested in. In this model, groups of students may form their own interest group and seek an advisor for it from the faculty or school staff.

Advisory Types: INTEREST CENTERED Advisory programs based on this model have a number of distinct advantages: • They rely very much on voluntary groupings or groupings around a specific issue or purpose. • They allow for teachers who are comfortable with the role to assume leadership. More reluctant teachers can serve as co-advisors or assistants in larger groups. • They capitalize on the natural conversations which arise between and among people doing something in which they share an interest.

Advisory Types: SKILLS (Curriculum Based) Usually this curriculum-based AA focuses on eight major topics: • understanding the school environment • understanding self and others • understanding attitudes and behaviors • decision making and problem solving • interpersonal skills and communication skills, school success skills • career awareness and educational planning, • community pride and involvement The guidance lessons are structured and complete with student objectives and outcomes. This type of AA program requires the most staff development. (Myrick & Myrick,1990, p. 17and Myrick, 1993)

Advisory Types: SKILLS (Curriculum Based) The skills type AA is utilized as a vehicle for delivering a developmental guidance program for all students related to academic, career, and personal/social development. The developmental guidance approach recognizes that although individuals are unique, they progress through some common growth stages have related grade-level needs. The advisor "promotes and monitors individual students' educational and developmental experiences as they progress through that school” Although teachers and other staff are not assuming the role of counselor, they are being asked to demonstrate skills they may not have been trained to deliver. (Myrick & Myrick,1990, p. 17and Myrick, 1993)

Advisory Types: INTEGRATED APPROACH An Integrated Approach makes it possible to construct a comprehensive advisory program which allows students and adults to interact with one another, both formally and informally and comfortably, around purposeful activities designed to meet each school’s individual needs. This might be the best approach for advisories that meet multiple days.

Sample Integrated Approach

Activity 1 – Assessing your current Purpose??? Discuss your current purpose for your established advisory program. • What is the primary purpose? • What are expected student outcomes? • What are expected staff outcomes? • Are expectations being met?

Activity 2 – Establishing New Program Goals Based on your discussions, what are some new program goals or what are some goals that are not being addressed? • What will your new purpose(s) be? • What are expected student outcomes? • What are expected staff outcomes?

Activity 3: Build Your Schedule Determine the number of days per week and advisory purpose for each day.

Activity 4: Building the Daily ScheduleSample Advisory Types Add the total # of minutes you have for each day and build your schedule based on the your goals for each school day. (Don’t forget class change time)

Establishing Your Advisory Purpose