Jessica Hibbard: EDU 644

Presentation: Supporting Students Who Are At-risk

Role: Family Services Coordinator
Audience: Social Service Providers, Educators, and
School Administrators
The focus of the presentation is to bring awareness to facts
about youth who are at-risk and the relationship between atrisk and academic success.

YOUTH AT-RISK
Strong relationships between students and supporting
adults are an important part of identifying and
understanding students who are at-risk. Being able to
identify and understand children who are at-risk is
critical if we are to support their growth and
development (Teachnology, n.d., Para. 3). An
important part of this idea is detecting warning signs
and risk factors early enough to intervener before
academic failure starts.

At-risk means an individual may be prone for some type of

failure, or negative outcome, because of specific factors in their
life.
Below are eight indicators of youth who may
be at-risk.
Homeless
Involved in Substance Abuse
Abused Emotional or Physical
Neglected
Suffer From Mental Illness
Dealing With Stressful Family Situations
Have Learning Disabilities
Lacking Support Systems
(National Center for School Engagement, n. d.)

BEHAVIORS ASSOCIATED
WITH AT-RISK
Engaging in Sexual Behavior
Running Away
Truancy
Fighting
Bullying
Committing Vandalism
Drug and Alcohol Use
Exhibiting Low Self-esteem
(National Center for Student
engagement, n. d.)

Implications of these behaviors on a students

ability to achieve academic success-

Short-term
Dropping Out of School
Acquiring Low-paying
Jobs
Engaging Violence and
Crime children who
witness domestic violence or
experience abuse are at
increased risk for anger and
aggression problems (Rubin,
2012, Pg. 72).

Substance Abuse

Long-term

Living in Poverty
Going to Jail
Living With
Addiction

Framework Solutions
A common finding in resilience research is the power of teachers, often unbeknownst,
to tip the scale from risk to resilience ( Bernard, 1997, Pg. 3).

Parent Involvement: Encourage parent involvement to create a

strong connection between home and school. Kids do better
in school when their parents have good relationships with staff
and are involved with their education (National Center for
Student engagement, n. d.).
Open Communication: Having open and frequent
communication can foster accountability among students.
Strong and Meaningful Relationships: Building strong and
meaningful relationships between school staff and students is
vital for student success.

Integrating Framework
Parent Involvement: Offering family nights, parent seminars, and volunteer
opportunities will boost parent involvement. Creating a parent focus group is a
great way to gather insight into what types of involvement parents are looking for
(National Center for Student engagement, n. d.).
Open Communication: Utilizing emails, newsletters, web-based communications,
and teacher/student meetings will create open communication and develop
accountability in students.
Strong and Meaningful Relationships: Instructing with high interaction and high
engagement will build connections with students. Providing assignments that
showcase the students backgrounds, opinions, and ideas will offer opportunities to
get know students. Teachers can convey loving support to students by listening to
students and validating their feelings, and by demonstrating kindness, compassion,
and respect (Bernard, 1997, Pg. 4).

Successful Model for Communication

and Parent Involvement
National School
Public Relations
Associations model
on how strong
communications
contributes to
student success.
Found herehttp://www.nspra.org
/files/docs/Strong_C
ommunication_Student
s_School_Success.pdf

Group Activity:
Considering Your Impact
1. Get together in groups of
four and discuss your role
in influencing your schools
culture.
2. Next, discuss how this
impacts students who may
be at-risk.
3. Collaborate with others in
your group to determine
how each group member
can make a stronger
impact on their school and
students and share with all
attendance.

Reference

Bernard, B., & ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, N.Y. (1997).

Turning it around for all youth: From risk to resilience. ERIC/CUE Digest, Number 126
. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED412309.
National Center for School Engagement. (n.d.). Serving at-risk youth. Retrieved from
http://schoolengagement.org/school-engagement-services/at-risk-youth
National School Public Relations Association (2006).
http://www.nspra.org/files/docs/Strong_Communication_Students_School_Success.pdf
Rubin, A. (2012). Clinicians guide to evidence-based practice: Programs and interventions for maltreated children and
families at risk. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons.
Teachnology. (n.d.).
The effects of poverty on teaching and learning. Retrieved from http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/poverty/