Schools are a
model of the society from which they come; therefore, they take on
the problems seen in that society. Because of this, education is
striving to meet not only the educational needs of its students, but
also other needs as well.
Student assistance professionals (SAPs) function under the umbrella of student assistance programs, which evolved from the concept of employee assistance professionals (EAPs) seen in many businesses today. Just as EAPs are structured to meet the needs of employees whose work production is impeded because of outside influences, student assistance within schools incorporates the same goals in regard to student achievement. By looking comprehensively at students' academic performance, behaviors, needs and strengths, schools can better address those needs and collaborate with families and communities to encourage safe and drug-free schools and communities.
Student assistance has its roots in our nation's Safe and Drug-Free Schools initiative; however, it is broader and more powerful than just prevention of violence and drugs in schools. By identifying students considered to be at high risk of giving up on their education, solutions are implemented to help them develop the skills they need to become productive, healthy adults. We can achieve a true excellence in education through the use of prevention activities, intervention techniques, educational support groups, core teams, policy and procedure guidelines, crisis management strategies, training and awareness of high-risk identification,community involvement and education.
The professionals involved with SAPs are educators who have volunteered or been appointed by their administrators to become trained to identify student needs. While these professionals are not considered diagnosticians of student problems, they are trained to identify indicators that may signify problem behaviors that affect learning. Those serving as student assistance professionals within a school may be teachers, administrators, school psychologists, social workers, counselors or other certified the personnel concerned with student progress. By intervening in the early stages of problematic behaviors or grade declines, student progress can be corrected and monitored in an effort to achieve educational success.
The typical team (usually called the core team) of student assistance professionals will average one team member per 100 students, or 10 to 14 members in a school of 1,400 students. This team will meet an average of once each week to review teachers' referrals on individual students. Upon reviewing the referral, a pre-assessment is made as to possible causes of the problematic behavior, and strategies for intervening with the student are explored. These strategies may be as simple as linking the student with a mentor to offer encouragement and support, or as complicated as requiring the student, parents and teachers to regularly complete a behavior checklist to monitor student progress. Such information may be used by the core team to reassess the student, periodically.
Although educators are well-trained in the fields of curriculum and instruction, they are not trained to identify the barriers to learning that are part of our society today. Influences such as drug use, depression, suicide ideation, gang influence, child abuse and occult involvement are a few examples of the problems that may impede students' academic progress. With training in the identification of these problems, core teams are armed with information that is vital to their schools.
Typical Referral Process:SAPs function within a school, not only to give assistance to other faculty members with regard to student problems, but also to offer parent-awareness workshops on topics that concern parents. With the many outside influences on our young people, it is important for parents to stay informed about current trends, and these workshops are ways to address those issues. A wealth of expertise is offered from local treatment centers, hospitals, government agencies and community resources. Student assistance professionals actively network with all of these agents to raise awareness about barriers to academic success.
There is currently a National Association of Leadership for student assistance programs, and many states have started their own state associations. Most of these associations hold annual student assistance training conferences where experts from across the United States are invited to speak.
Schools in need of SAPs are those that frequently have high disciplinary action rates, frequent absentees, students using drugs, increased pregnancy rates, high levels of student dropouts, decreased student learning (reflected in grades and retentions), and increased teacher burnout.
The forming of a SAP core team within a school can make a big difference in the effort to address all the issues impacting our students today. A healthy, well-informed faculty is the starting point for a healthy, motivated, successful school population.
A. Jean Gaissert is a licensed professional counselor serving on the board of directors for the Student Assistance Professionals Association of Georgia. She is currently the student assistance program facilitator with the Clayton County Public Schools.
© 1997 Targeted Publications Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
