A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Key Characteristics Student services management team trains teachers as case managers for at-risk students Cities-in-Schools program provides case managers and agency referrals to at-risk students and their families School teams develop curriculum and provide leadership and planning

Number of Students: 1,500-1,550 Grades Served: 9-12 Racial/Ethnic Breakdown: 51% White 47% African American Eligible for Free/Reduced-Price Lunch: 15% Chapter 1 Program: No Major Sources of Outside Funding: Cities-in-Schools

Overview

Robert's freshman year at West Mecklenburg High School was characterized by poor grades and irregular attendance. Last year, Robert participated in the school's Cities-in-Schools program, where he developed a strong and caring relationship with one of the school's counselors. Since then the support he has received from his school has helped him to develop and achieve individual goals. Because his father is an alcoholic, Robert attends Alateen support group sessions in his community, at the suggestion of his counselor. Now a sophomore, Robert has made his first A ever, in earth science. He has graduated from the Cities-in-Schools program and now meets regularly with a teacher assigned to be his case manager.

Students like Robert at West Mecklenburg High School receive the support they need to succeed, through reforms pioneered by child development specialist James C. Comer. A student service management team, a network of case managers, and the district's Cities-in-Schools (CIS) program provide a network of support services that prevent students from falling through the cracks.

School Context

The principal introduced the faculty to Comer's model for school change, which emphasizes the importance of addressing students' mental health needs to help them achieve academically and become responsible community members. This model relies on shared responsibility for students among faculty members and develops collaboration, consensus building, and a no-fault environment among staff. Expedited by a Comer facilitator--one of the school's own guidance counselors--in 1992 West Mecklenburg developed a student services management (SSM) team, a school planning and management team, and a parents' council.

Major Program Features

Student Services Management Team

• Cities-in-Schools. The CIS program, in place at West Mecklenburg since 1993-94, targets students who have been identified during elementary or middle school as at risk of dropping out because of abuse (substance, physical, or sexual) or family problems. Two CIS counselors at West Mecklenburg provide intensive services to 75 ninth graders and their families--counseling students at the school, making home visits, arranging parent involvement activities, and teaching practical skills such as budgeting. Counselors also take students and their families to job sites and on recreational trips. At the end of the school year, the SSM team evaluates whether students in the program should continue receiving these intensive services. In 1993-94, the team determined that about half of the student participants were doing well enough academically and socially that they no longer needed the CIS program.

• Case managers and guidance counselors. Students who were in the CIS program as ninth graders but no longer need intensive services receive a case manager. Other students with personal and/or family problems can request a case manager. About 80 of the school's 100 teachers serve as case managers, supervising about 200 students. Case managers and their students establish short- and long-term goals and meet weekly throughout the year to discuss concerns, problems, and progress toward meeting goals.

  Before West Mecklenburg began its restructuring process, the Comer facilitator and other members of the SSM team provided case managers with a day of training to help them identify symptoms of problems that may require intervention. Case managers notify the SSM team when these symptoms occur and work with the team to determine appropriate interventions. West Mecklenburg also has four guidance counselors.

• Referrals to outside agencies. When students or their family members need treatment for substance abuse, depression, or other serious problems, the SSM team refers them to outside agencies. For example, a student who was sexually molested by her step-father was referred to a group counseling program for teenage women at the local department of mental health.

School Planning and Management Team

Support for Implementation

Staff Development

The principal has tried to ensure that the faculty includes only teachers committed to the Comer process. He hired 30 new teachers before the 1992-93 school year, 20 new teachers before the 1993-94 school year, and 15 new teachers before the 1994-95 school year. As a result, about two-thirds of the faculty has been at the school less than three years; almost every faculty member is an advocate of the Comer process.

In addition, a team of West Mecklenburg teachers attended a workshop on using cooperative learning, seminar teaching, debates, games, and puzzles in 90-minute class periods. These teachers have provided in-service workshops for other teachers at the school.

Evidence of Success

Morale among teachers at the school also has improved. The instructional supervisor in the history department commented, "The teachers have a more active role in making decisions and running the school. We find our work more rewarding than before."
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[Raising Expectations]

[Appendix A]