At Risk Students and

Teaching Strategies for

Cognitive Learning

Group Conference Call• Tutors in each District are required to

view this PowerPoint by their assigned deadline.

• Email notices will be sent out notifying you are the conference call for your District.

• You must be prepared to participate in the conference call discussion on this topic

Table Of Contents

Title PageTable of Contents

Focus QuestionsStatistics

Introduction Strategies and Methodologies

SummaryConclusion

References

Questions for Thought

• Do you remember classmates in school that never seemed to complete in class assignments or do their homework?

• Do you remember classmates in school who did poorly in most of their classes and rarely participated in extracurricular activities?

• How many of those students actually graduated from high school?

(Ormrod, 2006)

The National Center for

Education Statistics

Drop Out Rates (1999)

• 25.3% Hispanic• 13.4% black• 7.6% White (Johannessen, 2004, pg. 638 )

Who are at risk?

“Students who have a high probability of failing to acquire minimal academic skills necessary for success in the adult world.”

(Ormrod, 2006, pg. 129)

At Risk Students

• Approximately 12 million students in the largest urban school districts are labeled at risk.

• Schools and teachers have been defining a majority of their students as unable to educate.

( Haberman, 1995)

These facts define the necessity of teaching teachers how to teach the unteachable.

The essence of this presentation.

Labels of Students

Least Likely To Succeed

• Struggling Students• Reluctant Students• At Risk Students• Disadvantaged Students• Culturally Diverse Students• Resistant Students• Educationally Deprived (Johannessen, 2003, pg.6)

Characteristics of

Students At Risk• Low socioeconomic status families• Minority ethnic groups• Linguistic minority background• History of academic failure• Older in age than classmates• Emotional and behavior problems• Lack of psychological attachment to school

(Ormrod, 2006)

Teachers Encouraging

At Risk Students• Make the curriculum relevant to student to

students’ lives and needs• Use students’ strengths to promote high self-

esteem• Communicate high expectations for students’

performance• Encourage and facilitate school involvement and

extracurricular activities

(Ormrod, 2006)

Teachers Promote Self-Determination in

At Risk Students

Strategies:Present rules and instructions in an

informational rather than controlling manner

Give students opportunities to make choices (individually or as a group)

Evaluate students’ performance in a non-controlling manner

Use extrinsic reinforcers selectively

Ormrod, 2006)

Teachers Promote Self-Efficacy in At Risk Students

Strategies:Teach basic skillsUse effort and achievement rubricsAssure students they can be successfulPromote mastery or challenging tasks

( Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock, 2001)

How do teachers know if at risk students are

learning?• permanent changes in behavior as a result of life

experiences• permanent changes in mental representations or

associations as a result of life experiences (Both definitions describes learning as a

permanent change due to experiences) (Ormrod, 2004)

Student characteristics and instruction determines learning outcomes. (NASSP, 1979)

Teachers Make Learning Meaningful for At Risk Students

• Student-directed instruction promotes prior knowledge activation

• Meaningful learning occurs only when students can relate new information to prior knowledge

• Meaningful learning facilitates both storage and retrieval of information

• Be prepared to discuss on our conference call—how can YOU make learning meaningful to students? (Ormrod, 2004)

Transfer and Problem Solving Strategies for At Risk

Students • Allow students many opportunities for

practice and learning• Use scaffolding for complex tasks • Implement authentic activities: Assignments must require prior knowledge Create activities that promote HOTS Convey high performance expectations BE PREPARED TO GIVE EXAMPLES OF EACH

ON THE CONFERENCE CALL!! (Ormrod, 2004)

Teachers Can Motivate

At Risk Students• Intrinsic (internal) motivation has more

advantages than extrinsic (external) motivation.

• Intrinsically motivate students byCreating meaningful lessonsPromoting authentic engagementEncouraging students’ successPromoting pleasure and enjoyment

Needs Deficiencies in At Risk Students

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs• Physiological Needs• Safety Needs• Love and Belongingness Needs• Esteem Needs• Need for self-actualization

(Ormrod, 2004)

Teachers Can Satisfy Non-Academic Needs of At Risk

Students

• Help low income families apply for free lunch• Create an orderly and predictable environment• Acknowledge students’ special occasions• Listen to students’ ideas• Acknowledge students’ accomplishments• Assess students’ based on individual

achievement and not in comparison to peers

(Ormrod, 2004)

At Risk Students

Need Goals• Goal setting influences motivation• Goals influence choices and consequences

that are reinforcing• Goals effect the extent that students

become cognitively engaged

Avoidance Goals vs. Mastery Goals

(Ormrod, 2004)

Benefits of Goal Setting

• Goal attainment results in considerable self-satisfaction, greater self-efficacy, and higher standards for future performances.

• Goals are beneficial only to the extent that they are accomplishable.

• Setting goals is an important part of self-regulated behavior and learning.

• How does goal setting relate to motivation???

• When have YOU set a goal and how did it motivate YOU?

Teachers Can Motivate Goal Setting

in At Risk Students• Communicate high student expectations• Establish routines• Positive feedback• Encourage individual mastery goal setting• Relate failures to controllable external factors or

unstable and controllable internal factors• Relate successes to stable and unstable internal

factors• Are these motivators for students???

(Ormrod, 2004)

Teachers Foster Positive Attributions of

At Risk Students• Teachers communicate their attributions for

learners’ performances directly through statements and indirectly through emotional reactions. (I knew you could do it!)

• Teachers evaluate students on the basis of mastery and not one another.

• Teachers should encourage students to take on challenges and risks

• Classroom activities should be noncompetitive• List ideas for working with at-risk students

academically in your tutoring group.

(Ormrod, 2004)

Teachers Promote Learning in At Risk

Students Teachers must believe that they

themselves have some control over students’ learning and achievement. By using instructional strategies that promote long-term memory storage, by scaffolding challenging tasks, and promoting HOTS they can genuinely help students master school subject matter. Teachers must believe that all students can learn.

Cognitive Learning Theory

The ability to reason depends on a number of factors.

• “Today, there is a demand for men and women who can think, reason, and use their minds well.”

(Schlechty, 2002, pg. 94)

Conclusion The cognitive approach to teaching and learning focuses on complex, meaningful questions and problems that make connections with students’ life experiences and cultures. Students who are at risk for academic failure are a diverse group of individuals with a diverse set of needs, and so there is probably no single strategy that can keep all of them in school until graduation. However, a combination of strategies can help many at risk students succeed and stay in school.

(Ormrod, 2006)

References• Haberman, Martin. (1995). Star Teachers of Children in

Poverty. Indiana: Kappa Delta Pi Publishers.• Johannessen, Larry. (September/October, 2003). Achieving

success for the “resistant” student. Clearing House, 77(1), p. 6-13.

• Johannessen, Larry. (May, 2004). Helping “struggling” students achieve success. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47(8), p. 638-647.

• Marzano, Robert, Pickering, D., Pollock Jane. (2001). Classroom Instruction That Works. Virginia: McRel.

• Ormrod, Jeanne. (2004). Human Learning. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

• Ormrod, Jeanne. (2006). Educational Psychology Developing Learners. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

• Secondary School Principals. (1979). Student Learning Styles. Virginia: National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

• Schlechty, Phillip C. (2002). Working On The Work: An Action Plan For Teachers, Principals, and Superintendents. California: Jossey-Bass Publishers.