Monday, March 27, 2000
Intervention starts in 4th grade
Program helps at-risk pupils
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ERLANGER — Older students confided that they started hating their Northern Kentucky schools in fourth grade.
Whether it was growing pains, peer pressure or some other factor, that put them on the slope of academic failure.
Their candor arose during participation in a program for high school students at risk of dropping or flunking out.
So the regional Learning Academy decided to intervene with fourth-graders whose chances of success had dropped along with their attendance.
Last fall, teacher Debbie Picard and aide Eileen Baker began working individually with five fourth-graders.
Housed at Tichenor Middle School in Erlanger, Ms. Picard and Ms. Baker perform a variety of tasks, including coaching parents and bringing the kids to school.
“This is a learning program, not a behavior program,” Ms. Picard said. “And we've found that the best way to increase student attendance is to work real hard with the parents.”
Many parents acknowledge being frustrated and not knowing how to cope, Ms. Picard said, so one of the three roomsat the Erlanger school was set up for them.
There, mothers and fathers can use materials on issues including conflict resolution and parental skills. They also have access to a phone, fax and a computer with Internet capability.
Brittany Williams, 11, is one of this year's fourth-gradesuccesses. She spent three years in the third grade because she missed school so often. Now she never misses class.
“I don't like it here. I love it,” Brittany said on a recent Thursday.
She had just scored a 94 on her spelling test. Classmates Joe Gramer, 11, and Brad Jeffers, 11, teased her for being so expressive.
Two more classmates were absent.
The Learning Academy opened in Newport three years ago and has Cold Spring and Erlanger operations. The budget for all three programs is $450,000 for 65 students.
The alternative program is operated by 10 school districts. Erlanger has space for 11 students.
Ms. Picard and director Demetria Choice target young children because of the fourth-grade syndrome.
“We are hoping we can catch them early enough before they get out of hand,” Ms. Picard said. “At this point they are still real receptive.”
Brittany has blossomed. She is a prolific writer. Her works — a fictional story about a scary janitor, a description of her dream house — hang on the classroom wall.
Thanks to support from her mom and the extra help Ms. Picard and Ms. Baker provide, Brittany is focusing on her strengths and learning to shore up her weaknesses, such as drawing.
That's where Brad and Joe excel. A project assigned by Ms. Picard had the students designing handicapped-accessible playgrounds.
The boys' work was detailed and descriptive. Brittany didn't get very far with her drawing.
Their work is posted on the walls, along with Brittany's writings. Pictures of plant and animal cells. Geometric artworks. A poster-sized map of the solar system.
“They like a lot of hands-on activities,” Ms. Baker said. “They get bored with the same old book stuff.”
When the students work on tests and other traditional class work, Ms. Picard makes them repeat assignments until they get at least a 70 percent.
“These kids already learned that at least if they fill out the questions, whether the answers are right or wrong, they can hand in the paper,” Ms. Picard said. She wants to break them of that habit.
The educational focus is on problem solving. “We want them to go back to school and succeed,” Ms. Picard said. “They will need to know how to figure out their assignments from textbooks.”
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