Research shows that ninth grade is a pivotal year for most high school students, setting the stage for future academic and personal success. That is why St. Cloud Area School District and other high schools across the nation have adopted BARR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) strategies to enhance student experiences and outcomes. Tech High School began its BARR pilot program with a small cohort of ninth-grade students two years ago, and Apollo High School began its pilot this year. Already teachers, administrators and students have taken notice of the difference it’s made.
“We recognize that the ninth-grade year is a year of transition,” explains Cindi Patten, assistant principal and BARR coordinator at Tech High School. “There are challenges to many of our ninth-grade students. It could be a new building that is unfamiliar [or] the time in their life with puberty and maturity. … It’s just more challenging. … Nationwide, ninth-graders have the highest failure rates … and failure rates affect graduation rates.”
Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Laurie Putnam adds, “We really were looking to engage our ninth-graders. Out of the ninth through twelfth grade, they are by far the highest office discipline referral issues and the highest fail rates out any of the four years. So, we know through our data, it very clearly shows that we have an opportunity with them.”
The BARR concept is to build deeper relationships with students in order to focus on strengths. The main goals are to: focus on the whole student, provide professional development for staff, use I-time (a weekly interactive lesson), create cohorts of students, hold regular teacher meetings, conduct risk reviews, engage families and administration.
Students involved in the BARR program have four main courses that are taught by BARR-trained teachers. Those teachers meet weekly in “small block” to discuss and assess each student in the cohort. One student may perform well in one class but not in another. Or there could be a student who excels in all classes, and teachers will discuss how to leverage that student to become a leader in class or in extracurricular activities. BARR teachers use a data spreadsheet to track the progress of each student. Teachers also monitor grades and behaviors. They discuss observations and interventions, how students interact in class and strategize what may work better in a class where a student is underperforming.
Some students who are assessed a high risk number (meaning they may need more attention) are discussed at the “big block” meeting which includes the school counselor, an administrator and sometimes a parent. Teachers are then able to identify and address concerns to put extra support in place by the counselor or administrator.
“If we have a student that is tardy frequently,” says Patten, “I’m going to put myself outside that student’s second period class to make sure she gets to her next class. Another student misses a lot of school, Jenny [her school counselor] is going to start to meet with that student . . . to develop a relationship.”
The relationship is really the key. Concerns are addressed and leveraged through a student’s strong relationship with an adult whether it is a teacher, administrator, paraeducator or a security resource officer (SRO).
When a student is an even higher risk because of truancy, failing several classes, possible drug problems or other issues, that student’s name is moved to the “risk review” meeting where security officers, a school psychologist, truancy liaison and chemical health counselor are brought in to assist.
Risk review is a way to build on student strengths and create discussion with behavior experts who may have insight as to why the student is struggling. Then the conversation moves to goals for the student.
Connections are made in and out of the classroom. One of those ways is through I-time: teaching social-emotional skills once a week on rotation among the teachers. Some lessons are community-building while others are goal-setting, leadership or communication skills.
At Apollo High School, teachers are finding that I-time is creating that community with the kids, according to Assistant Principal Brenda Tiber. The results are showing positive outcomes.
“We have some success stories already,” says Tiber. “We have someone who was truant almost every day. And we finally, between home visits and working with the county, we just got to her … and got her on a program. We thought she might pass three of her classes. She ended up passing four. And now she’s been coming every day. She wants to do well. She’s been getting A’s. It’s incredible!”
Patten takes these successes a step further. She sends postcards, “pawsitive slips” home weekly to parents and guardians sharing student successes. Every Friday, Patten visits classrooms to congratulate students on their successes. Students receive personal praise, maybe meet Patten for the first time and earn the slip which can be collected and traded for rewards such as cookies.
“After trimester one [of this year], . . . the fail rates were lower for our BARR cohort students than not,” shares Putnam. “Their attendance rates were better. Their discipline rates were lower. And, what is super cool is that our tenth-graders that were in the cohort last year, we continue to see an impact on those students even though they aren’t in BARR. … We’ve even seen the attendance rates increase from when they were eighth-graders.”
The entire ninth-grade class for the 2020-21 school year will be in the BARR program.
“For me personally,” smiles Patten, “I wanted to work with the ninth-graders.” I love their energy and where they are in their stage of development. And to have such a cool role that actually embeds you in the students’ lives … It’s been a great way for me to keep connected with kids.”
Though some students express missing their ninth-grade teachers as they move on as sophomores, the best part of the program is that the connection and relationship to those teachers remain as do the lessons learned, their sense of accomplishment and the knowledge that they are cared for and encouraged as they continue in their high school life. In essence, these students have a whole new bar to live up to. And they are grateful for it.
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