Analyzing Knowledge Integration and Synthesis of Theory and Research Research Paper

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School Advisory Program Implementation

Knowledge, Integration, and Synthesis of Theory and Research

School advisory programs aim to serve various purposes that include providing the environment and time to develop meaningful teacher-student relationships, promoting students' emotional, moral, and social development, and providing academic and personal guidance chiefly. The programs need to be organized effectively, encompass relevant content, and have a suitable leader. Periodic program assessment is also important. This paper will compare and contrast three theoretical approaches in the area of advisory program implementation, followed by taking up one approach -- promotion of care via advisory programs -- for discussion. It will also address controversies in connection with such programs, and recommend solutions to challenges.

Theories applicable to School Advisory Program Specialization

Dimension 1: Purpose

One of the chief purposes of school advisory initiatives is: providing the environment and time to cultivate significant teacher-student (advisor-student) relationships. The school community's vision, regarding what it aspires to achieve via the program constitutes a key philosophical reaction to the expression of needs. Goal identification and communication will serve program planners in technical as well as philosophical sense. Verbalized focus goals offer broad referents for program planning as well as its further stages. Advisory groups endeavor to guide students academically and personally, as well as promote their moral, social, and emotional development (Osofsky et al., 2003).

Dimension 2: Organization

Irrespective of the program's design and frequency, what occurs within the advisory group needs to be;

1. Planned, for reflecting students' developmental needs

2. Scheduled, for allowing teachers and students to know what they need to anticipate, and when.

3. Practicable and appropriate, in line with the school's distinctive philosophy

4. Endorsed by faculty and administrative staff such that the program indeed becomes a team endeavor among school staff, rather than a pet project of a few staff members (Osofsky et al., 2003).

Dimension 3: Content

Almost all schools adopt a thematic approach when it comes to the organization of advisory topics. These topics may be categorized into: personal, which includes self-esteem, wellness, violence prevention, friendship, disabilities and abilities, etc.; career, which covers service learning, citizenship, volunteering, career planning, community / future planning, etc.; and educational, which encompasses knowing one's school, teamwork, goals, test-taking competencies, learning styles, etc. Some typical types of activities that promote relationship-building within advisory programs are school concerns, instructional concerns, career education and students' personal concerns (Osofsky et al., 2003).

Dimension 4: Assessment

Regular official program assessment will prove valuable. Questionnaires for gleaning information from teachers, students, parents, and other stakeholders regarding outcomes and expectations can reveal the extent of program effectiveness. The basis of such surveys must be program objectives and goals, worded with regard to students' behavioral outcomes. Other school climate measures, like vandalism, teacher and student attendance, teacher and student transfer rates, truancy, severity and frequency of discipline issues, learning evidence, attendance at activities sponsored by the school, as well as how the community, students, and parents view the school helps indicate whether students feel they feel valued by the school (Osofsky et al., 2003).

Dimension 5: Leadership

According to respondents of a study on advisory programs, the driver for advisory programs was mix of groups or individuals in various configurations. Nevertheless, all schools had somebody or some group that was entrusted with responsibility for program implementation and supervision. These individuals/groups most frequently comprised of the advisory/planning committee, counselor(s), the principal, and advisory teachers. Numerous advisory program advocates have emphasized the significance of staff development and comprehensive planning before as well as in the course of advisory program implementation (Osofsky et al., 2003).

Subjective Theories in Advisory Programs

The idea of subjective theories (STs) is accredited to Scheele and Groeben and is simply defined as intricate cognition aggregates of the object of research, whereby their cognitions regarding the world together with the self become clear and which reveal an at least understood structure of argumentation (von Reininghaus, Castro & Frisancho, 2013). STs are individual theories formed so as to clarify a supposed reality and also have a cause-effect structure of argumentation. Even though these personal theories are actually social in nature, this does not imply that it detracts from the value of personal representations. Some consider STs as daily hypotheses which individuals create regarding their environment and themselves so as to connect with others. It has been proven that STs have a great impact on the understanding as well as the actions assumed by experts. This is in large part since they act as powerful tools in the clarification and interpretation of someone's reality and possess remarkable influence on their actions.

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A literature review regarding teachers' professional knowledge proposes the importance of the application of STs as a tool in the study of teachers' thought processes.

II. Literature Review

Latest high school reform attempts have concentrated on the construction of small schools. Supporters point to the educational gains which learners acquire from small learning societies for instance increased rates of graduation, reduced rates of dropouts, and better academic performance (Center for Social and Emotional Education, n.d). The benefits of a small high school setting, however, are not simply academic; there exists vital proof that tiny learning environments promote closer teacher-student relationships, resulting to several emotional, psychological, and social benefits for the young individuals.

Learners at the smaller high schools display more positive outlooks regarding being in school, accompanied by a lower sense of isolation compared to students in larger schools. Additionally, small schools report proportionally lesser disciplinary issues and cases of violence compared to the large schools. Learners in the small schools hold significant positions in their school groups and are even more likely to take part in extracurricular activities compared to those in the large schools. Generally, learners in the small schools manifest a greater sense of belonging and thus their positive social conduct (Center for Collaborative Education, 2003).

Simply reducing the size of the school, however, is not individually enough to realize positive social and academic results for learners. Small schools frequently promote close teacher-student associations. Proof in research regarding child development and school counseling support the belief that learners actually learn best in a close-knit, encouraging surrounding whereby no kid "falls through the cracks" of the huge, impersonal high schools. These surroundings are helpful to learners in establishing "relational trust" with other learners and grown-ups in the structure (Tocci, Hochman & Allen, 2005).

Historically, teachers have frequently been viewing the aim of offering emotional and social support as being separate from dealing with academic goals. Latest studies, however, insinuate that both the aspects are required to attain high levels of academic success, particularly amid the low-income learners. According to the findings of a study conducted on Catholic high schools for the deprived urban youth, strong "educational press" combined with strong social relationships were major elements of the effectiveness of the schools with their pupils. According to the findings of a study conducted on eighth and sixth graders of public school in Chicago, academic is achievement founded on both academic press as well as social support (Tocci et al., 2005). Students regarded "social support" as the regularity with which their educator: (1) linked the subject issue to the personal interests of the students, (2) truly listened to what the learners said, (3) were familiar with the students, and (4) trusted that they could perform well in school. Indicators of social and academic achievement increased with increased social support levels.

However, the usual high school is arranged in such a manner that establishes a false dichotomy amid academic and social development. The divided structure of high schools hardly ever leaves space for sustained deliberation of the emotional, psychological, and social concerns affecting young individuals, tracing such concerns precisely within the guidance counselors' purview (von Reininghaus et al., 2013). In spite of the properly-documented needs of teenagers regarding social-emotional learning, guidance counselors basically work with uncontrollable caseloads and are greatly separated from the teachers, syllabus, and instruction of the school.

Administrators and educators charged with the social and academic development of learners are themselves stripped of the resources and conditions which support their own ability of supporting the students. Teachers' segregation from one another does not give them the chance to talk about individual needs of the students, or even come up with a suitable syllabus. Educators are needed to work with a huge population of learners, cover an ever-growing syllabus, preside over extracurricular activities, and improve the test scores of their students. Additionally, educators do not have sufficient resources as well as professional development to meet such objectives (Van Hoose, 1991).

Faced with increasing admissions and scarce resources, a lot of large high schools lack adequate school counseling personnel to meet the needs of the students. School reform initiatives responded to such scarcity with varying innovative counseling models. An example of such a model that has been adopted by various small high schools to tackle the need for counseling is the "distributed counseling" system. In this particular system, the responsibility of counseling all the learners is spread across….....

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