How can key information about students be communicated between staff in a high school?

This project describes how some of the staff at a large urban high school in northern Tasmania designed a strategy for sharing information between educators about students who may need additional support.

Early in the year it became apparent that processes for passing on important student information were not well defined. The importance of knowing students and being informed about those that need additional support was recognised as essential for provision of appropriate learning and programming. This is reflected in comments from teachers at the beginning of the year.

Teacher comments  

	I had spent the first part of the year trying to organise a guidance assessment for a student that I had concerns for, only to discover that one had been done less than eighteen months ago. How was I supposed to know this information?
	At a student case conference midway through the year, where several specialists shared information about a student, I discovered important information that could have supported my teaching of this student for the first time.
	At the beginning of the year I took a phone call from a parent who was distressed because it was apparent that none of her son’s new teachers were aware that he had a learning disability.
	If I had been aware of some of the issues surrounding this student, I would have reacted differently to the situation in the playground.

Challenges to sharing information

High schools present some specific challenges to sharing information about students:

• they’re big (124+ staff to keep in the loop)
• they have many students (emerging adults who bring a range of unique challenges)
• they have many teachers and support staff
• staff have a diverse range of roles and responsibilities, and belong to a variety of teams
• they require complex organisational structures
• they have a diverse array of programs available to students.

All of this combines to complicate the task of effective communication. That’s why developing some organisational structure for sharing information makes sense.

Getting started

It was clear that a formalised process for communicating about students was required.
Initial discussions were held by school-based support staff, the cluster Teacher Learning Support Leader, a senior staff member and the Inclusive Curriculum Leader.

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There were two important decisions to be made fairly early in the process:

• Which students do we want to communicate about?

• What sort of information would be most useful to share?

Communicating the information

Once some initial decisions were made about identifying students and the types of information that was important, a focus group of teachers representing all grade levels was formed to join the development process.

This group met to broaden discussion and share in problem solving about the development and implementation of a process for communicating student information.

Several formats for documenting student information were discussed, including a web-based system and paper format.

Factors to consider were:

• quantity and quality of information
• intended purpose of information
• protection of student privacy and dignity
• ease of use
• administration of system
• role clarification.

A decision was made to adopt a single page proforma that documented key information about identified students. A school web based Student Planner is currently a ‘work in progress’ and it is anticipated that information about identified students will be incorporated in this when it is up and running.

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The name 'Student action profile' was given to the proforma. Following are samples of the proforma:

• Student action profile 1 [Word 41KB]

• Student action profile 2 [Word 40KB]

• Student action profile blank copy [Word 36KB]

In addition, guidelines for the use of the Student action profile were developed that clarified the processes involved, the timelines and the roles of staff.

The guidelines describe the Student action profile and its purpose:

‘The Student Action Profile aims to provide key information about identified students that will assist teachers plan for and support them. It has been developed in response to the frequent difficulties experienced in a large high school communicating essential information about a student who is taught by a number of teachers…it is an easy to read, one page proforma outlining issues, strengths and weaknesses and previous strategies and assistance used.’

Draft Guidelines for the use of the Student Action Profile

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It was decided to trial the Student action profile in the transition period 2006 to 2007. The intent is that at the beginning of 2007, teachers will be able to access Student action profiles for those students with whom they have contact. A review of the proforma and the process will take place in term one, 2007.

In term three, 2006, the work of the focus group was shared with teachers at a staff meeting. Those leading the session explained the background to their work, introduced the proforma and explained the use of the guidelines.

Several key messages were promoted to reinforce the importance of the work: Knowledge is power What we know about students has a significant effect on how we construct their learning environment. When we understand even a little about the students we are working with, we have the tools to create more personalised learning experiences for them; we can begin to work with students. Personalised learning is not just about knowing deficits and challenges; it’s about recognising strengths and interests as well. The benefits of having structures to support communication about students   improved student learning improved opportunities for collaboration between teachers improved relationships between teachers and students shared responsibility for student learning and welfare preservation of student information. '…enhanced student learning requires a structure or process for greater collaboration between teachers…' Murphy and Lick (1998) Keep it simple Keeping the process uncomplicated can be effective, and it keeps it manageable. The proforma is easy to fill in and easy to read. The guidelines for use are also brief and uncomplicated. Protection of student dignity and privacy The information on the Student action plan is of a confidential nature and awareness of this is to be reflected in the way teachers store proformas and discuss the information they contain. Particularly sensitive information about students should not be on the Student action plan. Instead, an alert should be used to signal that such information exists and let you know how to access it. Progress so far Teachers are in the process of identifying students who may need a Student action profile (SAP). Support for the SAP has been high, with many teachers commenting on how useful they will find it. The Student Action Plan is an excellent way of giving staff a valuable snap shot of the needs of students. The SAP is going to allow staff to plan specifically in their classroom, learning tasks that will engage students that need extra support with literacy and numeracy, but also plan for students that might have engagement problems through certain disabilities and behavioural concerns. The SAP will assist all teachers of the student to provide a learning environment that encourages these students to experience success. I think that these kinds of processes can only improve the educational practice of schools. Year level co-ordinators report that it took very little time in team meetings to identify students who would benefit from having an SAP and to document the relevant information. Sample Student action profile [Word 37KB] (Grade 6 – 7 transition). The school will review the process in 2007, inviting feedback from staff. References Department of Education, Tasmania. (2003). Learners and learning provision. Essential Learnings framework. Murphy, C and Lick, D. (1998) Whole faculty study groups: A powerful way to change schools and enhance learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

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