As schools have shut down for the academic year, there are many questions as to what implementing a fall semester will look like. The Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) Model, is a nationwide strengths-based intervention program that aims to holistically address at-risk students in order to improve outcomes in their 9th grade year. Students in this program work with a team of their teachers, administrators, counselors, and if necessary, community resources, to evaluate the student's successes and opportunities for growth in order to create a support network for the participants and their families (American Institutes for Research, 2019; Borman, et al., 2018). By working on an individual level to provide data-based feedback, creating action plans for the students goals, and utilizing outside resources to maintain success in the home, the BARR Model has created statistically significant strides in the right direction. In the current pandemic, these methods have helped maintain the support these students need to be effective in their studies while at home.
American Institutes for Research. (2018 March, 30). Improving Student Outcomes and Building Positive Relationships Through the BARR Model. [Video] Youtube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/CjFiqymRJn0
The BARR Model in the Age of COVID-19
Expanding to 250 schools nationwide with the help of federal grants, the BARR Model aims to assist at risk students in staying engaged in their studies. The school forms a small coalition of students, teachers, administrators, counselors, and even outside community resources to aid in supporting the student and family. As schools closed their doors due to the pandemic, the network of support that had been created aided the students in multiple ways. Staying connected with their teachers allowed them to stay engaged with their school work and not fall behind. These cultivated relationships also help build student resilience by helping them create strategies to stay engaged even in the unprecedented situation. By staying in contact with the students, the team of teachers were able to give the important feedback these students needed to stay engaged with their schoolwork.
Staying Engaged Through Satisfactory Outcomes
According to Nelson Aguedo Concepcion, an ESL teacher at South Fort Myers High School, he stayed in touch with his students multiple times a week (Kamenetz, 2020). Being able to connect with the students is essential while in the school building, but when that is no longer an option, teachers found a way to hold their weekly meetings with the students and their colleagues (BARR Center; Kamenetz, 2020). This allows them to maintain the relationship that was built throughout the year and give personal feedback. The principal of the school, Ed Matthews, attributes the success of keeping all but one student engaged in school to the team approach of the BARR model (Kamenetz, 2020). Connecting with each student throughout the week multiple times gives each student the sense that these teachers are there for them and want them to succeed. Knowing that you are not alone in a seemingly helpless situation is empowering. For Nelson’s student Christian, it was him earning his eligibility to play baseball that kept him motivated, engaged, and in contact. Be it from a Zoom call, text, or phone call, the consistent communication with their teams kept them on track (Kamenetz, 2020).
Overcoming Obstacles to Achieve Success
High school is not the easiest time for everyone, anecdotal evidence from any adult would tend to support his assertion. For at risk children, it can be almost an inevitability to not complete your studies and drop out. When implementing the BARR model in schools, the most at risk students reduced the achievement gap, doing better than the control group across all participants (Borman, et al., 2018; Bos, et al., 2019, American Institutes for Research, 2019). These successes bleed over into the pandemic as these students have been given the tools to evaluate and overcome issues that arise. With the weekly meetings, students with students, students with teachers, and teachers with teachers, these strategies have been thoughtfully crafted for the individual student and their circumstances (American Institutes for Research, 2018; Barr Center). As the world was thrown into uncertainty, these students were given the peace of mind that they had a team behind them to assist in the unexpected. With this confidence, it is easy to see how it only took a few weeks for the principal of South Fort Myers High School to ensure that each student was engaged, with the exception of one runaway (Kamenetz. 2020).
Making Learning Relevant
Assisting the students to see that they can succeed because they have the tools to do so is what the BARR Model is all about. Giving the students the tools to succeed through multiple layers of support makes it possible for the student to see a future for themselves (American Institutes for Research, 2018). The US started to shut down around March and April, which gave the students in this program about three quarters of the academic year to build and create these tools before they were sent home. As Anya Kamenetz reported, the teachers were continuing to reach out multiple times a week through multiple platforms (2020). While they may not have been able to see them physically face to face, they could still let the students know, by reaching out, that they are concerned about their success. As the pandemic charged forward, these students certainly had many distractions and could have stopped working and giving into them, but through the structures put in place, they were able to move forward and stay engaged (Kamenetz, 2020).
Conclusion
The BARR Model has not only been statistically proven to improve the outcomes for at-risk students (American Institutes for Research, 2019; American Institutes for Research, 2018; BARR Center; Borman, et al., 2018; Bos, et al., 2019), it has also been given the students affected by the global pandemic the tools to be successful (Kamenetz, 2020). As an early intervention program, it gave structure to a safety net for students to use that would have otherwise would have not attended classes during the pandemic (Kamenetz, 2020). This model of early intervention can serve many other students as we proceed into the 2020-2021 academic school year. With the success of the BARR Model for the most vulnerable students, it is worth larger implementation as the pandemic is persistent and with no end in sight.
References
American Institutes for Research. (2019, July 30). American Institutes for Research Evaluation Finds that BARR Model is an Effective Intervention in Grade 9 [Press release]. Retrieved June 18, 2020, from https://www.air.org/news/press-release/american-institutes-research-evaluation-finds-barr-model-effective-intervention
American Institutes for Research. (2018 March, 30). Improving Student Outcomes and Building Positive Relationships Through the BARR Model. [Video] Youtube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/CjFiqymRJn0
BARR Center. (n.d.). Real Results. Retrieved June 19, 2020, from https://barrcenter.org/real-results/
Borman, T., Bos, H., O'Brien, B. C., Park, S., & Liu, F. (2018, December 27). I3 BARR Validation Study Impact Findings: Cohorts 1 and 2. Retrieved June 19, 2020, from https://www.air.org/resource/i3-barr-validation-study-impact-findings-cohorts-1-and-2
Bos, H., Borman, T., & Dhillon, G. (2019, August 27). Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) Evaluation. Retrieved June 18, 2020, from https://www.air.org/project/building-assets-reducing-risks-barr-evaluation
Kamenetz, A. (2020, June 17). 5 Radical Schooling Ideas For An Uncertain Fall And
Beyond. NPR. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://www.npr.org/2020/06/17/878205853/5-radical-schooling-ideas-for-an-uncertain-fall-and-beyond
This case study demonstrates the BARR Model used during the pandemic to increase engagement for students who were at risk of falling behind in their studies due to the challenges of remote learning requirements. This study reflects three learning engagement principles:
Engagement Principle 1: Active Learning
The foundation of the BARR Model is active learning. Teachers, administrators, counselors, and community resources formed a supportive network for the student-designed to allow for more active participation. Using this approach facilitated a transformation in the students from passive to active participants. Educators were able to maintain constant and consistent communication with students through Zoom, text messages, and phone calls. Research supports these types of learning strategies, especially for sustaining student engagement (Hinojosa, T,…
The BARR Model is a whole-campus, structural model that incorporates administrators, faculty, students, and families with a BARR Coordinator and community organizations to build a social support network in K-12 schools.
Layers of Meaning Making
In “Learning as Meaning Making”, Zittoun and Brinkmann (2012) describe learning as a way to “establish a meaningful relation to the subject matter” (p. 1809). Meaning making can occur on multiple levels, “semantic, pragmatic, and existential” (Zittoun & Brinkman, 2012, p. 1809). On a semantic level, understanding comes from “establishing conceptual relations to the world” and uses “socially given and shared words to organize thinking” (Zittoun & Brinkmann, 2012, p. 1810). The BARR Model uses a common language to describe and organize the learning process…
Expectancies for Success
The BARR model is growing, and during a global pandemic, I believe it will only get effect more and more schools across the country. Many students and teachers had no clue what they were going to do and how they were going to adjust. The BARR allows learners to build up confidence from staying in contact with their teacher and giving them the resources they need to succeed. Giving students control over their learning situation results in the student building up their confidence (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017). The BARR allows for the freshman and sophomores, especially to receive support and show that they can build a life for themselves. When the students have the tools and support…
Week 2 Blog Post #3 The Barr Model
Reviewed by Tyla Bowers
Motivational/ Volitional Concept #1: Motivation to learn is promoted when learners believe they can succeed in mastering the learning task (Reiser and Dempsey. 2018, p.81).
Strengths-based intervention is the driving force behind what is referred to as The Barr Model. The Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) Model is one that has been implemented nation-wide in secondary schools to help 9th graders adjust to high school and help schools reduce their drop-out rates. The Barr Model relies on teacher teams that work together with students to form relationships and maintain contact to help its 9th graders stay organized and on task during this crucial year of personal and academic…
I understand that the BARR Model is about building relationships. Not just between teacher and student, but also peer to peer. Having relationships and a support group is critical especially today. As schools re-open and temporarily close again, the uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring can be stressful. And for students, tomorrow just isn’t in the literal sense but also long-term after they graduate. What knowledge will they take from high school?
Satisfying outcomes to a learning task
Having a support group is satisfying no matter who you are. Every human looks for someone to celebrate the wins with and someone to help pick them up after the losses. That’s human nature. With social distancing, today, these connections are different.…