Providing Education and Training for At Risk ... - Victoria University

2Literature ReviewBenchmark 1995Substantial recent literature surveys of programs for students ‘at risk’ fortunately provideus with a detailed and scholarly overview. We can do no better than to commence thisReview with a summary of the Australian (Batten and Russell 1995) and the American,Canadian and British literature (Withers and Batten 1995), which these three authors themselvesprovide (Withers and Batten: x-xi):The assertion can be made…that the literature from Australia and overseas shows that effectiveprograms that result in real achievement by young people do have a number of recurringfeatures, which include the following:• attention to the whole person, incorporating social and personal as well as academic andsocial development;• a focus on practical learning, related to the student’s life experiences and linked, whereappropriate, to a vocational pathway;• encouragement of students to take responsibility for their own learning and behaviour,and to be involved in decisions about the learning process, including the use of incentivesand negotiated contracts;• providing students with the opportunity to work cooperatively with others, both insideand outside the classroom;• high expectations of students, and provision of programs which challenge and extend;• positive reinforcement of achievement, building on student strengths;• establishment of a caring, supportive environment;• organisational and operational flexibility in order to be able to respond to individualneeds;• concern for students at risk that extends beyond the program through the use of followupcontact and monitoring;• appropriate evaluation of student progress by the use of assessment that matches thelearning that has taken place; and evaluation of the effectiveness of programs;• careful selection of program teachers and leaders, and the provision of professionaldevelopment opportunities for people in those roles;• integration of school-based programs for students at risk into mainstream educationalprovision;• involvement of parents and community in a collaborative endeavour for young people atrisk, and a fostering of links with agencies outside the school or program.16