CENTERBURG — Centerburg’s Intensive Care Unit program, implemented this school year, tracks missing assignments in a school-wide database and serves as a tool for academic interventions for struggling students.
If an assignment is missing, a student’s grade is “sick,” hence the name ICU, student services coordinator Stephanie Pound said.
Centerburg hired Pound and student liaison Tim Rioux using COVID-19 federal funding to head the program this year, which both Pound and Rioux said has been key to student interventions.
“It has done well with flagging kids who were worried about earning credits, or seeing if there’s something maybe going on outside of school that we need to look into,” Pound said.
For example, if a student who is not regularly on the ICU list is suddenly on the list for multiple missing assignments, it is a signal for staff to check in. Centerburg has collected more than 1,800 missing assignments roughly three months into the 2021-22 academic year, according to the ICU database.
The program database also tracks the periods of the school day students with missing assignments have study hall, thus allowing staff to help them get their assignments done during that time. Rioux said he most often works with students during study hall periods, but Rioux and other educators are also available to work with students before and after school.
Rioux’s role is flexible day to day according to student needs, and he said he makes it a priority to also help students beyond completing their required academic work.
“I also talk to the kids about things that are not taught in the classroom,” Rioux said. “So, we talk about time management skills, preparation skills, organization skills. We talk about simply having an attitude of gratitude. We talk about ownership, taking responsibility, no excuses.
“You know, all the things that sometimes you don’t learn in a classroom, but they’re important to succeed in life.”
The ICU list is also a visibility tool — for school staff as well as students’ parents and guardians. For example, texts and emails are sent to parents and guardians within seconds of an assignment being placed on the ICU list.
“In the past, teachers would have their own students, right, and they would know what they were missing,” Roux said. “Say it’s a science teacher. They know student X is missing their science assignments, but they may have no idea that they’re also behind in math, history, all the other ones. They may not have any idea that students are struggling in those other disciplines.
“So (ICU) gives the teachers visibility to see what all the students are missing, all those assignments that are missing. It also allows the additional staff, whether it’s teacher aides, principals, guidance counselors — everybody has access to that system. They now can see what the students are doing.”
Rioux also said he sees the ICU program as a way for educators to show their students they care about them and their success.
“I think it’s important that the schools take an active approach of going to the students and asking them if they need help or support,” Rioux said.
When missing assignments pile up, it may be easy for students to resign to a seemingly overwhelming to-do list. The ICU list is a means to encourage intervention and action before students get to that point.
“Persistence wears down resistance,” Rioux said.
Centerburg is not the first to implement the program in the area.
Galion high school has been using the ICU system for more than three years, said previous high school principal Ron Williams, who now serves as academic support and student opportunities specialist. Galion high school also designed a schedule with a designated period at the end of the day for extra help, where students can work to complete assignments on the ICU list, Williams said.
“What we found was we were collecting a lot more assignments than we were before,” Williams said about the results of the program, “and the parents appreciated the communication.”
Galion has collected approximately 2,300 assignments during the 2021-22 school year, as of Nov. 18, Williams said.
“The biggest area we’ve seen progress isn’t necessarily in fewer assignments being put on the list, but in the reduction in failures,” Williams said.
Williams cautioned that schools who start the ICU program will likely not see change in assignment turnaround and student attitudes overnight, as that was not the case for Galion.
“Every year you have to tweak things,” Williams said. “It’s not a quick fix.”
State Support Team 7 introduced the ICU program to Centerburg schools in the summer of 2021.
State Support Teams, which serve 16 regions, were created by the Ohio Department of Education as a result of H.B. 115 with the specific goal to support academic and soft skills development needs for students working toward postsecondary plans (education, employment, and independent living).
State Support Team 7 hosted a book study and subsequent trainings with the author of Power of ICU Danny Hill and his associate Cory Crosnoe, which Centerburg representatives attended, said Julie Frankl, who handles post-secondary transition and career and college readiness for State Support Team 7.
The virtual discussion-style events involved walking through examples from Hill’s book, sharing personal stories and coaching on how to get the program started, Frankl said.
“For me, it isn’t exactly just the intensive care about homework that I’m most interested in,” Frankl said about the program.
Frankl views the ICU program as a stepping stone to looking deeper at the education system as a whole.
“Once you understand that intensive care system, it will naturally, I believe, help change your mind frame,” Frankl said, “so you’re willing to look at your other practices more deeply and see if there’s a better way.”
