Adult Advocate

AMLE says:

Every student's academic and personal development is guided by an adult advocate.
Academic success and personal growth increase markedly when young adolescents' affective needs are met. Each student must have one adult to support that student's academic and personal development.

It means:

Students need someone, be it a parent, family member, friend, or teacher, on their side.  In theory, all adults in middle level schools are advocates, advisors, and mentors.  Advocacy is a pervasive attitude of caring that means adults are responsive to the needs of all adolescents in the school.  On an individual level, a student needs one adult to support him or her academically and personally.  The adult is a model of good character who knows about young adolescent development, enjoys working with young adolescents, and comes to know students on an individual level.  An advocate or adult listens and guides youth, but not in a counselor role, acting as the primary liaison between school and family with frequent contact, and keeping an eye out for behavioral changes.  On a school-wide level, there may be organizational arrangements such as extended homeroom or team-based mentorships.

Example:

The Trinity College Mentoring Program pairs a college student with a student from Hartford Magnet Middle School.  It is part of the Jones-Zimmermann program.  Data shows that it significantly contributes to the academic achievement of middle school students and their pursuit of higher education.  In fact, the first cohort reports a high school graduation rate of 82%, with 87% of those graduates enrolled in college.  Underachieving 6th grade students commit to 3 years of participation, or their time at middle school, and the program commits to challenging them to realize their full academic potential.  Trinity students mentor their partners, help with homework, and provide them with after-school or weekend enrichment activities.  It is free for students.  The program exposes them to the idea of college and lets them literally see college from an insider's view.

Why it works:

I figure college students are close enough to adults to count as advocates for students, although not in an official role.  This program lets college students really develop a mentorship and partnership with a middle school student over the course of several years.  So not only is there trust, to help guide a student through formative years, but there is also organizational support for academics and personal growth.  The program features enrichment activities and occasional weekend excursions, not to mention that it seems to get kids through high school and college -- which is major!  This is not quite an advocate role as delineated in This We Believe, so I doubt that mentors are the primary liaisons between school and family, but I do believe that over 3 years, mentees might show behavioral changes or confide more in people close to their age than to teachers.

My classroom/school:

The take-away from the Trinity program is that I can always remember to let students know I'm on their side.  As a classroom teacher, I am in frequent contact with parents, especially because my students have emergent speech and language skills.  My parents need to know what's going on in school! I try to be responsive to my individual students' needs, and to provide them with equitable academic and personal support.  For example, I might work with one student who has severe pica disorder to help her stay physiologically safe (while reminding others that the student is not disgusting or gross, although they might think manifestations of the disorder are), when with another I might help research a topic of interest (Bob Marley).  Something I have learned this year, though, is to step back.  Not every student wants me as a mentor, and that is okay.  In the case of one student who lives with his grandfather and apparently single mother, he seems to seek male role models.  That is okay.  After lunch, when he is done with his schoolwork and classroom job, he gets to go to one of two classrooms, both of which have male teachers.  He seems to enjoy the male teachers' company and looks up to them as role models more than he does to me or to my classroom staff (we are all females).  In this upcoming year, I will keep my eyes peeled, as always, for behavioral changes, and to remind myself that my students may develop role models who aren't anyone in Class Y38!