Use advisories and looping to ensure every student is known and supported by adults¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The report recommends specific relationship-building structures for whole child cultures in schools serving students from deeply poor families. Advisories are "small groups that provide every student with a caring community and a school advocate", and looping is "the practice of keeping students with the same teacher or team for more than 1 year so that they know each other well and develop positive relationships". Schools can also train staff to recognize trauma and respond with caring, increase family outreach, and integrate stress-reduction practices such as mindfulness and physical movement breaks.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Structures that ensure every student is known and supported by adults
• Educator training to recognize and respond to trauma with caring instead of frustration or punishment

Constraints¶

• The report notes working in high-poverty schools is difficult and that teachers' mental health and wellness, positive working conditions, and reasonable pupil loads are needed to sustain these practices

Target Learners¶

• Students living in deep poverty
• Students experiencing trauma

Target Learning Goals¶

• Secure attachments and affirming relationships
• Physical and psychological safety
• Well-being and readiness to learn

Affordances¶

• Deep Poverty Responsive Schools Framework

Related Strategies¶

• Design schools for strong, personalized relationships through small learning communities, looping, advisory systems, teaching teams, and longer grade spans
• Know every student well through many adults, multi-year teacher loops, and flexible small-group instruction
• Invest in supportive-community strategies—mental health staffing, SEL, restorative practices, and relationship-centered structures—rather than expanded physical security
• Invest in additional whole-child supports for LTEL7 students, such as those provided by community schools

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Cookson, P. W., Jr., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2022). Building school communities for students living in deep poverty. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/121.698