By Dr. Sara J. Salmon
Executive Director, Center for Safe Schools
This article is brought to you by The Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI). Visit their website: www.riskinstitute.org
Note from Symposium Moderator Lauren Eib: Dr. Salmon’s paper gives us hands on documents used to transition the student back into the regular school setting or another program. It is a Presentation of Learning (POL) where the student learns to grow in problem solving, communication, anger management, etc.
Sara has provided examples for high, middle and elementary school students. High and middle school students are expected to complete a questionnaire and do a presentation on how they have accomplished their goals to a significant adult. It is a team approach that not only includes school personnel but also the students and his or her parents.
To supplement Sara’s examples, I have also included the Threat Assessment Screening Tool that Denver Public Schools developed as a prevention or mitigation tool. It helps school personnel develop a plan for the student that makes a threat or a concern arises that the student may act out in a violent fashion. The form is amended for TUSD’s use but is completely taken from a Denver Public Schools document.
INTRODUCTION
The ultimate goal is to have students successfully transition back into their home schools. Transition is a restorative experience for both students and school personnel. Transition conferences should be facilitated by a transition specialist and include the student, the student’s parents, current and home school teachers, and home school administration.
A Presentation of Learning (POL) should take place at the time of transition to give the student an opportunity to present what has been learned and why the student expects to now succeed in the regular school environment. When done correctly, Presentations of Learning are both empowering for the student and an opportunity for the home school staff to see the student in a new and more positive light.
It is important that the student be encouraged to present the POL orally with teachers, parents and representatives of the accepting program there ready to question and hopefully, accept the student. Students can present their POL using a Powerpoint presentation and learn all the skills associated with that model.
POL EXAMPLES
In January 2006, PERI held a free online symposium to explore strategies for addressing violence in our nation’s schools. The program, entitled “Confronting Violence in Our Schools: Planning, Response, and Recovery,” offered practical advice for dealing with school violence — not just the high profile incidents that make headlines but the real issues of school violence that schools and communities face everyday.
The Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI) is a nonprofit research organization that provides education and training resources on topics related to risk management and emergency management. PERI’s website, www.riskinstitute.org, offers free E-Training programs and a Publications, Tools, and Resources library with information on emergency planning and response, disaster recovery, school safety, workers’ compensation, and other key topics in risk management. PERI’s also maintains a national database of public sector liability and workers’ compensation claims data for benchmarking and performance measurement. The Data Exchange is a voluntary program that allows participating organizations to compare their liability and workers’ compensation losses with their peers and learn from other jurisdictions.
