The Academic Improvement Plan Best Practice
The Academic Improvement Plan was developed for use in the TRIO Educational Talent Search Program at Alpena Community College (Alpena, MI). It was approved November 1, 2015 as a Promising Practice by the EOA Best Practices Clearinghouse
This academic practice was developed through team efforts of Robert Newton (Director), Ross Corpe, Tom Smith, Jaime Kurowski, Bonnie Johnson, Kristen Schnell, and Jean Waeiss.
Summary of the Education Practice
The Academic Improvement Plan (AIP) is one component of the Educational Talent Search (ETS) program’s approach to improving academic success for students. This system is implemented when a student is identified through placement on academic probation by the school. The ETS staff and student work together to complete a review of academic concerns and reasons for difficulty, assessment of personal barriers, examination of academic goals, examination of career goals, development of a detailed academic action plan (identifies specific obstacles, two solutions for each, and completion dates), and additional recommendations for academic success. The student and ETS advisor sign the AIP plan.
Need for the Practice
The Educational Talent Search Program (ETS) hosted by Alpena Community College serves approximately 1400 students in 16 school districts in rural northeast Michigan, covering 12600 square miles. Roughly 8% of these students had been placed on academic probation before ETS started this system. Of these students, 70% were dismissed from the ETS program for not improving grades to lift the probation.
The Academic Improvement Plan (AIP) is one part of the comprehensive Educational Talent Search (ETS) Program. Due to the unacceptably high rate of students dismissed from high school for academic reasons, the ETS program established four purposes of the AIP:
• Students learn that they are not making satisfactory progress towards college-readiness and risk not attending postsecondary education.
• Notify parents their student was not on track to being college-ready and graduation from high school could be jeopardy.
• Students who want to attend college choose an action plan to put them back on academic track.
• Document why a student was discharged from the ETS program if their choice was not to follow through with the AIP.
Description of the Practice
Letters are sent out to both student and parents stating the reason for action and the purpose of the Talent Search program. Students meet with their ETS advisor and the AIP is developed. It is made clear to the student they need to follow through with the plan (AIP) or the consequence is dismissal from ETS. The ETS program is considering whether to share the AIP with the school counselor or other staff members.
The following describes the specific activities and the timeline for them to be accomplished. The AIP is dependent upon careful monitoring of student academic performance, timely communication with students and parents, skillful intervention by the ETS staff, and careful record keeping.
1. Semester/trimester grade requests will be submitted to all schools by the TRiO Talent Search Secretary approximately two weeks before the end of the semester/trimester.
2. When grades have been collected, they are calculated and entered in the database by the TS Secretary. After grades have been entered in the database, the Secretary will submit a Grade Report for each school to the TS Director.
3. The TS Director will review the Grade Reports noting academic changes for individual students with the following designations: concern, probation, congratulations, or drop. The grade report is forwarded to the TS Advisors for review and comment.
4. The TS Director will forward the returned reports to the TS Secretary for database entry and to send the appropriate letters.
a. For All Students that fall below a 2.0 Cumulative GPA in CORE classes (English, math, science, social studies) and/or a current or cumulative GPA overall – it is the TS Director’s discretion to place the student on academic probation. Every student with a current or cumulative GPA below 2.0 overall or in core classes must have a documented meeting with their TS Advisor in which they will complete an Academic Improvement Plan (AIP). Some TS Advisor discretion pertaining to discharge (drop) from TS due to poor academic performance is allowed with the TS Director’s approval. A Letter of Concern is sent to students with a cumulative GPA below 2.0.
b. For students placed on probation OR remaining on probation – two Probation letters will be sent; 1) a letter to the student explaining the TS probation procedures and expectations (Appendix 18) , and 2) a letter to the parent with a return response form and postage paid return envelope.
c. For students that have improved their grades, but their GPA remains below 2.0 – a Congratulatory Letter-Grades Improved is sent to the student in care of the parent.
d. For students removed from probation: for improving their cumulative and/or core course GPA – a Congratulatory Letter-Grades Improved/Off Probation, or for unimproved grades – a Discharge Letter (Appendix 22) is sent to the student in care of the parent.
5. For matriculation and final year end grade reports, the TS Director will review each school’s Grade Report and return reports to the TS Secretary for database entry and to send the appropriate letters. Copies of each letter will be forwarded to the TS Advisor for placement in the student’s file.
6. The Academic Improvement Plan (AIP) should be completed within four weeks of the following semester and submitted to the TS Secretary for database entry. The AIP will be returned to the TS Advisor within two weeks.
7. TS Advisors are expected to regularly monitor the progress of all students with a GPA below 2.0, verify that probationary students are following the terms of the AIP and discuss any concerns/ problems the student may be having. Students will be released from probationary status at the TS Director’s discretion. TS Advisors may notify the TS Director at any time during the school year to change a student’s probationary status. Request for probationary status change should be made in written form.
Resources Needed to Implement the Practice
After the initial start-up of the AIP program, a small amount of time is spent by the ETS program. The key activities and resources for success in the program include:
• ETS staff meet with students (usually in group settings) and provide positive re-enforcement to them and help them complete the AIP.
• High school staff provide quarterly grades for the students.
• Involvement of parents with helping the students to correct academic behaviors. Resources are provided to the parents through the ETS middle school or high school ETS resource guide. Parents choose their level of involvement. The resource guide helps the parents and the students to identity career goals and establish practical steps to accomplish them.
Program Evaluation
Roughly 8% of the students were on probation before the ETS program started this system. Seventy present were dismissed as a result of not improving their grades. After introduction of the AIP system, the average loss is six ETS students annually. High school graduation rate for the students is close to 100% during the past three years. Eighty-nine percent of the 340 high school seniors attended college during the succeeding fall. When these former ETS students are examined three years later, 75% are still attending college.
