Primary Person
Sessions

CNM community members with established primary person models viewed this as the primary driver of student engagement during remote instruction.  Routines and structures that created space for interpersonal relationships made it easier for students to reach an adult for both academic and nonacademic supports. Jenny Curtin from the Barr Foundation opened the session by noting that connecting with students is even more critical during this challenging time and provides an essential foundation for supporting students to make academic progress and avoid significant learning loss. 

Establishing routines and structures that center student well-being lays the foundation for trust and interpersonal connection between students and educators. Alison shared how Crew is a journey that everyone in a school community experiences together, building shared culture over time not overnight. Joel at Common Ground noted that intentional time must be set aside for building relationships because it doesn’t always happen in passing. Several community members shared that students frequently reached out to them to express their feelings and talk about the challenges they experienced during school closures. Ben from Berkshire Hills described how putting significant resources toward building and sustaining relationships led to a shift for their highest need students, who became eager, engaged, and expectant--mirroring the demeanor of other students who already felt connected and saw themselves in the learning.  

Taking off the teacher hat and letting students lead establishes a culture of student agency and authentic feedback. Alison shared that adult Crew provides wellness supports for educators while allowing them to explore the student experience and practice being a crew member rather than a leader at all times. Arria described collaborating with student Crew ambassadors on lessons and strategies, allowing them to choose music and add their bitmoji to slides. Dania from Margarita Muñiz shared that their team considers Crew among the most meaningful professional development opportunities they’ve experienced, and noted that they’ve used it to establish restorative circles and practice Spanish language learning. 

Crew Culture creates a welcoming space for exploring identity, and social and racial justice issues. Alison talked about the levels of establishing Crew and how it first provides physical, emotional and psychological safety, building toward connectedness and belongingness. She noted how students want to talk about current events and shared experiences, and Crew structures allow them to unpack their feelings and ideas without the power struggles and bullying they may experience having these conversations outside of the classroom. TLA intern Leon reflected on his own experience in Crew as a student at Margarita Muñiz Academy and how restorative and transformative practices are a critical asset in supporting students to address the underlying issues impacting their well-being. He added that students have to define what success means to them, and how an empowered identity is a critical step in being prepared for high school and envisioning a future for themselves. 

A clearly articulated, systemic primary person approach ensures that every student has a relationship with at least one adult in the school who knows them well, meets with them regularly, and holds them to high expectations. Jenny Curtin from the Barr Foundation opened the session to draw out the link between intentional student/adult relationships and quality high schools. Christy shared that Springpoint interviewed 20 educators and leaders who pointed to strong primary person/advisory models as the key driver of student engagement and academic progress during emergency remote instruction in the spring. 

Warm Demanders earn the right to demand engagement and effort through an explicit focus on building rapport and trust. Excerpts from Zaretta Hammond’s Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain provided a grounding philosophy: show personal regard for students by inquiring about important people and events in their lives, hold high standards while also offering emotional support and scaffolding, encourage productive struggle. One school acknowledged the common pitfall that leads educators to equate making a task easier with making learning more equitable, when helping students find their way is more gratifying and leads to academic progress.

Establishing a 1:1 primary person relationship is critical to setting students up for success. One of the participants pointed out that educators must take kids one at a time to understand what their needs are. CNM community members discussed how early supports require deep customization as the student and their primary person establish trust and become familiar with protocols for surfacing challenges and breaking them down into actionable goals.

Having a common protocol helps students and educators stay on track and allows students to become the driver of their own progress. Christy introduced the Springpoint academic case conferencing protocol and shared videos of students and their primary persons using the protocol to gage progress, surface challenges, and collaboratively build SMART goals to support skill building. In reflecting on the videos, CNM community members noted how familiarity with the protocol and established expectations were evident in how the student talked through progress and challenges that derailed further progress.  

Establishing SMART goals helps the student and their primary person get concrete about actionable next steps. In one video exemplar the primary person “zooms in” to suggest bite-sized tasks the student might take to make progress on a challenging assignment. Christy cautioned against talking about student work in vague terms that don’t provide a clear path forward, and CNM community members practiced developing SMART goals for the student in the video. One school observed that frequent goal setting not only provides a clear path forward on a specific assignment but also provides necessary practice that keeps the process nimble.