Identify At-Risk Students Through Personalized Student Engagement

As an educator, your responsibility goes beyond simply delivering content to your students. Your classroom should be a place where everyone feels safe, nurtured, and accepted. Recognizing when a student needs your help is one of your most critical duties.

Stepping up for a struggling student can make a significant difference in their educational journey. Especially at-risk students, who are more likely to fail a class or drop out of school, often face various issues like poverty, health problems, etc. They may not always explicitly seek help, so it is crucial for educators to learn how to identify the signs of at-risk students.

Understanding At-Risk Students

At-risk students come from diverse backgrounds and face a range of challenges, which can hinder their educational progress.

Challenges Faced by At-Risk Students:

• Diverse Backgrounds
• Bullying
• Familial Abuse
• Unplanned Childbearing
• Grief
• Learning Difficulties
• Mental Illness and more.

Identifying and supporting these students is vital for their success.

What Are the Key Challenges in Identifying At-Risk Students?

Recognizing at-risk students can be challenging, as they often do not fit a specific profile or exhibit overt signs of distress. In the past, teachers primarily relied on general indicators like poor grades or attendance records.

However, these metrics are not comprehensive enough to provide a complete understanding of a student's well-being and progress. This is where personalized student engagement strategies come into play.

Personalized Student Engagement: A New Approach

Personalized student engagement is a tailored approach to teaching and supporting students based on their unique needs, learning styles, and preferences. It acknowledges that each student is an individual with distinct strengths and weaknesses and aims to create an educational environment that nurtures their growth.

Key Elements of Personalized Student Engagement

1. Data-Driven Insights

Technology plays a significant role in collecting and analyzing data on students' performance, attendance, behavior, and engagement. By leveraging this data, educators can gain insights into each student's specific challenges and needs.

2. Personalized Learning Paths

With the help of ERP technology and data analysis, teachers can design customized learning paths in LMSs for at-risk students. These paths take into account the student's strengths, weaknesses, and learning preferences.

3. Supportive Learning Environments

Personalized student engagement goes beyond academics, it also involves creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment with the help of the SIS module. This can include counseling services, mentoring programs, and initiatives to address socio-emotional needs.

4. Communication and Collaboration

Effective communication between instructors, students, and parents is crucial in identifying and addressing at-risk students' issues. Regular check-ins, progress reports, and collaborative efforts can ensure everyone is on the same page.

This can be achieved by adopting specific ERP software solutions. Let’s explore them in detail.

Leveraging ERP Systems for Personalized Student Engagement

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, which encompass various software solutions like Student Information Systems (SIS), Learning Management Systems (LMS), Examination Systems, and Attendance Management Systems, play a vital role in identifying at-risk students through personalized student engagement.

Here's how each of these systems contributes to the process

Student Information System (SIS):

• Data Centralization: SIS collects and centralizes students' demographic, attendance, grade, and relevant data, allowing holistic educational journey analysis and aiding in identifying at-risk students.
• Early Warning Integration: It incorporates early warning systems that use data-driven algorithms to detect patterns related to at-risk students, identifying declining grades, irregular attendance, or behavioral issues.
• Customized Reporting: SIS enables customized reporting, helping teachers generate reports highlighting at-risk students and offering detailed academic performance and attendance overviews.
• Communication Tools: It typically features communication tools to facilitate educator-student-parent interactions, allowing early alerts and notifications for potential concerns.

Learning Management System (LMS):

• Engagement Metrics:Learning Management Systems can track students' interactions with course materials. Low engagement, such as infrequent logins or limited participation in discussions, may indicate potential issues.
• Progress Tracking: LMS platforms provide tools for tracking student progress and performance. Instructors can use these features to identify students who are falling behind.
• Analytics and Reporting: This ERP software often includes analytics and reporting features that help educators identify patterns of underperformance or disengagement. These insights can inform personalized interventions.

Examination System:

• Performance Data: Examination systems collect data on students' test and assessment results. Consistently poor performance can be an early sign of an at-risk student.
• Subject Analysis: Examination systems can provide subject-level analysis, allowing instructors to identify specific topics or subjects where a student is struggling. This information helps tailor support and interventions.
• Test History: Tracking a student's test history can reveal trends in performance. Frequent retakes or declining scores may indicate the need for personalized assistance.

Attendance Management System:

• Real-Time Attendance Data: These systems provide real-time attendance data, allowing educators to track students' attendance patterns. Frequent tardiness or absences can be early warning signs.
• Notifications: Attendance systems can send auto-generated notifications to educators, alerting them to unusual attendance patterns. This can prompt timely intervention.
• Data Integration: Integration between the Attendance Management System and the SIS provides a 360° view of a student's attendance history, which can be correlated with academic performance.

Benefits of Personalized Student Engagement

• Personalized engagement enables early at-risk student identification, allowing timely intervention.
• At-risk students receive individualized assistance, covering various needs for holistic well-being.
• Personalized engagement leads to better academic performance and reduced dropout risk for at-risk students.
• Involving students in their education empowers them to shape their learning journey.

In addition to personalized student engagement, teachers can also follow the below strategies for better identification of at-risk students, thereby improving student academic performance.

Key Strategies for Identifying At-Risk Students

To effectively identify at-risk students, educators can leverage a data-driven approach, as outlined below:

• Tardiness and Absences: Changes in attendance patterns may indicate underlying issues, such as frequent lateness or absences.
• Poor Grades: Consistently low grades can suggest unmet learning needs, learning disabilities, or a need for a different learning approach.
• Behavior and Attitude: Disruptive behavior and disciplinary issues can indicate academic or emotional struggles.
• Financial Pressures: Signs of financial stress, such as students experiencing difficulty in fee payments or tardy fee payments, could be observed.
• Student Feedback: Collecting feedback from students provides insights into their needs and challenges.
• Extracurricular Participation: Changes in participation levels in extracurricular activities can signal underlying issues.
• Performance in Other Classes: Collaboration among educators can identify students excelling in one class but struggling in another.