The team approach addresses the question of why some students retain the confidence to do well, even if their life experiences have not been consistently positive.

In their recent workshop, sponsored by San Francisco's Unified School District, Howard Blonsky and Phillip Bryan identified resiliency as the key quality in students who succeed The school district's Student Success Team process brings together the student and the key people in the student's life, to brainstorm just what success would look like:

• in the classroom
• in the school
• in the home
• in the community

This approach can get buy-in from the student, and help key people know how to provide support.

For example, staff members and family members model responsible conflict-resolution, set appropriate boundaries, support family and school rules. The student experiences resiliency, along with learning conflict-resolution, and practicing making good decisions. The team intervenes to predict the student's meeting (or not meeting) grade-level expectations; and sets up a plan that can result in the student's success.

Results have been good so far: the process involves the students in each of the team meetings, connects them to the school in a positive way, and when needed, intervenes with tutoring and home-school contracts. It also makes sure the students are connected up with sports and groups that address their leisure-time interests.

At this workshop, participants were also referred to a tool developed by Bill Deeb (of Alisai School District, Salinas) called the Resiliency Rubric. It assesses problem-solving skills, social competence, sense of purpose, and performance in school.

Basing the progression on Emmy Werner's Journeys from Childhood to Midlife, Cornell University Press, 2001, he delineates four stages of development.

At level 1, the student displays little empathy, and often misinterprets interactions with others; the student also has difficulty completing projects. At level 2, the student is better at these skills, but not sufficiently to have any resiliency to setbacks. Level 3 students can bond with a mentor, can make friends, show increasing independence, seek out special interests or new groups of people, and show interest in doing quality work. At level 4, students show a sense of humor, report satisfying peer friendships, choose to cooperate with others, show resourcefulness, set and achieve goals, and become active participants in doing quality work.

Howard Blonsky can be reached at 242-2670. Bill Deeb can be reached at 831-753-5700 ext.2013, or you can email bdeeb [at] monterey [dot] k12 [dot] ca [dot] us.