“Your work does matter more than you can imagine. Your students, particularly if they are low-income children of color, cannot succeed without you. You are their lifeline to a better future. If you put energy and expertise into your teaching, learn from those who know your students best, make strong demands, express care and concern, engage your students, and constantly ensure that your charges are capable of achieving, then you are creating for your students... ‘a future we could not even imagine for ourselves’”
Unconditional Education
UE Introduction
The Unconditional Education (UE) model seeks to disrupt the cycle of poor achievement and exclusion by transforming schools into communities in which all students are welcomed and can thrive. UE is a holistic, multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) that pairs evidence-based academic, behavioral, and social-emotional interventions with an intentional focus on overall culture and climate. UE promotes systematic coordination and integration of funding and services, which increase the efficient allocation of available resources so that gaps are identified and redundancies eliminated. UE emphasizes early intervention by utilizing data to identify student needs and then providing services to address those needs before students fail, thereby reducing the need for more intensive and costly remediation in the future.
UE at ARISE
ARISE High School serves a diverse student population with a range of academic and socio-emotional needs. This includes students who are performing below grade level, students who are performing above grade level, students who qualify for special education services, and students who are learning English as a secondary language. Serving all these students well is a core design element of the ARISE High School program.
ARISE High School has partnered with the Seneca Family of Agencies in the implementation of a Multi-Tiered Model for proactive support and intervention across the domains of academics, behavior, social, and emotional well-being.
Our Unconditional Education (UE) Model aligns academic, behavioral, and social-emotional approaches to ensure students and their families are provided integrated, responsive interventions that are attuned to the child and family’s specific needs. This model establishes criteria for decision-making around three Tiers of services, with Tier 1 services implemented school-wide, and Tiers 2 and 3 targeting students who require additional services to succeed. The Response to Intervention (RTI) tiered services are described in more detail here.
ARISE’s Adelante team utilizes a “Coordination Of Services Team” (COST) model made up of school leaders, service providers, general education teachers, and support staff that are responsible for the coordination of intervention services. At ARISE High School, the Dean of School Culture oversees this team. The team regularly reviews school-wide data including academic, behavioral and/or social emotional health reports and progress assessments to inform decisions around intervention service. In addition, the team may identify thematic areas of need around which they will develop a school-wide approach, such as school transitions, anger management, relationship violence, and alcohol and drug issues.