The Impact of Advisory on the Community of Teachers, Staff and Students at

Liberty Memorial Central Middle School (LMCMS)

Chesney Clark, Molly Fuller, Nick Mancini, Rachelle Pauly, &

Paige Schultz
April 18, 2012
Liberty Memorial Central Middle School USD 497

Background on Advisory
Advisory was a full class period at the end of the
school day through May 2011.
Advisory previously functioned as study hall
through May 2011.
Advisory was one of 14 middle school
curriculum sub-committees created as part of
the redesign process.

Redesigning for Student Success:

6-8 Middle Schools (2011-12)
Focus on developmental needs of young
adolescents
Physical Cognitive-Intellectual
Psychological/Emotional
Social
Moral/Ethical

Middle School Redesign anticipates and

expects to
Create meaningful relationships
Build character traits
Provide adult advocates for each student
http://www.usd497.org/FV1-00
http://www.usd497.org/FV10004E754/documents/RedesignforStudentSuccess.pdf

Literature Review
Middle School Emphasis on Advisory (Anfara, 2006
& George and Oldaker, 1985)

Effect of Advisory on Personalization (McClure, L.,

Yonezawa, S., & Jones, M., 2010 & Johnson, 2009)

Bridging diversity (Hershberg, T. & Kitchen, C., 1997)

Character building in advisory (Milson, 2000)

Research Direction/Questions
What is the impact of advisory on the
community of teachers, staff, and students at
Liberty Memorial Central Middle School
(LMCMS)?
How do teachers, staff, and students describe
their experiences in advisory?
How do teachers, staff, and students describe
the impact advisory has had on developing
relationships between teacher/students and
students/students?

Participants
6-8th grade students at Liberty Memorial Central
Middle School (LMCMS)
Teachers and staff assigned to an advisory class

Research Design &

Data Sources
Surveys (quantitative and qualitative data)
- surveys using a 5-point Likert scale and
open- ended questions to LMCMS
students in each advisory classroom
- surveys using a 5-point Likert scale and
open-ended questions to each advisory
teacher
Focus group conversations with advisory
students following initial data analysis

Data Collected
LMCMS student surveys
7 Likert items, 1 open-ended question
402 student responses

LMCMS teacher surveys

7 Likert items, 7 open-ended questions
32 Likert responses
24 open-ended responses

 Both surveys were designed to allow anonymous

responses and more specific feedback
Focus group conversations
facilitated in five advisory classes

Data Analysis

Surveys (LMCMS students and teachers)

Entered data into SurveyMonkey
Discussed potential findings with PDS
intern colleagues
Open-ended responses (LMCMS students and teachers)
Identified trends through PDS intern
conversation, coding, and collaboration

Assertions
Following slides describe student perspectives of
advisory as collected from their surveys
See Appendix A

Advisory makes me feel connected to

my Advisory classmates.
8.5%
12.9%
29.4%
37.1%
12.2%

Advisory makes me feel connected

with my Advisory teacher.
10%
12.9%
22.4%
42%
12.7%

I learned from the monthly themes of

Advisory.
12.3%
20.3%
33%
28.3%
6.3%

I use Advisory time to do homework.

25.8%
26.3%
33.5%
10.3%
4.3%

I think Advisory is a valuable part of

my day.
11.4%
14.2%
27.1%
31.6%
15.7%

Teacher Survey Data

Teachers responded to a 5-point Likert survey

and open-ended questions
See Appendix A

Advisory helps me build positive

relationships with my students.

32.3%
54.8%
12.9%

I use Advisory time to help students

with homework.
25%
12.5%
43.8%
18.8%

I use the lesson plans provided by the

district to teach each months theme
for Advisory.
3.1%
12.5%
50%
31.3%
3.1%

I use Advisory to show students their

grades and missing assignments.
6.3%
9.4%
28.1%
43.8%
12.5%

Advisory helps students build

relationships with each other.

3.1%
28.1%
65.6%
3.1%

Advisory is a valuable part of the

school day.

6.5%
41.9%
41.9%
9.7%

Advisory has helped my 6th and 7th

grade students adjust to their new
schoolLMCMS.

39.1%
52.2%
8.7%

Do students benefit from

Advisory? Open Ended Responses
66% of teachers surveyed agreed that advisory
was beneficial
The benefit happens only if there is teacher buy
in. Even if the teacher isn't following a lesson
plan but has a commitment to the students and
facilitates meaningful discussion, then the
students are going to benefit.

Do teachers/staff benefit from

Advisory?
2/3 of teachers and staff surveyed agreed that
they benefitted from advisory
Relationships, advocacy, rewards

Criticisms of advisory were:

Not enough prep time
Less instruction time during day

Teacher Perceptions of Student

Experiences in Advisory
Teachers perceive students favor advisory when it is a
time for building relationships and maintaining grades
Pleasant when they [students] get to pick what they want to do.
Less pleasant if it's an organized task requiring thought.
They like being able to do homework, check grades, and talk to
their friends. They do not like the activities.
I think my kids are split between - 1. "Why do we have Advisory?
It's so boring!" to 2. "This is so cool that we have time to talk and
get to know each other.

Teacher Response to Implementation of Advisory

Personally, teachers agreed that advisory builds a
stronger bond between teachers and students
Professionally, there is a lack of teacher buy-in to
implement the array of advisory goals
Personally, I love it because the kids and I have a bond.
Professionally, I dont feel like we need all the lesson plans.
I dont need to be told how to bond with my students.

Conclusion
Overall, teachers are more supportive of the
concept (advocacy and relationships) of
advisory than the content of advisory
curriculum.
Over 60% of students responded that they would
not change anything to advisory

Data Comparison
Student: Advisory makes me feel connected
with my advisory teacher.

Teacher: Advisory helps me build positive

relationships with my students.

Advisory is a valuable part of the

school day.
Student

Teacher

Learned from Monthly Themes

Student

Used Monthly Themes

Teacher

How Might Other Teachers/staff

Describe Their Experiences in Advisory?
There is a massive amount of frustration with
the advisory piece. The lesson plans have fallen
far short of expectations. Some of them are not
age appropriate (meaning activities for Xth
graders often need to be tweaked). The
teachers who have not bought into the
importance of or the opportunity created by
advisory are really slighting the kids who have
been assigned to them.
Teacher Survey, January 2012

Future Directions based on Data

Themes are unrealistic
Teacher buy-in
Lesson plans more age appropriate
Activities more discussion not work
Community service

References
Anfara, V.A., Jr. (2006). Research summary: Advisory programs. Retrieved 15 November 2011 from
http:/www.nmsa.org/Research/ReasearchSummaries/AdvisoryPrograms/tabid/812/Default.aspx.
George, P., & Oldaker, L. (1985). Evidence for the middle school. Columbus, OH: National Middle School Association
Glaser & Strauss. (1992). Emergence v Forcing Basics of Grounded Theory Analysis. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.
Hershberg, T., & Kitchen, C. (1997). Meeting Americas diversity challenge through community service and
regional cooperation: The Greater Philadelphia High School Partnership. National Civic Review 86, 265-71.
Johnson, B. (2009). Linchpins or lost time: Creating effective advisories. Horace, 25, 1-6.
Milson, A.J. (2000). Creating a curriculum for character development: A case study. Clearinghouse 74, 89-93.
McClure, L., Yonezawa, S., & Jones, M. (2010). Can school structures improve teacher student
relationships? The relationship between advisory programs, personalization and students academic achievement.
Education Policy Analysis Archives, 18

Advisory Themes

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Thanks to
Jennifer Clarkson, Katie Martin, Michel Loomis,
Therese Edgecomb, Mike Wormsley, Charlotte
Prosser, Carolyn Montney, & Carol Souders,
Gregg Winchester
Anna Stubblefield