Why some students thrive, and how to ensure more can, too
It is no surprise that schools, like most institutions, are complex ecosystems. While there may be a central leadership infrastructure, it’s not uncommon to have teachers, specialists, and counselors serving distinct student populations, often siloed to their own grade level or department. As a result, student success might look differently depending on who’s describing it.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Students come into schools with unique needs, and specialized support allows educators to meet the needs of a diverse student body. However, as educators, we can get so caught up in focusing on individual goals that we forget to step back and consider a shared vision of what success looks like. In other words, what does a thriving student look like at our institution? What characteristics does a thriving student bring to the table, and how can we create the conditions to cultivate that across our learning community?
What’s a Thrivers Study, and How Can it Help?
The Thrivers Study, developed by Kristína Moss G. Gunnarsdóttir and Making Caring Common, is a tool that provides school leaders with a framework to identify what it means to thrive at your school, and to better understand what has worked well for your institutions’ top performers. Our Thrivers Study tool was initially designed to offer college admission offices a blueprint for understanding who thrives in their community and why. However, the tool can be leveraged by any educational institution that seeks to better understand their student population’s strengths, needs, and aspirations. Most importantly, implementing a Thrivers Study allows school leaders to establish a long-term plan that ensures all offices and departments are operating in support of a shared vision of student achievement.
The Thrivers Study is a three-phase initiative that brings together a range of school stakeholders to establish the characteristics and conditions of student success, and then identifies opportunities to integrate them into your institution’s strategic plans.
The first phase, coalition building, requires compiling a leadership team to spearhead the study. It is a unique opportunity to empower a select group of faculty, staff, parents, or even students to come together as a team and develop a research strategy. As a cohort, you’ll want to articulate a criteria of what comprises a thriving student at your institution. It may be a certain GPA or performance benchmark, a heightened level of campus involvement, or perhaps a set of students, nominated by instructors, who are flourishing in and out of the classroom. The students who meet the agreed-upon criteria will now become your research population.
“It’s worth remembering that the objective of this tool is not to prioritize the needs of thriving students, nor does it assume that only thriving students have valid opinions to consider. ”
In the second phase, the assembled research team will begin gathering and analyzing data. Data may be gathered through a combination of surveys and interviews with your selected ‘thriving students.’ You may even want to consider observing how your campus’ thrivers are engaging in the school community throughout the day. These methods allow you, as a research team, to dig deeper on particular issues relevant to your school. You may want to probe your thrivers on what curricular or co-curricular choices have been most (or least) impactful, or what campus supports have been most valuable to their success. Of course, you’ll also want to leave space for your thrivers to share their general impressions of the school community and culture, and hear what they feel would enhance their experience.
It’s worth remembering that the objective of this tool is not to prioritize the needs of thriving students, nor does it assume that only thriving students have valid opinions to consider. Rather, the intention of the Thrivers Study is to better understand the conditions that allow for students at your institution to thrive. Consider what characteristics, experiences, or skills are shared across this group of students and think critically about how access to these qualities can be cultivated in the broader student body.
The third and final phase asks the team to consider how their findings may be integrated into school policy, instructional choices, and student opportunities. You may want to consider the implications that these findings may carry for teachers and family members as well. Even if your school’s leadership cannot guarantee institutional changes, presenting these findings to various stakeholders may generate more iterative conversations about how to create a culture of excellence in school and at home.
“The Thrivers Study allows school leaders to take an asset-based approach in identifying best practices for high-performing students and incorporating these practices to meet the needs of all students.”
The Thrivers Study allows school leaders to take an asset-based approach in identifying best practices for high-performing students and incorporating these practices to meet the needs of all students. It also allows diverse school stakeholders to grapple with important, challenging questions and differing opinions about what constitutes school success and to build shared understanding through student voice and data. It empowers interdepartmental collaboration and leadership throughout the school, giving voice to educators, parents and students. Most importantly, though, it is meant to be customizable. Rather than a prescriptive application, the Thrivers Study can be customized to meet the needs of your school.
Posted by Julius DiLorenzo, College Admission Program Coordinator
