By Tracy Steele, Director of Student Affairs
Last fall, Stanford Online High School (OHS) conducted surveys on student competencies and the support system of the school. Our school uses students’ responses to help identify areas in which we can provide further social and emotional learning and support to our students throughout all areas of the school, including in the classroom, in outside clubs and activities, and in programs like Wellness I. In addition, we can benchmark our findings on the survey results across a set of peer independent schools in California, all of which are brick-and-mortar schools except Stanford OHS.
Findings from the fall survey show that students continue to report high levels of social and emotional competencies, scoring in the highest quartile among peer independent schools in the areas of grit, growth mindset, self-efficacy, social awareness, emotional regulation, rigorous expectations, student-teacher relationships, and classroom effort. Survey findings show that areas of focus for this year include self-management and sense of belonging, with survey results in the second highest quartile and in the middle quartile, respectively. Sense of belonging has been an area of focus for Stanford OHS over the past few years, recognizing the challenges inherent in online settings as well as the fact that half our students attend part-time. Nevertheless, we seek to find and identify ways that students can feel recognized and valued for who they are and what they contribute to our Stanford OHS school community.
In the area of self-management, two specific areas of growth are highlighted from the survey findings. First, students report that they sometimes wait until the last minute rather than working on assignments right away. Next, some students report losing focus during studying or working on their homework. While seventy percent of the students reported that the workload was just about right, others felt it was more than it should be. To help students meet the deadlines and manage heavy workload in an academically rigorous environment, Stanford OHS does offer several services that students can leverage. These include attending office hours, participating in school workshops on topics such as time management, and meeting with a school counselor, to name a few. Interestingly, students who reported making use of any of these services were, on average, more likely to report feeling more of a sense of belonging to Stanford OHS than those who rarely or never used these services.
Regarding feeling a sense of belonging, most students report that they feel respected by their peers and report that overall, they feel like they belong at Stanford OHS. In digging deeper, many students in the survey reported that they feel they belong academically at Stanford OHS because of the rigor of the curriculum, their own academic performance, or the pedagogic style of the school. By contrast, some students report that, compared with the academic sense of belonging, their social sense of belonging is weaker. They invariably point out that this difference stems from the challenges posed by an all-online school. As one student shares with us: “It’s got nothing to do with the people at Stanford OHS, almost everyone here is a pretty awesome person. It’s got more to do with the fact that it’s online. It’s not the same as what I had when I attended a B&M school.” More specifically, students tell us that “It is hard to remember to continue a conversation with people when they aren’t physically present as a reminder.”
This social aspect of student life merits further scrutiny. When asked “whether adults know you as a person,” students display some ambivalence. On the one hand, students readily acknowledge that they have healthy relationships with adults (especially their teachers) in the school and do not hesitate to show appreciation for those interactions. On the other hand, they keep some distance from adults by drawing a line between academic life and personal life. “Sometimes I do not wish to share everything,” one student says, “and I think that distance is okay.” In their personal lives, students tend to rely on their parents or friends or peers. As one student reveals: “I do not communicate with the adults [in the school] as frequently as with my friends.” Similarly, students report overwhelmingly that friends, “being included” and “being part of a community,” or in a more activist streak, student government is “what make students feel like they matter at Stanford OHS.” At the same time, students who did reach out for support to Stanford OHS counselors, instructors, wellness coaches or trusted adults at the school found this experience, on average, very positive. “They were very friendly and understanding. They encouraged me to use the resources at my disposal and integrate myself within the community. They were also very helpful with any problem that I came to them with.”
With the opportunity to join circles and clubs at any time of the year, participate in student government either as an elected representative or unelected participant, and make use of student support resources, we encourage students to be proactive, much as they do with their academics, to reach out and connect with others socially. With the pandemic limiting so many in-person activities and students’ regular extracurriculars, staying connected with peers proves even more paramount. We want to thank all our students who participated in this survey in the fall. We are continuing to use this information in our program planning in various areas of the school and seek to help students continue to develop and maintain their skills and competencies in social and emotional learning while also attending to their health and well-being.
The Wellness Program Highlights
We are excited to report that this semester in Wellness Program I, we utilized feedback from coaches and students to pilot a new student experience. In place of weekly reflections, Wellness Program I students have the choice to participate in one of six different wellness strands led by a variety of Stanford OHS instructors and staff. The goal of the strands is to enable students to focus more deeply on one aspect related to their well-being. Below is the list of strands that students are participating in and we look forward to hearing feedback from the students and the coaches on how this pilot worked to consider future changes to the program:
• Heartfulness by Dr. Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu: Heartfulness begins with mindfulness and extends into other ways of being, embracing vulnerability, humility, acceptance, and authenticity.
• Ruling Our Experiences by Ms. Nicole Varveris: ROX provides girls with a safe place to explore the issues that they are facing and equip them with skills and competencies they need to effectively navigate their lives.
• Dine and Dialogue by Mr. Tanner Strong: Dine and Dialogue is a monthly community conversation that covers various topics with our instructors, staff, and students. These topics give us the opportunity to discuss, ask questions, and continue to educate one another.
• Personal Growth by Drs. Steele and Nuckols: Students will get to know each other and form “accountability partners.” From there, students will explore a range of topics, including time management, growth mindset, and mindfulness, and stress reduction.
• Multicultural Society by Dr. Laura Ortiz-Mendez: This strand will enable students to examine issues in society that relate to race, racism, stereotypes, discrimination, social class, intersectionality, white privilege, equality, and social justice.
• Monthly Reflection by Stanford OHS Wellness Coaches: This strand invites students to continue to reflect on and write about several different areas of Wellness in more depth than they may have done previously.