High School Advisory Programs: The Roosevelt Roads Experience

Abstract

ncreasingly, high school educators are reaching down to middle schools for concepts to use in their school restructuring efforts.' That is what the Restructuring Team at Roosevelt Roads High School, a Department of Defense dependent school in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, did in 1996. As part of the site-based management in effect at that school, the team initiated an advisory program (also known as advisor-advisee or home-based guidance programs), established interdisciplinary teaming, and took steps to create a positive school climate (or sense of community [Manning and Saddlemire 1996a, 1996b]). This use of middle school concepts on the high school level has resulted in widespread restructuring at Roosevelt Roads High School. In this article, we focus on one component of the restructuring-the advisory program. We define the advisory program, explain its implementation, discuss the evolving scope and sequence, and offer suggestions for high school educators wanting to implement such a program.