Educational Crisis Intervention: Collaborative Academic Verification

Every parent wants their child to be successful in school — to be a student who understands assignments and expectations, who has the skills required to complete academic tasks, and who feels a sense of responsibility for doing (rather than avoiding) those tasks. Parents of children who are deficient in any of these domains often become exasperated by repeated attempts to support their child. They can never verify what’s done, what’s due, or how their child is performing, quickly losing trust. As hard as they try to stay on top of their child, they often feel helpless even after traditional interventions: tutors, study skills trainings, and increasing communication with the school.

In these types of last-resort situations, the therapeutic process can be enhanced by the introduction of an academic manager, whose function is to work with the student and the therapist. With the student, the manager coordinates and organizes academic work, verifies its completion and submission, monitors progress, and teaches skills in response to deficiencies. The therapist and academic manager collaborate by sharing information about academic progress and by ensuring that the academic intervention is in support of therapeutic goals. With reliable information, the therapist is able to help the child understand and work through the deeper blocks that are preventing their success. The ultimate goal is to help the child learn what to do in school and how to do it, and most of all, to take ownership of that process.