Leading and Managing Adult Learning at Hazelwood Central High School - Research Paper

Introduction

Leading and managing adult learning is a process that often takes place in several institutions. In other words, the system of adult education requires specialized education institutions that offer unique system of learning process. In this study, Hazelwood Central High School is the site for research. The institution is a public educational center located in North St. Louis County, Missouri. Over the years, the school has undergone transformation to become one of the best and competitive schools in the district. However, the institution has numerous cases of drug abuse that impacts the lives of the students and educators as well. The issue of drug abuse has so far impacted the academic performance of various students. As a result, parents, teachers and even the guardians have become the worried lot about the future of their students. Hazelwood Central High School was established in the year 1966 due to the faster growth in the number of students seeking education in various institutions (Oluwole & Green, 2016). There was, therefore, a shift in the primary to secondary educational facility. Hazelwood Central High School offers learning opportunities for all the learners to successfully engage in learning in their various fields of interest. In addition, the school has the capacities, including facilities and teachers that enhance the performance of every student. Hazelwood Central High School has the student number of approximately 1,960; out of the above number, 75% of the students are African Americans while the remaining 25% split between Asians, Hispanic, and White Americans (Oluwole & Green, 2016). In the institution, the administrative and teaching staff has a racial balance with eighty percent having advanced university degrees. In addition, the staff shares many different progressives to teaching and learning approaches. The mission statement of the school is to provide support and guidance to all the learners with social, personal, academic and emotional desire to progress; in addition, the institution aims at enhancing the post-secondary choices. The vision of the institution is to ensure that learners acquire knowledge and skills to graduate and enhance the future choices that will enable them become part of the modern economy. Hazelwood Central High School is well-positioned to achieve the mission and vision. The total number of teaching staff is 125, this, therefore, means that the student, teacher ratio is 16:1 which is higher compared to the recommended 14:1 required by the Missouri state (Oluwole & Green, 2016). The institution's administration is organized into different levels including Head Principal, Associate Principal, Assistant Principal, and lastly the Instructional Coaches. The purpose of the project is to implement an improvement in Hazelwood Central High School that is designed to offer the professional development training for the administrative staff, teachers, parents, and counselors regarding the critical issues with students using illegal drugs in school.

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Statement of the Problem

The problem is that many students who engage in drug use in Hazelwood Central High School have high likelihood of poor performance and school dropout. Drug abuse is a common problem in Hazelwood Central High School, there is a large number of students who are engaged in drug abuse. In most cases, in the above institution, students often tend to experiment with alcohol and drugs for different reasons. In some cases, there are students who simply want to enjoy the physical sensation of being high as it activates the pleasure in the brain. In addition, in Hazelwood Central High School students engages in drugs to deal with depression, stress, emotional problems, as well as social anxiety (Wills et al., 2017). The problem of drug abuse among the students in Hazelwood Central High School impacts learning processes and the ability of the students to interact with their teachers. Even though Hazelwood Central High School has been regarded as a progressive institution that equips leaners from all the social backgrounds with the skills and knowledge. Greater access to drugs as well as the alcoholic substances usually increases the likelihood of engagement in drug abuse. In most cases, academic pressure contributes to the student's drug use within the institution. In most case, students who engage in drug abuse have higher likelihood of attaining lower grades in academic performance. One of the drugs consumed by the students within Hazelwood Central High School is marijuana (Wills et al., 2017). In most cases, marijuana affects memory, attention, as well as the ability to learn. The effects of marijuana in the body can last for weeks or days even after the drug wears off. Therefore, students who smoke marijuana are not functioning at their best when it comes to academic performance. Learners who have the tendency of smoking marijuana usually tend to get lower grades and in addition, they have high likelihood of dropping out of school (Wills et. al., 2017). Heavy marijuana use among the students continues to adulthood and as a result, there could be a lower intelligent Quotient among the learners. Increase in school dropout is another impact of use of marijuana among the students in Hazelwood Central High School.

Data/Evidence of the Problem

The drug use among the students has been on the rise over the past two years. Currently, the use of illegal drug stands at 45%. The school has only issued disciplinary consequences and referrals made to the School Resource Officer (SRO) for legal actions. The needs assessment was conducted by the School Resource Officer. During the past two school years the SRO has made 20 documented student referrals to Family Court/Juvenile Detention for illegal drug use/possession. There has also been countless documented times that school administration, security, and SRO has been notified and responded to a school restroom, due to the smell of marijuana.

The problem of drug abuse among the students in Hazelwood Central High School is a common phenomenon that has been observed by the school's administration as well as the community within which the school operates (Wills et al., 2017). The drug abuse among the students often causes the school dropouts and poor performance. According to the administrative report on the students' performance released in the year 2018, the majority of the students who had lower performance had a history of drug abuse. Besides, the report highlighted that drug abuse among the students causes high levels of school dropouts. According to Oluwole and Green (2016), the use of illegal is common among the students, and the problem continues to impact the performance of many students. With the increasing level of drug abuse among the students in Hazelwood Central High School, the administration has put in place several measures to prevent many students from getting into the same trap. In addition, there are also many programs that have been put in place to help the drug addicts recover from addictive situations. The school has elaborate and operational counseling programs that target students who have been impacted in different ways. Among the teachers, there are those who have a specialized function of counseling the students who are more likely to get into drugs. In addition to counseling, the school's administration has policies that attempt to keep drugs from the reach of the students. For instance, the institution, in collaboration with the government has formulated strategies to identify and prosecute the drug suppliers who are working with the students to enhance the supply of drugs. The need assessment was conducted by the school administration, the quantitative and the qualitative approaches were used to obtain the data among the students.

Broader Topic within Which the Project is SituatedThe topic of drug abuse is situated in the broader topic of drug abuse. The exact broader topic is "Student Illegal Drug Use and Prevention Awareness Program." Drug abuse does not only affect high school students but also different societies across the world. According to the article, "Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students-United States, 2011-2015" written by Singh Tushar (2016), drug use among the students leads to low intelligent quotient and lack of concentration in academic work. In most case, Singh (2016) elaborates that the use of tobacco lowers the academic performance, a situation which forces other students to drop out of school. According to the article, "Sexual Behavior among High School Students in Brazil: Alcohol Consumption and Legal and Illegal Drug Use Associated with Unprotected Sex." By Sanchez et.al, (2013), drug abuse among high school students leads to other problems including sexual abuse as well as the high level of absenteeism from school. The high rate of absentees this leads to lower performance in the academic works. The drug addiction among high school students may be an extension of drug abuse from home (Sudhinaraset, Wigglesworth, & Takeuchi, 2016). Some students come from families where the use of alcohol is the order of the day, therefore, when they get into the college; they find a free environment with lots of drugs and the drinking cohorts. According to the article, "Experimental Models of Insomnia and Alcoholism: Cognitive Abilities and Oxidative Stress Levels" Varadinova, Traykova, and Nadka, (2018) state that most high school students often become alcoholics to protect their social life. Students coming from shaky backgrounds usually tend to have low self-esteem; they therefore usually find alcohol to be the best remedy for their social life (Rasic, Weerasinghe, Asbridge, & Langille, 2013). However, in the long run, they become addicted and as a result, their performance is lowered. Approaching people or taking part in class discussion may sometimes become very challenging, but with alcohol, students more often than not, find the courage to verbally interact with the peers as well as the tutors about the academic work.

Proposed Future State

Description of the Proposed Deliverable

To address the problems of drug abuse among the students in Hazelwood Central High School, there is the need to introduce the Normative Education approach. The system will greatly improve the perception of the students when it comes to drug abuse. Some of the components of the normative education system include the activities to rectify the inaccurate perceptions concerning high prevalence of substance abuse. In many cases, high school students underestimate the prevalence of drinking, smoking, as well as the use of specific drugs which makes the substance abuse to be perceived as normative behavior. Another component of normative education is informing the youths about the actual rates of use. Creation of awareness and perception regarding drug abuse is another component of normative education. One way of addressing or presenting normative education is to first collect and provide findings from the school, classrooms, or even the local community. These sources indicate the actual prevalence rate of substance abuse among high school students. The normative education can be taught through applying the national survey which can actually indicate the prevalence rates. Normative education often tries to undermine common but inaccurate belief that drug abuse is not dangerous and the drug use is acceptable among the high school students. The above scenario can be achieved by establishing strong anti-drug social norms and highlighting the general perceived risks of drug use among the population. In most cases, the normative ed...