Effects of Looping on At-Risk Children in Education

Introduction to Looping and At-Risk Students

Looping, also known as multiyear teaching or multiyear placement, occurs when teachers are promoted with their students to the next grade level, remaining with the same group of children for two or three years. For example, in a looping situation, a teacher would teach a class of first-grade students and then remain with those students the following year as their second-grade teacher. At the end of second grade, the same teacher would return to first grade to begin with a new group of students. This practice takes advantage of the additional time that teachers and students have together.

Looping is especially designed for the diverse populations that school districts face today, particularly at-risk students (Forsten, 1997). These include children who are homeless, have families in crisis, have been or are being emotionally or physically abused, are learning disabled and require a variety of special services, have untreated health problems, or are under significant emotional stress. Schools have traditionally been places of support and nurturing, and the looping process can strengthen this tradition by offering continuity for children with special needs.

Many teachers praise the benefits of looping, saying that it helps establish a greater bond between teachers and students (p. 57). As a result, less time is spent in the initial stage of getting to know students, and more time is devoted to actual teaching. With looping, teachers can introduce curriculum topics immediately at the start of the school year rather than spending weeks establishing classroom routines and expectations. This means that students have more time to learn and enjoy the advantage of a richer curriculum.

Beyond an enhanced curriculum, looping benefits teachers and students by giving them a greater opportunity to know each other well. After one year, a teacher typically has at least a basic knowledge of an individual student's skills and strengths. After two or more years, there is a much greater chance of developing a strong bond. These strong relationships are especially important for at-risk students, for whom it is crucial that a teacher understands their additional needs. By spending two years with the same teacher, students tend to feel more comfortable and are more likely to take risks and open up.

While looping helps teachers meet the individual needs of students, it also gives them more time to act in the best interests of each child. Teachers can take time to observe their students and postpone high-stakes decisions — such as special education referrals or social and economic recommendations — until they are confident they have reached the right conclusions.

Statement of the Research Problem

In today's society, teachers are expected to socialize children as well as to educate them (Clune, 1995). Many parents choose public schools for socialization reasons rather than academic ones, favoring them over private or home school. Over the past few decades, schools have been pressured to strengthen their socialization guidelines and are encouraged to implement programs that benefit at-risk children.

Recent research has identified a variety of risk factors that contribute to the development of antisocial behavior and educational problems, as well as protective factors that help children develop the skills and behaviors necessary to overcome risk. Most antisocial behavior develops from a combination of risk factors associated with individuals, families, schools, and communities (Thornberry, 1994). Research also shows that antisocial behavior increases over the course of childhood, often beginning in the preschool and elementary years and reaching its peak in late adolescence. Studies demonstrate that early intervention is highly effective in stopping its progress; however, if antisocial patterns are firmly established, they become harder to change and can persist into adulthood (p. 11).

Risk Factors and Resilience in Children

General Risk Factors

Many general factors place children at risk for antisocial behavior and educational problems. While the presence of multiple factors increases risk, the elimination of factors reduces it. There are three types of general risk factors that must be addressed (Brooks, 1994, p. 550):

Individual risk factors. Various inborn traits and characteristics related to personality, temperament, and cognitive ability are risk factors for delinquent behavior. While they do not necessarily lead to misbehavior or crime, they make children more susceptible to other risks in the environment.

Family, community, and societal risk factors. Family characteristics, as well as community and societal factors, can increase risk for antisocial behavior.

School-related risk factors. Various school factors can be linked to delinquent behavior.

Individual risk factors include impulsivity; the inability to understand consequences; the inability to delay gratification; the inability to self-regulate emotions; an excessive need for stimulation and excitement; low harm avoidance; low frustration tolerance; central nervous system dysfunction; aggressive behavior; low general aptitude; increased exposure to violence and abuse; alienation; rebelliousness; association with deviant peers; peer rejection; and alcohol and drug abuse (Thornberry & Hawkins, 1995).

Family, community, and societal risk factors include economic deprivation and unemployment; deviant behavior of parents; poor parental supervision; poor parental education; family conflict; disruption in caregiving; out-of-home placement; poor relationships between child and family; low community attachment and community disorganization; parental alcoholism or drug abuse; social alienation; availability of drugs and firearms; high community turnover; and exposure to violence (Thornberry & Hawkins, p. 17).

School-based risk factors include academic failure; poor test scores; lack of commitment to school; lack of belief in the validity of rules; early aggressive behavior; lack of relationships with teachers; lack of aspirations and goals; peer rejection and social alienation; low morale; academic disorganization; poor monitoring and management of students; and poor adaptation to school (Thornberry & Hawkins).

Resiliency: Overcoming Risk

Studies show that the majority of children succeed in life despite exposure to multiple risks. Children who are able to thrive despite such risks are described as resilient (Brooks, p. 553). Researchers have identified looping as a teaching method that can help promote resilience and prevent negative outcomes.

Protective factors — located within individuals, families, communities, and schools — act against risk factors. Because the effects of protective factors are cumulative, the more factors present, the greater their combined influence (Thornberry). Schools that foster high self-esteem and promote social and scholastic success thereby increase protective factors and reduce the likelihood of emotional and behavioral disturbance. Looping enables teachers to establish high expectations for all students, including at-risk children, because they can better design classroom instruction to accommodate individual ability levels and increase actual learning time (Hawkins).

Review of the Literature on Looping

Looping, as a design alternative to the traditional one-year pairing of a teacher with a group of students, is a teaching method that allows a teacher to remain with the same class for two or more years (Forsten, Grant, Johnson, & Richardson, 1997). It is a growing movement in the United States, inspired by initiatives that propose establishing long-term relationships between teachers and students.

Since few formal studies have been completed on looping, there is limited empirical evidence to support it. However, a study by Milburn at the University of British Columbia demonstrated that looping can have a positive effect (Milburn, 1981). In a controlled study of the combined effects of multi-age classes and persistence in group, Milburn tracked the progress of children in similar urban schools over a five-year period. His findings showed little difference in skill achievement levels but a significant difference in attitude toward school. He attributed these positive differences in attitude to the comfortable atmosphere created by prolonged student-student, teacher-parent, and student-teacher relationships.

Milburn's findings (1981) also supported the potential for curriculum adjustments in the second year of instruction. Teachers who worked with the same group of students for at least two years were better positioned to evaluate students' progress and prevent unnecessary repetition of instruction than teachers who had no prior contact with those students.

Looping essentially obligates a group of students and their teacher to remain together for more than one year. Continuity of the group — rather than class size — is of greatest importance (Forsten et al., 1997; Grant et al., 1996; Wynn & Walberg, 1994). The first year of looping is much like that of a traditional one-year classroom; teachers report that most of the benefits emerge in the second year. During the second year, instructional time is used differently: it is not characterized as the end of a class but as the beginning of a longer and deeper learning experience.

Among the most frequently mentioned benefits of looping are the relationships that develop, the more effective use of time, the possibility of increased academic achievement, the development of a cohesive curriculum, and the stability that looping provides. "At the heart of a successful looping classroom are the continuity of relationships and the learning environment" (Forsten et al., 1997, p. 13).

Speaking as a looping teacher, Liu (1997) stressed the importance of teacher-student relationships as crucial to students' academic and psychological development. According to Liu, the longer student-teacher relationships last, the greater their positive influence.

Hampton et al. (1997) studied teachers as they began a second or third year with an existing knowledge of each child's abilities, personality, and home life. These teachers "did not feel compelled to drag students through material that should be covered in a particular grade. Students work toward understanding and mastery — surpassing grade-level expectations in some areas, while they are given more time to mature in others" (p. 8).

Stability was a common theme among teachers discussing looping. Simel (1998) recorded teachers' reactions to the practice. One teacher observed, "The child feels like school is a second home. You can tell by the way they act" (p. 336). Another said, "Half these kids call me mom because I don't think they get it at home — the stability. So I guess this will be a great stable environment for kids who don't have that at home" (p. 336). According to Lincoln (1997), a school official, stability is especially important in today's society, where adult-child relationships tend to be weakened by conditions such as single parenthood, blended families, and households where both parents work. "For students with special problems, social or academic, teachers viewed looping as offering stability that is vital to their progress" (p. 24).

The scale of the challenge is significant: over 20% of America's children live at or below the poverty level; nearly 8,200 cases of child abuse and neglect are reported each day; well over a million children are "latchkey kids"; and on any given day, an estimated 100,000 children are homeless. Adding to this the increased number of children who are undernourished or malnourished, chemically damaged by drugs and fear, or traumatized by family instability, it is easy to see how the Carnegie Foundation concluded that 35% of America's children come to school unprepared to learn. The rising interest in multiage and looping classrooms is a direct response to the diverse needs of today's children (Forsten, p. 15).

Looping helps create a school environment in which all students feel an equal sense of value and belonging — an environment that has proven effective in helping at-risk students succeed. Research shows that consistency and continuity spanning two or more years are key elements in the success stories of at-risk children. Students with difficult home lives can feel greater stability and trust with an adult who remains in their lives longer than a typical one-year classroom teacher. In the second year of looping, the classroom atmosphere becomes one of familiarity, where routines, discipline plans, and expectations are predictable.

According to Patricia Crosby, a 7th- and 8th-grade language arts and social studies teacher, the trust a student has in a teacher becomes even more important as children enter adolescence (Rasmussen, 1998). "They ask you questions they don't always think they can ask their parents. And because you know them so well, you can observe any changes in behavior that might indicate problems, such as drug or alcohol abuse" (Rasmussen, 1998). Crosby believes that many adolescent lives have been saved because of a strong relationship with a mentor — often a teacher — and that looping is an excellent way to present students with the opportunity to develop such a bond (Rasmussen).

According to Jan Jubert, a 1st- and 2nd-grade teacher, looping "provides opportunities for students who might otherwise fall through the cracks of the education system" (Rasmussen, p. 28). Of Jubert's 15 students, the majority come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and are identified as at-risk. One student is deaf and requires an interpreter, and ability levels range from disabled to gifted and talented. Jubert is confident that equal opportunity — which requires equal education — enables her students to set and reach their life goals, and that looping strongly supports that mission.

"Children today join gangs because they want to feel they are part of a group and feel accepted," says Jubert. "Looping makes children feel secure. At-risk kids are starving for this" (Rasmussen, p. 28). Because many parents today are single parents or work more than one job, students often lack bonds with adults. Since it typically takes teachers at least a year to develop a meaningful level of trust, students frequently fail to form lasting connections with their teachers under traditional arrangements. When a student spends two or three years with a teacher, however, they truly come to know and trust that adult.

In Jubert's case, having more time to teach and to consider the individual needs of each student means she "covers more material, offers more hands-on activities to her students, and designs activities using multiple intelligences theories that will help children learn the way they learn best." She cites high attendance, increased test scores, improved self-esteem, and a love of learning as results of looping (Rasmussen, p. 28).

An additional benefit of looping for at-risk students is that their parents tend to feel more comfortable communicating with teachers. As parents get to know teachers over time, they view them as caring human beings and can communicate with them on a deeper level. When a strong relationship between parents and teachers is established, at-risk students benefit because both adults learn how to work together to help the children.