New Program To Take Early Action to Help Those Failing

Reinoso said some of the students with family problems act out by disrupting classes and becoming violent. According to school system data, more than half of secondary school students in 2007 and 2006 were in buildings with a sufficient number of violent incidents to be considered "persistently dangerous" under D.C. standards.

"This is long overdue for a school district which hasn't had a strategy for dealing with these issues," said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools, which represents urban districts. "When done well, programs like this can be positive and effective."

In the program, teachers would alert counselors about students who have behavior problems or display other actions that could indicate important problems at home. The counselors would conduct preliminary assessments to determine the extent of the problems.

If the problems are serious, the counselor would obtain permission from parents to intervene on their behalf with public aid, child welfare, juvenile justice or other agencies. Reinoso said the goal would be to resolve the problem within 21 visits.

The D.C. pilot program is based on a model introduced in the Auburn, N.Y., school district in 2000, officials said. The New York program resulted in a drop in classroom-behavior problems and a steady climb in student achievement, said Philip Uninsky, executive director of Partnership for Results. Uninsky administers the Auburn program and is working as a consultant for Reinoso on the D.C. program.

Reinoso said, however, that Auburn is a tiny district, with 5,000 enrolled and a much smaller proportion -- 40 percent -- of low-income students.

"When a child has antisocial behavior," school officials can only assume why, said Barnard Elementary Principal Shirley Hopkinson. "Maybe there are drugs in the home."

The experimental program should help, she added, because "to reach through, you've got to reach into the home."