Understanding At-Risk Students

Alana Butler

Assistant Professor of At-Risk Learners and Student Success, Faculty of Education

Synopsis: Dr. Alana Butler’s area of research is at-risk children and their families in elementary and secondary school settings, as well as equity, diversity, and inclusion policies and practices at all levels of education. Her doctoral research focused on the experiences of Black students in Canadian and American higher education, and she has a taught in many different settings. Dr. Butler discusses the components of defining “at-risk,” including mental health, overall wellbeing, and the risk of failure. For children in primary school, low socioeconomic status can bring extreme risk factors and place them on a negative pathway. She also describes “at-risk wealthy” students who can also experience risk, but typically have better access to resources to support them. Dr. Butler combines structural factors and sociocultural factors to study the situations of at-risk students in her research. Please visit Alana’s website for more information about her research.