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The MNPS Navigator Program aims to connect every student in the district to a caring adult who serves as their mentor, advocate, and advisor – their “navigator.” Navigators can be teachers, counselors, or other school staff members. Every school identifies a lead navigator to support program implementation and serve as a liaison with the district implementation team. The program is designed to strengthen student-adult relationships through students’ use of a computer-based weekly reflection platform and an in-person monthly check-in with their navigator.
The research team interviewed current navigators in schools with varying levels of implementation quality, reported findings back to district leaders, and helped establish a set of action steps to improve monitoring and school supports for implementation in the 2023-24 school year.
This study helped MNPS refine how its supporting schools to implement the Navigator Program. Guided by the findings, the district made several changes for the next school year, including combining online weekly and monthly adult-student check-ins into one platform, designing metrics to monitor progress and improving meetings between the district and platform teams to gather implementation data by school, and improving messaging on the program’s purpose.
Maury Nation (VU – Professor, Human & Organizational Development)
Megan McCormick (VU – Doctoral Student)
Caroline Marks (MNPS – Former NashvillePeer Co-Director)
Krista Davis (MNPS – Director of Research and Evaluation)
Nécole Elizer (MNPS – Social and Emotional Learning Specialist)
We want you to learn more about what we do and why we do it. We invite you to sign up to receive updates to learn how you be part of our work.