Contexts of Curriculum Burnet County Consortium ACE Program

1. Contexts of CurriculumBurnet County Consortium ACE Program Veronica Gulledge ACE Before School/After School Program Burnet County Consortium Program Grant 2015

2. Background of Project • Goal of Project: Burnet County Consortium ACE Program, funded by a Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers (ACE) Grant, provides extended learning opportunities for students and their families and offers innovative, engaging, hands-on activities that reinforce and complement a student’s regular academic program. These activities are offered before and/or after school and are based on research and best practices. By working with community partners, the program provides academic enrichment to meet community needs. • Personal Tasks: observe the ACE program, interview participants (both teachers and students), interact with students in the ACE learning environment, provide an educational enrichment opportunity for students: i.e. film making class

3. Program Objectives • ACE Programs strive to improve: Academics, Promotion Rates, Behavior, Attendance, Graduation Rates and College and Career Readiness For Students: Tutoring and Academic Support as well as Enrichment activities developed from student interests such as Science Exploration, Art, Music, Dance, Technology, Engineering, Gaming, Fitness, Martial Arts, Video Production, Photography, Cooking, and so much more! • For Parents: English Language Classes, Health and Fitness, Computer Literacy, Parenting Seminars and more are also offered to immediate family members of students who participate in the program.

4. Personal Planning Timeline & Proposed Activities • Observations of Students and Teachers in ACE; the learning and enrichment activities • Informal discussions with students about ACE benefits • Informal discussions with teachers about ACE benefits and enrichment opportunities • Interview with ACE Director • Interviews (video) with students • Recording learning and enrichment activities (video)

5. Setting: MFHS Library before and after school • Participants: High School Students, Teachers, community members • Data Collection: photographs, interviews, video recordings • I created the following video after conducting several interviews with students and teachers Please watch the additional attachment to see the video. The power point would not upload to black board with the video attached here.

6. Theme: Poverty in Education Resources: In today’s technology rich society, many students are at a disadvantage in the educational arena. Schools now require research from the internet, papers typed, books read online, websites reviewed. Many students do not have access to these resources at home. Support: The majority of students listed as low socioeconomic status do not have the home support needed for many educational endeavors. Many times, parents are working late or a second job and not home to assist with homework. In other cases, parents do not have a high school education themselves and are not able to assist with homework or school learning. These students can fall behind their peers who have the support and additional assistance at home. In other instances, students do not have assistance from someone who speaks English or can help with their reading or writing studies.

7. Theme: Poverty in Education Continued Learning Environment: Many students do not have access to an environment conducive to learning. Some students live in environments with many family members and do not have a quiet, or safe, place to work on homework. Other students live in homes that may or may not have power. Transportation: A simple solution, one that MFHS has used for many years, is to provide access to the school library with all of its resources and to have teachers available for assistance after school. However, another problem arose with this solution. Many students do not have access to transportation to get to and from school. These students must ride the bus in order to get home. Therefore, these students would not be able to participate in the after school tutoring program.

8. ACE IS THE SOLUTION The Solution to these problems and many others is the ACE Program. A before and after school program funded by Burnet County Consortium Grant. The ACE program has teachers available before school and after school to assist with learning needs. The program also allows access to computers, paper, and other educational materials that students may not otherwise have access to. The program provides students with a safe, comfortable learning environment and the tools needed to level the playing field. Also, the ACE program provides transportation home in the evenings. The ACE program also went a step further and provides students with enrichment activities they may not otherwise have access to. Some of the enrichment activities have included: 3D printing, technology awareness, out door activities, wresting and other sports, video games, film making, beading class, chess, and much more.

9. Perspectives and Findings • The concept of ACE – an after school program to give access and opportunity to further education for students who may not normally have such options – is amazing. • However, the program itself has not been formatted or marketed in a method to reach every student possible. For instance, many students are still unaware of the opportunity for extra guidance and access to school materials. • Also, the majority of students interviewed did not know of the enrichment activities or had never participated in any of those events. • It was also very difficult to find students to interview who took advantage of the additional resources, such as teachers available to work one on one with students. Many times, the teachers working in the ACE library were able to sit and chat without working with any students at all. • I believe the ACE program could be something spectacular – but, it isn’t there yet. • However, for the program to become what is possible, first the school must combat the lackadaisical culture that currently exists. With the amount of students feeling apathy toward their studies, they just do not care to put the time and effort into their learning that it would take to stay after school… even if they are given food and a ride home.

10. Relevance to ResearchModel of Teaching & Learning In the context, of the ACE program, because students are present for various reasons and learning needs, many of the following models are used during each of the ACE after school sessions: • Social Interaction Model The social interaction model utilizes collaborative learning in the classroom. The goal is for students, as individuals, to combine talents, resources, and efforts to accomplish a common goal as a team. • Inquiry Model The inquiry model allows for students to gather information on the referenced material and then establish a unique understanding of the material through a new frame of reference. • The Concept-Attainment Model The concept attainment model has students attain a concept by using traits or characteristics provided. • Problem-Based Learning Model In the problem based learning model, students will identify a problem and then follow a process to determine the solution. This model of teaching encourages students to think for themselves and develop their problem solving skills. • The Direct-Instruction Model In the direct instruction model, the teacher sets a clear objective for the lesson and then presents concept to students using a variety of methods including multimedia (power point), lectures, handouts, and more.