USING CURRICULUM MAPPING TO ASSIST “AT RISK” STUDENTS

1. USING CURRICULUM MAPPING TO ASSIST “AT RISK”STUDENTS Michelle T. Clanton Presenter

2. 'No problem can be solved by the same consciousness that created it. We need to see the world anew.' Albert Einstein 'It is our belief that schools in the main are entering the twenty-first century with structures and more importantly, underlying assumptions which are nineteenth century in origins, or relating to the world of the 1950 or 1960s.' Bowring -Carr and Burnham West UK Educators 'Come to the edge', he said.They said, 'We are afraid''Come to the edge', he saidThey cameHe pushed them... and they flew. Guillaume Apollinaire Poet

3. The Story of The Eagle…

4. The eagle has the longest life-span of its’ species

5. It can live up to 70 years But to reach this age, the eagle must make a hard decision.

6. In its’ 40’s Its’ long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey which serves as food

7. Its’ long and sharp beak becomes bent

8. Its’ old-aged and heavy wings, due to their thick feathers, become stuck to its’ chest and make it difficult to fly.

9. Then, the eagle is left with only two options: die or go through a painful process of change which lasts 150 days.

10. The process requires that the eagle fly to a mountain top and sit on its’ nest.

11. There the eagle knocks its’ beak against a rock until it plucks it out.

12. After plucking it out, the eagle will wait for a new beak to grow back and then it will pluck out its’ talons.

13. When its’ new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking its’ old-aged feathers.

14. And after five months, the eagle takes its’ famous flight of rebirth and lives for 30 more years

15. CONTENT We are in the second decade of the 21st century therefore teachers, schools and districts should be moving from discussing how to prepare students for 21st century skills towards doing. Sylvia Rosenthal Tolisano www.globallyconnectedlearning.com There must be a change… and it will be painful.

16. An Essential Question Who is the “at-risk” student? At my school it was the over-aged and under-credited student who: • Is 16 -21 years of age • Usually has dropped out of school • Repeated retentions • Has experienced traumatic situation(s) that has • caused him or her to become a disaffected youth • Is a Juvenile Justice offender, paroled or on probation • Is or has been a Pregnant Teen • Is or has been a Gang Member Who is the “at-risk” student at your school?

17. How do we address the academic needs and or deficiencies of the at-risk student? While this is not a new question, we assessed that we needed a different answer. Our process involves: Academic Assessment Psycho-Socio Evaluation Consultation Placement into an Alternate Setting

18. Curriculum Mapping “Is a process for collecting data representative of the operational(real) curriculum in a school and/ or district.” Heidi Hayes Jacobs • Calendar Based • An ongoing process • Curriculum mapping makes use of a collaborative • conversation between teachers and administrators • to design the curriculum via ongoing examination of • what is occurring in the educational process both • horizontally (within a grade level) and vertically (from • grade to grade) • Builds Learning Communities • Provides a tool to differentiate instruction to meet • “Allen’s” specific needs.

19. Curriculum Mapping provides important components that work especially well with this population who has NOT succeeded in the traditional classroom. It presents the opportunity for students to experience learning in a connected, meaningful, community-based context; and that can make a difference.

20. Phase 1: Data Collection Phase 7: Plan for Next Review Phase 2: The First Read Through The Seven Phases of Curriculum Mapping Phase 6: Determine Points that Require Research and Planning Phase 3: Mixed Group Review Phase 5: Determine Points that can be Revised Immediately Phase 4: Large Group Review

21. Laying the Foundation – Data Collection Core Curriculum Standards Formative Assessment Summative Assessment Portfolios Attendance Records Incident Reports We also looked at: Curriculum manuals or guides; Cluster-based syllabus planning; Evaluation checklists; Weekly planning meetings; Activity archives; Learning objectives

22. How does what we know about our individual learner shape our curriculum mapping?

25. Laying the Foundation Who do we invite to the table? • Administrators • Teachers • Guidance Counselors • Representatives from Collaborating • Social Service Agencies • Parent Liaison • Student Representatives

26. Let the Data talk to you. • Collect • Assess • Create the Action Plan – Ongoing • Process

27. What Is Your DATA Saying to you?

28. Focus on Assets Knapp, Shields, and Turnbull (1995): "By concentrating on assets rather than deficits, these scholars argue, teachers are predisposed to see more potential in the children they are teaching and are able to treat the children's experiences and backgrounds as resources for learning rather than constraints on it. By developing more varied instructional routines, which by stages increase student control over learning activities, teachers can decrease learners' dependence on their teachers and broaden the range of learning experiences children encounter. The argument goes on to assert that, by deemphasizing (though not eliminating) repetitive practice of discrete skills, teachers may limit the monotony and lack of meaning that attends much instruction in high-poverty classrooms and elsewhere. Finally, by concentrating early on the 'advanced' skills of reasoning, problem solving, comprehension, and composition, teachers can engage children from the beginning in academic learning that has meaning and application in their lives both inside and outside of school." (p. 184)

29. Identify the assets that your students possess to assist you in seeing more potential in the students you teach. Academically? Culturally? Family? Peer?

30. Five Wrong Assumptions About Learning People predictably transfer learning from one situation to another. Learners are passive receivers of wisdom—vessels into which knowledge is poured. Learning is the strengthening of bonds between stimuli and correct responses. Learners are blank slates on which knowledge is inscribed. Skills and knowledge, to be transferable to new situations, should be acquired independent of their contexts of use. Source: Designing Effective Learning Environments: Cognitive Apprenticeship Models Sue E. Berryman Institute on Education and The Economy, Box 174, Teachers College, Columbia University New York, New

31. “…the most promising alternatives focus on student assets (including their backgrounds and prior experiences), varied teaching strategies, and meaningful learning in collaborative settings. Also of critical importance to each child's success is the school's emphasis on high expectations for all students (Benard, 1995).” We must create a SCAFFOLD - something To keep the student steady while we are building skills and assisting in credit recovery. Costello, Mary Ann. "Critical Issue: Providing Effective Schooling for Students at Risk." Learning Point Associates Home. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1996. Web. 14 June 2010. <http://www.learningpt.org/>.

32. Reflect on the skill levels of your students that lend to successfully completing collaborative work. Identify the strengths and challenges. Think creatively about how to move them up Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop higher levels of critical thinking (i.e. - analyzing, evaluating, creating).

33. We must also consider a continuum of skills that are necessary to incorporate in building the scaffold. TRADITIONAL Bloom’ s Taxonomy Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge

34. REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY Creating Evaluating Analyzing Applying Understanding Remembering

35. Identify bridges that exist in the building (Social Worker, Special Programs), what’s working?)

36. THE Our classes were composed of students from the ages 16 to 21 years, but because they needed to gain proficiency in a particular subject matter they are grouped together. You can have a 20 year student who has repeated 12th grade retentions with a 16 year old 10th grade student. We have to address three concerns: CHALLENGE 1. Remediation of skills 2. Credit Recovery Address behaviors and mindsets that impact Learning

37. DO NOW…. List the 5 Biggest Problems You Experienced with Students that hindered their academic success. So what can we do about this?

38. The Challenge for Today’s Educators • We know the problem: • Many students today fall far short of their potential. • The consequence is poor retention and declining graduation rates. • Everyone loses – students forfeit their dreams, faculty are frustrated, and schools scramble to improve retention.

39. No panacea exists, but educators Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner offered valuable insight when they wrote: “Good learners are good learners precisely because they believe and do certain things that less effective learners do not believe and do. And therein lies the key.”

40. But just what is it that good learners believe and do? • And how can educators get students to believe and do them?

41. As we shape our curriculum mapping consider the following: • ON COURSE is an intervention process through which educators (re)empower students to be the kind of active, responsible learners who make wise choices at critical forks in the road and, thus, achieve more of their goals in school and in life.

42. The ON COURSE Success Principles • Synthesizing the best wisdom from innovators in psychology, education, business, sports, and personal effectiveness, the ON COURSE Success Principles represent eight of the essential “things” that good learners believe and do. • By guiding students to adopt these principles and tools, you’ll empower them to become effective partners in their own education, giving them the outer behaviors and inner qualities to create greater success in school and in life. • The most successful people are empowered people. • In formal education, the deepest learning is provided by well-designed experiences. • At the intersection of an empowered person and a well-designed experience lies the path to wisdom and the opportunity to achieve one’s greatest potential.

43. Going beyond the programs to the heart of the child: • What is your definition of • an empowered learner a • well-designed experience ?

44. Eight Principles of Student Success • Personal Responsibility • Self-Motivation • Self-Management • Interdependence • Self-Awareness • Life-Long Learning • Emotional Intelligence • Self-Esteem

45. Personal Responsibility • Successful Students • Accept personal responsibility seeing themselves as the primary cause of their outcomes & experiences • Struggling Students • See themselves as victims, believing that what happens to them is determined by external forces such as fate, luck, and powerful others

46. Self-Motivation • Struggling Students • have difficulty sustaining motivation, often feeling depressed, frustrated, and/or resentful about a lack of direction in their lives • Successful Students • discover self-motivation, finding purpose in their lives by discovering personally meaningful goals and dreams

47. Self Management • Successful Students • master self-management, consistently planning and taking purposeful actions in pursuit of their goals and dreams. • Struggling Students • seldom identify specific actions needed to accomplish a desired outcome. And when they do, they tend to procrastinate.

48. Interdependence • Successful Students • employ interdependence, building mutually supportive relationships that help them achieve their goals and dreams (while helping others do the same). • Struggling Students • are solitary, seldom requesting, • even rejecting, offers of assistance from those who could help.

49. Self-Awareness • Struggling Students • make important choices unconsciously, being directed by • self-sabotaging habits • and outdated life scripts • Successful Students • gain self-awareness, consciously employing behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that keep • them on course.

50. Life-Long Learning • Successful Students • adopt life-long learning, finding valuable lessons and wisdom in nearly every experience they have • Struggling Students • resist learning new ideas and skills, viewing learning as fearful or boring rather than as mental play