Pure Academy Classes Why and How?

Pure Academy Classes Why and How? Erin Fender College & Career Academy Support Network (CCASN), UC Berkeley, Graduate School of Education Produced for presentation at the National Career Academy Coalition Annual Conference Phoenix, AZ October 2013

Erin Fender • Former whitewater rafting guide • Former high school science teacher • Former Assistant Principal • Former Small Learning Community Project Director • With CCASN for 5 years

Who is in the Room? Name Where from Role

Formed in 1998 by a group of practitioners and researchers A secondary school reform center based at UC, Berkeley & Irvine Promotes researched-based practice to improve students’ preparation for college and careers through direct technical support to states, districts, schools and teachers Conducts practice-based research and documentation Informs local, state and national policy Worked in over 20 states About CCASN

Over 20 implementation guides National repository with 650+ lesson plans, units and projects that link academic disciplines to specific industry sectors Research reports National directory of academies Toolbox of downloadable materials Videos, and more http://casn.berkeley.edu

Currently revising CCASN Master Scheduling Guide • On the CCASN website • casn.berkeley.edu • Resources tab • Guides, articles, presentations • Academy Design

What do we mean by “pure” classes? I have to go play on the soccer team now. See you in the 5th inning. • Where 100% of the students are scheduled into the same classes as a cohort • Students have at least 3 of the same classes – ideally blocked together

Why Pure Academy Classes Matter Integrated Projects Study/Field trips – decreases disruption to other teachers Creates a cohesive family atmosphere Students can lean on each other for help and to figure out what they missed if absent Teachers know who students have for other classes

Why Pure Academy Classes Matter Teachers know when students have tests, projects, other big assignments in other classes What can you add to this list?

How many periods do you have to work with? The more the better.

As always – start with the end in mind Master Schedule considerations: Program of Study Cohort size Cohort structure Coding of courses Coding of students

Design a Program of Study to: Avoid tracking Provide the full complement of options for acceleration and remediation Promote student interest

To Avoid Tracking Take stock of what levels of courses do you currently offer? “Regular” English College-prep English Honors English AP Language AP Literature Expository Writing English Language Development Levels 1,2,3 4 Academy themed English

What about Advanced Placement ? The big hiccup is English and social studies Embedded Honors/AP with zero period and/or afterschool support The amazing teacher that can do AP and embed a career theme Double up – kids take both the themed and AP version Online courses – Apex, Straighterline, etc. What else?

What about International Baccalaureate (IB)? • New IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC) • Built around three interconnected elements: • at least two Diploma Programme courses • an IBCC core that includes approaches to learning, community and service, language development and a reflective project • an approved career-related study.

Brain Research says… When people learn in an applied context they access many more neural networks, hooking new knowledge more deeply into existing schema. Translation – students learn more and it sticks when learning is connected and applied in authentic contexts. Newmann, F.M. Smith, B, & Allensworth, E (2001) Instructional program coherence: what is it and why it should guide school improvement policy. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23/4 (297-321) .

Think about the prior slide in context of ELL Level 1 students need ELD courses outside the academy-themed courses Level 2 & 3 students will benefit from learning English in context and with increased relevancy, may need additional support Level 4 and up should be in all academy classes

Integration of CTE and Academic Courses UC Integration Institute Courses provides a 2 for 1 in the Master Schedule Check out the UCCI Course Catalog on the web Allows acceleration and/or remediation courses in a students schedule

Cohort Size and Structure Let’s examine the effect of the number of students in an academy/cohort and the effect of the master schedule structure on the academy/cohort. Phil’s Master Schedule Team Calculator (show excel table)

Let’s look at an academy with the following: • A 6 period student day • Faculty that teach 5 periods per day • An academy/cohort with 120 students • An academy with 4 teachers • A class size of 30 students • The 120 students are divided into 4 groupings of 30 each: A, B, C, D

Pathway with 120 students (Each Letter Represents a Group of 30 Students in this Pathway) Aspects of this structure: • Common prep • Teachers teach one period out of the academy • Students take 4 classes in academy and 2 out • Students in academy can go out for classes during period 1 & 6 • Academy field trips complicated by 6th period outside class (students in academy periods 3-6 improves the ability to take field trips) A A B B C C D D Now let’s see what happens with 30 more students

Pathway with 150 students (Each Letter Represents a Group of 30 Students in this Pathway) Aspects of this structure: • Common prep • Teachers teach all 5 periods in the academy • Students take 4 classes in academy and 2 out • Students in academy can go out for classes during any period 1 – 6 (a student can change group to go out any period) • Academy field trips complicated by students taking classes outside of the academy during all periods of the day A A B B C C D D E E Now let’s see what happens with 300 students

The 300 Student Model The 300 student model on the next page has the following attributes: • 8 teachers all with common prep • Teachers teach all 5 periods in the academy • Each teacher teaches 150 of the 300 students – internal rotation of classes will allow all teachers to work with all students • Students take 4 classes in academy and 2 out • Students in academy can go out for classes during any period 1 – 6 (a student can change group to go out any period) • Academy field trips complicated by students taking classes outside of the academy during all periods of the day Now we will take a look at this model and follow a band student in group A who also takes Algebra 2

Pathway with 300 students (Each Letter Represents a Group of 30 Students in this Pathway)

Coding Courses in your SIS Set up separate course codes for each academy course Example English 11 Engineering = E11ENG English 11 Health – E11HEL English 11 Hospitality – E11HOS

Course Selection Sheets • Pre-program so students make the fewest choices possible • Example - A student bubbles choice of academy this automatically triggers your SIS to enroll them in the academy cohort courses • Example – Students are forced to choose from a limited menu

Coding Students • Students should be “tagged” by Academy in the SIS

Communication b/t Academy and Counselor • Collaborate to figure it out together when students need to move courses for any number of reasons • Beginning of year balancing • Not a fit for student interest • Not a fit for student needs

Strategies to keep purity to avoid/when students fail courses Communication with families/students Standards-based grading Afterschool options Summer School Independent Study Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Community College courses Stand alone make-up courses during the school year

Communication with Families • As an academy you have an increased ability to communicate and with your students and their families when students are falling short and heading toward a D or F grade – divide and conquer • Provide support structures so students don’t fail • Afterschool tutoring • (Peer) Mentoring • Revision and redemption

Standards-based grading Students pass benchmarks aligned to the standards. If a student fails a benchmark they are given a chance to remediate during the school year for that particular standard(s) If students need to continue to work on a standard during summer school or through independent study they only have to show they have learned the specific standard(s) – not an entire semester that may or may not line up with what they failed.

Online Coursework • BYU, Apex (AP), OdysseyWare, Pearson, etc. • Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) • Udemy • iTunes U • Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Duke, Harvard, UCLA, Yale, Carnegie Mellon

Q & A

Thank you Erin Fender efender@berkeley.edu http://casn.berkeley.edu

Pure Academy Classes Why and How?