Upgrading Career/Technical Courses Through a Course Syllabus

1. Upgrading Career/Technical Courses Through a Course Syllabus Heather Boggs High Schools That Work

2. Workshop Objectives Develop a course syllabus that includes: • Course description • Career/technical power standards • Instructional philosophy • Major projects and assignments • An assessment plan

3. Changes in Work • Constant innovations • The ability to create, analyze and transform and analyze information • More jobs with higher skill requirements

4. Solve problems and be creative in meeting consumer demands for customization Retrieve, organize and synthesize information into a plan Apply algebra, geometry, and statistics What is needed in today’s workplace? • Read, understand, and communicate in the language of the field • Understand technical concepts and principles • Understand, manage, and use technology to complete projects • Construct written and oral responses

5. What is the primary mission or purpose of high school career and technical studies?

6. To help students complete a program that prepares them for both employment and further study

7. Purposes of Career/Technical Studies • Increase academic achievement of all students • Ensure that students are technically literate • Ensure that students can continue to learn in a career and postsecondary education

8. Using industry standards Engaging students in quality work-site learning Developing real-world projects Requiring a senior project Expanding assessments to include portfolios and end-of-course exams Focusing on technical literacy and numeracy What Successful Career/Technical Courses are Doing to Raise Student Achievement

9. Technical Literacy • Understand technical concepts and principles • Read, understand, and communicate in the language of the field • Use technology to complete projects Technical Numeracy • Apply mathematical knowledge, skills and reasoning

10. Impact of Career/Technical Courses that Integrate Academics

11. Why Use a Course Syllabus? • Map for planning • Opportunity to reflect on a whole course • Communication of expectations to students, parents, community • Communication with other teachers or programs in the school

12. Components of a Course Syllabus • Course Description • Instructional Philosophy • Major Course Goals/Power Standards • Major Course Projects and Instructional Activities • Course Assessment Plan

13. Sample Syllabi • Find each component on each example. • Choose one component and read that one on each example. • Share with the other members of your group what the three examples have in common with regard to that component.

14. Criteria for Assessing a Course Syllabus • National and State Standards • Challenging Assignments • Quality of Expected Work • Assessment Methods

15. Course Description • A brief overview that might appear in a course catalog (three or four sentences) • Purpose • Place within program of study (prerequisites) • Topics covered • Length

16. Instructional Philosophy • What kinds of classroom learning activities are typical in your class? • How will instruction be delivered? • What are your expectations for student participation? • How will you use the community as an extended learning lab?

17. Small Group Activity • Design a course description and an instructional philosophy for a course • Be prepared to report your work to the large group

18. Designing Major Course Goals or Power Standards • Five to eight statements that give describe the “big ideas and skills” students will learn • From industry standards • From workplace readiness standards • From academic or technical literacy standards

19. Power Standards • Those “essential standards” that once mastered will give a student the ability to use reasoning and thinking skills to learn and understand other curriculum objectives

20. Why Power Standards? • All standards are not equal in importance! • Make room for the essentials! • Narrow the voluminous standards by distinguishing the “essentials” from the “nice to know”

21. If we have power standards, does it mean we ignore all the other standards?

22. No! • State and district curriculum remain important guides for instruction • Few teachers actually cover everything • Power standards provide a safety net • Direct development of essential teaching and assessment

23. Essential Criteria for Identifying Power Standards • What endures? • What has leverage? • What prepares students for the next level of learning—in school, in life, and the workplace?

24. Critical Conversations • “What knowledge and skills must this year’s teacher impart to students so that they will enter next year’s class with confidence and a readiness for success?”

25. Technical Power Standards • Plan, connect, assemble and test electronic components • Demonstrate a thorough understanding of body systems, the diseases associated with them, and the treatments and prognoses of those diseases

26. Writing Your Own Technical Power Standards • Write a power standard for each of the major units of study in your program

27. Technical Literacy Power Standard: Reading • Read, comprehend, and synthesize information from a wide range of sources within the technical field

28. Technical Literacy Power Standard: Communication • Write and speak clearly using the language of the field to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences

29. Technical Literacy Power Standard: Using Information • Gather, evaluate, and synthesize technical information from a variety of sources

30. Technical Literacy Power Standard: Using Technology • Use technology in work-related situations

31. Technical Literacy Power Standard: Mathematics • Demonstrate mathematical reasoning and numeracy skills, mathematics procedures, and an understanding of major mathematics concepts that underlie a career field

32. Using Power Standards to Improve Student Performance • Visible standards--syllabus and classroom • Exemplary work • Student explanations of “proficient” • Posted expectations • Evaluation according to standards • Redoing work that doesn’t meet criteria

33. Developing Major Projects and Assignments • Quality of expected work • Challenging assignments

34. Small Group Activity • Design major course assignments and projects for a course • Discuss the reflection questions • Be prepared to report your work to the large group

35. Assessment Methods • Written exams with essay and open-ended response questions • An end-of-course exam • Projects or practical lab experiences • Portfolio of work

36. Small Group Activity • Develop course assessment plan and/or a plan for determining a course grade • Be prepared to share your plan with the large group

37. End-of-Course Exams • A written comprehensive exam • An oral exam • An open-ended project

38. Developing Items • Begin with standards • Decide on type of question • Write a model answer • Develop guidelines for scoring

39. Continuing the Work . . . • Draft a syllabus for a course you teach • Meet with others who teach that course and share ideas • Reach a consensus about high expectations • Communicate to other teachers in the school and compare • Share with students and parents