Pure Academy Classes Why and How Erin Fender

Pure Academy Classes Why and How? Erin Fender and Phil Saroyan College & Career Academy Support Network (CCASN), UC Berkeley, Graduate School of Education Produced for presentation at the Educating for Careers Annual Conference Sacramento, CA March 2014

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 § § 2

Phil Saroyan § Former high school Principal § Former high school science teacher § Former UC Berkeley Principal Leadership Institute data analysis instructor § Mountain climber § Grandpa 3

Who is in the Room?

About CCASN § 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 5

http: //casn. berkeley. edu – 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 6

Currently revising CCASN Master Scheduling Guide On the CCASN website Go to Resources >>> Guides, articles, presentations >>>>Academy Design 7

What do we mean by “pure” classes? § 100% of the students are scheduled into the same classes as a cohort I have to go play on the soccer team now. See you in the 5 th inning. § Students have at least 3 of the same classes – ideally blocked together § Teachers are a part of only 1 academy. May have “global electives” but not other academy courses 8

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 9

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? 10

As always – start with the end in mind Master Schedule considerations: § Program of Study § Number of periods / bell schedule § Cohort size § Cohort structure § Coding of courses § Coding of students 11

Design a Program of Study to: § Avoid tracking § Provide the full complement of options for acceleration and remediation § Promote student interest 12

To Avoid Tracking Take stock of what levels of courses do you currently offer? What could be eliminated or combined to simplify? § “Regular” English § College-prep English § Honors English § AP Language § AP Literature § Expository Writing § English Language Development Levels 1, 2, 3 4 § Academy themed English 13

Advanced Placement § English and social studies § Embedded Honors/AP with zero period and/or afterschool support § Pre-AP in lower grades to get more students ready § The amazing teacher that can do AP and embed a career theme § Double up – kids take both themed and AP version § Online courses – Apex, Straighterline, etc. § Offer courses every other year 14

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. 15

Math § Integrated math – supported by Common Core § Teacher who teaches all levels in the academy § Not part of the academy – be careful. Depends a lot on academy theme. Later we’ll look at the UCCI model for innovate courses. – Da. Vinci Algebra – Algebra at Your Service – Geometry by Design – Business Statistics 16

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). 17

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 18

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 for acceleration and/or remediation courses in a students schedule 19

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. Master Schedule Team Calculator – excel sheet will be available on CCASN website soon

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 6 th period outside class (students in academy periods 36 improves the ability to take field trips) Per 1 Per 2 Per 3 Per 4 Per 5 Per 6 Course 1 PREP Course 2 PREP A B B C C D D A Course 3 PREP Course 4 PREP C D D 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 Per 1 Per 2 Per 3 Per 4 Per 5 Per 6 Course 1 PREP Course 2 PREP A B B C C D D E E A Course 3 PREP Course 4 PREP C D D E E A A B B C A A B C D 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) Per 1 Per 2 Per 3 Per 4 Per 5 Per 6 English Prep History Prep A F B G C H D I E J F A Science Prep Tech Prep C H D I E J F A G B H C All Out E&J A&F B&G C&H D&I Band Alg 1 Alg 2 Geom Chem Physics Alg 2 AP Course World Language

Pathway with 300 students

Coding Courses in your SIS § Set up separate course codes for each academy course Example § English 11 Engineering = E 11 ENG § English 11 Health – E 11 HEL § English 11 Hospitality – E 11 HOS 27

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 28

Coding Students § Students should be “tagged” by Academy in the SIS 29

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 30

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 § Add a “skinny” to schedule if blocked § § § § 31

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 32

Standards-based grading and/or partial credit § 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. 33

Online Coursework § BYU, Apex (AP), Odyssey. Ware, Pearson, etc. § Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) – Udemy – i. Tunes U – Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Duke, Harvard, UCLA, Yale, Carnegie Mellon 34

Coming Soon All of this info and much, much more will be available for free on the CCASN website in about a month. Sign up for Academy News Clips on the CCASN website to be altered as to when the NEW Master Scheduling Guide is released. ccasn. berkely. edu 35

Q&A

Thank you Erin Fender efender@berkeley. edu Phil Saroyan jp 9@jps. net http: //casn. berkeley. edu 37