High Schools That Work It’s About Implementation, Not Attendance! How can leaders support teachers to implement authentic project-based learning? Scott

High Schools That Work

It’s About Implementation, Not Attendance!

How can leaders support teachers to implement authentic project-based

learning?

Scott WarrenSREB

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What I Believe:

It’s not college or careers, it’s both! Rigor is a term thrown about with little

agreement on what it truly looks like. Professional development may be the

greatest waste of money in education today. Give a man a fish and he eats today, teach a

man to fish and …


He will sit in a boat and drink beer all day!


Today

Why we need Authentic Project Based Learning

The role of the leader in implementation


Rising Workplace Requirements and Opportunities

“The new economy requires not just white-collar workers but also workers with outstanding technical skills and highly developed problem-solving abilities. These workers will be the backbone of tomorrow’s prosperity.”

Source: A Sharper Focus on Technical Workers How to Educate and Train for the Global Economy. NGA Center for Best Practices, 2010


Middle Skill Jobs in Virginia

49% of the jobs in VA in 2012 were considered middle skill jobs

It is estimated that 46% of the job openings through 2020 will be middle school jobs


Business Today Requires Knowledge Workers

Who: Use their brains every minute to get the job

done; Understand complicated processes and

systems; and Anticipate, predict, prevent, troubleshoot and

solve problems in a high-pressure environment.


Business Today Requires Strong Technical and 21st-Century Skills

From hospitals to factories — fast-paced environments in which employees must know:how to function as individuals and as a team amid

rapid technological changes; how to assess information; andhow to diagnose problems quickly using problem-

solving and critical-thinking skills to make split-second judgments.


AndWe have to many GADLIMBs!We have too many graduates who

look like this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY2mRM4i6tY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY2mRM4i6tY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY2mRM4i6tY


Implications forCareer-Technical Education

Reflect the requirements of the knowledge economy — e.g., critical thinking and problem solving — that are important in today’s manufacturing and other work settings.

Collaborate with industry leaders to create authentic, intellectually demanding assignments, and align career programs with workforce need.

Source: A Sharper Focus on Technical Workers How to Educate and Train for the Global Economy. NGA Center for Best Practices, 2010.


What do New CTE Assignments Need to Look Like?

Students:1. Develop a logical argument for your solution

to a problem or project2. Make inferences from information provided

to develop a solution for a problem or project

3. Use math to solve complex problems related to my CT area

4. Apply academic knowledge and skills


5. Apply technical knowledge and skills to new situations

6. Develop and test hypotheses7. Complete extended projects that require

planning, developing a solution or product and presenting the results orally or in writing

8. Use appropriate technology to complete assignments or projects

What do New CTE Assignments Need to Look Like?


Rigorous CTE

Students experienced more than 4 of the 8 indicators

Demographics

CT StudentsHad Rigorous

CTENo Rigorous

CTEn = 7989 n = 14590

% %

Male 49% 52%Female 51 48White 73 61Minority 27 39Education after High School (high)1 65 56

No Education after High School (low)1 35 44

1Education after high school is used as a proxy for socio-economic status.Source: 2012 HSTW Assessment


Percentage of Students Meeting College- and Career-Readiness Goals

CT Students Meeting College and Career Readiness Goals

Percent Meeting HSTW Readiness Goals

Student Experiences

Had Rigorous CTE No Rigorous CTE

n = 7989 n = 14590

Reading 69% 46%

Mathematics 66 48

Science 67 45

Source: 2012 HSTW Assessment Note: CTE Students only


Meet 2012 HSTW College-Readiness Goals: Academic Core and Rigorous CT

Rigorous CT Impacts Achievement

CT Students

HSTW Curriculum

HSTW Curriculum +Rigorous CT

Courses

Difference Rigorous CT

Courses Make

n = 3438 n = 2760

Meet Reading Goal 63% 80% 17%

Meet Mathematics Goal 65 78 13%

Meet Science Goal 61 78 17%

Source: 2012 HSTW Assessment Note: CTE Students only


Authentic PBL: How Do We Get There?

Shift the thinking that PBL is the dessert! Engage business and industry in a new way! Eliminate Spray and Pray! Create purpose driven students!


More than dessert!The Old Model: Teach them and then give the project.

Project Title: Soldering connects your world

Essential Question: How do you choose the correct soldering alloy?

Project Description: Take 6 different base materials and solder alloys; join materials using the soldering process. Evaluate the process for strength and connectivity as well as electrical conductivity.


Making it the whole meal!

Authentic Projects with authentic rolesUse the appropriate problem-solving

processUse the project-development process.


SREB DesignProcess

EngineeringDesign Process

TroubleshootingProcess

Life Cycle Design

Business Scientific Method

Ask/Inquire

Identifying the problem

Diagnose the Problem

Define Requirements

Define Question

Imagine

Measure Research

PlanRelevant

InformationFind Possible

SolutionsDesign Analyze Hypothesis

Create

Conceptualization Take Action Build Develop

Test

Experiment/Evaluate Evaluation and

AnalysisEvaluate and

Analyze

Test Evaluate

Improve Implementation Revise Analyze

Communicate ImplementationDeliver Final

ProductEvolution Deliver Communicate

Problem-Solving Design Processes


Identify what students must know and be able to do to obtain and keep a job in the business that

will support a family of four.

Step One – A new way to engage Business

Assess Business and Industry Needs


Step Two Brainstorm Ideas

What authentic project will require students to master appropriate technical, academic and

21st-century skills to complete successfully?


Choose one project idea from your list and develop a draft project description:• Project Title• Brief description of what students will

perform or produce

Step ThreeDevelop a Project


Project Template

You are a (insert a real-workplace role). You are faced with (insert a problem). You must (insert what must be done to solve

the problem). Once you have decided on a course of

action, you will (insert an opportunity for presentation to an authentic audience).


Project Description: Workplace role or job title Authentic problem to be solved Identify what students will doTell students how to document solutions

(e.g., presentations, reports, etc.) Authenticity:

Authentic to the field?Prepare students for the future? Doable in high school?

Academics: Does the project require practice of science, mathematics, and language arts skills?


Authentic Projects Include: Technical Prompt: Design, build and test OR

investigate, conduct, analyze

Writing Prompt: Research/Report; history; theory; contemporary use; design and how to construct electrical motors

Science Prompt: Design and conduct inquiry of a testable hypothesis on motor performance under a variety of conditions

Math Prompt: Test motor under various conditions; collect, analyze and chart on performance and conditions


Make it the meal!

Project Title: Soldering connects your world

Essential Question: How do you choose the correct soldering alloy?

Project Description: Take 6 different base materials and solder alloys; join materials using the soldering process. Evaluate the process for strength and connectivity as well as electrical conductivity.


Key Phrase: Design, Build, Evaluate


PFT Phase One

Science Prompt


Math Prompt


PFT Phase One

Literacy Prompt


PA Example: Blowing in the Wind

Essential Question: Is the answer really blowing in the wind?You are a wind turbine technician and you are faced with working with a design team of wind turbine technicians to research, design, build and test a working wind turbine from a ceiling fan rotor (CWFT: ceiling fan wind turbine) that will charge a battery array and help to reduce the operating cost of a greenhouse. Your team will need to research the various designs for wind turbines and build the most effective, as well as, least expensive wind turbine possible from a ceiling fan.

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Each member of the team must maintain a professional log of daily activity and each team will be responsible for a presentation of the procedures they followed in designing and building and subsequently testing their wind turbine. The team must describe the algebraic formulas and show calculations used to measure the success of their wind turbine in power production during testing. An inventory of parts used and accurate costs must be submitted in the form of a bid proposal that serves as a final analysis cost estimate of production for their wind turbine.

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Results

Before we did Authentic Projects, we had “Math Monday” and “Literacy Wednesday,” most of my students would be absent.

Now they are in class everyday and not realizing they are doing math and literacy in the project.

NOCTI pretest – 5% at proficiencyAfter Project Unit NOCTI Assessment – 100% proficient

Dan Shorthouse, Electrical Instructor, Forbes Road Career and Technology Center, Monroe, PA

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Three Graphic Arts Teachers

Three School in Three Counties

One Project Plan

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You are a graphic designer working for an advertising agency. You are faced with the complete branding of a cereal company. You have been asked to create images for the corporate logo, the name and logo of the kid’s cereal itself, a mascot/character to promote the cereal, the box/container the cereal will be sold in, and the product magazine advertisement. You must research existing past and present kid’s cereals and develop a corporate logo, product logo, mascot/character figure design, product box/container for the cereal, and the product magazine advertisement to publicize the product. West Virginia Graphic Arts Teachers - Rick Bay, Doug Martin, and Jeff

Wamsley

Cereal Box Product Branding



With Teachers ….

Have them get in groups by like content, look at additional examples and begin to generate potential authentic projects using the Project Design Template

Turn to a neighbor and see if you can come up with a project idea? Remember, an authentic role and problem.

For a group of leaders, we are going in a different direction.


Why Focus on The Leaders SREB has provided Literacy (LDC), Math

(MDC) and/or Enhanced CT Training at over 400 sites in the past three years

The process and the PD are the most standardized we have ever usedAll workshops the sameJob-embedded follow-up

Yet, this support is changing the way teachers teach at some places and floundering at others?

Why? Turn to a neighbor, introduce yourself and discuss


The Big Surprise #1!

We observed almost no instances where, in the same school, the LDC/MDC or Enhanced CT (Project-based Learning) was working well for one teacher but not for others. The trend was that the training was impacting all or none in any single school!

Why? Turn to a neighbor!

HSTWMMGW/TCTW


Big Surprise #2

Although the quality of the teacher is key for our design of developing teacher leaders, the actions that leaders took (big and small) had a bigger impact on implementation than the quality of the teachers who participated.


Practices of Leaders in SchoolsWhere it is Working

Professional Development truly is a process, not an event (THINK BDA)Before the PD DuringAfter the PD

• Planned follow-up• Collaboration• Peer observations• Focused Walkthrough Observations• Effective Feedback


Before the PD

Answer the question whyLink to teacher observationsPeople pay attention when something is

said that connects with something they desire.

Provide CLEAR expectations (vision)Keep the main thing the main thing –

Avoid the new toy approachCommunicate it is not spray and pray


Before PD: Remember the Change Process

Move teachers from victims to owners of change!Establish a need for change among those who

must change. Give them a vision for the changeInvolve them in building the planStart small to ensure successCelebrate successes and provide feedbackContinue the change process with data

collection/adaptations


Establishing Why - College and Career Readiness Reviews

Multiple partsDesktop review of business/industry regional

outlookStudent/faculty surveysFacilitated self-study around Signature Features

(see next slide)External Team ReviewFormal report to school/board/community


Signature Features1. Students are able to access high-quality career

pathway programs of study that offer technical courses aligned with a college- ready academic core.

2. Career technical and high school leaders work to create an organization and scheduling structure that enable CT teachers to work frequently with other CT teachers, academic teachers and counselors to plan integrated technical assignments.

3. CT course sequences are derived from industry, reflect future employment needs


Signature Features4. Students are given authentic project-based assignments

that require them to (1) apply their understanding of high school-level math, literacy and science; (2) demonstrate good habits of mind and behavior; and (3) exhibit problem-solving skills to complete.

5. Students are assessed using several strategies — rubrics, exams, written deliverables, teacher observations and external assessments. Students receive feedback and opportunities to relearn and master concepts and skills through authentic assignments.

6. Career pathway programs of study are supported with a counseling for careers approach to educational and career exploration that begins no later than the middle grades and continues through high school.


Signature Features7. CT courses are taught by highly qualified teachers

who have demonstrated their mastery of the academic, technical and 21st-century standards and skills and teaching methods .

8. CT teachers work with both industry and postsecondary partners to create authentic projects and problems, assess the quality of student work against workplace and postsecondary requirements, offer students work-based learning experiences and provide students with information and advising that eases their transition from high school to further education, training and employment.


During PD

Participate – Participate – Participate Remember the old saying, “you learned more

about ____ the first year you taught it than all the years of college?” You learn it by doing it.

Be a mentor at a table (requires pre-work)


A New Idea

1. Leaders come to PD session with their teacher eval/classroom obs tools.

2. Leaders create observation tools/walkthroughs that align with the PD

3. The PD session ends with the leader presenting the tool to the faculty.


After PD What gets monitored, gets done – look for the

new practicesWalkthrough FormsLesson PlansOther methods of monitoring

Establish Demonstration Classrooms – the surgery model

Recognize what you want to see more of in classrooms

Invite business/industry in to observe/judge/ evaluate


Ongoing Support is Essential: B – D - A

Why Do Americans Stink at Math?In 1970’s Japan taught math like in the USNCTM recommended changesJapan implemented with ongoing support –

Lesson Study formatIn US, teachers get one –four days of PD and it

may be on multiple topics


Organize and Expect Teacher Collaboration

PLCs, Cross-disciplinary, Departments, other Finding time – the first leader challenge Setting expectations – the second leader

challenge – collaboration by invitation does not work

Providing support – the third leader challenge Common planning needs to become part of

your professional development plan.


Professional Dialogue: Using Protocols

Common ProtocolsTuning ProtocolFive WhyPraise – Question – PolishConsultancyFinal Word Standards in Practice

The Power of Protocols: An Educator’s Guide to Better Practice - By Joseph McDonald, Nancy Mohr, Alan Dichter, Elizabeth C. McDonald


Multiple SREB Supports College and Career Readiness Reviews – Do

your programs align with needs? Are programs rigorous?

New Advanced Career Programs of Study Teach to Lead (T2L) NRCCTE Tools

Math in CTScience in CTLiteracy in CT

Enhanced CT through Authentic Project-based Learning


Final Thoughts

Stealing from another WarrenWe need Purpose Driven StudentsConnect them to:

• A career goal• A plan to achieve the goal• An adult to help them achieve the goal• Authentic instruction that reflects the

career goal


Thank you

Remember, all schools and all teachers want to improve. However,

few want to change. The fact remains that to improve, one MUST

change.

Documents

High Schools That Work It’s About Implementation, Not Attendance! How can leaders support teachers to implement authentic project-based learning? Scott