Philip a lanky year old Western Additionnative momentarily looks up from the microscope as he hears the roar of the crowd fromPacific Bell Park “Barry must have hit anotherone ” he tells Keisha his year old classmatewho hails from the Double Rock housing project

Wen their year old friend from the SunsetDistrict adds “So glad I left the private school!What a way to study ”

Jorge a stocky year older from the Missionreplies “And to think this time last year I was inthe Juvenile Detention Hall Now I’m going offto my internship at UC SF ”

Keisha thinks to herself “Who would havethought a girl from Double Rock with twobabies would be working with top doctors andhaving fun with kids from all over the city?”

Then Samuel a year old Pacific Heightsresident pops over “Remember we’ve got toenter our findings in the database so we can getcredit for our units!”

VISION MISSION GOALS

Rather than warehousing capable students who come to school less and less often

The Leidesdorff Learning Garage school will close the achievement gap and maintain

high standards by matching the California and district content standards to student

interests in a series of more than interactive learning challenges per year

The Garage is designed to make quick interventions with students who are ready to

give up on school while attracting more dedicated students with cutting edge career

opportunities The horizontal design of curriculum the ergonomic placement of class

rooms and the scheduling of courses supports personal attention rigorous instruction

applied learning and state of the art instruction Instructors will receive twice the

national average for professional development time

Well situated in the Mission Bay research/residential/retail development where the

University of California SF is currently under construction LLG places the students in

proximity of opportunities for mentoring internships independent study and trans

portation links so that students can see first hand what the future holds for them

Students engage in four sets of the Nine Experiences over a yearly schedule divided

into Nine Innings The four sets of experiences are: deep thought commercial applica

Western AdditionCommunity

Technology CenterA Turk St

San Francisco CA

Ron AbernathyExecutive Director

THE LEIDESDORFFLEARNING GARAGE

a proposal inresponse to theSecondary SchoolRedesign Initiativeof the S F UnifiedSchool District

Sept

in cooperation withSan Francisco StateUniversity Dept ofDesign and IndustryElectron Access IncOrganization ofBlack Designers

tion civic responsibility and career growth The completed experiences create a

highly focused and goal oriented portfolio of work for each student Each experience

will encompass six framework skiill uniitts

This cutting edge school is named for the first chairman of the San Francisco

Unified School District Capt William Alexander Leidesdorff an African American who

left the Virgin Islands at age and became the richest man in Yerba Buena within

years Leidesdorff Learners will have a clear pathway to achieve similar heights

because they will have been exposed to the entire repertoire of teaching techniques

and content standards

The mission of the Leidesdorff Learning Garage is to show how the immense chal

lenges of urban public education visible through the achievement gap can be distilled

down to reliable research based easily replicable instructional practices

Leidesdorff Learners will be distinguished by high rates of school attendance con

sistent progress in learning mastery expanded horizons for career civic and personal

growth and reduced rate of school disciplinary actions

II Four Key Elements

Let us “begin with the end in mind ” The four key elements are the cornerstone of

this team driven effort The mission is to identify and preserve the potential of a par

ticular set of young people whom our city must nurture in order to preserve our way of

life This demonstration school tackles the challenge with innovation power relevance

and caring Its clients will emerge better students better citizens and better people

Personalization The Western Addition Community Technology Center has been

able to create a multi generational family atmosphere in its facility on Turk Street with

more than senior citizens; dozens of middle aged adults and youth actively

participating We bring that experience to the task of replicating that atmosphere in

the Leidesdorff Learning Garage A student’s day begins with a personal growth class

called LOVE (Learning Offers Valuable Experiences) during which they will engage in

planning of activities journal writing advising with faculty and tutoring on challenging

subjects It will also afford an opportunity to ongoing assessment time This format

was inspired by the GYST (Get Your Stuff Together) classes at Ida B Wells High School

The staffing classroom design and curriculum puts every student in full view of adults

all day long In addition to a class ratio we complement the paid staff with the

immersion of interactive role models in the curriculum two coaches drawn from the

ranks of retired teachers and administrators essentially serving as grandparents; a com

plement of two dozen senior volunteers from the WACTC senior classes We want each

child to have a conversation with five adults per day in the instructional setting

Academic Rigor The lack of prior preparation such as reading or math skills does

not deter students from enthusiastically tackling complex problem solving challenges

For instance Marquez Shaw—six weeks ago a confused dropout with no future— is

now a composed articulate resourceful technically adept leader who single handedly

installed an entire network of computers in less than four hours Our interviews with

SFUSD children found them surprised and angry to know that they had not been

receiving instruction on the specific goals of the California content frameworks Our

curriculum design makes the learning environment as clear as a football game with

achievable goals consistent rules available coaching and the peer pressure to achieve

Every student will know exactly where they stand in terms of their competitiveness

and readiness for the workforce due to the immersion in the standards Most lesson

plans will involve teams of four students such that individual weaknesses will not slow

down the pace of instruction We will create a joint credit program with City College of

San Francisco

Applied Learning Siting the school in or near the Mission Bay development puts

the students in the midst of their future with opportunities for close by internships

experience visits and mentors in every direction Nearby firms include the Gap

Winterland Productions the Port of San Francisco San Francisco Giants the San

Francisco Fire Department headquarters University of California San Francisco Charles

Schwab and the ILWU The daily schedule devotes the afternoon classes to a series of

five structured experiences including research entrepreneurship civic responsibility

production and expression each week each resulting in the expected deliverables for

each subject

AA CCooaacchh’’ss PPeerrssppeeccttiivvee

Rodney Jenkins is aSacramento basednetwork administrator for the Stateof California whocoaches youth inthe Seahawks football/cheerleadingprogram in theWestern Addition

"For yearswe've been requiring our players towrite an essayabout themselvesWhen we find thatthey have troubleexpressing themselves we go visittheir teachers toask why they arepassing them whenthey have failedWe have a teacheron our coachingstaff and we workwith the studentsto make sure theycan put theirthoughts intowords If we cando that why can'tthe schools?"

Qualified teachers Our job description will seek teachers with certification in multi

ple areas for the maximum flexibility of team building as well as skills in social work

counseling and psychology Extensive professional development delivered by ongoing

mentor relationships with education researchers as well as constant help from on site

retired educators serving as coaches will give the faculty the same support as we’re

offering the students We don’t expect the teachers to be able to handle every chal

lenge the students throw at them but we will connect them with someone who will

know what to do

III Curriculum and Instruction

Students will often learn as much for a teacher as they will learn from a teacher ”Linda Darling Hammond Ed D

This notion of the power of personalization powers the pedagogical constructs of

the instructional design We solve the paradox of standards based learning and field

independent instruction by distilling the California frameworks to actual lessons that

cover the entire four year experience of high school Each teacher will have a reper

toire of literary activity online voice/music art mentorship/role model practical

experience tactics prepared in a school wide instructional practice workbook also acces

sible online with links for each of framework standards units

The student will be responsible for completing these individual units and will receive

traditional grades based on the number of units completed by demonstration of under

standing the concept in a defined deliverable The wide repertoire of techniques allows

teachers to adjust lessons for the special needs of ELL special education and gifted stu

dents while maintaining their participation in the larger class We also turn the lan

guage diversity of the district into an asset by giving language minority students the

opportunity to teach other students how to speak their languages

The schedule is turned sideways to address specific subjects in nine innings that cor

respond to calendar months We also imbue students with the mission that they are

changing education for their peers throughout the district by creating their own inter

active lesson plans and strategies We call this effort YACHT (Young Americans

AA RRoollee MMooddeell’’ssPPeerrssppeeccttiivvee

Roy L Clay Sr isknown as the“godfather ofblack SiliconValley ” Hebegan HewlettPackard’s computer division inthe mid s andlater greenlighted Intel andCompaq for venture capitalAfter listening toa group of special educationstudents at a S Fschool present asimulated venture capitalrequest he said“I really loveddoing this Weneed to create astructuredprocess to get infront of theseyoung people intheir classrooms ”

Challenging High Technology) in keeping with the maritime theme of the school’s

namesake and location In cooperation with City College of San Francisco we will

encourage students to apply for technology certifications The Department of Design

and Industry will supply college student mentors to work with LL students to incorpo

rate design and modeling tactics into their work by using the program TimeMechanics

Teachers will have periods of structured reflection at the end of each day so that

they can enter data for research and energize the teaching/learning process by captur

ing unobtrusive data for a weekly and continuous progress

IV Composition of Staff

The LLG goals are served by the diversity preparation and perseverance of core

staff Imbedded in the collective work of the faculty is quality translated as familiarity

with current research and reliance on personalization element as a key variable in stu

dent success and a commitment to maintaining high standards for all students

Not only highly qualified appropriately credentialled and diverse each staff mem

ber will have expressed an intention to make a difference and bring specific evidence of

experience in doing so Each will be able to articulate his or her own vision and

describe how that vision and the Learning Garage are aligned They will qualify by

describing the processes and outcomes of linking learning activities to the California

State Standards Reporting procedures will constitute the equivalent of graduate level

action research Well documented sequencing and video cataloging of lessons and

adventures in learning will be required

In the first year our design utilizes six certificated teachers to work with ninth

graders This includes two teachers with mathematics certification; one teacher with

science certification; two teachers with language certification including one reading

specialist; one teacher with social science certification We additionally look for foreign

language skills artistic training counseling or social work experience We will hire a

paraprofessional trained by the CTC to maintain the school’s technology and support

the instructional database We take advantage of the nearby Mission Bay library for lit

erary resources We will use the nearby YMCA on Steuart Street for physical education

training The principal will be aided by a clerk The principal should have an educational

research background including quantitative data analysis Our recruiting plan will uti

lize the alumni databases of the MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science

Achievement) program of the University of California and the National Action Council

for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) to find teachers who can relate to the experi

ence of achieving when given a second chance to succeed Our consultants from

Spelman College Howard University San Francisco State University City College of San

Francisco and Florida A&M will also distribute our job requirements to their alumni

IV Professional Development

Teamwork makes the dream work Strategies for teacher development can only be

excellent if they are contextualized

Loraine Monroe Ed D

Research indicates that an above average allocation of time for professional devel

opment is one of the factors of success Scheduling budget and priorities will work to

ensure that teachers have hours of structured professional development time during

the year as well as a constant real time support from an onsite coach a research men

tor and a principal attuned to continuous process improvement Each teacher would

be provided with professional educational research mentors in their field of discipline

who would remain in constant contact through e mail and phone conversations Time

would be provided in the schedule for minutes of professional development activity

each week in addition to subject team activities and school wide seminars Prior to the

school year teachers would receive a week long activity that would introduce them to

the curriculum design to community volunteers and to other resources available This

would be twice the national average of hours yearly for professional development

A New York State study of school reform shows that schools that invest at least

hours per year in professional development show gains

Staff priorities include: facilitation in consensus decision making and effective meet

ing strategies; development of individual curricular pathways towards career goals;

classroom management and discipline policies; intervention strategies for students with

the most deficient skills strategies for literacy and problem solving skills and tech

niques for implementing and evaluating portfolios

We would enlist the consultant expertise of Mrs Mary Martin director of the S R

Martin College Preparatory Academy for governance and curriculum strategies ongo

ing with the faculty Consultants for focused sessions and online consultation including

Dr Adelaide Sanford vice chair of the New York State Board of Regents; Dr Lois

Harrison Jones professor of educational administration at Howard University; Dr

Joyce King provost of Spelman College; and Dr Dhyana Ziegler vice president of spon

sored research at Florida A&M University

Leidesdorff would also require school visitation and participation in program of the

California School Redesign Network as an ongoing part of the professional develop

ment program

The core of professional development will focus on the correlates of “effective

schools” research advanced cognitive modifiability culturally relevant and rigorous

expectations for student behavior and familiarity with California and district content

standards We will have sufficient initial training ongoing training provision for new

ideas and feedback and sufficient time provided for collaboration monitoring of stu

dent progress and instructional pacing through authentic assessment Teachers will

ultimately understand what they are doing and what conditions stimulate personaliza

tion and the maintainence of high standards for all students

VI Measurable Student Outcomes

The most salient fact of student outcomes is that they can be quantified The

Garage has only served its purpose when the desired outcomes can be measured and

traced to specific teaching and learning modalities These outcomes can further be val

ued if contextualized Gardner’s multiple intelligences frameworks illuminates the

essential nature of measuring student work in a variety of ways while also using the

assessment as a tool to spark greater student effort

Leidesdorff Learning Garage would seek to achieve an average completion ratio of

percent of pursued framework skiill uniitts among its student body by combining per

sonalization academic rigor and applied learning strategies This process intends to

improve on the use of portfolios by creating a standard metric not based on subjective

evaluation but demonstrated accomplishment That ratio would take into account the

time a student spent at the school A second goal is to achieve a percent attendance

record for all demographic groups of students That would mean that we are success

fully customizing the instructional program to effectively market learning We will

also administer the California High School Exit Exam to each student and will seek a

percent passing rate among the ninth graders which we would expect to grow to

percent among continuing students by the th grade Students who are above the

normal age for their grade will be encouraged to pursue technology certifications

through the Western Addition Community Technology Center We would also seek

an average percent improvement in STAR test scores for its students over previous

year ratings whether at the garage or another school

VII Student Assessment

A multi variate process will overlay these metrics with STAR and Exit Exam scores

In addition the Vanguard Scholars authentic assessment used by the National Action

Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) as a strategy for ferreting out the

career aptitudes and latent abiltiies NACME Vanguard Scholars have achieved GPA

averages in engineering school despite SAT scores under A special LOVE orienta

tion class provides a paradigm for multiple authentic measurement of the student

body LLG intends to utilize the Learning Propensity Assessment Device (LPAD) as a

recognized tool for authentic assessment The collaborative features of the LLG will

also utilize a psychiatrist and probation officers to determine how behavior reacts to

our curriculum and intervention During the planning process instruments for the

evaluation of mentors will be developed Faculty will be responsible for creating an

online tracking and evaluation system for meeting the Expected Schoolwide Learning

Results

VIII Students to be Served

William Alexander Leidesdorff would have an average population of ninth

grade students We would expect about percent to be African American close to a

quarter Latino about percent Chinese ancestry eight percent white and percent

of Filipino descent About a quarter would be either on juvenile probation or live in

AA DDrrooppoouutt’’ssPPeerrssppeeccttiivveeMarquez Shaw is adropout who attendedthree high schools inthe district obtainingathletic letters as afootball quarterbackand basketball pointguard but no diploma"I went to Galileo IdaB Wells andWashington and I feltthat the teachers decided that if a studentwanted to get it theycould but if the student wasn't motivatedthey wouldn't do anything special to helpthem get it I was aleader on the footballfield as the quarterbackand on the court as thepoint guard but when itcame to academics Igot a lot of gradesgiven to me just to keepme eligible "Six weeks ago Marquezknew nothing aboutcomputers But whenthe Western Additionpurchased new computers for its youth laboratory Marquez bootedup all the computersinstalled software andconnected the machines tothe network of theCommunity TechnologyCenter Now he wantsto get several certifications in technology

group homes The student who emerges from the Learning Garage would have

acquired a taste for the arts and culture a tool kit for problem solving and a bankroll

of communication skills to advance the most creative and useful intentions of service

to others Every student emerges with an “aim” and an enhanced ability to bring life to

ideas that are “unfolded” through exposure

IX Calendar and Schedule

The planning process would allow the extension of a process of customization of

classes to more closely align them with student interests Rather than creating those

classes as electives we would infuse those directed learning experiences with the day

to day skills and content required by the state frameworks and district goals as well as

William Alexander Leidesdorff Expected Student Learning Requirements Additionally

we would take a Learning Garage strategy by programming classes to address the

turnover of our student body We will assume that we need to create an intervention

strategy and a set of practices that will give the student a sense of accomplishment

within school days So the lesson plans will tackle definable tasks in short blocks of

time Also like a television schedule the daily schedule will take different approaches

to the same subject areas each day in order to break the routine that can cause stu

dents to feel they can miss school The afternoon sessions would be devoted to applied

use of the concepts explored in the morning The first four days of each week each

student plays a role in a simulated technology company a biomedical research labora

tory a consumer business and then shadows a department of the City and County of

San Francisco including executives board members and stakeholders On the last day

the day ends with a schoolwide learning lottery conducted online to apportion credits

to teams of students for accomplishments during the week These credits can be used

with participating merchants nearby for such items as clothes and meals A sample

class schedule follows:

Simulated Class Schedule for Leidesdorff Learning Garage

Schedule Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

: : LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

: : Express Dot Yr I’s Book Exploring Every

Yourself Cross Your T’s Garage the World is a

through S F Star

: : Let’s Play How Does By the Interactive Design

Doctor That Thing Work? Numbers Intensity Styling

: : Fitness Lunch Fitness Lunch Fitness

: : Lunch Advising Lunch Advising Lunch

: : Tech Cutting Edge Taking Care Who’s da Learn

Challenge Laboratory of Business Mayor? Lottery

After

School MESA CitiScience Vanguard MESA WACTC

The school calendar would reflect the needs of students who are on the verge of

leaving school altogether; or who face chronic learning problems It structures curricu

lum in day units called Innings in line with the Garage model During each Inning

which roughly corresponds to a month we would convert the traditional subjects from

a vertical model of distinct classes each period to a horizontal model in which the Bays

correspond to subject foci During each of the classes during a typical week each

class would address the subject for the month

Inning Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March April May

Focus Literacy Biology Social Math Physical World Writing Logic Design

Science Science Cultures Problem Presentation

Solving

When students have problems in school they are referred to summer school for an

intensive focus on a single topic for extended periods This curriculum takes the simi

lar approach during the regular calendar while building in the variety of different

approaches to the same subject This approach also fosters a holistic view of subject

matter as students get the reinforcement from different instructors

The concentrated approach gives support to varied learning styles and develops mul

tiple intelligences For students who have a goal in mind such as improving grade point

averages passing the GED or finding a career this strategy gives them quick milestones

which can be tied to incentives and rewards Many of the students who will be

assigned to the Learning Garage will have a great deal of uncertainty in their lives A

single concentrated focus on a subject area for a defined period of time allows them a

foundation for their learning

During an inning hours of instuctional time would be devoted to the different

applications of the subject area It is also similar to the paradoxical processing peda

gogy used by the U S armed forces which consistently achieve success with popula

tions that do not do nearly as well in the typical school setting

X Governance

Leidesdorff Learning Garage would adopt the School Site Council struc

ture as devised by the San Francisco Unified School District It would be

structured to give maximum empowerment to faculty parents and stu

dents One of the selection criteria for the instructional leader will be a

willingness and demonstrated experience working with various stake

holders in the education process Representatives from nearby business

es such as Gap S F Convention and Visitors Bureau parents from vari

ous parts of the city a male and a female student three teachers who

would rotate from semester to semester the principal There would also

be representatives of our partners in higher education from UC SF S F

State and City College of San Francisco This council would approve the

budget based on the Weighted Student Formula participate in staff

interviews receive appeals of principal disciplinary decisions and take

primary responsibility for managing the involvement of volunteers and

mentors in the school Dr Lois Harrison Jones professor of educational

administration at Howard University would serve as a consultant and

mentor to the School Site Council during the first year She is former

superintendent in Boston and Richmond VA Parents would be encour

aged to be active by use of translation services from the district for

monthly gatherings

XI Public Engagement

The Learning Garage has been extremely well received by a variety of constituen

cies in the development of this proposal The team represents the merger of four appli

BIBLIOGRAPHYIda B Wells High

School WASC SelfStudy

WestchesterInstitute “DifferencesFound in CSRD“Model”Implementation andOutcomes”September

WestchesterInstitute “GoodProfessionalDevelopment TakesHold in CSRD Schools”August

WestchesterInstitute “CSRDProgram Models andNY State LearningStudy” October

DarlingHammond Linda“Redesigning Schools:What Works andWhat Matters: TenFeatures of GoodSmall Schools”

Monroe Lorraine“Nothing’s Impossible”

National BlackCaucus of StateLegislators “Closingthe Achievement Gap”September

“Students ToldWhy Math IsValuable ” Oct

San FranciscoChronicle

Commission onResearch in BlackEducation Facing theNew Millenium: finalreport to theAmerican EducationalResearch AssociationJune

National PolicyAssociation Buildinga Digital Workforce;Part : Reaching Outto UnderservedCommunities April

Allen WalterPh D Bonous

cants as well as organizations that did not originally respond to the RFP Our lead

applicant Western Addition Community Technology Center has already adopted our

strategies for its after school youth curriculum

It conducted surveys among young people in the neighborhood to determine

their attitudes towards school and willingness to try these strategies Additionally

parents and coaches involved in the San Francisco Seahawks Police Athletics League

teams participated in an open house to review the proposal

Team members made presentations to the adult classes of the Western Addition

Community Technology Center and to the leadership council which is comprised of

sponsoring organizations Allen Community Development Corp an arm of Bethel

A M E Church; the YMCA and the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center One thousand

youth are expected to participate in its program this school year

The concept of Virtual Integrated Mentoring is being presented around the state as

part of the Digital California program bringing Internet to k schools The team

will participate in a regional training workshop on instructional technology in February

involving major museums such as the African American Museum and Library in

Oakland Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose and the Exploratorium featuring Dr

Dhyana Ziegler vice president of sponsored research at Florida A&M University

Team members will also show the benefits of this approach during the ongoing cel

ebration of the three African American churches to celebrate their th anniversaries

including speeches by former President Bill Clinton in October and November

XII IMPROVEMENT

The frustration expressed by students and parents in our September survey

about the lack of educational delivery by the San Francisco Unified School District

underscores the need to focus on content curriculum and accountability

Studies of school reform in New York indicate that a school can successfully trans

form into new modes of learning without making a discernable difference for the stu

dents who need it most Many of the techniques advocated in the small schools move

ment are already in practice within the San Francisco Unified School District yet there

remains the achievement gap

HammarthMarguerite Ph Dand TeranishiRobert Ph D Stonythe Road We TrodThe Black Strugglefor Higher Educationin California Feb

Choices project UCLA

Corporation forEnterpriseDevelopmentEnterprising Youthin America: AReview of Youthenterprise Programsin the United States

Bryant A L &Zimmerman M aRole Models andpsychosocial outcomes amongAfrican Americanadolescents Journalof AdolescentResearch

ZimmermanM A BingenmeierJ B and Notaro P CNatural mentors andadolescent resiliency: A study of urbanyouth AmericanJournal ofCommunityPsychology

National Councilfor Educating BlackChildren Blueprintfor Action

This redesign builds upon those experiences by creating a total focus on the individ

ual student and the smallest unit of curriculum We believe the battle has to be won

one lesson at a time per individual student The S R Martin College Preparatory

Academy a private school on San Carlos Avenue in San Francisco takes students who

have underperformed in the San Francisco Unifed School District; gives them high stan

dards instruction and has a universal college attendance rate

The Leidesdorff Learning Garage integrates all of the positive and measurable

strategies based on research into learning and child development into an effective edu

cational emergency room which can stabilize students about to pass out of the system

treat their weaknesses motivate their self rejuvenative powers and send them out into

the world with a healthy appreciation for their own self worth

The LLG unabashedly borrows and synthesizes salient points from the most com

pelling models in public and private institutional research The convergence of achieve

ment motivation effective schools research the Comer model the efficacy institute

and the Lorraine Monroe Leadership Institute deliver an array of consistent themes

that both empower and deliver useful “best practices” for constructing and maintaining

high standards for all students

XXIIIIII FFAACCIILLIITTIIEESS

“DESIGN MATTERS”

The Learning Garage is interested providing facilities technology and team

dynamic that will explore new kinds of tangible interfaces The “Garage” seeks a

facility that enhance the virtual experience but is not limited to traditional

computer icons peripheries or interfaces The Learning Gararge wants to cre

ate a interactive and immersive learning environment that is collaborative in

developing an measurable and effective student outcome portfolio ”

Today’s youth are very well conditioned to games based computer graphic

entertainment programs The collaboration with the Design and Industry

department at SFSU will provide access to the use of Think Educational

Program Partnership through the use of D game based learning software

“Time Mechanic” “Time Mechanic” is the latest edition of Think ’s game based

learning software that is not only thematically related to the Learning Garage

pedagogy but is an example of some of the dynamic approaches to computer

based applied learning applications that will be utilized to attract the attention

and interest of today’s youth This application creates a team play and collabo

rative work environment that optimizes the relationship between applied learn

ing themes and immersive D gaming software environments

This collaboratory “team work’ concept compliments and supports the

Learning Garage pedagogical strategy of creating applied lesson plans will

involve teams of four students such that individual weaknesses will not slow

down the pace of instruction In a collaboratory “studio” environment Students

can individually input from one of the individual laptop workstations at

the circular/elliptical configured arrangement and simultaneously project their

collective input on the projection screen at the above the head of the

table/classroom area The instructor can either chose to directly interface with

the students individually by walking around their workstations or she can

choose to work from her instructor station adjacent to the projection screen

and interface with the class collectively on the feedback that is projected on the

screen

Technically there are no wrong answers but better solutions and every

body’s team effort and contribution to determining the best selections is

rewarded and contributive to the overall team results

The thematic inspiration for the facilities physical layout and articulation is

based upon the societal circle of communication community; an eternal con

tinual linkage of “no beginning or end ” In ancient communal societies the cir

cle was the symbol of eternity community and strength It was and still is today

symbolic of the hope friendship and common shared knowledge

The development of a “creative circle ” or elliptical classroom seating and

learning activity layout for the students and instructor would greatly facilitate

an interactive and flexible learning environment This will be achieved by mod

eling the classroom environment around the physical features and

GroupSystems® interactive learning software technology The Collaboratory

model is a concept that is based upon a dynamic and new approach to teaching

and learning that has been successfully utilized at SFSU in creating innovative

classroom environments

The room concept is ideal for the Learning Garages’s pedagogical approach

to facilitating collaborative learning problem solving and classroom group dis

cussionTeaching strategies employed in this computer mediated classroom will:

* Enhance student participation * Provide a safe supportive environment for student interaction * Encourage open communication from all participants

The use of the Collaborative facility approach and application to theLearning Garage objectives will assist in:

* Exploring dynamic interactions with students * Encouraging all students to participate in discussions * Develop critical thinking skills * Minimize language barriers * Teach effective communications skills * Encourage students to explore alternative problem solutions

This fusion of group applied learning experiences with the Collaborative

interactive technology will facilitate the sharing of ideas and draws more stu

dents into an active and supportive classroom dialogue which will inevitably

enhance the students’ interpersonal communication skills

Students will able to collectively gather background information for applied

math scientific social or problem solving questions that they will be given in

class Students then can categorize the information so as to develop a rationale

for the experimental approach These facilities and technology will be able to

assist students in defining developing testing and refining the appropriate

solutions In this way students will be empowered with the ability to construct

their own knowledge base and to apply this foundation to the implementation

of the applied method

BUDGET NARRATIVE

The planning grant will be used to prepare for implementation of this vision as well

as enhancing the ability of the team to effectively design market and govern the

garage

We plan two out of town site visits One visit will be to Los Angeles to review the

Food from the Hood program at Crenshaw High School the medical school/secondary

school partnership of King/Drew Math and Science Academy and Charles R Drew

University of Medicine and Science and to observe the work of the Access Center at

California State University Los Angeles Food from the Hood represents an outstand

ing example of applied learning The Garage would develop a similar partnership with

the Mission Bay campus of UC SF The Access Center has effectively trained teachers in

the delivery of advanced math instruction to underperforming students

The second visit will observe the use of “proficiencies” at Urban Academy in New

York City This approach is comparable to our use of framework skill units

In addition our team will observe the operations of S R Martin College Preparatory

Academy in San Francisco because of the comparable size student population and aca

demic goals and collaborate with that school other district schools and the Bay Area

Black United Fund to present three instructional seminars in February March and April

The first would feature Dr Dhyana Ziegler vice president of structured research at

Florida A&M and principal investigator of a National Science Foundation grant to cre

ate virtual online math and science curriculum The second in March would feature

Adelaide Sanford vice chair of the New York State Board of Regents and a former prin

cipal of a sucessful inner city high school in Brooklyn and Dr Lois Harrison Jones pro

fessor of educational administration at Howard University and former superintendent

in Boston and Richmond Va The third would feature Dr Joyce King provost of

Spelman College and a former member of the California Textbook and Curriculum

Resources Commission and Mary Martin

Our team will function through three committees: Staff and Governance;

Curriculum Schedule and Facilities Each committee will have students from the tar

geted groups; parents an SFUSD educator and a higher education team member and

work directly with our consultants as well as the California School Redesign Network

The chairs of those three committees will serve as the executive committee of the

team

Immediately after the grant award the Department of Design and Industry at S F

State will prepare promotional literature on the Learning Garage for dissemination dur

ing the annual school fair in October

The Schedule and Facilities committee will begin discussions with Michael Monroe

vice president of Catellus Corp and Dr Jacqueline Mimms assistant vice president of

school/university partnerships for the University of California and Dr Horace Mitchell

vice chancellor of UC SF to find suitable space We will also speak with the real estate

wing of the Port of San Francisco

The Staff and Governance Committee will begin working with the District Human

Resources division to create job descriptions and an marketing effort to attract the

teachers required to put the plan in motion and a profile of a principal By the March

seminar it will have organized a School Site Council

The Curriculum Committee will schedule the school site visits in November and

work with Neil Yeager high school curriculum specialist in the California State Dept of

Education the California School Redesign Network Dr Joyce King and Dr Dhyana

Ziegler to develop the instructional lesson plan workbook by April It will also partici

pate in a regional celebration of Black Family Technology Awareness Week in February

involving the area’s major science museums

We expect to employ the services of current district educators a cost of

which will need to be deducted from their current assignments

Travel costs for school site visits and consultant visits will be

Professional services costs are expected to run

We will also pay in stipends to two youth and six parent members of the

team for their consistent participation in the planning process

In addition we will contract with a special education class at Thurgood Marshall

Academic High School under the direction of Coach Keith Dennis to prepare a commis

sioned research piece The Students Internet Guide to San Francisco a roster of

Internet based edu cation and cultural resources available to students at a cost of

This roster will be a key element of our curriculum design resources for our

faculty