Plymouth School of Inquiry Janunary 2012 Newsletter

January 2012 Issue #2

CONTENTS Application Process Year 1 Curriculum New Tech Facilitators Announced IN NT Research Key Findings from the CELL quantitative and qualitative study for the academic year, 2010-11

Plymouth High School

Plymouth School of Inquiry Applications available 1/3/12 ✦Engage students in project based curricular units with real world application that utilizes teamwork to increase relevance and rigor. ✦ Create a culture of trust, respect, and responsibility among students and staff in a small school environment.

Appliccation Process

✦ Evaluate students on Indiana State Standards as well as work ethic, teamwork, critical thinking, oral, writing and technology literacy.

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✦ Utilize 1:1 Macbook initiative as an instructional tool in building content mastery of curricular material. ✦Cultivate interpersonal skills to work effectively as a team. ✦Develop time management and planning skills, leadership, problem solving skills, and positive work ethic. ✦ Connect learning to other subjects to the post high school world.

Please contact Kenneth Olson Director Plymouth School of Inquiry for more information at: kolson@plymouth.k12.in.us For more information about New Tech Network please go to: www.newtechnetwork.org http://www.plymouth.k12.in.us/plymouth-school-of-inquiry.html

Application will be available on January 3rd at the Plymouth Community School Corporation website.

Early enrollment period will be between January 3-16. We will close enrollment when we reach 50 students or January 16, whichever comes first.

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The integrated courses for the first year will be Global Perspectives and 21st Century Communication. Global Perspectives will combine a World History course with English 9 and will allow students to engage in projects that help them to better understand the culture of the people and times they are studying.

21st Century Communication will combine Speech and Interactive Media. This course will help build the vital communication skills that are needed for the 21st Century economy. In addition to learning how to effectively communicate through a variety of public speaking styles and debate, students will learn how to augment their speaking skills with technology tools that include presentation software, writing, and communicating via the web.

There will be one Project Based Learning stand alone course in the first year of the School of Inquiry, Leadership Institute. This course will help students to plan and prepare for college and career choices. In addition, the development of leadership skills and a focus on goal setting will provide some guiding principles that will compliment all coursework for the freshmen class.

The Passport courses for the first year will consist of an ability appropriate math course (Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Algebra 2 or Geometry),science, a foreign language, and opportunities to take elective courses.

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Courses for 2012-2013

At the December PCSC meeting of the School Board, the following curriculum was approved for the inaugural class of the School of Inquiry.

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School of Inquiry Facilitators PHS

Charlotte Tyree and Jennifer Felke will be forming an integrated class of 21st Century Communication. The class will include writing, technology, presentations, public speaking skills, and the use of different forms of media.

Tyree has taught at Plymouth High School since 1995. Prior to 1995, she taught at Wawasee High School starting in 1984 and moved to the Plymouth Corporation in 1993 as the head of Adult Basic Education.

She currently teaches Acting and Speech and is a varsity coach with the PHS Speech and Debate extra-curricular competitive team.

Joint planning with other teachers is not new to Tyree. She and fellow teacher, Jane Faulstich, have been collaborating for many years. She said, “We each have our own skill set and we have worked together in Acting classes and for stage productions.”

Tyree will continue to teach in the more traditional classroom setting for classes in Acting, Theater Arts, and traditional speech part of the time.

She said, “The School of Inquiry is just an expansion of what we do now. It will open up more opportunities for students.”

She holds a bachelor’s degree with a major in Speech and Theater and a minor in English and a master’s degree in Secondary Education from Indiana University.

Tyree has a unique perspective on how the high school experience translates to real-life situations and further educational experiences after graduation.

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Felke joined the Plymouth Schools this year after teaching for two years at Oregon-Davis High School. While at Oregon-Davis, Felke was very involved in starting and implementing their New Tech program.

Felke teaches business and coaches the BPA (Business Professionals of America). She will serve as the Director of Professional Development for those who will be involved in the School of Inquiry. She will also continue to teach some “stand alone” classes in Business.

Before entering into education, Felke worked in various businesses in Plymouth,Elkhart, and Chicago. Her background in accounting, sales and marketing, as well as starting her own business, will be valuable in the New Tech setting where students will work on “real-life” projects. In 2000, she joined with a partner in starting Honey Beeders. Honey Beeders is known for their custom designed jewelry.

She is a graduate of DePauw University where she received a degree in Economics. She also completed degrees from Bethel College and Indiana State University.

She said, “I know what the struggles can be for both kids and teachers.” Felke is the mother of three including Patrick, senior PHS; Thomas, sophomore at PHS; and Nick, 7th grader at LJH. The Global Perspectives portion of the School of Inquiry will combine the skills of Grant Masson and Lisa Mercer. Masson currently teaches history at PHS and Mercer, English.

Mercer said she officially applied to be a facilitator in the School of Inquiry over a month ago, but that she had been exploring and thinking of ways to incorporate what she has been teaching in the Plymouth Schools for the past 23 years. In addition to her experience in the PHS English Department, she taught French at LJH. Mercer said, “The New Tech idea is about relating to all types of students and pulling them in.” She said her favorite classes are lab classes where she can work one-one with students to help find out what interests them.

School of Inquiry Facilitators

Her daughter Nancy is a senior at Indiana University, son Jon is a sophomore at George Mason University, and step-daughter Katie is now a graduate student at Purdue University.

Originally from southwest Michigan, Mercer attended St. Mary’s College, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in French and then went on to obtain a master’s degree in Secondary Education. She is currently taking masters’ level courses from Performance Learning Systems. She said, “They teach hands-on, useable information.”

Mercer is the mother of one son Mack who is a sophomore at PHS. This article was reproduced with permission from Carol Anders, correspondent.

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IN NT Research Key Findings ~ 2010-­‐11 Quantitative Data

The overall attendance rate for all New Tech schools was higher than that of the comparison schools, (95.6% vs. 94.6%). Furthermore, New Tech schools have had consistently had high attendance rates in the past four years, ranging from 94.2% to 95.8%.

New Tech students received fewer suspensions than comparison schools (in-­‐school suspensions: 11.4% vs. 17.2% of students; out-­‐of-­‐school suspensions: 10.0% vs. 13.1% of students).

In 2010-­‐11, a greater percentage of New Tech students passed their ECAs than students at comparison schools. In 2009-­‐10, New Tech students out-­‐performed both comparison schools and all high schools

statewide in both Algebra I and English 10 ECAs, with a greater percent of New Tech students passing these assessments. (The 2010-­‐11 statewide data is not available yet.)

The 2010-­‐11 graduation rate for New Tech seniors was 92.7%. This result is greater than the statewide graduation rate in 2009-­‐10, which was 84.5%. (The 2010-­‐11 statewide data is not available yet.)

Attendance and number of suspensions were found as strong, statistically significant predictors in ECA

performance. Ɛ Ă ƐƚƵĚĞŶƚ͛Ɛ ĂƚƚĞŶĚĂŶĐĞ ƌĂƚĞ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ͕ ƚŚĞŝƌ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ ĂƐ ǁĞůů͘ In addition, attendance and number of suspensions were strongly linked to the likelihood that a student

would graduate. For every one-­‐point increase in attendance rate, the odds that a senior would graduate increased.

Qualitative Data Schools offered integrated classes and cross-­‐curricular projects taught by teachers utilizing project-­‐based

learning as their primary instructional approach. In fact, students who experienced PBL more often were more likely to agree that their school had a positive learning environment as described in the New Tech

Network School Success Rubric.

Partnerships with local organizations enabled students to take advantage of more authentic, 21st-­‐century

learning experiences. In fact, several partnerships have resulted in students being recruited for internships and other work with local organizations. dŚĞ ͞dƌƵƐƚ͕ ZĞƐƉĞĐƚ͕ ZĞƐƉŽŶƐŝďŝůŝƚLJ͟ ĞƚŚŽƐ ĐƌĞĂƚĞĚ Ă ĐůŽƐĞ-­‐knit, family-­‐like atmosphere where teachers

and students could have more positive, meaningful interactions. It also enabled teachers to instill a sense of autonomy, responsibility, and professionalism among students.

Students showed the highest levels of engagement when they were collaborating with their peers to complete rigorous projects while teachers solicited student feedback in order to improve the rigor and relevancy of projects.

Each school had mechanisms in place for recognizing student accomplishments, which helped impart a sense of pride and buy-­‐in among students.

Students were required to demonstrate competency in 21st Century Skills including collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills to succeed while teachers supported student ůĞĂƌŶŝŶŐ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ƐĐĂĨĨŽůĚŝŶŐ ƚĞĐŚŶŝƋƵĞƐ ƵƐĞĚ ƚŽ ŵĞĞƚ ĞĂĐŚ ƐƚƵĚĞŶƚ͛Ɛ ŝŶĚŝǀŝĚƵĂů ŶĞĞĚƐ͘ Teachers participated in a strong professional culture where collaborative planning and co-­‐teaching were the norm. They also served as school leaders through the sharing of expertise and decision-­‐making with those who had taught in the model for the longest amount of time taking on more responsibilities.

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