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College Ready: Preparing students, parents, and higher ed to understand small alternative schooling
School of the Future has worked hard on their college piece in the past few years. We serve a very diverse population and we want to make competitive colleges and programs a possibility for everyone. Our curricula are designed to support strong writing and critical thinking skills so students can be success in institutions of higher education. As a CES school we have an extensive Exhibition process and our classes are grouped heterogeneously. Currently SOF students are attending competitive colleges like Oberlin, Wesleyan, Colby, Middlebury, Trinity, Cornell and Barnard and the top state schools without taking the State Regent Exams and no AP classes. Through teach-ins, invitations to sit on Exhibition Committees and an exhibition class in 9th grade, we educate our parents and students on the importance of our alternative system. We have numerous alumni studies proving that our Exhibition process is what is most valuable to our students in college. We have worked hard to develop relationships with admission officers and foundations like the POSSE Foundation to make our students attractive to a wide variety of schools. We have worked hard on our transition piece which includes a college preparation class and a college schedule at the end of 12th grade to keep senior year meaningful and model the college work load. This panel discussion will allow participants to ask questions and have conversation on how do CES schools prepare students to be successful in college, how do we communicate this with families and colleges and is it enough.
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My experience has been that most urban students from generations of historical oppression want to go to college, however often the lived realities of their daily lives give them the message(s) that college is not possible for them. For the most part these students are excited when they are in the college preparatory programs with other students, but that enthusiasm wanes when the harsh day to day realities of their lives come into play. How do you help each student hold on to and take steps to actualize the notion that college is an experience that will/can have meaning in their lives when every other indicator is giving them the message that college is not in the cards for them?
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It takes a great deal of in class discussion, modeling, and one-on-one contact/counseling. School of the Future students have one class period a week devoted to addressing important college topics such as Financial Aid/Loans to understand that loans aren’t a huge “monster,” but rather a tool to assist them accomplish their goals, and employment trends to demonstrate that attending institutions of higher education will provide anadult life with more opportunities and choices.
More importantly, through advisory or individual sessions, we offer examples of success stories. I often sit with students and have them paint a picture of what their life would be without college. Then I offer a visual of what their life could be with a college education. When the time comes to complete the applications, we will have those students do it at the school(where they are usually more enthusiastic), providing fee waivers ifnecessary. We can’t change what happens when they leave the school doors. However, my belief is that if we arm them with enough information, giverealistic examples tailored for their individual situation, then work with them while they are here, they will begin to feel hopeful.
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Please elaborate on what you mean by "college schedule." Are they taking college courses at a college or are you simulating a college schedule at your school?
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We are simulating a college schedule at our school. SOF
alumni have always stated that the most difficult aspect of their first year in college is adjusting to large amounts of reading and studying. With the traditional high school schedule (which includes physical education, courses everyday, lunch periods, afterschool program, etc.) students don't have enough time to effectively handle a college workload. Therefore, with our college schedule, students only attend core classes three times a week. They are given a syllabus and are responsible to complete all reading and work before each class, just as in college. In the end, students understand the workload of a college student as well as the importance of prioritizing “free” time.
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I would be interested in more details on how to develop relationships with college admissions folks and how you are educating them about the value of the exhibition system.
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Developing relationships with college admissions staff takes a lot of dedication. One approach is to invite representatives to visit the schools to talk to juniors and seniors. We also chaperone college trips, and meet the Directors and Admissions officers at their school. If you can go, the National Association for College Admission Counseling hosts a large conference each year. There, you have the opportunity to meet reps from schools all over the country, exchange information, and invite them to meet your students.
Once you have them sitting with you, talking about the exhibitions is always welcome (as well as individual student discussion). Reps are usually open to, and impressed by the whole process. Certain schools have asked for exhibition papers to be included in the application. We have had a few experiences where larger state schools won’t include the exhibitions when considering admission, but that has not stopped our students from being accepted into top state schools.
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You are addressing a topic that makes parents of students in alternative schools very nervous! I am brand new to the alternative high school world, so my questions will be very basic. Are you willing to share your curriculum outline for your exhibition class? How do you convince parents that there is intellectual rigor without AP classes?
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We share our curriculum for all classes with all parents at curriculum night and on our website. All of our classes model the habits we would like the students to exhibit in their exhibitions. The use of essential questions, rubrics based on the habits of mind and the inquiry based activities that students then use as the basis for their exhibitions are all shown in our curriculum maps.
We look at AP curriculum frameworks and my teachers attend AP and IB workshops. It is not like there is nothing to learn there, but we don't believe AP = intellectual rigor. I am sure there are many "AP" classes that are poorly taught. We explain to parents that we don't believe in tracking and by definition AP classes would do that at a small school like SOF. We are also in New York and there are many more options for parents to look at if they are not interested in alternative schools.
If you want a copy of our curriculum outline for our exhibition class please email me at the email listed for me in this forum.
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This question is perhaps a bit off-topic, but I am wondering how the recently added requirement that all students take 5 Regents Exams is impacted your program.
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We had a Waiver until the Class of 2004. We then had to start doing Regents. SOF's Class of 2005 and 2006 took 5 Regents. At the last minute both classes received extensions on the waiver and last summer the state re-enstated our waiver. When the students had to take the Regents our passing rates were very high and it did not affect our Exhibition process. We tried to "prep" very minimally and keep our curricuum in tact. Students we were concerned about were asked to attend "prep" classes after school for the month before the exam.
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I recently became the superintendent of schools in a community with a comprehensive high school of 1200 students. I am participating in a comversation with the school community about how they can redesign what they do so they can move from being a good school to a great one for kids. What can high schools similar to ours learn from the experience of educators in small alternative schools that can help us with our conversation?
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One piece that is key to making a school great is personalization. Knowing students well is the most important aspect of a small school. Personalization allows schools to focus on the other Common Principles such as stdunet as worker, teacher as coach, tone of decency and trust, etc. There are many good models out there of small learning communitites inside of big schools - Julia Richman Educational Complex and Leominister High School are two good examples. That is where I would start the conversation of making a good school into a great school. It may mean giving up some of the extras such as offering many foreign languages and extensive AP programs, but the benefit to the students far out weighs these programs.
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I am currently working at Taipei American School in Taiwan as an 8th grade math teacher. The school is a very traditional school geared to prepare students for high scores on standardized tests for acceptance into Ivy League schools. I have introduced the concept of exhibitions to our 8th grade team and we moving ahead with the first exhibitions this May. It's very exciting but I would like to expand it from a "pilot project" to something that the school at large embraces. How do you encourage parents and administrators that using exhibitions is a more powerful learning experience for the students than the traditional model? I guess I am looking for advice on the next steps to build on what we are doing and sell it to the school community.
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My first step would be to invite administrators/parents to see the Exhibition presentations. Student surveys and interviewing their 9th grade teachers will help you gain data on how it is better preparing them for high school. We resently had a Teach In about our Exhibition Process. We emphasized the Common Principles and why we do them and students presented their exhbiitions. Even at SOF, educating our parents is an on-going proces. Honestly, it may take 2-3 years of piloting the process in the 8th grade before the rest of the community is ready to embrace it. You don't want to overwhelm the admin/staff. Researching alternative assessment at other schools may be a way to start the conversation school-wide and encourage ownership beyond the 8th grade team.
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Can you briefly outline the exhibition process addressing the following questions? Do parents and community play a role in the process? If so, how? Do your students have mentors? Do you have members of the community serve on review panels? How can I learn more about the process?
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A lot of info is on our website - www.sof.edu. The exhibition handbook and rubrics are posted. Students work with a sponsor, which is usually their teacher in that subject area. The committe consists of the sponsor, another faculty member, 2 stduents and an outside adult. The outside adult is sometimes a parent(we don't let them serve on their own child's committee), a teacher from another school, local community members or politician. Right now we are trying to invite NYC City Council members, state legislators, US senators(which includes Senator Clinton)to view our exhibition process. Since our waiver will expire in 2011, we are trying to gather influential support. I would suggest that you read the Exhibition Handbook - it is under Curriculum on our website - and then email me questions you have. We have exhbition presentations March 21st - 24th if you would like to attend.
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I would really like to know more about the exhibition piece. Is this something that the students do each year? Is it done in each subject? What is the assessment aspect of this?
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All students must do four exhbiitons to graduate: one in math, one in science and two in humanities. Students do one each year and they are sponsored by their teacher in that subject area. Students are assessed using a rubric based on the Habits of Mind. Unlike a portfolio, students exhibit their knowledge about a specific part of the curriculum. This allows the students to go deep into one specific application of the content area. An example of an Essential Question students have used in the past: How are Newton's Laws applied in Skateboarding? Check out the Exhibition Handbook for more specifics - it is on on our website www.sof.edu.
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