INTRODUCTION
Allegheny Middle School is the only comprehensive middle school serving the Northside community. The school draws its population from nine different elementary schools and 17 neighborhoods with 60.5% of the population being transported by bus. We find that these students are deeply embedded in their individual neighborhoods, unable to understand the connection their neighborhoods have with the larger world. Our student population has often challenged the administration and faculty with the never-ending task of relating their lives to the academic environment and content we provide.
Our Chapter I eligible students and Special Education population comprise 50% of the total school enrollment. Standardized achievement test results reflect that 24% of our students are at or above the national norms in Reading; and 39% performed at or above the national norms in Math. These results reflect a marked improvement over previous years.
At the same time the school is surrounded by rich cultural resources and prominent businesses. Allegheny Middle School is positioning itself as a Community Support Services School which bridges the gap between at-risk children living in poorer neighborhoods and the educational and vocational resources in their midst. We have established partnerships with Allegheny General Hospital, Carnegie Science Center, Andy Warhol Museum, National Aviary Children's Museum Penn State Cooperative Extension, Integra Bank, Cities in Schools, Mercy Center, Northwest/Southwest Communities, Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania/ Open Doors and Community College of Allegheny County. In a real sense, Allegheny Middle School is shifting from the teacher-centered paradigm to a collaborative instruction process involving students, teachers and community partners. With this collaboration, the community and its resources have become an extension of our classrooms
The need for technology is immense. We have a pressing need to expand our information resources, and to provide functional computer skills, but more importantly we need better ways to capture the interest of our students. This process will fortify one tool at our disposal, our community partnerships, and introduce a new tool, computer technology.
PART I. CURRICULUM PROJECT
A. Problem Statement
An opportunity to assess Allegheny Middle School's strengths and weaknesses was presented during the Comprehensive Education Improvement Plan (CEIP) development process. The Development Team recognized a pervasive need to foster communication among and between the students and staff at the school, parents, the employees of nearby cultural and business institutions, and the residents of the neighborhoods that surround the school. Improved communication quickly became a long-range goal of the CEIP. There are many stories to be told to many different audiences. But at present, there is no medium for the school to tell those stories.
The unique relationships AMS has created with its community partners could be a model for other schools. Their commitment to this school and its programs should be honored in a public way. The program opportunities could serve to inspire many more students than currently can be reached. Many neighborhood children arc enrolling in schools across town in the belief that more and better educational opportunities are available there. Parents need to be drawn into the school.
Communication is a two-way process. Channels into the school need to be opened as well. Locally, there are many opportunities for students both school-related and not. There are hard-working people willing to serve as role models. Examples of excellence should be widely shared with our children. Most importantly, there are people and events beyond the geographic boundaries of the Northside that need to be tapped. More often than not, our children suffer with a provincial outlook that severely limits their hopes and dreams. Our students need concrete examples of life beyond the few block areas in which they live.
Allegheny Middle School needs a medium to bring students, staff, partners, neighborhood and the world together to learn, and to showcase their best work. This need has given birth to AMIGO, Allegheny Middle Internet Global Outreach, an electronic school magazine.
In summary, our project proposes to address the following issues:
AMIGO provides a much needed opportunity for writers and editors to tell what's good about their school, and to bring the world to Allegheny Middle School. But, AMIGO is a process as well as a product. The process of gathering information, synthesizing and interpreting that information, and then relaying it in a meaningful way is a critical life-skill, one that teachers always teach. But it's time now to introduce new tools to the task, computers and telecommunications. To expect our children to excel at research and writing without these tools borders on the ludicrous.
B. Curriculum Activity
Allegheny Middle School proposes to publish an electronic school magazine entitled AMIGO, Allegheny Middle Internet Global Outreach. This publication will address the communication gap between students, faculty and the collaborative community partners. In addition, AMIGO will feature informative pieces based on student research. This publication will require the participation of students, teachers, researchers, writers, editors, and graphic designers to provide the cohesiveness, currently missing, between the school and the community and among students. Features of this publication will include:
The production of AMIGO is both a means and an end with lnternet a critical ingredient to success. Communication between partners will be important, but it will also be used in the following ways:
In addition to all the Internet skills that will be introduced, there are ancillary benefits that will address 1) higher order thinking skills via Internet interaction; 2) relevancy of learning as it is coming from a "compelling why"; 3) improved communication etiquette in business, school and applied situations; 4) motivation and enthusiasm in the use of technology.
C. Instructional Procedures
With the Internet, our project will shift from a teacher-centered paradigm to a student/teacher/community partnership responsible for the publication of AMIGO. Two classes each from 8th grade and 7th grade and one class from 6th grade (or approximately 120 students) will be chosen from classes taught by the Internet committee. These classes will form the first-year pool of electronic journalists responsible for the in-depth research necessary for the research articles and regular features. The role of the teacher changes from one of fact provider to one of student, coach, enabler and guide. Students will shoulder more of the responsibility in seeking knowledge and turn to each other as well as the teacher to test their strategies and analyze results. We also expect students' technical skill to surpass that of the teachers'.
In order to increase students' leadership roles and enhance their self- esteem, an Editorial Board consisting of 20 students will discuss and plan the assignments to be given to the classes of electronic journalists Six faculty advisors will be available to assist the Board. Journalists, community partners and faculty may suggest topics to the Board for consideration. Other roles of the Board will be to compile, edit, layout, publish and distribute the magazine.
For example, Ms. Baker's Reading class will check their E-mail for the assignment given to them by the Editorial Board. Breaking into their cooperative groups consisting of researchers, writers, graphic artists, and production supervisors, students will decide how to proceed and complete their assignment. They may contact experts electronically, retrieve information from on-line libraries or maintain telecommunication with community partners. Upon completion of their assignment, Ms. Baker will review the feature and make suggestions (if any) to each cooperative group. The finished articles will be electronically mailed to the Editorial Board for review and eventual publication. In addition to the article, journalists may also E-mail a topic for future publication, i.e. an article for "Some of My Best Friends Are People" spotlighting an expert they met on the Internet.
Once the Editorial Board has compiled the magazine, AMIGO will be published on line as well as in hard-copy for distribution to students, faculty and community partners. Supplies and software needed for the hard copy publication have been approved by the administration of AMS.
D. Assessment Plan
The process of mastering the technology is as important as the publication of AMIGO. Students and teachers will be evaluated on the following formative steps of learning:
In order to assess the progress of mastering each one of these steps, a Task Completion Log will be completed by each user. Teachers will use a self- assessment record, while students will be monitored by faculty.
Through the publication of AMIGO, we anticipate meeting many of the student learning outcomes in the PA DOE Chapter I Guidelines. The students will be able to:
COMMUNICATION
MATH
CITIZENSHIP
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CAREER EDUCATION AND WORK
Student interest, involvement and pride in their school and community, as well as the feedback from the Northside neighborhood and our global readers will be a reflection of how well we have met our goal. Quantitatively wc cxpcct to produce two issues in the second half of the 1996 school year that include the features previously mentioned. We anticipate AMIGO's circulation to be within the range of 1200 copies, with an unknown readership on the Internet.
PART II. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION TEAM
A. Support and Vision
The Internet Committee is comprised of 12 members representing all grades and content areas. Kate Baker, 7th grade Reading and Social Studies teacher, will be the site coordinator. Russell Olejniczak, 8th grade Reading, will be assistant site coordinator. Other members include Janet Weaver, 6th grade Reading and Social Studies; Teresa Lehmann, 7th grade Social Studies; LaFay Pinchback, 7th grade Science and Social Studies; Timothy Wilson 7th grade Language Arts and Social Studies; Sally Horn, 7th grade Math; Anna Sokol, 8th grade Math; Susan Popp, 8th grade Math and Social Studies; Sean Schofield, 8th grade Science and Reading; Stanley Kirkavitch, Technology Education; Kathleen Curley-Spotts, Project Director for Cities in Schools. Our community partners are extremely eager to have Allegheny Middle School on the Internet and have written letters of support. (See letters attached in Appendix A.)
All participants are aware that technological innovation spurs educational reform We have all made a commitment to become stakeholders in the design and implementation of this project. Every member has attended informational, design and strategy meetings and has been directly involved in the research and development of this proposal.
B. Management
Our first step in implementing the project is for the committee members to become proficient in the use of the technology. Aside from the in-service and workshops provide by Common Knowledge, teachers will spend one period per week on Internet Duty. Teachers will thus gain on-line experience accessing information, making expert contacts, and communicating with collaborative partners and other schools.
The administration of AMS has supported the following implementation plan for the classroom: teachers will devote one day per week entirely to Internet. Additional Internet time will be allocated based on need. Initially the teacher's role will be to familiarize the student with the Internet, with that role changing to facilitator, coach and guide as the student's capability increases.
Once the AMIGO project is underway, Internet Duty for teachers will be devoted to the Editorial Board. All members will serve as editorial advisors on a rotating basis in each featured department. The Editorial Board and faculty advisors will meet bi-weekly to plan the production schedule and set deadlines. Other meeting times for the featured departments will be scheduled with the advisors.
C. Comprehensive Educational Improvement Plan (APPENDIX B)
The AMIGO project hatched from the long range goal outlined in the Parent and Community Involvement Design Area. Allegheny Middle School's goal is to develop parent-school partnerships and to improve communication between the school and the community. One of the strategies suggested within this design area is to revive a school newspaper. AMIGO will become a public relations source that highlights the work being done between community partners, students and faculty. AMIGO may spark additional community interest in our school.
Another long-range goal that the AMIGO Project addresses is the need to create a safe school environment to increase feeder pattern participation by changing parent and community perceptions about Allegheny Middle School. AMIGO is another way to position ourselves as a community asset, a school dedicated to bringing our students, Northside businesses and cultural resources together as a cohesive unit. The magazine will highlight excellent academic and community work being done by our students. In addition, Internet access can be used as a recruitment attraction, especially for students of Spring Hill Elementary where the program is already in place.
Other CEIP objectives specify the need to increase teachers' professional development and students' academic achievement. With the use of technology and telecommunications, students and teachers will be exposed to virtually limitless possibilities not currently available at AMS. Although not stated as a problem or part of the curriculum, teachers involved in this program anticipate using the Internet in a variety of ways--lesson plans, methods, support, and as a way of networking with other educators. The motivational aspects that this program will provide are seen as a way to strive for knowledge and excellence.
Because AMIGO will involve students with varied abilities, the hands- on opportunity to learn new skills, refine current skills and broaden the perspective of our students contributes greatly to our long range goal of promoting a climate that is conducive to the teaching/learning process.
PART III. EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES
A. Under-represented Population
AMS is a comprehensive middle school that enrolls 40% of the student population on the Northside. When considering the entire school population, AMS has a nearly balanced representation of gender and race. The racial make-up of the school includes: 59% African American, 40% White, 1% other. Females comprise 48% and males 52%. At the beginning of the school year, classes are intentionally balanced according to race and gender.
Statistically, the only under-represented population at AMS is the 2% of students identified as gifted. The average City of Pittsburgh middle school serves an average of 12% gifted.
Although equal access is an important goal, we realize that training all 693 students on the Internet is an unmanageable and unrealistic task. In choosing the 120 students to become involved in the AMIGO Project, we will attempt to select classes that will reap the most benefit from using Internet technology and who are a true representation of our student population.
B. Little or No Access to Technology
We presently have outdated Tandy computers suitable for little more than word processing. The library has one dedicated phone line and a Tandy computer currently used for on-line services but restricted to faculty use. Eight of the eleven Design Team members are using computers in their homes. The probability of our students having access to computers at home is low. Given that 86% of students are eligible for free/reduced lunches, we do not believe that families can afford the luxury of owning a computer.
To implement this project, we would like to have three computers in each of the classrooms of the design team, as well as three computers in the Editorial Boardroom. Due to the fact that we cross grade levels and content areas, it would pose a scheduling problem to work from one computer lab. While we understand that we cannot make demands for the number of computers, the fact that classes would work in committees presents a need for each classroom to be equipped with the appropriate hardware. Software programs necessary for the production of AMIGO have been approved by the administration of AMS.
C. At-risk Students
Allegheny Middle School has an absenteeism rate of 21%, the poorest rate of the 14 middle schools. The mobility rate (transfers/enrollments is 32.4% . Due to high incidents of absenteeism, academic under achievement, inappropriate behavior and drop-outs, we have been targeted to receive special community resources through the Cities in Schools program.
Standardized test score results reflect that 24% of our students are at or above the national norms in Reading; 39% performed at or above the national norms in Math. While these results reflect a marked improvement over previous years, AMS still falls below the high expectations we have for our students. In addition, because we are the only comprehensive middle school on the Northside, we have an unusually high number of Chapter I eligible students (36%) and special education students (14%). Finally, we see an inverse relationship between at-risk student behavior and parent involvement in the school. Our Parent/Teacher Organization currently has 6 involved members.
D. Comprehensive Schools
Allegheny Middle School is a comprehensive middle school that provides a complete academic, technical and arts program, as well as full service pupil affair teams. Our student enrollment for the 1994-95 school year is 693. Interestingly, the student population at AMS has increased by 5% while the district has seen a decrease of 0.5%. Through the initiative of the administration, nine new community support service programs have been put in place with more in the developing stage. This new direction has allowed AMS to become an integral part of the community and has given new meaning to the phrase "The Middle School on the Move."
E. Continuity
Spring Hill Elementary School is an existing CK:P site within our feeder school pattern. We believe that students coming from Spring Hill with Internet expertise can mentor the 7th and 8th grade students and faculty. It is also our belief that a number of students will choose Allegheny Middle School for continual education on the Internet.