Langley High School
Common Knowledge Proposal
from
Langley High School
2940 Sheraden Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15204
Joseph Foriska, Principal
Fred Brinton
John Davis
Marilyn Dawson
William Hadley
Jerome Halpern
Denise Louch
Introduction
Langley High School is one of the District's ten New American School sites and as
such is a pacesetter for restructuring schools. The District's curriculum frameworks,
the New Standards Project Standards and assessments, and the restructuring movement
itself have created unique programs at Langley which have already become district and national models of best practice in instruction.
The Langley Common Knowledge Proposal will not only integrate two of these important
projects already underway at Langley High School, but it will also add electronic
communications and the use of the Internet as essential and critical elements to extend
and enrich those projects and enhance the learning of all students at Langley.
The PUMP (Pittsburgh Urban Mathematics Project) Mathematics is a mathematics curriculum
that is problem-based, student-centered, and encourages collaborative and cooperative
learning. It was developed to provide all secondary students with access to academic mathematics and to provide all students with the necessary individual support
for them to be successful. PUMP Mathematics is in its third year of implementation
at Langley. Students work on Intelligent Cognitive Computer Tutors 40% of class time
and the rest of their time is spent in cooperative and collaborative problem solving.
The PUMP Algebra One course is currently implemented in three Pittsburgh City High
Schools, Brashear, Carrick, and Langley, and three suburban high schools, Beaver,
Hampton, and Fox Chapel, and is projected to be in several other city schools, and schools
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Pensacola, Florida.
Cooperation and collaboration are encouraged among the teachers as well as the students.
The course is designed around students solving "real world" problems (e.g., buying
custom tee shirts, renting cars, etc.) and communicating their results to their peers through oral and written presentations. All questions must be answered using complete
sentences, and students must be able to communicate their "understanding" of the
problem situation as well as the underlying mathematics. Assessments are both group
and individual, and are performance based. Teachers collaborate by participating
in scoring conferences where all finals are double scored cooperatively by all the
project teachers.
The ninth grade English curriculum has been reshaped around a standards-based, individualized
workshop approach. While students work individually and in small groups on reading,
writing, and speaking projects, their learning is supported by individualized instruction from the teacher. Students are taught to support and encourage one another
through whole-class and small-group discussions as well as small cooperative response
groups formed around common interests in reading and writing. Students are trained in a formal critical thinking "discussion" process. This "accountable" talk in discussion
and in peer reading and writing groups is a fundamental mechanism to support student
learning. Performance-based assessments, particularly the use of student portfolios, are essential as students work to create projects that demonstrate mastery of
the learning standards in the classroom.
Although it has been less obvious in traditional math classes, the emphasis on students'
ability to communicate has always been taken for granted in the English class. The
PUMP Mathematics curriculum has moved the students' ability to communicate their
knowledge and understanding of mathematics to the forefront of learning. PUMP Mathematics
has made the integral connection between communications skills and mathematics obvious
by making the communication of math knowledge a fundamental requirement of the course. In interdepartmental meetings of the math and English departments, teachers
have begun to examine how to integrate the teaching of the two subjects. The proposed
PUMP Mathematics/English 9 course will make that connection concrete.
This Langley CK Proposal supports several objectives within our CEIP plan. It is consistent with our philosophy as a New American School site of "One high standard for all" and with the District's Core Curriculum Frameworks. Our plan follows the curriculum development model currently proposed by the District
to align courses with the District's curriculum frameworks. The Langley team will realign and integrate the PUMP Mathematics and English curricula throughout the 1996-97 school year, using the curriculum outline described below.
Problem/Summary
The typical student might ask: "What does English have to do with math?" That same
student might go on to ask: "What does math or English have to do with me or my future?"
Much of the learning at the high school level has been fragmented through traditional separation into content specific courses which isolate rather than connect learning.
This fragmentation prevents students from seeing or understanding the underlying
relationship between all learning or its relationship to any "real" world they may
experience in the present or picture for themselves in the future. Teachers of both
mathematics and English are discovering that integrating contents such as "writing
in the content area" not only enhances student learning but also is a critical
element in motivating students and getting them actively involved.
The purpose of this project is to have students more clearly connect the work they
do in school by using electronic communications and the resources of the Internet
to help integrate the teaching of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills
with PUMP Mathematics word problems, demonstrations, and assessment tasks and to further
enhance that learning by connecting it to real life situations and to the requirements
of their future work. This emphasis and integration will increase student motivation and engagement and will lead to greater success in school. The curricula within the
PUMP Mathematics class and the English class which are already student-centered and
project-oriented will now stress the integration of math and English skills in communications, mathematics, and school-to-career. Activities and assessment will continue
to be performance-based with high reliance on individual and group projects and
demonstrations. New Standards Project math and English assessments, especially student
portfolios, will be used to support instruction.
Integrating the PUMP Mathematics and English 9 courses and requiring students to also
take another computer applications course is part of an overall design at Langley
to increase our students' technological skills and prepare them for the world of
work.
Proposed Curriculum
The project will create two sections of a two-period class, blocking English and
PUMP Mathematics. There will be a minimum of 20 to a maximum of 25 students in each
section, taking PUMP mathematics one period followed immediately by one period of
English, or vice versa. The math and English teachers will teach one period each, respectively,
but will also have the other period assigned as their "administrative duty" period
to allow them to support instruction in the classroom of their partner teacher. Students will primarily use the existing PUMP Mathematics lab of twenty-five Macintosh
computers for this project.
PUMP Mathematics has taken the first major step by making the "communication of math
knowledge and understanding" a basic course requirement. The obvious critical next
step in the PUMP Mathematics and English 9 collaborative processes is to broaden
and extend the teaching and support for students to develop these skill by integrating their
teaching with the mathematics instruction. The project classes will establish the
"communities of problem-solvers" by linking students from various PUMP sites with
each other and with an adult guide. To form these "communities," starting next school
year, students from Langley will be linked to students at Carrick, an existing Common
Knowledge site, and Hampton High Schools and to an adult mentor who is an employee
of PPG Industries (Langley's Partner in Education), a project teacher, a curriculum writer,
or a cognitive scientist from Carnegie Mellon. The adult will mentor and guide the
students through active involvement in the problem-solving processes. Since most
of the PUMP students have little or no experience with computers before entering the PUMP
program, they will need substantial support in order to become active participants
in these communities.
In purposeful e-mail correspondence and conversations supported by instruction in
the English class, students will develop literacy skills by sharing information
and experiences across school and across district with other students taking PUMP
Mathematics. Students will be required in the companion English class to write e-mail letters
to introduce themselves to the other community members and to communicate with these
members in order to solve problems. Early in the year problems will be written and
distributed to team members, In order for the team to solve these problems, they will
be required to communicate electronically as well as gather data and research over
the Internet.
Students will continue to develop communications skills in the English class. The
theme for the year will be "Learning to write for real audiences and purposes," and
core element of that theme will focus on conducting discussions and writing around
"real world" math problems presented by the PUMP Mathematics curriculum. The writing and
discussions will be conducted both across the Net in the communities as well as within
the PUMP/English classroom itself.
Use of the Internet will be required in other English projects and activities and
will enhance student skills and facility in electronic communications. Students will
share other English class writing, such as stories, essays, and poems with the other
students and adults in their communities in order to get response and feedback--again
strengthening the connection of writing for real audiences and purposes.
The librarian will provide instruction on conducting research both electronically
and from conventional sources and will provide Internet access to students at other
times during the day. She will coordinate these activities with all the project teachers and adult mentors and provide individual support to students accessing the resources
in the library before, during, and after regular school hours.
During the first semester of the 1996-97 school year, each of the students in the
two designated classes will also be required to take a course in basic computer applications.
This course will teach basic keyboarding skills and word processing, as well as the use of spreadsheet, database, and presentation software applications. These skills
are applicable to the processes used in the English and PUMP classes. Students will
complete real PUMP and English class assignments and activities as their work in
this class rather than "textbook exercises."
During the third quarter, after the communities have become functional, they will
attempt an initial project that will require a high level of involvement of all the
members. They will research and explore a complex "real world" problem situation
that will require the collaboration of the entire community. The goal is to research the
problem, do a mathematical analysis of the problem and produce a report that proposes
a "possible" solution. In English class students will then work closely on the writing and oral presentation of these problems. Students will use the demonstration and
word processing software they have learned in the companion computer applications
class to write reports and prepare their demonstrations and presentations.
Additionally, during the third quarter in English class, students are required to
research a "career interest." Students will be required to gather information from
the Internet and to use both the adult and student members of their communities to
assist and advise them in this process. One element of their career report will ask them
to focus on the "real world" math and English skills appropriate to their career
interest.
The ultimate goal of this proposal is the culminating activity that will be more complex
mathematics problem that will be posed to the communities during the last month of
school. This problem will be the final exam for both the mathematics and English
classes. The community of problem-solvers will be required to research the problem,
do an extensive mathematical analysis, produce a written report, and an oral presentation,
again using presentation software. This presentation will be done before a panel of the adult members from the other teams. They will be graded based on all the
components.
Based on the results of this first year experience, the plan is to implement this
core class with all ninth grade mainstream students at Langley and to roll this model
of "communities of problem solvers" out to the rest of the PUMP schools and to the
new PUMP Geometry and Algebra 2 classes.
CK Project Design and Implementation Team
- Fred Brinton, Math - Project Teacher
- John Davis, English - Project Teacher
- Jerome Halpern, English ITL - Project Teacher
- William Hadley, PUMP Coordinator - Project Teacher
- Marilyn Dawson, Business - Project Teacher
- Denise Louch, Librarian - Site Coordinator
Fred Brinton, William Hadley, John Davis, and Jerome Halpern will be the teachers
for the integrated course, each teaching one section of PUMP mathematics or English,
and Marilyn Dawson will be the teacher in the computer applications course. They
will work closely to design the overall course framework in the initial planning stage.
The English and PUMP classes will be scheduled in consecutive periods. The teachers
will have a co-planning period, and their duty periods, as explained above, will
be scheduled back-to-back in conjunction with the two-period block so that they can lend additional
support to one another when necessary. If the master schedule permits, project teachers
will receive a one period reduced schedule.
Librarian Denise Louch has been named Site Coordinator and will facilitate communication
between team members and with CK personnel and provide the first level of support
at the Langley site. As a member of the implementation team, Louch will also provide both in-class teaching support for specific Internet and on-line research skills
and open-access support for project students when they are working independently
in the library. She will help design research projects and participate in their
evaluation.
Davis, Hadley, and Halpern have extensive experience in performance-based assessment
and curriculum design and implementation. Hadley is the writer of the PUMP Mathematics
curriculum, and Davis and Halpern has developed the standards-based workshop curriculum in the ninth grade classes. All three have worked extensively in the development
of the content standards on which this integrated course will be based.
All members of the team currently have and use e-mail accounts and has already established
a work group. The team will establish a project bulletin board and a Web page for
all students, teachers, and mentors involved in the project, to post and axchange
general announcements and other appropriate information.
Assessment
Assessment will be based on the final project that students create in the course and
the portfolios students create as an on-going element of the course.
Each student's final project and presentation will be evaluated by a panel of students,
project mentors, and other teachers. Each student will also create a portfolio throughout
the year, gathering and reflecting on various problems, projects, and other work that demonstrates their accomplishments and learning.
Equitable Distribution of Resources
This curriculum is being designed for implementation with mainstream students. PUMP
Mathematics and the English 9 courses which provide the foundation for this new
project are the required mainstream English and math courses at Langley. This new
project will therefore involve mainstream classes, and in the second and subsequent years
of the project, it will encompass all mainstream students at Langley
Langley students follow fairly traditional patterns for females and minorities as
far as success in mathematics in concerned. These groups have been under represented
in academic math classes at the secondary level. We believe this project, as a core
requirement, will have a major positive impact on all the students, and we expect to see
an increase in the number of minorities and females who experience success with mathematics,
pursue higher level math classes, and perhaps express an interest in math-related careers.
In addition, the open access established in the library will be available for all
Langley students whether or not they are involved in this specific project.
CEIP Alignment
Our proposal is in direct alignment with two major Langley CEIP objectives:
I. CURRICULUM/INSTRUCTION/ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVE: Students will develop a performance
based curriculum instruction and assessment program that prepares students for the
world of work.
- Improve student achievement, particularly in reading and writing, by implementing
New Standards Project Performance Standards in English, mathematics, science, and
applied learning.
- Each Department will assess its curriculum and develop an alignment matrix with the
District's 62 Content Standards to guide curriculum development during the 1996-97
school year.
- Teachers, administrators, and staff will know and use instructional strategies associated
with success in student learning (e.g. teachers as coaches; students engaged in projects
tied to standards; students learn from one another and from the world outside of school.)
II. HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE: Improve the communications and resources
available for professional interaction and development.
- Provide summaries of Internet materials as related to educational issues.
- Meet with Common Knowledge to plan training and open accounts.
Appendix A
Letters
Langley High School
Common Knowledge Proposal
Appendix B
Langley High School
Comprehensive Educational Improvement Plan
Langley High School
Common Knowledge Proposal