Accessibility
to School Buildings
for the Disabled or Handicapped
Tyra Padgett
Mahalia Jackson Elementary
School for Literacy and Arts
Introduction:
Although
we do not have a child at our school that needs a wheelchair, we do have
parents and guardians who cannot access their child’s school or classroom. Many times parents or guardians come to the
school for meetings with the teacher or for functions and events and cannot get
in past the front door lobby. There are
stairs leading up to the main hall of the school and stairs leading down to the
auditorium. This is a problem for
parents and guardians who are physically incapable of getting past the front
door.
Task:
As a Public Policy Analyst, you will:
Your teacher has asked you to prepare a presentation
for your Councilman. This presentation
will take place in your classroom when the Councilman comes for the
presentation visit. You will have to
write a letter to the Councilman to arrange the meeting.
You will
create a presentation for their Councilman consisting of:
·
the background of the social
problem, analysis of current policies and recommendations for a new public
policy for accessibility to our school
·
presentation will include Role Playing
Process:
The class will be divided into teams. One team is responsible for getting an
appointment and writing a letter to their Councilman. The second team will be responsible for
writing the parts that will be role played.
The third team will help the teacher prepare the room for the visit from
the Councilman
Each team will first go to the PPA and work with the worksheets:
1. Identify and define the problem of accessibility
to schools in
https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.html
2. Gather evidence of accessibility to
schools in
https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.html
3.
Identify causes of lack of accessibility to schools in
website:
https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.html.
4.
Create three of your own public policies that will address the social
problem of accessibility to schools in
https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet4.html
and https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/solutions.html
5.
Finally, evaluate the effectiveness of your public policy solutions and
select the best solution to
solve the problem of accessibility to
schools in
https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet6.html
Once all
of the worksheets have been completed the groups will meet as a whole class to
discuss their policy solutions and feasibility.
They will then start rehearsing for the role play.
The
Councilman will come to the classroom for the role play presentation.
Internet Resources:
Public Policy Analyst Website
https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips.html
Search Engines
Websites
http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/accessibility.cfm
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/capitalplanning/access.pdf
EVALUATION:
Upon
completion of your preparation for the presentation, each group will be graded
based upon:
A)
The amount of information gathered
B)
The quality of the information gathered and
C)
How well the information was presented in the role play
Accessibility to Schools - PPA
PRESENTATION EVALUATION RUBRIC:
|
3 |
2 |
1 |
Content |
Writing
shows in depth understanding of the social problem |
Shows
understanding through explicit references to the social problem |
Shows
understanding through implicit references to the social problem |
Organization |
Clear,
elaborate sentence structure; gives background, analysis, and persuasive
evidence for new policy |
Writing
varies length of sentences; gives some background, analysis, and partly
persuades with some evidence |
Writing
uses basic sentence structure; news story gives little or no background or
analysis, and does not support new policy |
|
|
|
|
Collaboration |
There
is strong evidence that all group members participated equally |
There
is some evidence that all group members participated equally |
There
is little or no evidence that all group members participated equally |
Role Play |
Role
play is appealing; representative of the social problem |
Role
play captures the social issue but not well |
Role
play does not capture the social problem |
STANDARDS:
English:
ES #1: Language for Information and Understanding
ES #2: Language for literary response and expression
ES #3: Language for Critical analysis and evaluation
ES #4: Language for Social Interaction
Social Studies
SS # 5: Civics, Citizenship and Government
Conclusion
Students
should have discovered evidence of problems with accessibility to schools in