Central Harlem

A Project Critical

Web Quest

Central Harlem

The HIV/AIDS

Crisis

A major Social Problem

Mr. Carl Goins, Instructor

The Frederick Douglass Academy

Living Environment

New York City, NY

The Crisis, a newspaper started in 1910 by W.E.B. Dubois as a communication instrument for the N.A.A.C.P.

(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

The paper takes its name from the fact that the editors believed that this was a critical time in the advancement of men and women.

Introduction

Nearly a century after W.E.B. Dubois’ creation of The Crisis Newspaper, a different devastating crisis is negatively affecting the community of Central Harlem. HIV has had tragic consequences since its inception several decades ago. Millions suffer from this incurable disease around the world and in our local community. Most of you have had friends or acquaintances that have suffered from HIV or knew of one who was exposed. Just imagine a loved one being inflicted!

Major medical strides have been taken over the past few years. The death rate due to HIV disease has decreased during the past decade in Central Harlem, yet it remains more than double the HIV-related death rates in Manhattan and NYC overall. This is a critical time in the lives of the Central Harlem community. Why is this happening? What can be done to solve the problem? In this web quest you will have the opportunity, as did W. E. B. Dubois a century ago, to create positive change. You will become a public policy analyst and find policy solutions to this devastating social tragedy. Good Luck!

Task

You are going to perform a Public Policy Analysis determine the underlying causes of the disparity between the rates of infection and the rates of death from HIV/AIDS in Central Harlem. You will come up with solutions to this issue in Central Harlem and design and create an informational marketing campaign addressing this crisis, in one of the following formats.

· Video Public Service Announcement (30 seconds) to be posted on YouTube.com

· PowerPoint presentation (10-20 slides)

· Brochure (6 panels) and a poster to be distributed to parents during open school night in October.

The Process

STEP # 1:

The class will be divided into groups of 4-5, and assigned the following roles to insure the successful completion of the project. Each group will chose the final project that they will complete.

Group responsibilities will divided as follows

Researcher -All group members will be responsible for fact finding. The Information gathering tools can be used to help your group organize its research efforts. The editor in chief will determine which group member accomplishes which fact finding task.

Editor In Chief- The group editor-in chief will organize the research and compilation of the data by the other group members. He or she will document the tasks to be done and follow-up to insure the accurate completion of that task

Copy Editor-The copy editor is responsible for organizing and editing the language of the data so that it is concise and appropriate for the format that has been assigned. In the case of the video, the copy editor will write the script to be used and create cue cards for the on screen talent.

Layout Editor-The layout editor is responsible for the positioning of the information on the final project. He/she will choose the images that will represent the data. In the case of the video, the layout editor will determine the segment order, and what images will be filmed in each segment.

Technical Editor-The technical editor will make sure that the required tools are available for the completion of the project. Software for video editing, materials for printed projects, computer availability, etc.

Support- The support person will assist in whatever area that needs additional help as required.

Presentation-All group members will be responsible for the distribution and dissemination of the information. This will be coordinated by the Editor-in-Chief.

STEP # 2:

A public policy is a government action usually intended to deal with a social problem. Every day policies are enacted in your school, city, state, country and throughout the world that will affect your life. The steps in examining a public policy analysis are very similar to the steps of the Scientific Method.

These steps are outlined in the PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST.

Read the following information, as it will serve as an effective tool to help organize the information that you are examining.

· Select best solution

There are worksheets below will be completed to assist in the gathering of the data from your resources. You will use these worksheets as the basis for all products.

ALL SIX STEPS OF THE PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST MUST BE INCLUDED IN ALL PRODUCTS

Resources

An HIV

Researcher

Use the Internet resources linked below to complete the PPA worksheets

New York City Department of Health

Yahoo

New York City

Central Harlem Health Information

Information gathering tools

The Center for Disease Control

Google

Evaluation

This rubric will be used for all products

	4	3	2	1
PPA Policy Followed	All questions were answered completely and rationales for the answers were clearly stated.	All questions were answered completely, but rationales for the all the answers were not clearly stated.	Not all questions were answered completely, or greater than 2 rationales for the all answers were not clearly stated.	All questions were not answered completely.
Project	- Clear and full presentation of material - Includes information from all 6 steps of the Public Policy Analyst. - Demonstrates full control of language conventions	- Clear presentation of material - Includes information from most steps of the Public Policy Analyst. - Demonstrates control of language conventions with very few mistakes	- Basic presentation of material - Includes information from less than 4 steps of the Public Policy Analyst. - Some errors in language conventions get in way of presentation	- Insufficient and/or unclear presentation of material - Includes information from less than 4 steps of the Public Policy Analyst. - Significant errors in language conventions which get in way of presentation
Teamwork	It is evident that a mutual effort and cohesive unit created the final product.	The team worked well together, but could have utilized each other's skills to a better degree.	The team had problems working together. Little collaboration occurred.	The final product is not the result of a collaborative effort. The group showed no evidence of collaboration.	____
Originality	The ideas expressed by the body of work demonstrate a high degree of originality.	The ideas expressed by the body of work are mostly original.	The ideas expressed by the body of work demonstrate lack of originality.	There were no original ideas expressed in this project.

Conclusion

On completion of this assignment you should have found the underlying causes of the increased rates of infection and death from HIV/AIDS related illnesses in Central Harlem compared to those of the rest of Manhattan and New York City.

You should have been able to collectively create feasible solutions to this public predicament. You have now become a “Public Policy Analyst!”

A visual depiction of the information that you have collected, and the solutions that you have created, will be presented for evaluation by the instructor, and dissemination to the Central Harlem community to help provide a resolution to this crisis.

Your participation and dedication to this catastrophic issue as a public policy analyst is appreciated, and will have an influence on this crisis for the current and future generations of the community of Central Harlem.

THANKS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION:

Let’s hope you made a difference and made a positive change in the Central Harlem community

New York State Learning Standards Addressed:

English Language Arts

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

Mathematics, Science, and Technology

Standard 1: Analysis, Inquiry, and Design

Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose questions, seeks answers, and develop solutions.

Standard 2: Information Systems

Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

Standard 3: Mathematics

Students will understand mathematics and become mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, by applying mathematics in real-world settings, and by solving problems through the integrated study of number systems, geometry, algebra, data analysis, probability, and trigonometry.