Janice Drivas

Binghamton High School

drivasj@binghamtonschool.org

INTRODUCTION: In 1993, 43% of students in high schools across the United States were involved in a physical fight at school. By 2003, that number decreased to 33%, but unfortunately, in 2007 the number of students involved in fighting in school increased again to 36%.

This increasing trend in the number of fights at school can be seen at Binghamton High School. When students disagree or have issues with other students, they immediately resort to physical fighting to settle their differences. It seems that several times each day, students are talking about a fight that happened or is going to happen later in the day. This has become a real problem at the high school because fights in and around the building disrupt classes, cause students to loose focus, and they interfere with the education of those students who want to learn.

Currently, the policy of school administration is to suspend students for fighting. They are removed from school for as few days, but most come back and are ready to fight again. The possibility of suspension does not deter other students from becoming involved in fights.

http://www.ourfocusyoursuccess.com/images/vision-consulting_12.jpg

TASK:

You are a member of a consulting team that has been hired by Binghamton High School to examine the current policy for dealing with fighting at BHS. You will critique the effectiveness of this policy, and make recommendations to change or improve it.

You will explore the causes of fighting among teenagers at this school as well as schools across the country. You will explore the extent of the problem and possible solutions. You and your team will design a PowerPoint presentation which includes your findings and recommendations. You will present your PowerPoint to the Binghamton High School administration (our class).

PROCESS:

In order for your consulting team to analyze and critique the current school policy on fighting:

· You will be divided into groups of four.

· Your group will be responsible for producing a PowerPoint of a minimum of 8 slides.

· These slides must include text, graphics, illustrations and/or charts.

· The power Point must include all the steps of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA).

· You will investigate the problem of fighting in school and focus on a public policy solution.

The PPA steps are listed below. Click on each step to bring up a worksheet that needs to be completed by your group and handed in for a grade.

stepS:

1. Define the Problem

2. Gather the Evidence

3. Identify the Causes

4. Evaluate the Existing Policy

5. Develop Solutions

6. Select the Best Solution

7.

RESOURCES:

TEEN VIOLENCE and VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS:

http://www.at-risk.org/teen-violence.html

http://www.at-risk.org/blame.html

http://www.wholefamily.com/aboutteensnow/feelings/anger/teen_violence/why_and_what.html

WHAT TO DO ABOUT VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS:

http://www.cnn.com/US/9805/22/school.reduced.violence/

http://www.ncdjjdp.org/

http://www.juvjus.state.nc.us/cpsv/principal/safe_school_planning.html

http://www.helium.com/debates/134472-is-there-a-solution-to-school-violence

http://www.ehow.com/how_2179877_stop-school-violence.html

http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/topics/school.asp

http://www.focusas.com/Violence.html

SEARCH ENGINES THAT CAN BE USED FOR FURTHER INVESIGATION:

Google

Yahoo

Bing

EVALUATION:

PowerPoint Rubric

ACTIVITY	Exemplary	Proficient	Partially Proficient	Incomplete	POINTS
Understanding the Task	8 points The introduction presents the overall topic and draws the audience into the presentation with compelling questions or by relating to the audience's interests or goals.	6 points The introduction is clear and coherent and relates to the topic.	4 point The introduction shows some structure but does not create a strong sense of what is to follow. May be overly detailed or incomplete and is somewhat appealing to the audience.	2 points The introduction does not orient the audience to what will follow. The sequencing is unclear and does not appear interesting or relevant to the audience.
Content	8 points The content is written clearly and concisely with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information. The project includes motivating questions and advanced organizers. The project gives the audience a clear sense of the main idea. Information is accurate and current.	6 points The content is written with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information. Includes persuasive information from reliable sources.	4 points The content is vague in conveying a point of view and does not create a strong sense of purpose. Includes some persuasive information with few facts. Some of the information may not seem to fit. Sources used appear unreliable.	2 points The content lacks a clear point of view and logical sequence of information. Includes little persuasive information and only one or two facts about the topic. Information is incomplete, out of date and/or incorrect. Sequencing of ideas is unclear.
PPA Skills	8 points Clear evidence of using 8 PPA resources and new resources.	6 points Evidence of 8 PPA resource use.	4 points Some evidence of PPA resources.	2 points No apparent use of PPA resources or understanding.
Text Elements	8 points The fonts are easy-to-read and point size varies appropriately for headings and text. Use of italics, bold, and indentations enhances readability. Text is appropriate in length for the target audience and to the point. The background and colors enhance the readability of text.	6 points Sometimes the fonts are easy-to-read, but in a few places the use of fonts, italics, bold, long paragraphs, color or busy background detracts and does not enhance readability.	4 point Overall readability is difficult with lengthy paragraphs, too many different fonts, dark or busy background, overuse of bold or lack of appropriate indentations of text.	2 points The text is extremely difficult to read with long blocks of text and small point size of fonts, inappropriate contrasting colors, poor use of headings, subheadings, indentations, or bold formatting.
Layout	8 points The layout is visually pleasing and contributes to the overall message with appropriate use of headings, subheadings and white space.	6 points The layout uses horizontal and vertical white space appropriately.	4 point The layout shows some structure, but appears cluttered and busy or distracting with large gaps of white space or uses a distracting background.	2 points The layout is cluttered, confusing, and does not use spacing, headings and subheadings to enhance the readability.
Graphics, Sound and/or Animation	8 points The graphics, sound and/or animation assist in presenting an overall theme and enhance understanding of concept, ideas and relationships. There is a consistent visual theme.	6 points The graphics, sound/and or animation visually depict material and assist the audience in understanding the flow of information or content. Images are proper size, resolution.	4 point Some of the graphics, sounds, and/or animations seem unrelated to the topic/theme and do not enhance the overall concepts. Images are too large/small in size. Images are poorly cropped or the color/resolution is fuzzy.	2 points The graphics, sounds, and/or animations are unrelated to the content. Graphics do not enhance understanding of the content, or are distracting decorations that create a busy feeling and detract from the content.
Writing Mechanics	8 points The text is written with no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.	6 points The text is clearly written with little or no editing required for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	4 points Spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors distract or impair readability. (3 or more errors)	2 points Errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, usage and grammar repeatedly distract the reader and major editing and revision is required. (more than 5 errors)
TOTAL POINTS					/56

CONCLUSIONS:

Thank you to your consulting team for your input and hard work. Your PowerPoint presentations will be evaluated by the administrators at Binghamton High School and the possibility of implementing your ideas to curb the fighting at Binghamton High School will be discussed.

You should have learned from this WebQuest that fighting is major social problem in American schools and in our society. Solving this problem is in the hands of citizens like you.

You should also have learned the role of the Public Policy Analyst. This person examines social problems and finds solutions that improve the lives of everyone in the community.

STANDARDS:

ELA: 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.

SS: Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.