War on Education

Ms. Fernandez

I.S.62 – Ditmas JHS

FFernan3@schools.nyc.gov

Introduction

“Did you know America ranks the lowest in education but the highest in drug use? It’s nice to be the number one, but we can fix that. All we need to do is to start a war on education. If it’s anywhere near as successful as our war on drugs, in no time we’ll be hooked on phonics. ~Leighann Lord

A recent article shows that American 15 year olds score lowest in a Program for International Assessment (PISA) test given to 34 countries. Low scores are a problem that we are facing not only as a nation, but also at our school. Congratulations! Your class has been selected by Mayor Bill DeBlasio for a special committee to create new policies to better the education of students at our school as well as in New York. Is testing the solution to our problem? Or what can we do as a society to better your education?

Task

Your group will use the steps of Public Analyst to analyze the problem in our education system. You will target various interest groups that can help better your education. What policy can be created that will better your education? In addition to identifying the cause, you will come up with solutions for this problem by using the 6 step PPA.

process:

Step 1: In each of your groups, you will read about the role parents, teachers, students and politician play in our education.

· Parents-

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/succeed/default.cfm

http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/PB11_ParentInvolvement08.pdf

· Teacher –

http://work.chron.com/role-teachers-education-8807.html

· Students

Student low test scores

http://www.ets.org/c/15481/videos.html

· Politician

http://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell/angelou-hits-obama-school-testing-overuse

Steps #2-In your group create a power point presentation examining the role that parents, teachers, students and politicians play on bettering your education. You will have 10 minutes to present this information orally to the class.

Step #3- Use the Public Policy analyst format below for your PowerPoint .

1. Click on the links provided for each slide.

2. Read the page and complete the assignment on each worksheet.

The 6 Steps for Public Policy Analyst

Slide #1 -Define the problem- Too many students in our school have very low grade.

Slide #2 –Gather Evidence

Slide #3-Identify causes

Slide #4-Evaluate a Policy

Slide #5- Develop Solution

Slide #6-Select the best policy

Evaluation

War on Education Rubric

Group Name: ____________________________________________________________

CATEGORY	Excellent-4		Good-3			Satisfactory-2	Needs Improvement-1
Content - Accuracy	All content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors.		Most of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that seems inaccurate.			The content is generally accurate, but one piece of information is clearly inaccurate.	Content confusing or contains more than one factual error.
Sequencing of Information	Information is organized in a clear, logical way. It is easy to anticipate the next slide.		Most information is organized in a clear, logical way. One slide or piece of information seems out of place.			Some information is logically sequenced. An occasional slide or piece of information seems out of place.	There is no clear plan for the organization of information.
Effectiveness	Project includes all material needed to give a good understanding of the topic. The project is consistent with the driving question.		Project is lacking one or two key elements. Project is consistent with driving question most of the time.			Project is missing more than two key elements. It is rarely consistent with the driving question.	Project is lacking several key elements and has inaccuracies. .Project is completely inconsistent with driving question.
Use of Graphics	All graphics are attractive (size and colors) and support the topic of the presentation.		A few graphics are not attractive but all support the topic of the presentation.			All graphics are attractive but a few do not support the topic of the presentation.	Several graphics are unattractive AND detract from the content of the presentation.
Text - Font Choice & Formatting	Font formats (color, bold, italic) have been carefully planned to enhance readability and content.		Font formats have been carefully planned to enhance readability.			Font formatting has been carefully planned to complement the content. It may be a little hard to read.	Font formatting makes it very difficult to read the material.
Spelling and Grammar	Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.		Presentation has 1-2 misspellings, but no grammatical errors.			Presentation has 1-2 grammatical errors but no misspellings.	Presentation has more than 2 grammatical and/or spelling errors.
Cooperation	Group shares tasks and all performed responsibly all of the time.		Group shares tasks and performed responsibly most of the time.			Group shares tasks and performs responsibly some of the time.	Group often is not effective in sharing tasks and/or sharing responsibility.
Delivery		Members spoke at a good rate, volume and with good grammar. They maintained eye-contact while using, but not reading their notes.		Members spoke a little faster or slower than necessary, or too quietly or loudly. They used acceptable grammar. They maintained eye-contact, but relied too much on their notes.	Members spoke at a good rate and volume, but used poor grammar. They relied heavily on their notes.			Members demonstrated having paid little attention to rate, volume or grammar. They read nearly word for word from notes.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have completed the PPA WebQuest, You have now learned how to identify problems that affct our education and research policies that can be implemented to help you perform better as a student.

Common Core

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7 Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.8 Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.