Grim graduation rates for students with IEPS in “The Big apple”!
Aracelis Concepcion
Web Quest
Eleanor Roosevelt Intermediate School 143
Introduction:
You are about to start high school and you have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). You are worried about meeting all of your requirements for High School graduation because of the low graduation rates in New York City. Due to your concern, you have decided to become an activist and create a student committee at your school. You will not only be an activist for yourself, but you will also represent your fellow classmates with IEPs and try to encourage them to become activists as well. You would like something done to revamp the graduation requirements for students with disabilities in New York City because of the tougher new standards. In addition, you would like to see that alternative routes for completing high school graduation requirements could be made available for each student with an IEP.
Task:
Your task is to analyze the problem of low graduation rates in New York City public schools (especially the low graduation rate and poor academic performance of the city's Special Education students), using the websites provided and the Public Policy Analysis (PPA) steps you will develop a power point presentation accompanied by a brief persuasive speech.
You will present your power point and speech to the authorities who are responsible for decision making in the New York City Department of Education at an upcoming board meeting in an effort to inform them of the magnitude of the problem and persuade them to make changes.
THE PROCESS:
1. You will be working in groups and you will all conduct research using the 6 step public policy analysis questions. Each group will have four students. Each group will have the following:
ü Time Keeper is responsible for keeping the group on task and making sure that everyone in the group completes the worksheets on time you have only two weeks.
ü Researcher # 1 will complete worksheets 1 and 2.
ü Researcher# 2 will complete worksheet 3 and 4.
ü Researcher #3 will complete worksheets 5 and 6.
2. Each group will conduct research using the 6 Step Public Policy analysis questions to gather evidence about the decline in high school graduation.
3. Each group will provide convincing research on why change needs to happen to help students with IEPs.
4. Use the webpage links to access the worksheets as a guide to help you with conducting research and problem solving. Simply click on each step below to view a detailed description.
Steps of The PPA
Each group will complete all six worksheets on the Public Policy Analyst web site.
· Worksheet # 1 Define the Problem
· Worksheet # 2- Gather the Evidence
· Worksheet #3- Identify Causes
· Worksheet # 4- Evaluate a Policy
· Worksheet # 5- Develop Solutions
· Worksheet # 6- Select the Best Solution
Resources:
Here are some links to help your group gather information.
News Articles:
· http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/03/education/03dropout.html
General Resources:
EVALUATION
The following rubric below will be used to assess your finished product. Your finished product should include a PowerPoint Presentation and an Oral Presentation. Please cite any sources used during the process.
GROUP#: _____ TEAM MEMBERS: _______________________________________________ GRADE: _______
COMMENTS:
PowerPoint Rubric
|
Category |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
KNOWLEDGE |
Shows full understanding of the issue Able to answer all questions |
Shows partial understanding of the issue. Able to some answer questions |
Shows no understanding of the issue Unable to answer questions |
|
LENGTH |
Long enough to adequately cover assigned issue |
Not long enough to adequately cover assigned issue |
Assigned issue not covered |
|
CONTENT |
Topic covered thoroughly Enough information given to understand topic Did not exclude any important information or include any unnecessary information |
Topic covered but not thoroughly Enough information not given to understand topic Important information not included Included unnecessary information |
Topic not covered Topic not understood because of lack of information Unnecessary information included. |
|
DESIGN |
Very creative Easy to see and follow Did not include any unnecessary graphics |
Lacks creativity Not easy to follow Included unnecessary graphics |
Has no creativity Unable to Follow Has unnecessary graphics
|
GROUP#: _____ TEAM MEMBERS: _______________________________________________ GRADE: _______
COMMENTS:
Oral Presentation Rubric
|
Category |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
VOLUME |
Presenter is easy to hear.
|
Audience is able to hear as a whole, but there are times when volume is not quite adequate. |
Presenter is difficult to hear.
|
|
ENGAGEMENT |
Presentation involves audience, allowing time for audience to think and respond.
|
Audience is involved but inadequate processing or response time is provided. |
Speaker does not involve audience.
|
|
ORGANIZATION |
Presentation is well organized with a beginning, middle, and end. There is a strong organizing theme, with clear main ideas and transitions.
|
Speaker loses train of thought, does not stay with the proposed outline, or connections are attempted but not made clear for the audience. |
Presentation shows little organization, unclear purpose, and/or unclear relationships or transitions.
|
|
LENGTH |
Appropriate length. Clear summary is provided.
|
Time is appropriately used, but may run slightly over or under allotted time and/or information is not tied together or conclusion is inadequate. |
Presentation lacks conclusion and/or time is not appropriately used.
|
CONCLUSION:
Analyzing data is a great way to observe trends. Relevant and purposeful research can effectively provide solutions that can change the outcome of an important social issue. Describe how has this web quest changed your impression of the low graduation rates in New York City and how best to combat this issue.
STANDARDS:
Common Core Standards for English Language Arts Standards for Writing
Mathematics
· High School Statistics and Math Practices