Denise Samms
C.I.S 166x
Where have they gone?
Have they decided to be “cool?”
We Real Cool
by Gwendolyn Brooks
THE POOL PLAYERS.
SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.
We
real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk
late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing
sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz
June. We
Die soon.
INTRODUCTION:
“Out of the three students sitting closest to you, one will
vanish in the next four years,” said the principal to the incoming freshman at
a high school class in the Bronx.
What happens to these students? Where do they go? Why do they leave school? What do they think
will happen to them? What really happens
to them? What do these students do after
they leave school?
Imagine you are a newly hired investigative reporter for Channel
7 ABC News. You have been given the responsibility
to research and report on this problem.
What you learn may help solve this problem.
THE
TASK:
Your assignment is to investigate how attrition rates
(drop out rates) in the Bronx high schools compare to other places and how they
are different. This is a “WebQuest” assignment,
which means you will find information on the web using the computer as a
resource tool and guide. You will be
given hyperlinks (references to websites) to visit. These hyperlinks allow you to visit certain
websites to find information that will help you with your research. Remember your assignment is to investigate how
attrition or dropout rates in the Bronx compare to other places. When you are finished, you will write a
report that shows your findings.
Think about what factors affect students and their interests
in school and life. As you complete this
exercise, you will gain greater insight into ideas about students leaving school.
Adults and schools seem to think
dropping out is a bad thing. The kids
who do so, however, may not agree. What
do you think?
You will then:
q
Perform
a WebQuest research to compile information on worksheets about the “dropout”
problem.
q
Produce
a paper (5 pages) based on your Internet research and the information you
compile from your worksheets.
q
Give an
oral presentation based on your findings to the class.
You will be using resources from the TIPS PPA (public policy
analyst) website and all other resources listed in this WebQuest. Remember a WebQuest is a lesson that takes
you on journey. On this journey your mission
is to solve a problem and complete a project by visiting websites to research
the issue.
Let the journey begin!
THE
PROCESS:
o Find
a partner to work with.
o Visit
the PPA (Public Policy Analyst Website) by clicking on http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/ppa/intro.html
o Continue
at the PPA site and work through the tutorial on public policy. http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/welcome.html.
Ø
Identify the nature of a social problem: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/select.html
Ø
Gather evidence to support the existence of the
problem: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/gather.html
Ø
Determine the causes and factors contributing to
the problem: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/identify.html
Ø
Evaluating existing public policies: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/existing.html
Ø
Developing public policy solutions http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/solutions.html
Ø
Selecting the best public policy solution: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/bestsol.html
I. DEFINING THE PROBLEM:
Here are some questions you should answer through your
research:
q
What do the terms “attrition” and “dropout” mean?
q
What does it mean to say the dropout rate is a social
problem? Is it?
Complete Worksheet1: Defining the Social Problem:
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.html
First, you need to figure out what the problem is. Here are a couple of sites that might help:
This article is pretty long but you can pick out its highlights: How Many Central City High Schools Have a
Severe Dropout Problem, Where Are They Located, and Who Attends Them? By Robert Balfanz and Nettie Legters http://www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights/publications/dropouts/dropout/balfanz.html
II. GATHERING YOUR EVIDENCE:
What evidence suggests attrition is a problem in the Bronx
high schools?
Complete Worksheet #2: Gathering evidence of the problem: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.html
This site will help you understand how to calculate a
dropout rate:
High School Dropout Rates
www.ed.gov/pubs/OR/ConsumerGuides/dropout.html
These reports are about
the number of dropouts from the New York City Board of Education:
The
Class of 2001 Four-Year Longitudinal Graduation and Dropout Report
http://www.nycenet.edu/daa/reports/Class%20of%202001_presentation.pdf
In this report, there
is an appendix with a table of the dropout rates for Bronx high schools (on
Page 32). There are also tables that
show the rates for the other boroughs so you can compare the Bronx rates with
the rates of other schools.
The Class of 1997 Final
Longitudinal Report a Three-Year Follow-up Study
http://www.nycenet.edu/daa/reports/Class%20of%201997.pdf
These reports show
dropout information for the entire U.S. and in the state of Washington so you
can compare the Bronx to the rest of the country.
Dropout Rates in the
United States: 2000
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002114.pdf
Dropout Rates in the
United States: 1999
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/dropout/
Graduation
Rates in Washington State by Jay P. Greene, Ph.D.
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_27.htm
III. IDENTIFYING THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM:
q
What are some of the causes of this social
problem?
Complete Worksheet #3:
Identifying the cause of the problem
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.html
Some people have thought about the high attrition rates and are concerned
with the question, “What can be done about this?”
A goldmine of links: DROPOUTS
IN AMERICA: How severe is the problem?
http://www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights/publications/dropouts/dropout.html
Latina
Girls’ High School Drop-Out Rate Highest in U.S. by Olga Vives
http://www.now.org/nnt/fall-2001/latinas.html
http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/02/6.27.02/Regents-dropouts.html
http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/9/c017.htmlv
IV. EVALUATING EXISTING PUBLIC POLICIES:
Complete Worksheet #4:
Evaluating existing public policies.
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet4.html
Here are a couple of things New York has been trying to
do to help the drop-out problem:
http://horizon.unc.edu/projects/HSJ/Knutson.asp
http://www.newvisions.org/about/
This article reports, “The city will open 28 new high
schools next month, as it launches its most ambitious attempt ever to curb the
double-digit
dropout rate.”
New high schools in war vs. dropouts August 27, 2002 by
ALISON GENDAR (Daily News)
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/14114p-13405c.html .
Can you find other things that are being done? Go to www.google.com
and try entering these key words exactly as shown to look for other ideas:
dropout OR dropouts solution
OR solutions policy OR policies "high school"
V. DEVELOPING
PUBLIC POLICY SOLUTIONS:
With your partner, think about three new ways that we
might do better in dealing with the problem of attrition in high schools.
Here is one proposal you might consider:
National Dropout Prevention Act:
http://www.aspira.org/PolicyUpdates/NATIONAL%20DROPOUT%20PREVENTION%20ACT.pdf
Click on the link
below and print out the worksheet. Fill it out with the three different ideas
you have that might decrease the attrition rates in Bronx high schools.
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet5.html
VI. SELECTING
THE BEST PUBLIC POLICY SOLUTION:
Again with your partner, discuss how feasible and
effective each of your three new solutions might be. Then complete the following worksheet with
your conclusions:
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet6.html
Rubric
4 Excellent
|
3 Satisfactory |
2 Fair |
1 Poor
(Do Over) |
|
Understanding the Task |
COMPLETES THE ENTIRE TASK. |
COMPLETES MOST OF THE TASK. |
COMPLETES PART OF THE TASK. |
COMPLETES LITTLE OF THE TASK. |
Development and Organization |
VERY WELL DEVELOPED AND ORGANIZED. |
MOSTLY DEVELOPED AND ORGANIZED. |
PARTLY DEVELOPED AND ORGANIZED. |
HARDLY DEVELOPED AND ORGANIZED. |
Vocabulary |
EXCELLENT VOCABULARY USAGE. |
GOOD VOCABULARY USAGE. |
WEAK VOCABULARY USAGE. |
POOR VOCABULARY USAGE. |
Grammar and Punctuation |
EXCELLENT GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION WITH NO ERRORS. |
GOOD GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION WITH SOME ERRORS. |
WEAK GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION WITH MANY ERRORS. |
POOR GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION WITH MULTIPLE ERRORS. |
Standards:
This WebQuest also incorporates the following New York City
Performance Standards for English:
E1c: Read and comprehend informational materials.
E2a: Produce a report of information.
E3b: Participate in group meetings.
E3c: Prepare and deliver an individual presentation.
E4b: Analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its
clarity and effectiveness.
This WebQuest also incorporates the following New York State
Performance Standards for Social Studies:
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 constitution,
democracy, and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of
citizenship, including avenues of participation.
When you have completed this WebQuest journey, you would
have accomplished many things:
First, you will have a deeper understanding of the problem
of attrition rates in many of the Bronx high schools.
Second, you will have demonstrated your ability to use the
Internet to do research.
Third, you will have analyzed an issue and made decisions on
what policies would be most effective using logic and evidence.
Fourth, you will have written a five-page article that
reports on your investigation of dropouts in the Bronx.
Fifth, you can help bring about change by sharing your ideas
with people who are concerned about this issue.
OTHER
*This WebQuest was prepared in association with the TIPS 2002 program, Bronx, New York.
Be cool, stay in school!
***